Okay, Excuse the mess, been a long weekend, got a few pictures to share. Now these are bare metal currently, obiously will be painted at a later date, but not to much later! Donor car is here, in all of its glory. Motor mounts need to be fabbed, and then we will have them ready to go. Cheers.

I found the best way to keep the guys moving was to keep sending them money! BJ was telling me about your Insight swap at MME. I'm interested in seeing how it turns out.

Ahhhh, finally progress. 6 frames, 2 of which are spoken for, will be completed shortly. Good thing the wife is starting nursing school up in 2 weeks. I get my Fridays and Saturdays back! Will get some pics up in the next week or two. Cheers.

We may be able to dovetail all that onto a trailer leaving the west coast soon and going back east (maybe to come back with that 13b...) . Anybody wanting a Cali project brought back east or a solid shell or 2?

Hey ssuperfly,i may have what your looking for.I am seriously considering removing the G13B from the Clubman Estate,i have every thing for the swap.Engine,trans,shift linkage,ecu and complete harness with speedo assy,turn signal switch which fits on the Mini's steering column and even the already converted axles.I think i may even have a header for it too,only problem is i'm in Maryland so there will be freight involved.

Minsuki.

Is the ER the predecessor to the XFi? 2 piston ring's instead of 3 and an anemic cam? Don't worry about cutting it up, will be relegated to geeky gas mileage/economy car (think how Corvairs have not increased in value) for the next millenium. I know a guy who likes the Sprints - I'll let him know. Can't wait to see your swap in the hole. May have just picked up a rebuilt long block and redone head for $100, the deals are out there. I need more time than anything right now.

the body on this one (sprint) is near perfect, came out of the Cali desert, and ran /shifted like a champ, on the drive back to Riverside; I didn't realize it was an "ER" until I looked at the paperwork in the glove box, but I don't think the lump is orriginal to the car.  Almost a shame to take it apart.  Maybe somebody on the swift forum could use the body, when I'm done stripping what I need.  

Thanks for posting the pic's Steve - alway's good to see another subframe for reference.

Back east is the best place for donors - low miles due to rusting out but repairable - had a link to a video of a farmer fixing by tipping it on it's side and welding some old washing machine sheet metal to it. Out west - body is solid but most cars have 200k+ miles - tranny not good for much more - we can get for $500 and part out a bit and make some back. They just keep going if you keep massaging - Nephew got 289k before we shut her down, that's why I got the Geo bug. Would like to find a gti 1.3 DOHC engine & harness w/ECU if anyone has one out there.....-

and here it is with the engine and suspension

i wanted to us coilover and the bigger brakes from the suzuki from the begining and to add a trubo later on so a modified original subframe was not going to work

heres a pic of the sub i use for the twincam

in case you younger guys don't know what an 86 Chevy sprint looks like. This is my 600$ "ER" model, donor car, that came with 4.11 final drive tranny, which I replaced with a Suzuki G13 SOHC tranny, with a 3.52 gear box.

showing the mounts

another pic

That's the best design I have seen.  I would only make a couple small changes if for higher power/handling apps.  But perfect for std power, daily transportation use.  The Jig is top notch too.  If I had known about this one before I built mine, I may have just bought it instead.  Just about finished up mine (picture), for 85-88 Chev Sprint, carb motor, with G13 tranny mount location.  still need do a few things, add gussets, cut off cross bar ends and cap, etc.  Tubing size is a bit overkill for the 120 pound lighter, 52 HP lump, but for a one-off, I just used scrap pieces from our VTEC frame design.  Urethane mounts are just 1/2 of the same bushing we use on the Honda mounts, but vertical.  Alternator mounts in the stock position, electronic carb clears the bulkhead, plenty of room for the header, and drive axles are a straight shot. Engine leans back a couple degrees from the stock forward slanted position.  The right top frame tube would be straight like the left, but this way allows the crank pulley to be removed, to change out the timing belt.  Radiator sits between the grill and tranny.   I have no plans or desire to build these for sale; it is just for my own MPG project.

Hard to say, I can only give you an example. 1.0l 5speed with 75k on it. Front a-arm/frame rusted out, not drivable. $1000/obo. I figured it would be worth it just to get the entire swap from and then sell the shell, or the dudes that pick it up and sell it for scrap. Again interior was mint as well. Could have sold that. I guess milage of drivetrain, does it run, compression, shift good. If you can pull all the stuff off of it that would make the swap go easier than getting the motor, then the wiring harness (if not going with a standalone engine management)etc.

i have located a 90,s metro. the body is crap, but engine is decent. what is it worth?

Here are links.. one to Minsuki's 13B build.. 

//minimike2bc.tripod.com/MiniSuki/Minisuki1.html

And one to the 16VMiniClub Suzuki forum with examples of frame builds..

//www.16vminiclub.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23

 

Good luck with the frame design and build..

 

Just curious on peoples thoughts on the construction of this frame. "unseamed hydraulic tubes with the thickness of 20x2 and 22x2 and reinforcments in the mounts in 3mm sheet metal, MIG-welded". I did not make it, just curious what peoples thoughts are on it.

Anyway, I am getting ramped up as I am moving in about 3 weeks. My only concerns is the legalities of selling a frame. I am not talking mass production, like a limited run of 10 frames or so as time permits. While I am not doubting my welding abilities, just curious what the could happen in 10 years if someone gets in a wreck etc. Am I on the hook? I know minitec does something like "track use, or offroad use only". But as this is getting sooner to actually happening just want to cover my bases...

MiniTec just made a few little changes on an MTB2 subframe to mount my Honda 12V Vtec Insight motor.  I chose this 1 liter package because it is totally designed toward gas mileage.  From talking to some Honda conversion owners, the 1st gear is useless and the engines are reving quite high at highway speeds.  With a final drive of 3.208, the overall Insight ratios are as follows:

gear...ratio-->overall

1st...3.461-->11.10

2nd...1.750-->5.61

3rd...1.096-->3.32

4th...0.857-->2.75

5th...0.710-->2.28

 

Engine specs: Insight/Mk1 1275 "S"

HP:73@5700/78@3000

Torque:91@2000/80@3000

 

The HP and Torque figures are with the combined ICE and Electric motors.  I imagine it will drive like a torquey "S."  The drivetrain pulls the 1875 lb. Insight off the line and down the road just fine even with the 22.5 inch tires.  The engines run fine without the hybrid batteries, but 67HP@5700 and 66torque@4800 would have made the car less fun even at the 1250lb reduced weight.  Best gas mileage with all these new hybrid cars is at highway speeds without using any electric boost.

 

I just wish Norm would stop playing with his 4WD projects and get back to working on mine.