This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
Managed to drop my engine in today for a trial fit and it was quite straight forward really but there is a couple of things I'm not sure about?
The nearside engine mount is about 1 inch wider than the bush that fits into it!! Is this meant to be the case as it does not look right?
Whats the actual point of the v shaped piece as I know where it goes but not what it's purpose is for?
John I also fit my exhaust system and although it currently catches on the bottom wishbone when tight I think it will clear but until I get all mounts tightened up I will not know for sure but will let you know.
My front mount has to be drilled by myself for engine position which I have not done yet!
But I feel this is another bridge crossed! Off tomorrow so can work all day
First of all – it’s a good feeling when the engine is dumped in the bay, isn’t it!
Okay, the mounts:
Gearbox – the one supplied to me by Marlin was a weedy little thing with a polyurethane suspension bush in it. I saw it, said to Mark I thought it was underspecified, and that it’s very different to the one on their blue demonstrator. He said it’s fine, and that I should just get on and use it. I also spoke to Jerry about it, and he likewise thought it wasn’t up to the task. I binned mine, and made a new one using a much larger, and more compliant engine bush from a MK1 Golf. Seems to work well, and should isolate the engine from the chassis, which the poly bush I couldn’t see doing.
Front “dogbone” – This is intended to counteract the engine torque, and thus limit the engine rotation about the lateral mounts. I didn’t fancy drilling my chassis, so welded the bracket on. HOWEVER, on it’s own this will not stop the engine swaying like a hammock. I tried it, and just pushing the engine by hand I could swing it an alarming amount. For this reason I built a cross brace that goes between the suspension hard points. This brace attaches to the rear of the engine / gearbox, via another VW bush welded to the orginal Honda rear gearbox/engine bracket. My engine is now fairly sturdily held in place… I say, hoping my welds will take the sustained exposure to vibrations.
Exhaust – Mine is now in pieces, and I’m awaiting the arrival of a suitably sized (capable of flowing 300bhp in case I get the itch to fit a supercharger… high flow sports cat. Once I’ve got the cat I’ll fire up the cut off saw and welder to make my own system, which will be a larger bore (still only 2.5” OD though), and slightly differently shaped to cater for the dimensions of the cat. Incidentally my exhaust was fabricated very badly, and didn’t fit AT ALL. If yours is okay, then that’s good news.
The v-shaped piece is for the clutch cable. I'm using a hydraulic system, so haven't any pics to show the correct installation.
Nice to hear theres another one on the way, cant offer much guidance on the engine as I went for the 1600 K series, but seems John is able to provide that for you.
Hi John, Yes mounts are the same as your photos ans like your photos mine has a large gap between bush and each end of the mount do you know why?
I must admint your new mounts look a lot more substantial but I can't weld so am very limited!
I know when I took the rear mount of the engine this morning this is quite substantial and I did wonder why Marlin have not used a mount this side!
I too am going to use a hydraulic clutch so will not need the v bracket then.
When I asked Mark why the mount was different, the short answer was “reduced parts count”. Personally I think using the gearbox mount as supplied is a bad move, as it’s massively stiffer than any of the other mounts, and will thus take more than its fair share of stress – the lack of metal in the bracket, and the rigidity (and consequential high peak loads) made me worry about failure. I couldn’t weld before I bought the kit, and I’m still not great, but I decided to forego the cost and time implications.
It’ll be interesting to see how you address the clutch. Jerry and I have both gone down the route of an amended rover pedal box, but are quite different in their design. In retrospect it might have been wiser to buy custom pedal box components, but I’ll wait and see how mine is on the road before making any further changes.
I originally thought that the clutch would be straight forward but having pm'd Jerry a while back I now know that it is not!
Brian who has the turbo version only lives about 25 mins away from me and he has kindly offered to help me convert it as he has done his!
I did however speak to Brian today and he has mentioned about using a motorsport pedal box with hydraulic clutch already built in....sounds good but I would need to keep the brake servo somehow
As the engine mount goes I had not thought about it being to stiff but now that you have mentioned it I can see your point compared to the original mounts! It may be something I can get made up somewhere at a later stage as I could not justify the cost for one job plus I would trust a mount welded by myself less than the Marlin one.
Are you using Marlins black box? When I spoke to Simon at donnington he told me that the type r fuse/relay box is not used, but he did not really elaborate on where the relays went!!
I'm not using Marlin's black box. I want to go down the route of using the type-r dash, which I think will require the multiplex unit.
If I can't get the ecu to work, then I'll go down the Hondata route.
Jerry's clutch pedal arrangement is quite different to mine - my cylinder is on the lateral plane of the car, with ball joints and a pivot arm between pedal and clutch master cylinder. Mine needs some refinement, but I'm leaving that until I check the clutch action with a running engine.
John I asked Simon at donnington about using the type r cluster and he said it was possible but would take time as some if the wires carried multiple signals!
I don't know which way to go as nearing the wiring soon and also need to order my drive shafts
high flow sports cat. Once I’ve got the cat I’ll fire up the cut off saw and welder to make my own system, which will be a larger bore (still only 2.5” OD though), and slightly differently shaped to cater for the dimensions of the cat. Incidentally my exhaust was fabricated very badly, and didn’t fit AT ALL. If yours is okay, then that’s good news.