Project: Turbo Clubman

[shaggy591a]

As you all know I wrecked my 91 mini and since then I have been looking for another. Well I bought one and can't wait to start working on it once I get it to my place. I bought Whidbey Turbo's Clubman and am wanting to keep it a turbo So if anyone want to help me work on it you are all welcome as I have no idea what I am doing and will need help taking the new motor apart and then putting it back together. I am wanting to keep costs down by not paying someone else do the work for me and it will help me learn more about my mini. I will be posting here on the progress as I go.

Chris

[buddylove]

That's way past what I can do. Good luck with the build!

[shaggy591a]

Thanks I will need it.

[Mark]

Hi Chris,
Let me know what level of work you can do, and where you'd like to do it. I have an idea.
Best regards,
MSH

[shaggy591a]

Well I have taken apart a lawn mower engine and put it back together. I think I had extra screws and bolts after it was put together though. LOL. I have never done anything this extensive before but would like to learn all I can. I am open to where ever it is good to get the job done at. I would do it at my house but there is no room in my garage and I would have to do it under the car port. If you know a better place, we can do it there.

[shaggy591a]

I am picking up the clubman tomorrow and bringing to my place Sunday. Will be sorting out all the parts and what nots Monday. I am so excited to start digging in and working on it.

I started taking off a bunch of stuff off and out of the old mini. I took out the radio and other aftermarket stereo stuff I put in it. Took off the front bumper and battery. I pulled some of the dent out with my winch on my jeep so when I put my spare tire that I have on. Just need to move it out of the way to make room for the clubman.

[shaggy591a]

I brought the Clubman home last weekend and started pulling a few things out. I took out the radio and the steering wheel. I will be putting in another radio I have and installing a quick release for the steering wheel.

I picked up the motors Saturday and will be looking them over to see how they are. I believe the motor that is apart the block is bad and the camshaft was bad. Right now I will be just making sure the donor motor is good, and taking the turbo out and running the car Naturally Aspired till I get all the parts I need to upgrade.

[shaggy591a]

Added my new steering wheel quick release.

[shaggy591a]

Well I have decided to pull the motor out of my black mini and put it into the clubman and run that until I can upgrade the new motor for the turbo.

[shaggy591a]

Started work on the black mini getting it ready for the motor swap. Pulling out the cracked radiator and the shroud which is still good. Pulled the alternator and the broken headlight. The wiring is just a mess in there and is going to be a pain to figure out what is what. I found out that the headlights were wired using a ford wiring harness from something, no idea where that came from. Pulled the turbo from the Clubman and looked at the wires and hoses to figure out what goes where. Hoping to have the swap ready next week and do the swap the week after. Will be doing more this weekend.

[shaggy591a]

On Friday I took the carb off and labeled a bunch of the hoses and cables before the rain came. Today I got further into the motor swap today. I took the starter, the coil and the horn off. I also moved the car so it is more on a level ground so it is easier to get under the car and take care of that stuff. Should be ready to pull the motor next week. Not much else that needs done. Hope it doesn't rain and I can get it done.

[shaggy591a]

Well today I got the roll pin out from the gear shifter to the transmission, but lost the pin in the grass. Oh well LOL, will find it when I move the mini out of the way. Hope to get the motor out this next week as most of the hoses and cables are off. Just have to get the driveshafts, speedo cable, and clutch slave cylinder.

[shaggy591a]

Worked on the mini today. I took off the exhaust on the clubman because I need to take it apart for the new manifold I got. Took a bunch more stuff off the motor so I can reach the clutch master cylinder but still can't cause of the exhaust manifold is still in the way. My dad is going to come over on saturday to help, hoping to get the motor out and into the clubman.

[shaggy591a]

Well Saturday was a very productive day. My dad came over from Yakima to help me out. We pulled the motor out of my 1991 and put it in the clubman. It wasn't bad pulling the motor out, but putting it in was a lil challenging. I had to replace the motor mount on the fan side, it was pretty bad. I also replaced the top mount rubber with poly bushings. The motor is now in there solid with no movement. Mounting the clutch side to the subframe was difficult, that took some time to get the bolts and nuts tightened.




Today I installed the new Miniflow header, intake manifold, the alternator, coil, and starter.

[Mark]

Fantastic Progress, Chris!
Give me a shout if you get the chance,
Best,
MSH