hello new to site, vtec automatic swap

Started by joakwin, November 25, 2017, 12:26:06 PM

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MiniDave

joakwin, welcome to the forum - I'm the one from TMF that sent you here - glad to see you on the forum!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

joakwin

#26
pd-18b by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

more Cerwin Vega speakers for the garage system, I have 8- 18's in the garage , and 4- 12's with horns, 4 of those 18's are for bass, and the other 4 are 2 or 3 ways with horns......I have to add more circuit breakers to my box to add more power outlets to my garage to run the amps up, I am running them in stereo right now, and if I had more outlets, I could run them in mono and get full power. I have two other qsc and Mackie amps that aren't hooked up right now, takes power to make power

brake set up by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

I used the Honda brake master cylinder, booster, pedal box and steering column this time around
steering set up by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

I sectioned the Honda steering column 3-4 inches and the u joint adapter thing on the bottom bolts right up to the mini steering rack
23549640_10155802732061684_1467161470_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

Nov 2017

rad mount by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

Nov 2017 thanksgiving weekend, I made mounts for the radiator
my older brother is giving me a trans cooler next week when I go out to SD

throttle cable by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
Nov 24th, 2017

my new throttle cable came in from rockauto

stock del slow lhd cable is 38 inches long, and wont work for rhd

1995 Honda odyssey has a f22 engine and the cable is 53 inches long
its just right for rhd but the bracket is in a different spot

so I have to add in about 2.5-3 inches of metal to make it bolt up to the intake
super simple for me to do but my hips and lower back hurt right now
so I have to wait

but looking online for a rhd throttle cable here in the states, it runs $50 or so plus the ride,
I found this cable for $20 and the ride from rockauto


I had double hip surgery, 1st one being in Feb 2016 and the 2nd one being Sept 2016
and I still have hip pain,
I torn the labrums in my hips when I was in Africa 2013
and now I have a bulging disc in l3-l4 and arthritis at l5-s1
so I'm trying to hurry with my automatic swap

because I know at some point I will have to give up turning wrenches and metal fab work
at some point I hope for 15-20 years from now I will need double thr's
I'm 36 years old right now and I'm in the process of medically retiring from my job

and I plan to become a stay at home dad



I got a 20 pin cannon plug for the front clip wiring, before I used those gm style weather proof connectors for the front clip wiring but I didn't really care for them
and wanted a cannon plug but didn't have the money back in 2013 to buy one
but I got it now, I used 18 pins out of the 20
much happier with the wiring for the front clip now

this car will have cruise control in it, its already installed and wired up, I'm using the factory Honda cruise control set up



I still need to wire up the rear tail lights, fuel pump, fuel level sender

and I need to hook up the automatic cooler that I'm getting from my brother next week

make adapter fuel lines to connect into the -6 AN steel braided lines that are already in the car

finish installing the main battery cable to the boot and make a battery mount

build the exhaust system altogether





D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

Quote from: MiniDave on November 25, 2017, 02:31:00 PM
joakwin, welcome to the forum - I'm the one from TMF that sent you here - glad to see you on the forum!

oh ok, I saw it and I've been on and off looking for a mini site with people from the states

building a mini here in the states is different then building a mini in the UK

I think mini's here take a lot more planning and time,

2hours to run up to dsn classic, because I would spend 30 mins talking to the owner about mini's
and what new billet parts they have in the works, 2 hours is not a big deal, still have time to go home and install the new part


here in the states, I call up 7ent and order the parts and talk to them for a few mins and wait 2 days or so





D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

#28
my buddy finally sent me the info on the vin history, took him about 6 weeks but I got it for free

the owner of the del slow before me, had the motor and trans replaced at 185K miles from the Honda dealer

my drivetrain has 17k miles on it
the car had a fuse block problem,
so I think the owner was done with putting money into a old car
and traded it in to the Honda dealer for a new car

