Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project

[shizzl]

Is the surge tank in the engine bay?

that’s a pretty cool unit

I was thinking of doing that but had zero room behind the centreline of the wheels/suspension. Was told it couldn’t be forward of the wheel centreline where all the room was. 

[Tiger Tamer]

23 hours ago, shizzl said:

Is the surge tank in the engine bay?

that’s a pretty cool unit

I was thinking of doing that but had zero room behind the centreline of the wheels/suspension. Was told it couldn’t be forward of the wheel centreline where all the room was. 

I was going to put it in the engine bay as that’s where they are designed to go. I was going to put it where the battery was which will be a little forward of the wheels centre line. Was it a cert requirement to be behind the centre line.

[cletus]

correct, for cert, cant be forward of the axle centerline, have tried to get an exemption for one that was only slightly forward and was already done, nope.

 

i m o  its not ideal to put a surge tank in the engine bay anyway due to heat

you have to be wary of things designed for use in america, parts are often designed for ease of use/diy/it bolts on!, not safety or optimal performance

[Tiger Tamer]

2 hours ago, cletus said:

correct, for cert, cant be forward of the axle centerline, have tried to get an exemption for one that was only slightly forward and was already done, nope.

 

i m o  its not ideal to put a surge tank in the engine bay anyway due to heat

you have to be wary of things designed for use in america, parts are often designed for ease of use/diy/it bolts on!, not safety or optimal performance

Thanks for the clarification on that. I am glad I hadn't ordered one yet. Cheers.

[shizzl]

Would’ve sucked to have ordered it, installed it to be wrong.

sorry to foil the plan 

[Tiger Tamer]

3 minutes ago, shizzl said:

Would’ve sucked to have ordered it, installed it to be wrong.

sorry to foil the plan 

Saved the day more like it. Cheers

[shizzl]

I’m glad something I heard was useful to someone.

 

my work here is done haha

[Tiger Tamer]

On 17/06/2024 at 13:52, cletus said:

correct, for cert, cant be forward of the axle centerline, have tried to get an exemption for one that was only slightly forward and was already done, nope.

 

i m o  its not ideal to put a surge tank in the engine bay anyway due to heat

you have to be wary of things designed for use in america, parts are often designed for ease of use/diy/it bolts on!, not safety or optimal performance

I am hoping It is ok to put it here in the boot. I suppose it could be considered in a vulnerable position but it is a tank inside another fairly solid box with a drain tube to go out through the floor and sealed with fuel tank sealer.

To fit it up on the shelf in the boot and then with the diff jacked up to the bump stops I run out of room for the fuel lines.

 

[mjrstar]

The oem ecu for sure will require a speed input  to be happy. I know someone with an f20c in an escort running a stock ecu. There was a guy in the uk maybe that modifies the looms and turns it into something like a 6 or 7 wire install of the factory ecu /loom. He runs a dirveshaft pickup for speed reference which seems to do the trick.

 

I assume the f20c and k20 won't be hugely different as far as wiring configuration goes, well accept for obvious oem orientation..

[Tiger Tamer]

22 hours ago, mjrstar said:

The oem ecu for sure will require a speed input  to be happy. I know someone with an f20c in an escort running a stock ecu. There was a guy in the uk maybe that modifies the looms and turns it into something like a 6 or 7 wire install of the factory ecu /loom. He runs a dirveshaft pickup for speed reference which seems to do the trick.

 

I assume the f20c and k20 won't be hugely different as far as wiring configuration goes, well accept for obvious oem orientation..

This is what they say on the Hondata site which maybe what you are referring to with the speed input. 

Transmission Issues

Any K-series engine can be used with K-Pro in an engine swap.  But the transmission will need to be from an 02-04.  Using an 05-06 transmission will mean that the speedometer will not work, and VTEC will not engage. 

You must use the 02-04 engine harness and oxygen sensor. 

 

 

The Toyota trans must use something similar as there is no cable drive, but if it can be used to talk to the Honda ecu is another story. I haven't had much luck googling what others have done. A lot of transplants are either front wheel drive so they use the Honda trans and the rear wheel drive cars have been a much more modern car. The K power site has wiring looms for rwd set ups for MX5 but they are extremely expensive and it looks like you have to use a different ecu as well.

I will keep looking but I think the info on the Hondata site is probably the best as long as it doesn't only relate to using their ecu's.

 

[BiTurbo228]

Going way back to page 1 (where I'm catching up), it's interesting about the 3mm vs 6mm steel for the engine mounts. I've had that mentioned to me before, but I measured the engine mount brackets on my Jaguar AJ6 and they're 3mm thick. The mounts are quite tucked in so you don't get so much of a lever arm on them trying to twist them apart, and they're quite well triangulated, but to be clear this is a 325kg engine and gearbox package so you'd expect the forces to be really quite large on these.

[Tiger Tamer]

12 hours ago, BiTurbo228 said:

Going way back to page 1 (where I'm catching up), it's interesting about the 3mm vs 6mm steel for the engine mounts. I've had that mentioned to me before, but I measured the engine mount brackets on my Jaguar AJ6 and they're 3mm thick. The mounts are quite tucked in so you don't get so much of a lever arm on them trying to twist them apart, and they're quite well triangulated, but to be clear this is a 325kg engine and gearbox package so you'd expect the forces to be really quite large on these.

Yeah. I think the treason is that factory engine mounts are made from pressed steel into strong shapes with stiffening etc. You can't do that making them yourself. Pretty much anything you do has to be a little heavier gauge steel than what you have removed.

[Tiger Tamer]

I have set up the steering with a Mx5 power steering rack and column which has worked out perfectly for placement. I have a MR2 electric hyd pump to provide the fluid. I even had the rack rebuilt, BUT, the steering is really quite light without the pump probably because I had to set the engine back further than the original Hillman engine. I don't want to have a rebuilt rack depowered as you need to do for cert.

Though, on trade me there is a manual rack for sale for a far more than you would pay for a power rack. I presume a manual rack is quite rare therefore the price.    There seems to be some on the forum that play with mx5's so they might know how rare they are and a fair price for one . $ 580 is pretty steep for a well used part. Cheers.

MX5 NA Manual Steering Rack | Trade Me Motors

[mjrstar]

Sounds spendy, I paid $1000 for an entire car. Admittedly it does have 336,000km on it.

[Tiger Tamer]

Apparently, the manual rack is a slower ratio than the power steering rack, so I will stick with the power rack and perhaps reduce the fluid flow to reduce assist.

I am using a MR2 pump for the rack and the MR2 had assist that was controlled so you had more at slow speed and less at higher speeds. Now that would be nice to have but I am not that smart.