Austin + Phoenix
Remember that three seater Phoenix? Well ..... after a bit of thought and yo-yo'ing, I finally decided to incorporate the best of both worlds: Mating the A+ Series lump and auto box to the Phoenix frame and body!
So a Phoenix frame and body kit was ordered (stage 2) with seat bases thrown in for good measure.
So a Phoenix frame and body kit was ordered (stage 2) with seat bases thrown in for good measure.
This is the raw frame, as you can see, designed to take a VW flat four air cooled lump on the back.
The placing of the A Series engine, with it's drive shafts coming out below the main body of the engine, as opposed to the VW's coming out of the gearbox sitting to the front of the engine, means the A series drive shafts will be further rearward. The only problem this might cause is the form of the built in wheel arches.
The placing of the A Series engine, with it's drive shafts coming out below the main body of the engine, as opposed to the VW's coming out of the gearbox sitting to the front of the engine, means the A series drive shafts will be further rearward. The only problem this might cause is the form of the built in wheel arches.
Trying for size
When the frame and body arrived at Thunderace's workshop he popped it up on three bricks with the Metro lump underneath, and, in his words:
"................ with only a very slight rearward tilt on the motor it does indeed fit under the shell, and taking a measurement from the centre of the arches to the centre of the diff gave me a raw figure of 13 inches.
Straight away however it was fairly obvious that with a little cutting the motor could come another five inches further forward, so since I took the snap the thirteen has already come down to eight, and I am still seeing at least another full inch which I can gain by removing the unused lug off the water pump, so I am going to come down to the centre line of the diff only being seven inches further aft than it would have been with a beetle engine and trans, if I allow the shafts to run at a very slight angle, I am thinking that it actually means I only have to move the arches something like five inches, which is not exactly going to be that difficult."
"................ with only a very slight rearward tilt on the motor it does indeed fit under the shell, and taking a measurement from the centre of the arches to the centre of the diff gave me a raw figure of 13 inches.
Straight away however it was fairly obvious that with a little cutting the motor could come another five inches further forward, so since I took the snap the thirteen has already come down to eight, and I am still seeing at least another full inch which I can gain by removing the unused lug off the water pump, so I am going to come down to the centre line of the diff only being seven inches further aft than it would have been with a beetle engine and trans, if I allow the shafts to run at a very slight angle, I am thinking that it actually means I only have to move the arches something like five inches, which is not exactly going to be that difficult."
Being happy that the engine would fit thoughts turned briefly to the cooling system and other ancilliaries.
As the radiator would now have to be lower than the engine the mini radiator (which sits far too high) is no good. So we opted for a Mk 2 Metro radiator, which will need an expansion tank. Due to the cooling problems experienced by many kit car builders when moving the front engined mini lump rearward a swirl pot was also considered a good idea.
As the radiator would now have to be lower than the engine the mini radiator (which sits far too high) is no good. So we opted for a Mk 2 Metro radiator, which will need an expansion tank. Due to the cooling problems experienced by many kit car builders when moving the front engined mini lump rearward a swirl pot was also considered a good idea.
What does a Swirl Pot do?
It is standard race car practice to use a swirl pot in the cooling system. If hot spots in the engine cause localised boiling of the water, small pockets of air will form. Air in the water will reduce the heat transference properties of the cooling system. If correctly positioned & designed, the swirl pot will spin the water around inside it, making any water pockets form in the middle of the water. Percolation will then make this air rise inside the swirl pot, and exit out of the small bleed tube in the top, back to the header tank.
And, from the guy making the original suggestion:
".......Which allows rad to be mounted lower than the motor with out getting airlock problems.
I have to admit I have as often as not just made one by just cutting the neck off a scrap radiator and welding a few bits of tube together, ...........
It also means that then because the pressure cap is fitted to the top of the swirl pot, the expansion tank is not pressurised and therefore need not be anything special, and can be fitted lower than the swirl pot for easy filling. "
And, from the guy making the original suggestion:
".......Which allows rad to be mounted lower than the motor with out getting airlock problems.
I have to admit I have as often as not just made one by just cutting the neck off a scrap radiator and welding a few bits of tube together, ...........
It also means that then because the pressure cap is fitted to the top of the swirl pot, the expansion tank is not pressurised and therefore need not be anything special, and can be fitted lower than the swirl pot for easy filling. "
This is the swirl pot made up by TA. Custom making one has at least meant he could make one of the two pipes long so the top radiator connection is metal pipe all the way from stat housing to rad with only a short piece of rubber hose at ether end, rather than multiple joins.
Also, to provide more room, a 2 CV alternator was obtained. Because the alternator is going have to mount the same way as on the injection Mini, ie behind the block rather than in front, which means it's then fighting for space with number one exhaust and the mechanical fuel pump the 2CV unit will fit in the space available, whilst still being able to keep the stock fuel pump.