d16z6 swapped mini cooper rt4wd jrsc rallycross car

Greetings from Phoenix, Arizona!

As the title suggests, I am starting to build a rally cross "monster mini" utilizing a d16z6 from a Del Sol Si, a JRSC, and a 4wd drivetrain from a civic wagon (the main reason for me joining the forum), and riding on modified polaris rzr suspension.

I have already built a d16z6 JRSC mini cooper, but the car had sentimental value to me so I restored it back to original. I then bought a beater mini shell (one that i dont mind hacking up). I have since rebuilt the d16z6 and the JRSC blower and have all of the conversion parts boxed up awaiting their new home.

I need to determine what I will need to carry out the 4wd conversion. Ive found that miata rear trailing arms can be fitted with some slight modification, i will have custom axles made and I will have to modify the tunnel and rear trunk floor to fit the diff and driveshaft.

I look forward to hearing some feedback and Ill try my best to keep you all updated on the progress ?

Comments

  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator

    What makes you choose the Mini over a civic shell?

    I had an 05 MCS which I loved and had a lot of work done to but blew up in Cali on the way to shipping it to Hawaii. :( I loved the SC whine of that car.

  • Hello @dunejunkie welcome to the site, this is going to be interesting i like it so far haha. i think you know already just wanna make sure you swapped the oil pan/oil pick up tube, driver side engine bracket off the wagons a6 into the z6. of course the transmission, cables/shifter, Driveshaft, viscous coupler (if you haven't already rebuild the VC), rear diff, rear trailing arms. I haven't heard about the miata RTA's thats interesting do you have a link for that I'll like to read about that i cant think of anything else right now hopefully that helps a little.

  • edited May 2020

    Sorry I should have been more specific, its a 1975 Leyland Mini Cooper, the really tiny ones. I weighed my other car when it had the d16 in it making 160 whp and it weighed 1348lbs. So it is quite a bit lighter than the civic shells, light as they are.

    I was not aware of the oil pan/pickup. Is that for driveshaft clearance? Also why the driver side mount? I would think the passenger side mount that bolts to the trans would be different.

    Also as far as the rear trailing arms go, the miata trailing arms have the smallest "footprint" and therefore will be easier to modify to fit in the classic mini subframe. Ill have to shorten them slightly and weld on a new mount so I can bolt on the rzr coil overs. It will be difficult, but given enough time and beer anything is possible ?

    I havent gotten any of the parts for the 4wd yet because I want to know what im getting into. I do not have a time frame for completion, so I will be piecing it together slowly as I go. This project is mostly a dream that I want to make true, and these types of advice/questions are why I joined the forum ?. I need to know how wrong I am, so no holding back ?

  • @dunejunkie It's for the header (clearance issue) without the a6 oil pan your header wont fit properly, sorry i misunderstood what your project was so you won't need to replace the driver side mount/bracket i mentioned it cause if you swap a z6 in the wagon driver side won't line up properly that's why you need to swap it from the a6 but your going to do custom work on your mini so what i just said should be irrelevant sorry about that. its going to be a lot of work no matter what specially in a 1975 leyland mini cooper, you're not wrong like you said its your dream and no time frame time to make it happen, 1st thing gather all the RT4WD components and start mocking it up either you can go D series from a wagon, B series Crv components what ever comes 1st. also price is part of it too what ever you ill be following cause leyland mini cooper looks sweeeeeeeet

  • Ah gotcha, yeah I am focusing on getting the rt4wd components first so I can start mocking up. I already have a built d series with a supercharger so Im pretty set on the wagon stuff unless I can make something else work with the d series. Here is some pictures of my builds so far:

    This is my 1974 Innocenti Mini Cooper with a JRSC d16z6. This is the powertrain that I will be using in my 4wd mini. I have since removed the VTEC motor and restored the original engine and put it back in.


  • This is the shell that I will be putting the Honda engine back into, the one that will be getting the 4wd... Codename "Rusty". Its a bit of a mess, but structurally it is solid. I figured it would be a good car to hack up and not loose sleep over ?

  • this is going to be awesome

  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator

    Ohhhh....an actual Mini. :)


    Can't wait to see the progress on this. Will you be the first one doing this RT4WD conversion?

  • It looks that way. I've seen people do bseries crv 4wd swaps, but never the rt4wd. Also most people that do the crv stuff buy the tube subframe kit from minitech, where as I will be modifying/reinforcing the original subframe. People have tried to talk me into just doing the bseries stuff, but I'm determined to make something weird ? plus I love a challenge. Materials shouldn't be too expensive, so all I'll really need is time.. and lots of ?

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