Ls4 in a Mini Cooper?

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03-29-2020, 04:04 AM

#21

tfi racing

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Yount

Frenchy - have you ever looked under the hood of a '12 Cooper? I think you may have more luck trying to do what the guys at MiniTec down in Georgia do with the old Minis. They shoehorn a Honda/Acura V6 transversely into the BACK end. This allows the FWD drivetrain to be moved to the back. Lose the back seat in the 2012 -- and build a subframe to put the LS4/tranny in the ***-end. Plenty of room up front then for cooling, fuel cell, etc. Voila - mid-engined, V8 Mini Cooper.

Oh yeah - bring a big checkbook.

That's one way to do it,maybe a LS4/4T60E combo would slide in the back as well. Or how about a transaxle from an early eighties Eldo/Riv/Toro with a LS adapter plate for a mid engined Mini?

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Frenchy115 (03-29-2020)

03-29-2020, 03:22 PM

#22

fieroguru

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Putting it in the back would avoid the additional clearance needed for the wheels to turn. Here is my LS4/F40 (6 speed manual) in the back of an 88 Fiero):
Build threads (the one on fiero.nl is much more detailed)
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...peed-swap.html
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000123.html

Here is when I pulled it after 6 years and 55K miles to fix a failed DOD lifter and do some upgrades.

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Frenchy115 (03-29-2020)

03-29-2020, 04:51 PM

#23

Project GatTagO

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I would think that a RWD conversion would be the way to go with a newer style Mini. Not sure how the track width of an Impala compares to that of the Mini, but they probably are not that far off. Fender flares can be added, like it is done with the old Minis. Google lists the Mini track width at about 58" in the rear and the Impala is 62.5" in the front. Totally doable.

Andrew

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Frenchy115 (03-29-2020)

03-29-2020, 05:13 PM

#24

Frenchy115

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Quote:

Originally Posted by fieroguru

Here is when I pulled it after 6 years and 55K miles to fix a failed DOD lifter and do some upgrades.

Putting it in the back does seem like the way to go. I totally forgot about the wheel clearance until you brought it. I’ll start doing measure measurement for a subframe so how that’ll go.

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03-24-2021, 07:31 PM

#25

Leti Heron

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Wanted to know how your swap/planning is going

I don’t have an answer, but I too plan on putting an LS into my Mini Cooper. I figure I’ll start in 5-7 years, I have the car, I’m saving the money for now. Have you started the swap? Have you started the planning? Do you have the hatchback or what? Mines an 09 clubman s, also going to chop most of the back off of it and pretend it’s a truck

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frenchy115

I’m new to this whole engine swap. I was wondering if the ls4 will be able to fit into a 2012 Mini Cooper and if it does what other parts will I need to get this build together? Thank you!!