I wonder if...............[Maxi content]

[Rocket88]

I am negotiations with a good denizen of this website to possibly purchase a Maxi. Have been driving a Maestro turbodiesel recently, and very impressed with economy power etc, and was wondering if said lump [plus gearbox] would be a relatively [!] simple transplant................

[Inspector Morose]

Don't think so. I thought the Maxi had an 'in sump' gearbox but the Maestro was end on. If so a lot of work required.

[Station]

I reckon it would! E-series, O-series, K-series, can't be too difficult to swap them over.

[Cavcraft]

Would you also need the fuel tank changing and does the Maestro have a pump inside the tank as some cars do? I could see that being a stumbling block to be honest.I'd be tempted to try and shoe horn a modern-ish petrol engine in to be honest. Having said that a 1750 shouldn't be too bad on juice and they have a reasonable amount of poke.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

It would be a nightmare, like the first geezer said, the maxi has a mini-like gearbox in sump arrangement, and the engine bay is very narrow because of that. Trying to get an end-on gearbox in there would be a right old war, you'd end up deleting most of the inner wings where the suspension pivots on, and ending up with something that was barely a maxi anymore. Then when you'd finished it some clever armchair VOSA inspector would say 'you've chopped up the structure, you need to sent this for a beaver test' and what have you.A maxi diesel mind you sounds like the ultimate in shite motoring. 'Yeah the petrol engine was alright, but it had twin carbs - a bit racy for me TBH, so I chucked in this diesel instead'

[Rocket88]

It would be a nightmare, like the first geezer said, the maxi has a mini-like gearbox in sump arrangement, and the engine bay is very narrow because of that. Trying to get an end-on gearbox in there would be a right old war, you'd end up deleting most of the inner wings where the suspension pivots on, and ending up with something that was barely a maxi anymore. Then when you'd finished it some clever armchair VOSA inspector would say 'you've chopped up the structure, you need to sent this for a beaver test' and what have you.

 

A maxi diesel mind you sounds like the ultimate in shite motoring. 'Yeah the petrol engine was alright, but it had twin carbs - a bit racy for me TBH, so I chucked in this diesel instead'

Point taken. I reckon, having driven my Maestro, and a 1750 maxi [in the dim and distant] that there's little difference in "real world" performance. I had thought about a more modern petrol lump, but I don't fancy anything that has an ECU involved in it. Likely, once something is registered over here, we don't have annual MOTs, so the spectre of SVA etc is not reaaly a problem..

[Lankytim]

Its more possible with a Maxi than it is with an Allegro, as it has a front subframe so the inner wings can be chopped away, bit like a mini. I guess you could make it a flip-front or something.Hummm...The first Maestro 1600s used R series engines, which are effectively the same as E series, as used in Maxis... Maestros also used the O series which spawned the Perkins prima... Maybe its all doable with the right engineering.. or maybe not.

[Rocket88]

Its more possible with a Maxi than it is with an Allegro, as it has a front subframe so the inner wings can be chopped away, bit like a mini. I guess you could make it a flip-front or something.Hummm...The first Maestro 1600s used R series engines, which are effectively the same as E series, as used in Maxis... Maestros also used the O series which spawned the Perkins prima... Maybe its all doable with the right engineering.. or maybe not.

Funnily enough, having just had a good look at a flip front Mini, I think it's fairly doable, and it would make life a lot easier. Looking at it from the other direction, I wonder how feasable it would be to drop a Golf engine/box into a Maestro, seeing as some already run VW boxes anyway........

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Thats a good idea, I like the idea of a Maestro with a golf 1.8 16V engine.

[Rocket88]

Indeed, Maestro Turbo performance without the epic lag, melting of pistons etc etc.

[Pete-M]

Lamborghini Miuras have a transverse motor with the gearbox in the sump set up. It's probably just as easy to drop the V12 in...P.S. If you go near the engineless Lambo with a Perkins, you must die.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

It's vaguely possible. Rebuild the Dorothy Perkins Prima(rk) with a Princess Ambastardor crank and drop it onto a 2000 Princess Ambastardor trans. Only a four speeder but it should drop into the Maxi subframe which I think is the same as the 1800/2200 Landcrab frame. You'd need a low pressure lift pump as well but you could use the Maxi fuel tank.Or you could rebuild the petrol OOOOOOOOOO Series as a 16v T16 Rover Vitesse Turbo and see how long it takes to break the gearbox.