I got lucky because I have a neighbor that car go to the dealer only car auctions
and he hooked me up with the car for his price and no mark up

I gave him some 45 pound weight plates I had
with bad hips and lower back, my weight lifting days are over

I used the weights to set the coilover ride height, I put my bodies weight into the drivers seat


my goal is to do my 1st testing, turning over the engine from the Honda key switch 1st week of December

I want to put oil in the trans before turning it over

and my goal is to have the car running by the end of December

basically a 4 month home built vtec automatic swap
 
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

Untitled by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


here's the del slow smog test paper work from the end of July

the motor ran super clean

D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

MiniDave

That's really cool that you got a fresh motor for that little money!

I'm also considering an automatic swap, mines a bit further down the road tho.

I know we have another member of this forum in Tucson.....I'll try and find out who  it is......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

joakwin

throttle bracket by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

the only thing I did to the mini today

I made the bracket from scratch, it was less work then trying to mod the old one

D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

#32
Quote from: MiniDave on November 25, 2017, 04:07:09 PM
That's really cool that you got a fresh motor for that little money!

I'm also considering an automatic swap, mines a bit further down the road tho.

I know we have another member of this forum in Tucson.....I'll try and find out who  it is......

is it Jon Small or Barney Rael?


ive never seen an automatic vtec mini in a regular round front clip, ive only seen them in clubman front clips, because the size of the auto box,
don't mean that it cant be done

my d16z6 auto set up sits 2 inches outward vs the manual d16z6 set up I had in the car before

the only way to get those 2 inches back would have been to cut the tower on the right side, and build a custom upper arm and move the steering rack 2inches into the shell, but that brings other problems, but I hear its not as bad if a person where to put metro steering arms onto their car and get the mini sport quick rack

maybe just maybe with a lhd steering rack, the rack would clear but I have never really looked at a lhd mini rack and I haven't tried yet to fit a Honda automatic to a round front clip mini

but the Honda automatic does have nice gearing for the smaller mini tires
my manual gearbox had a 3.7 fd from a vx or cx Honda civic, what ever came in the 96 and up civic's is where I got it from

Wilson built a d16 automatic estate wagon for his wife a few years back and he did tell me that it drove nice, and the gearing of the FD was good, he said it was a nice daily driver, his b18 mini was a hand full and was fun but the estate from way nicer to daily drive
Wilson's two vtec mini's where in mini mag a few years back
I want to say sometime around 2012 or 2013

what really sold me on the d series Honda motors was Alvis, he told me that a stock d16 is 125-130hp, the cost to get a A series motor to that power and to keep it from falling apart was night and day
makes a lot of sense to me because those Honda motors run forever and parts are super cheap, and the cost of A series motors in the states are more then double then what they are in the UK



D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

MiniDave

Right on all counts.....I have a friend with a D series in a Pup, perfect balance of power and reliability and works fine with the 10" wheels.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

gr8kornholio

Save some coin and buy parts from the UK.  My minispares stuff is usually here on Thursday if I order by Monday night.  Way less spending than 7.

Love the minis and all the history.   77.gif
I am the GR8KORNHOLIO! Are you threatening me?

Saussie Aussie 1965 Australian MK1 Mini.
"Beavis" - 07 MY/MY MCS, B/MY Konig Daylites, JCW sideskirts, TSW springs, TSW lower rear control arms -- Exploring the country with new friends since 11/09.

joakwin

I made the wiring harness to connect the tail lights

and I found the pin outs for the mk2 tail lights, and will connect the tails this upcoming weekend

I still need to ext the wiring harness for the fuel pump and fuel level sender, that will get done on Saturday

