An iconic front wheel drive platform. Now with triple the horsepower. Introducing the SMCO ultimate classic mini Honda D16 subframe. stevestonmotorco.com/pages/d1...
Allthough I do not see myself doing an engine conversion, I do appreciate the effort and engineering you put into these kits. I have a few of your products so am convinced this is top quality
Nice to see another high level player in the game. My car was the second D-series conversion that MiniTec did back in 2008 when they were pretty much the only option. Nice to know there are some good options to pick from if I ever decide to update my car.
If only you had this available 4 years ago. I would have kept my mini. Black with white roof LHD from japan 1988 with 13' allycats, fast rack, chery bomb center exhaust, group 7 arches, mexico chin spoiler, sold on Vancouver island, went to Vancouver. Dreamed of making her fast, never a simple and affordable option available to me. Great job on creating this subframe. And all the other products you make. If life affords me another mini you'll have my buisness.
@stevestonmotorco i realy love your channel guys, i´ve watched all your clips now. Just got hands on a mini for 800€ and it´s not even that big of a dirtbox! I´ve always wished that you would make a d16 kit bot never tought that it would happen!!! Sadly i live in germany so i have no chance on getting TÜV on something like that without some papers of the manefacturer of the kit.. anyways love you guys!
Fantastic work SMCO, looks like you've put a lot of thought into this. Is any cutting of the front fenders required to fit this with a D series. I have a square nosed club-man (most minis in Australia are square nose ones) - this is something I'd be interested in doing later on.
Looks awesome! Do you have plans to build a frame for the B series? I am currently gathering parts for a B AWD. Would love to support a Canadian company
Really like SMCO and there are some great features packed in here. However, the use of square tube versus round and welded knee joints over mandrel bends is confounding. Hope the next video details the weight and maybe FEA results especially compared to the McGee frame you were using.
Since we've used many other subframes on the market, the main goal we wanted to achieve were consistency, ease of install, and ability to run normal mini alignment specs. The square tubes used in our subframes are not structural. The engine mounts to the upper section of the subframe where it bolts to the car, and the lower section with the square tubes is removable. There will definitely be more videos, including a step by step guide to the install.
Thank you for the clarification, that is definitely an important note about the difference in the load bearing section vs removable section. I look forward to the follow up and keep innovating!
Hey if I build a 2nd one, I’ll start here! How do you anticipate sourcing the final drives? The was the hardest part of my d16y8 build. No one makes the 3.25 gear
I'm down for one of these subframes, but I may wait until you've got the exhaust and intake manifolds available as well. I'd really like to know exactly what engine that is around the 0:55 mark as I would really prefer to use coilpacks. Would a D17A2 motor also fit as it's a bit later (newer) model with oem coilpacks and vtec?
We run our alternator between the engine and the firewall, so there is room in the wings for a compressor. We do not have plans right now to add an AC kit yet, but it's definitely feasible. We're doing a build in the summer with a plan to run most of the AC system in the trunk.
That’s super cool and super interesting because down here in Florida it’s like life or death without A/C and A/C options in the mini are super few or non existent lol
Are you saying Hondas are now not reliable? Going to be tough to prove. Good news is there are x00,000s of Civics on the road so plenty to choose from and you will never pay too much for this power train.
@Marcel C d16 is good, but you need to search for it and it could be hard to find one in decent conditions. Then you could need some replacement parts for it. Could be a problem because it's old
We did consider the newer Ford 3 cylinder, but supply, parts (old and new), experience in working on them, are plentiful for the D16. We routinely buy $300 dollar engines and rebuild them with new parts for use. The last mini was built 20+ years ago as well, and because it's popular with a huge community of enthusiast who want to support it, age is not an issue, just like Honda engines.
Re-inventing the wheel? John McGee pioneered the D-series Mini swap & he’s sold over 100 subframes now. His kit is cheaper & fabricated from scratch - no need to send in your old subframe. Plus he’s developed all of the other necessary components such as custom intake and exhaust manifolds, alternator bracket, clutch conversion, etc.
John and other manufacturers make to order and usually have a wait list. This is just anther option to choose from already a pretty limited selection. I think this is great that SMCO is doing this. No where near the same as Mcgees, Minitec and anyone else who makes frames. You should be stoked there are more options now.
@@poida97 Dropping the engine without dropping the subframe is a pointless feature. Advantage is you don’t need to bleed the brakes by dropping the engine only, disadvantage is that you have to pop the driveshafts to remove the engine without the subframe and to do that you have to separate the lower ball joints; arguably a harder job than bleeding brakes. SMCO says it’s a 40-minute job vs. a 6-hour job? That’s baloney. And it’s a Honda engine! How often are you going to need an engine-out service anyway?!
@@Reilly_McNicks SMCO is different than McGee in a way that doesn’t matter. As for wait list, McGee is a couple months at worst while SMCO is taking pre-production deposits and needs your core for an unproven subframe they’ll deliver sometime in the fall…
I really like the SMCO guys I just don’t know why they tried re-engineering something that McGee already perfected. Fighting over the same niche market is NOT good for the Mini community as it makes it less profitable for the people who continue to support us with innovative new products. Why didn’t SMCO create a B-series subframe that uses Mini suspension and actually fits? Now THAT would have been smart, because MiniTec suspension is junk and John McGee has no interest in B-series. Come on SMCO, innovate!
