'66 Sunbeam Minx Project - F20C/6sp/4-link/Discs...

[Frizzle Fry]

Edit* If/When my photobucket bandwidth limit is exceeded here's a direct link to the PB: http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...20C%20Install/

I found this car on Portland Craigslist by searching for the word "Classic" in the cars for sale section. I saved the original ad in a word doc and have attached it to this post.

Long story short: The brakes didn't work so I ended up trailering it home:




I got it home, cleaned it up, rebuilt the master cylinder and started driving it (ditched those cook-top burner beauty rings, curb feelers, and aftermarket bumper mounted antenna too):

[Frizzle Fry]

After going through the documents the seller provided I found that the car had been driven less that 600 miles in the last 20 years!

As much as I was diggin the white walls, those bias plys were ridiculous to dive on so I threw some new radials on there and took it to the PIR cruise-in:













For my tastes the car sat way too high. So I made 2" lowering blocks for the rear and removed one coil from the front. I added a roof rack and she made her second appearance at PIR:

[NONHOG]

That is fitting of "other" projects ! Pretty darn cool FF .
Maybe I will start a few "other" projects , Oldsmobile, V8 Volvo Hmmmm?

[Frizzle Fry]

In the following months I drove it as a daily driver. The 1725cc I4 did OK at best (for my tastes). I rebuilt the carb, added a petronix ign and flame thrower coil, adjusted timing and fuel curves, plugs, wires, used an assortment of internal cleaning products, etc. but it just wasn't peppy enough for me after driving a big block 476 as a daily driver. Since then I have read that much of the power loss was likely due to the inefficient Borg-Warner Auto...

All of those facts combined to motivate me to look for an alternate powertrain. I thought about the Buick/Rover V8's (all aluminum), but they are actually wider than an SBC. I heavily considered a GM 60 degree V6. Specifically the 3.6 from the Caddy CTS (all aluminum). But in the end there was not much aftermarket support and I could not find a single documented swap (I'm not looking to be a complete pioneer on this one). Looking for something that had at least been done with success lead me to the F20C and 6sp from the Honda S2000. It's all aluminum, small, light, and powerful (240hp with a 9000 RPM redline), with an abundant aftermarket. The 2800 LB S2000 gets closer to 30 MPG hwy so my car should be at least there or better.

A couple months later this found it's way to the shop. You can see the car already being prep'ed in the background:

[Frizzle Fry]

These are the last "before" shots:

[Frizzle Fry]

Engine out. None of the front clip is removable. All welded on:









One of the first mods I wanted to make was to address the battery box in the driver's side inner fender.






It just bugged me... The battery will be relocated to the trunk so:

[Frizzle Fry]

What's an old 67-72 Chevy truck inner fender good for?

[msgross]

now that sure is another "other project" to be working on...

[ERASER5]

That's going to be a fun car!

[IvelDesigns]

that motor is gonna turn this car into a rocket. uphill will still be problem... when you get to the top you just might take off for flight.

dig the ride man. these "you don't see them every day" projects are the best IMO.

[CG]

What? I thought this thing was done already? LOL...I got to see this one in person. Its going to be a cool ride.

[Frizzle Fry]

Thanks guys! It's a fun project. I'm happy about the idea of NOT doing any external body work. It will appear factory from the outside with the exception of the wheels. I'm keeping all the trim and chrome bumpers.

At about this point I was searching craigslist for various parts when I came across a guy parting one out. It had a complete front and rear suspension plus several other items I needed/wanted. After looking it over and taking measurements I decided I could make the front suspension work by using the S2000 frame rails and shock towers.

So I ended up with this for a couple months (gone now):

[Frizzle Fry]

The original front suspension was very similar to the Chevy trucks:


And here's the S2000 gear as a comparison:


Side-by-side:

[Frizzle Fry]

In order to make the S2000 suspension work three things will have to happen:
1)Install S2000 frame rails and shock towers
2)Narrow S2000 crosmember and use a shorter rack
3)Fabricate shorter control arms

So here's progress toward step 1:

[Frizzle Fry]

Another justification for swapping suspension: You can see here that the original center link ran along the firewall. That recess above it is where the heater box sat. My plan was to extend that recess all the way down allowing for more engine setback.



More cutting:




First drop in of many to come...

[Frizzle Fry]

That's as far as it would go The shifter housing was in the way (too far back). I knew it would have to be relocated from my initial measurements but now it had to happen:









...and she's in:

[Frizzle Fry]

Though from the pics that appears to work, the tunnel was just too small, so...



Removing the tranny tunnel gave me good access to both sides of the firewall for installation of the pedals. Here the firewall is center marked for the brake master cylinder (no room for the booster). You can see the old MC hole bellow it:



From the inside; the section of the Sunbeam brake pedal bracket I will incorperate into the S2000 assembly:


Drilled/cut the firewall and the bracket at the same time with the appropriately sized holesaw and mounted the MC:




I positioned the pedal where I wanted it and made it perminent. Not shown is that I moved the push-rod hole on the arm up 1/2" to reduce pedal pressure required with manual brakes. This was done after calculating the effect on stroke (still plenty)






Brake and throttle pedals installed (throttle uses part of the S2000 bracket too):

[Frizzle Fry]

Next up was the clutch pedal assembly and MC. This was more of a challenge than the previous two. You can see in this pic that the firewall has odd contours and a fresh air vent right where the clutch pedal and MC need to go:


And on the inside I had this to work with:


You can see right above where the clutch pedal needs to go in the above pic is a reinforcement and some bolts/nuts in reddish/brown primer. That is the underside of the hood hinge (strong). A little tweaking/drilling and I came up with this:

[Frizzle Fry]

Firewall adjustment:

[Frizzle Fry]

Clutch pedal install:

















In this case I had limited space for pedal throw. A combination of footwell and pedal modification along with fabricating this push rod clevis to move to a larger effective arc (lower pivot point on pedal arm for the push-rod) resulted in full stroke for the clutch MC:

[Bishops Trucks]

Great work. Thats a very cool little car.

[Sinister]

That's pretty amazing.

[*Dylan]

I think I'm more thrilled by this build than you are! I'm definitely going to watch and take some notes. Looks like it would be one heck of a fun build to do some day! Got any plans to beef up that motor? Also anything in mind for paint?

[thirdstreettito]

Dang! Never heard of one of these. I cant wait til its done, I love watching these sweet build! We'll need videos when your done!

[ksjh1316]

I am truely impressed. I saw the first pic and thought rover v8 then the Honda curve came in never would have thought of that. Next thought was will he have to run the MGB V* suspension and brakes to get it to handle and stop right then the honda frame came in. Let me tell you you are doing one heck of a job on this I had crazy dreams on my MGB but never would have thought of anything this cool. Keep up the good work.