I did a trial fit of the engine+trans, and the trans will fit into the stock tunnel.
Another fellow did a Suzuki 1.3L swap into his bugeye,
The Suzuki Swift GTi
so you can review that effort. A beautiful job and car.
The suzuki trans will fit the tunnel, the shifter is a little farther forward. The Samuri shifter is made for a truck, so you can't really use it as-is, so you can locate the knob where you want it when you modify the rod.
A Samuri trans is not easy to find these days. I first got a Tracker trans, and its a little different, the 1.6L "big block" has different lower mount holes, and the trans is a little beefier.
I have not done the clutch slave cylinder yet, but it will need some custom fabrication mounts. Shouldn't be any problem though.
The exhaust is not a problem regarding the steering. However, you will definitely need some work, as the stock pipe exits differently,
but the manifold should be OK.
I will be fabricating custom stainless steel headers,
and running the exhaust pipe through the trans tunnel for a lower ride height and better undercarriage aero.
Sure you can use the stock radiator. Just need a lot of piping since the G10 hoses exit out the "back", and the radiator is in the "front".
The stock radiator is copper and not particularly light, an aluminum unit would safe some weight.
I'm planning a unique radiator that I think will be an automotive first, maybe even patentable.
The driveshaft is always an issue in a swap, but a driveshaft shop can make whatever is needed not too expensive. The stock driveshaft is small and lightweight, the samurai yoke is similiar in size. I plan to make one in aluminum.
I've been doing lots of work on the my car, but mostly have been fabricating the fiberglass body panels:
http://nimblemotorsports.com/mgeo/trunkform.jpg
http://nimblemotorsports.com/mgeo/trunkrough.jpg
Doing the doors and hood now.
Jack Murray
Nimble Motorsports
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmichael52
I have a 79 Midget, and have contemplated this Geo swap, primarily because of reliability issues (British cars are cool looking, but they are such gawd awful POS's)- and retain the OEM rear end and my Dayton wire wheels. JDM has turnkey Metro 1.0 liter 3 cylinders for 600 bucks- about the same price to find a 35-40 year old MG farm tractor motor block with crank that's been reconditioned and line bored by someone competent in dealing with British anchors. Samurai transmissions can be found on ebay although one can expect that the condition of the thing will be much similar to buying a British car transmission off of ebay.
I see a few potentially large hurdles to clear with this swap. Since you have it all apart and laying all over your garage floor Nimblemotors, aside from the obvious (Driveshaft, motor mounts, etc):
1. With the Metro engine now facing in the correct direction, the exhaust manifold is now on the left side of the engine. Is there enough clearance around the steering linkage shaft?
2. Metro's/Swift's & Samurais all have cable clutches. Midgets are set up for hydraulic.
3. The radiator. Can hoses be made up to get to the MG radiator? The only other low profile radiator I know of that will fit is an Audi 5000 radiator. There is not much room here. Custom builds ARE NOT CHEAP.
4. I forgot what #4 is.
5. I'm thinking the tunnel should be okay, as I did a rough measure of a Samurai 5 speed last summer when I was changing a clutch for a customer. However I didn't look at the the shifter location. These are tiny cars that fit like a shoe- a size 7.5 when you have a 9 inch foot. A few inches back may not seem like much, but you will be cursing shifting if the shifter is moved back any further than what it is- which also steals from the joy of shifting a manual shift transmission.
Any thoughts or observations?
|