sr20det Swap into Mini Cooper

[ImportKrazy]

Hello all,

Im an avid import fan, but never done a swap myself. so i was wondering if anyone would kno if a sr20det would fit into a mini cooper?

[Seishuku]

A real mini? I doubt it, I'm pretty sure the bay is too narrow, but I have access to one and could find out.
A BMW Mini, I'm sure it would fit, it's way bigger.

Now, are you talking about converting to RWD or keeping it FWD? It would be possible to fit a RWD SR20 in the real mini bay, but more than likely have to do a completely custom firewall and make a transmission tunnel.

Of course anything is possible given enough money and time, but if you've never done a swap before, I wouldn't start here.

[ImportKrazy]

My bad, my first account to a forum, but i inquire on them all the time. i was thinking a bmw mini, and RWD is the preference, but im not too picky.

Its not necessarily my first swap, im helping my brother place a sr20det into a '83 bmw 320is, and i love the SR, and i like the Mini. and i figured the smallness of the car would help with the power the weight ratio.

[Seishuku]

Obviously the FWD SR would be a better fit, since it's a lot of fab work to convert to RWD, but like I said, with enough money anything is possible.

The big thing with a FWD swap is getting custom axles made, RWD would involve a complete new rear suspension, a trans tunnel, custom drive shaft, etc.

[ImportKrazy]

Yea, i kinda figured there would deff be alot of fabrication, because of very evident differences in the Mini Cooper and the 240sx that the SR20DET actually belongs in.

my thing is, would it be worth it to swap in?

custom axles? can i take any from another vehicle?

[Seishuku]

Not likely any axles would be close. You would probably have to use the inner CV for the SR and the outer CV from the mini and have a custom shaft made up with the SR splines on one side and mini splines on the other.

Of course that's the FWD SR, RWD SR is a whole different ball game.

I wouldn't bother swapping the mini's engine, unless it's got something really wrong with it and you don't have a choice, but there are enough bolt-on goodies for the mini to make it fun.

[ImportKrazy]

Damn, I was really hoping to throw some major power into one. Seems like more work then worth for a high school kid. Maybe later. Thank you for your advice and input.