I plan to mod the mini fuel tank to put the Honda fuel level sender in it, so that I don't have to buy the convertor for the different ohms between the Honda gauge and mini fuel level sender

plus I have to mod the fuel tank for a bar that I have going across the car for the coilovers, so I'm going to make the tank a hair bigger
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

not much going on the last few days

I had a doctors appointment for my hips in San Diego, so I went out last Tuesday and got back Thursday

my brother gave me a huge trans cooler,
I have to get some rubber hose for it and make mounts
but I don't really feel like being in a car right now
just drove 425 miles and got stuck in traffic this morning in San Diego for a hour

but I may still go out their and finish wiring the tail lights


D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

MiniDave

That's how they get done, a little bit at a time......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

joakwin

D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

MiniDave

Crikeys, that's WAY bigger than it needs - that's big enough for a full size pickup or a Suburban or something! I thought that was your A/C condenser till I read your comment.....
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

joakwin

Quote from: MiniDave on December 01, 2017, 05:52:51 PM
Crikeys, that's WAY bigger than it needs - that's big enough for a full size pickup or a Suburban or something! I thought that was your A/C condenser till I read your comment.....

my brother runs big block Chevy engines, ie 427's and 454's

and I figure a big cooler will be good in summer time here, 115 plus temp here
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

front tank by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


here's the other side of the tank, I cut the pocket out of the tank to fit it into my shell because of the roll cage bars that I have in the boot, that go to the top of my coil over mounts

my coil over mounts tie into my roll cage, I didn't want to have the weight of the car on just the inner fender wells, seam like the metal would get work harden and rip the thin sheet metal over time

roll cage boot by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

so since I cut that pocket out of the tank, I wanted to add some volume back, so I added the part on the bottom and I ext the filler neck on the tank by 2 inches


my goal is to figure out how to mount the Honda fuel lever sender guts onto the plate that goes into the mini tank
and I have to ext the pickup of the fuel pump to the new bottom of the tank
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

fuel tank level honda by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

Honda fuel level sender with mini seal and lock ring

and still have room to drop the pump inside the tank
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

drivetrain now has coolant, trans oil, engine oil in it

I have to wire up the rear plate lights and fog light and figure out what switch I'm going to use for the fog light

02 sensor install, plus make the rear half of the exhaust

brake lines all around, install calipers

fuel lines, install fuel tank, ext fuel pump pick up tube, ext fuel pump and fuel level wiring

finish building the positive battery cable, build battery mount, install battery ground cable


the list is getting short, to having the car running

but I still need to do the interior work, but I want to hear it run before anything inside happens
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

MiniDave

Be sure to make a vid for us of it when you get it running!
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

joakwin

a video for sure

this weekend I plan to work on the exhaust

and I also have to change struts and axles on my daily 2011 Honda pilot sometime this weekend
and change oil on my wife's Honda element

tomorrow I have to pick up the new strut mounts, they had to order them in from Phx

and I want to pick up the metal to build a battery box,


I want to build a jig for the stock mini subframe, because a friend in texas wants me to build him a tube subframe for a d series Honda drivetrain in a round nose front clip
I'm probably going to build the jig out of 2x3 3/16 wall
but I'm thinking the jig is going to be more of a new years build
but I want to buy the metal in the next few days






D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

I have the fuel lines ran from the tank up to the firewall area now

tank is installed
I had to mod one of the corners, to make it clear the floor better on the back side of it

I ext the fuel pump pickup tubes inside the tank so now that goes to the bottom

I'm almost to the point that I can wire up the fuel pump and fuel level, my goal is to get to that today

the fuel filter is mounted, and I'm also looking at mounting the stock purge emission stuff, I have a line ran from the tank for the canister

came inside for lunch
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

purge canister by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

purge canister has been installed and all the lines have been ran to the fuel tank and the intake manifold, the system was already on the del sol being a 95, so I'm keeping it, so the car will run like it did in the del slow chassis

D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell

joakwin

fuel tank in boot by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


fuel tank sitting in place, I haven't bolted it in yet, I have to build a new strap for the tank

but I'm thinking I'm going to build something off of the roll cage cross over tube
D16z6 Automatic, 4 wheel disc brakes, deseamed shell