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Hey guys I know I’m gonna get a lot of sh*t but it’s all good. I’m creating this thread so I can get some solid feedback on this project. It’s prettry unique and I’ll explain a bit why I did it.
At this point in posting I’m about a good 60 percent done. I’ve spent sooo many hours welding/cutting and doing body work.
I wanted to have done a good amount before letting people in on it. I’ll post some pics as well, sadly I didn’t take as many as I should have but it’s the end that matters.
Why I took a 79 Austin mini 1000cc and body swapped it onto a 97 del sol 1.6l.
A couple of reasons but I’d say there are 3 main ones.
1. Rust. My family brought the mini back from France it was a (racing mini) had a lot of custom body work pieces on it that were cool. It’s left hand drive manual. The downsides it was extremely rusted away on the bottom and around the front of the car. Overall a rust bucket.
2. Parts for the mini are sooo expensive and it being old they are hard ish to come by. (I could find what I needed but it was expensive)
3. Power. The car is a oversized go cart and so much fun to drive (when it worked) though it lacked the power that I was wanting. I’ve seen people drop Honda/hyabusas/R1 engines in them and have fun. That was the original plan until i realized how bad the rust was and the braking system+suspension.
Grand Idea stretch and do a body swap with a car that my cousin had. (Del sol 1.6). I also have a 84 interceptor so I’ve always had a thing for Honda.
Below ill post pics of what I spent all summer/fall/winter doing.
Last edited by cseifert; Dec 21, 2018 at 12:11 PM.
Reason: Incorrect title caused confusion.
so....you removed a 1.6L 125HP engine and replaced it with a measly 49HP 1.0L engine. I've seen some downsize swaps but this is about the most pointless one. Change my mind....
Step 1 was chopping the Honda and Mini.
I probably spent over 100 hrs on the Honda with the plasma cutter.
The Mini took me about a day.
With both I had to do additional cutting but I was very surprised at the fitment and how well it did based on my ESTIMATES.
just when you thought you've seen everything lol, very interested to see the outcome of this, i love off the wall builds. Not for me but like to see them.
After I chopped the Honda up I then cut the mini into sections so I could place it on the Honda easier and where I wanted it. Next step was welding supports for the mini onto the Honda and mounting it best I could.
I did have issues with the body torquing as I welded the supports so when I we doing body work one spot that really struggled was the roof. So I had to cut out a section and redo it. (It aslo has some of the worst rust)
Now to bring everyone up to speed. Here are the most recent photos though hopefully the holidays will give me time to have some additional progress.
I’m currently doing a few things.
The exhaust will exit in front of the right rear tire. (The Del sol exhaust used to have a bend around there making it the easiest exit)
i know this will be frowned upon as well but I’m putting the radiator in the trunk due to needing to cut back a few (10-12) inches in the front. (I’ve read up extensively as people have done similar things before(keep in mind I’m not going to be racing this right off the bat) I plan on keeping an eye on my engine temp and replacing water pump) also my putting the radiator in the back I will have longer lines adding more fluid to help cool then engine. I may consider adding a pump in the rear to push coolant quicker depending how it does.
The next step is making it pretty with hours of body work.
Yeah I’ll be doing a wide body for sure. I’m going to upgrade tire size as well. Also good news I don’t have to put the radiator in the back 🙏🏻 I’m able to still fit it up front with the mini front end.
That was an idea I researched throughly but was gonna be a pain.
Man I haven’t posted in awhile but I’ve made PROGRESS. Body work is coming along you almost can’t tell I extended body by 3 inches. The hood is going to be the worst part.
Had to drive it to get the rear windows measured for some custom windows. Stupid loud straight piped. Any recommendations on some glass packs to make it deeper??
You
can tell I’m not done. But work took me out of country for a bit. Hoping to finish one day lol. The exhaust is sadly not shown but it’s in front of passenger rear tire and looks sweet. Has dual chrome tip.
79 Austin Mini/97 Del Sol Body Swap
