Practically Classics Forum

Great job.I love the idea of sleepers.
The things people can do with cars never ceases to amaze me

That is a fantastic piece of work - did it have to go through a BIVA test?

CustomMoggy wrote:Thank you very much John, it's always nice when work is appreciated, I did look at wheel options to try to get close to ogiginal as possible but stud patters proved a problem and it'd cost enough already, again thankyou for your appreciation, Martin

I recall a Fiat 2 litre powered Moggy in street machine magazine years ago running on Cortina steels slightly modified to take the original 'M' logo chrome caps, looked awesome being quite a bit wider (they may have been banded but i'm not certain)

If I was to buy a Minor with a knackered engine gearbox etc, I'd love to fit a small diesel engine and use it as a daily driver. I think the Daihatsu 1.0 TD like in the Morris 8/10 ?? featured in PC a couple of issues ago, would be ideal or a 1.4/1.5 PSA engine like in this minor. It would have to be an "Old School" diesel engine to avoid all the wiring issues with electronic s**t.

i'm restoring my 1974 P6 2200SC at the moment but its engine is perfect, so I won't be going for a perkins prima conversion just yet.

Diesel Fionn wrote:If I was to buy a Minor with a knackered engine gearbox etc, I'd love to fit a small diesel engine and use it as a daily driver. I think the Daihatsu 1.0 TD like in the Morris 8/10 ?? featured in PC a couple of issues ago, would be ideal or a 1.4/1.5 PSA engine like in this minor. It would have to be an "Old School" diesel engine to avoid all the wiring issues with electronic s**t.

i'm restoring my 1974 P6 2200SC at the moment but its engine is perfect, so I won't be going for a perkins prima conversion just yet.

Peugeot XUD1.9 from a Polski-Fiat Polonoez or Caro comes with the Fiat gearbox and is the right way on to go in a RWD car, there's a Reliant Rebel fitted with these and that works well, the Rebel's engine bay is around the same length but narrower than the Minor's and at 590Kg the car's only slightly lighter but the Minor should go very well indeed with one of those. No fancy electrickery either and loads of donor Citroens are in scrapyards though the Fiat gearbox may have to come from a Minor specialist who has done twin cam swaps as there weren't more than around two suitable donors - both Mirafiori - in the last yard I visited after parts.
Yes, that Daihatsu (Kubota) engine's a good one, but I can't help but feel that the character of the NA XUD would suit the car better than a turbo engine of half the capacity.

What do you mean by "Daihatsu (Kubota)" JPB? Was the same engine used in a Kubota?

I'd like to put the same Daihatsu Turbo Diesel into a Moke but finding one here is hard.

I missed a running Charade TD on eBay for $600 a year ago when I was away on holidays. It was only 5km from home too, which made me even madder.

I'd settle for the Turbo Petrol GTTi engine, but again, they are very rare.

The engine used by Daihatsu in the Diesel Charades is a Kubota unit that was designed for plant and marine applications originally but was soon adapted for cars by - among others - Daihatsu and Reliant.

JPB wrote:The engine used by Daihatsu in the Diesel Charades is a Kubota unit that was designed for plant and marine applications originally but was soon adapted for cars by - among others - Daihatsu and Reliant.

Hmm, got a link? All the Kubota 3-pot diesels I can find pics of via google don't look the CL series Charade engine. They all seem to be lower than 37kw and 90Nm too.

I never thought of the Diesel Polenez, now that would be a much better option, particularly the XUd Engine which could be blown if you wanted.
We didn't get the diesel polenez here in Ireland. FSO's weren't big sellers here or Lada's for that matter. Fiats sold well though. The MInor would like a lazy torquey engine.

Diesel Fionn wrote:....The Minor would like a lazy torquey engine.

That was my thinking. And a reliable one.
Brett, I seem to have my Briggs & Stratton mixed up with my Kubota!

The Daihatsu used Briggs engines, the Reliant Giant used a Kubota one. I knew that fine so quite how I got it wrong on that occasion is unknown, but possibly something to do with sunstroke, tiredness and alcohol.