Micra engines in other cars????

[pollymog]

Hi everyone,

been a while since I posted - I've been happy with my ultra-reliable Micra you see so I've had no reason to post/ask anything.

I've been looking for a GTM coupe recently - they're hard to find though & don't often come up for sale - I missed a great looking white one on eBay recently because my house sale didn't go through in time ! The GTM's based on Mini/Metro components including the ancient 'A' series engine, as I've discovered, though, many different engines (including the Honda VTEC) have been successfully fitted to the GTM & this got me thinking:

Have the twin cam Micra engines (CG10 & CG13) ever been fitted in a kit car or any other car for that matter? I'm also curious to know if they've been mated to a rear drive gearbox? I was thinking that the CG13 with a reliable & bullet proof 75bhp as standard would be great in another small car (MG Midget maybe?)

Would love to hear if anyone's heard of any other cars using these engines.

Cheers
Paul - Black 1998 1.3 GX modded with 14" 100NX alloys & a strut brace - soon to be lowered 25mm. I have the springs & plan to fit them this weekend

 

[zanes]

I'm not sure a rear wheel drive box will directly fit to the CG. If you could lock the diff you could use it I guess, but you might as well just use another engine. I doubt anyone would make bell housing adaptors for one off the shelf.

 

[Antony]

or just go rear engined with the standard gearbox..

 

[whipit]

Well in Japan the ma10 engines from the k10's were used in there own speacial kit car cups. No doubt the Cg has as well.
Bit of a long shot since its never been tried to my knowledge since it would be pointless, but a sr20de (2.0 primera engine) fwd gearbox fits a cg engine i think?? Since the sr20 has also been used rwd in the 200sx for example its possible the box will fit the cg engine.
Although its a very long shot and pointless. lol

It would be easier to just get a kit car rwd box, custom clutch to match the splines and custom bell housing.

Might bolt one into a Caterham one day for a laugh, along with a turbo of course should be able to get 500bhp per ton, actaully be quite quick, the caterham superlight r5oo thats just been released has 263bhp from a 2.0 duratech which is a cast iron block and weighs 506kg's and 0-60 in 2.88. Do the maths. lol

 

[pollymog]

I suppose my point in posting the original question is that, to me, it seems strange that no one makes use of what is a great little engine. It's a wasted opportunity.

Most kit car manufacturers/builders seem to specify the Rover 'K' series engine when they want to use a small capacity DOHC 16v engine. I've never driven a car with one of these engines but I'm told that they're an excellent engine when they're working but they suffer from suspect reliability (head gaskets especially). Suspect reliability is not a problem usually associated with the Micra.

Some years ago I owned a Midas Bronze kit car. It was my only car, I used it daily come rain or shine & I ended up keeping it for 9 years (the longest I've ever kept a car) & I have mainly good memories of it - I'm not saying it was perfect because it most definitely wasn't (noisy, hard ride with very little suspension travel, dodgy heater with only 1 speed (on or off!) etc etc etc) but in those 9 years it left me stranded by the roadside only once when the alternator packed up whilst I was out driving one night. I can't help thinking that a kit car manufacturer who designed/built a modern day interpretation of this would be onto a winner. For those of you who don't know the Midas used the engine/gearbox/running gear from the original classic Mini & mounted them in the front of a fibreglass monocoque bodyshell. Despite it having an engine designed back in the 1950's & only a 4 speed gearbox it went like the clappers & handled brilliantly - tight roundabouts were designed with this car in mind!! I suppose the nearest mainstream alternative to it at the time was the original Honda CRX. I think that a car similar in principle to the Midas but using modern engines/running gear would be a good thing (hopefully the Micra engines - but any of the other small capacity Japanese DOHC 16v engines would probably be just as good). I drive my Micra & can't help thinking that if my Midas had had this engine installed in it then I'd probably still be driving it!!

I'm not really up on modern cars (as I'm not in the market for one & most of them leave me cold) but is there a small capacity (sub 1500cc), front wheel drive coupe on the market these days or has the luke warm/hot hatch taken over this sector of the market??

 

[whipit]

don't understand your question.

 

[Demarest]

I think someone on here before was inquiring into putting a CG engine into a mini Marcos

 

[zanes]

The thing is, alot of kit cars aren't run as daily drivers. While the CG may be an excellent engine it must be accepted that at the end of the day it is very expensive to get lots of power out of them, especially when things like 1.8, 2.0 litre engines are just as easy to mount in a kit car.
It's also worth remembering that it is not usually just the engine and gearbox that is used from a donor car.
References: "How to build a kit car" (Whatkit? magazine) and a friends father who is building a kit car.
*Waits for people to say "What about Nis' Car? 200 bhp achievable" etc.*

 

[Craig]

Yeah and I saw the est. cost of that so far


The way I have cosidered doing this would be to use a transaxle at the rear and then all you really have to worry about is the propshaft. Main problem with that is cost, but if you could get a Hollinger sequential box at the rear you'd have a ripper of a car.

However, in this thread, there are talk of splitabble bellhousings - an adaptor plate owuld not be too hard/expensive to make...
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=170932&page=5

Craig