[Rocket88]

Now there's an idea! As the Maxi gearbox was used in other , more high powered stuff [Lotus / AC] I wonder how strong they are..........

[Lankytim]

Maxi box in the Lotus was used in conjunction with a maxi engine.. I think..

[M'coli]

IIRC it was the internals of the Maxi box used within a Lotus casing and attached to the 2-litre Lotus slant-4 engine in the Elite and Elan, the Esprit used a transaxle.The Maxi isn't THAT narrow - if the bay is too small for a Perkins could a Rover 218TD engine and box be squeezed in?

[Rocket88]

If I do it, I'm leaning more and more towards a space frame with easily detachable panels. I've had a re-think, and I reckon it wouldn't be impossible to get a VAG 1.9tdi in there, which although they do have an ECU, is fairly compact , more powerful than a 1750 petrol, reliable, and will get 40 mpg round town ! [Also available with nice auto box as well.]

[garethj]

If I do it, I'm leaning more and more towards a space frame with easily detachable panels. I've had a re-think, and I reckon it wouldn't be impossible to get a VAG 1.9tdi in there

Doesn't that mean you'll need non-standard Maxi parts like functional brakes? If you reckon a spaceframe is easy then perhaps make it fit the whole TDi front suspension?More and more like an SVA nightmare as Mr_B says, and less like a Maxi

[Rocket88]

SVA not an issue over here, once it's registered, no annual MOT tests. As long as it still looks exactly the same as a standard Maxi, I can't see the harm in making it more driveable / economical. I'd certainly want to keep the lcomfy suspension, but better brakes / engine / gearbox .

[Cavcraft]

Bollocks to Vag stuff, if you're going to diesel it do it in style and fit a BMC 1500 engine.

[Lankytim]

Bollocks to Vag stuff, if you're going to diesel it do it in style and fit a BMC 1500 engine.

Bollocks to that!!!!!!

[Lankytim]

IIRC it was the internals of the Maxi box used within a Lotus casing and attached to the 2-litre Lotus slant-4 engine in the Elite and Elan, the Esprit used a transaxle.

Really? So its a gearbox in sump design? Humm. May fit an allegro then.

[Mash]

Am I right in assuming the 6-cylinder E-series won't go in a Maxi?How about a 1.3 injected A-aeries from a late Mini Cooper with a turbocharger thrown in for good measure? I wonder if that would be able to pull it along at a rate of knots. Or knot.

[whitevanman]

Supercharge the standard engine?? would seem entirely in keeping

[Rocket88]

I suppose that we would be economical, mainly because it wouldn't actually run for more 3 minutes before exploding, after which no fuel whatsoever would be used....................

[Parky]

Didnt the Australian versions (Kimberley and Tasman I think) use Leyland Australia sixes?? Might be worth looking on Aronline to see if Keith has any info on there about engine types for these?I'm sure I saw a Kimberley 2200 when I lived in NZ which must have been a 6?

[whitevanman]

I suppose that we would be economical, mainly because it wouldn't actually run for more 3 minutes before exploding, after which no fuel whatsoever would be used....................

I was thinking more along the lines that if you had more power the vehicle could be driven with less throtle and hence economical

[Rocket88]

That's actually a perfectly valid comment. I don't know how strong Maxi engines are, or if anyone's ever super / turbo charged one. For a bit of turbo action, I wonder what would fit with the least amount of hammering.

[whitevanman]

Supercharger, use the Rotex one of a BMW Mini, they can be had and installed for under £500, assuming it's the 1500 I would think it would be fairly under stressed maybe a thicker head gasket to lower the compression slightly

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Why not just not bother with the supercharged V6 Perkins prima and 6-speed sequential 4-motion transmission, and drive it around enjoying the mediocre E-series engine and wobbly gearchange. Thats what I would do.

[whitevanman]

AHH!! But you are a bit of a masochist Mr B