Shallower Sump?

[burnard]

Hi guys,

Obviously im new here, and somewhat out of place, since i own a mini!
BUT there's a twist... I do have an E16SE engine.

The car is pretty damn low at the moment, and rather than risk smashing the sump or raising it back up again, i came up with an idea.

I currently have the standard steel sump.

What i would like to know is if their is a shallower sump and pick up that would give me an extra bit of ground clearance?
Failing that, has anyone ever chopped their sump to give them more clearance?

Ive come to you guys because you are obviously the professionals when it comes to these engines, my mini friends don't have a clue, and all still believe that the gearbox is meant to live in the sump, so this would never be possible!

Whilst im here, can anyone give me a link to a weld in sump baffle kit, if they are even available? i cant seem to find them anywhere.


Many thanks :)


Chris.

[dgbnova#1]

Hi and welcome

i dont know of any standard sumps like you are after so I think it's a cut and weld job including the pickup pipe I'd say but nothing saying you could not add elsewhere to keep the oil quantity up like a dry sump or oil cooler.

e 16 sumps do have a plate built in but same again if you want an addition your gona need to weld one

[Iain]

I don't know of any 'off the shelf' baffle kits to weld in for these so have to design something or find one to copy.

PS feel free to message me some info as thinking of doing this conversion too, e.g. what subframe you recommend

[philip]

Any reason why need a shallower sump? And how much shallower? As you will need to modify pickup pipe too suit, run much less oil so depending on use car will run hotter. Ive got a couple of lads running 20xes on standard sumps and havent been an issue and one races in the 16v championship.

[dgbnova#1]

Think it's because it's a mini so it's gona b low anyway.
id be interested in photos of this also as if u get an e16 in what's stopping an x16?

[kbf71]

I have details for Paul Fish at Race & Restoration who does Mini's and modified Mini's from a workshop in Wrawby. If he doesn't know of a kit he can probably make it - top welder and fabricator. Don't know many who do a nicer job of brazing these days either. I've had him do quite a lot of parts for me over the years and we do a lot of work for him too. Let me know if you want them :)

[philip]

Dave - the lads im on about run 20xes in minis with no issues.

[burnard]

This is the car:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/320473_10151051581060853_1783920101_n.jpg

The reason for the sump chop is to give some extra clearance for a flat floo/ splitter. If i fit it with the sump where it is, it is going to end up lower than the floor.
Im not sure on the measurements, but it cant be more than 20mm that needs to come off.

I dont know how much you guys know about these conversions, but this is the ONLY one on the road which is fully legal. Too much to go into in in detail but by using the 20xe lump, you have to do bulkhead modifications, which automatically means the car HAS to go for an IVA. But no one ever bothers. And i dont think anyone has ever crashed one badly enough for it to be inspected that closely. but im not taking the risk.

Main reason for not fitting a 16XE lump... Bulkhead clearance. It is so tight that you wind up needing to have an internal pedal box, along side the extra cost of the engine and ancillaries, it wasnt financially viable for me at the time. However, it would be a VERY easy swap for me to do now.

The 20XE mini's also handle like **** because its way too heavy for the front of one of these cars.

Subfame wise, Allspeed every day!

I am in the process of planning a new engine build, and was going to be my next topic anyway. :) Got a number of options to weigh up.

[dgbnova#1]

We'll Philip ure man for help info and parts for a build mate think he's doing most of the engines on here

a good welder should be able to do that easy enough

[dgbnova#1]

Post some photos of the conversion if u have them

[peester]

speak to Bill Falconer; http://www.billfalconer.webs.com/ he's adamant he uses the old steel sumps even on the 16v versions of the 1.6... not sure if he's ever trimmed the bottom of one to be shallower but he has baffled them, from what I can recall..
I have dabbled a bit with shortening the sump (well given it to welders/fabricators) but in aluminium, on a small block 16v. Not had a good time of it to be honest..

[burnard]

Peester, what problems did you encounter?

I have a full, basic workshop at home, so do everything my self, even down to setting the suspension, which took me a while to learn!

I dont know if i mentioned that i am also planning a new engine build for some time in the near future, either this year or early 2015.
I just cant decide what to do at the moment.

Anyway, this is whats what under the bonnet....

Just about finished:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/477457_10150685185410853_1172675153_o.jpg

Tial fit:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/337703_10150526309655853_1690748808_o.jpg