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Sunbeam 2000 build

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
I have not seen this done yet, so the project began by locating a nice rust free 1967 Alpine with both hardtop and convertible top. One week later and a wrecked 2003 Honda S2000 was found locally. Before getting the Honda, the plan was to correctly install a 340 Dodge engine (Stroked to 416) with aluminum heads, intake, bell housing, transmission to make it as light as possible. When I found the Honda at a good price, it was too hard to pass up. The Honda has been here almost a week and has been stripped of everything except the front and rear sub frames, engine and transmission. It had been damaged on the left rear quarter and the suspension that was damaged was repaired by the seller!
I will take the driveshaft out tomorrow so the engine and transmission can be removed. Then the front and rear sub frame assemblies will be removed so I can scrap the body. The most difficult and time consuming part has to be the wiring removal, the factory tied every bundle nearly every 6-12 inches.
Also if you know of someone that has already done this swap, please let me know. Will post pics as things progress.
I also created a web page to post the project and pics.
sunbeam2000.wordpress.com
 

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bashby

Donation Time
I am not aware of anyone who has swapped an S2000 (F20C) into an Alpine; I do know of one swapped into a Sunbeam/Hillman Mynx which was also made by Rootes.
http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?14,5732
I considered this Honda F20C swap before I went down the road of the Nissan CA18DET.
Welcome to the forum and keep us posted!
-Bill
 
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MikeH

Diamond Level Sponsor
I know of a guy in the local MG club that swapped in the S2000 engine into a MGB-GT. He had to transplant the instrument panel as well, as the engine would not run without it.
 

bashby

Donation Time
The link works on my PC but you can surf to here:
BritishV8.com
Web Forums
Rootes Group Cars
S2000 Mynx
 

Toyanvil

Gold Level Sponsor
Looking forward to this. I was looking at doing this to my Ser II, but could not find one at a good price, so I went with Miata. If you need a radiator call Chris Culp at C, G & J Inc Charge Air Coolers did a GREAT job on mine.
Good luck.
 

Alpine66

Donation Time
The link works on my PC but you can surf to here:
BritishV8.com
Web Forums
Rootes Group Cars
S2000 Mynx


Thanks Bashby, checked your link and it took me to the main page.
Those folks have a tremendous amount of builds, I did not find this one in a short look.
Will pull it up on my laptop when I have some time.
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys.
The CA18DET is a good motor for the Alpine. I was able to score some Original S2000 wheels and tires today, then came home and was able to get the (heavy) exhaust system out. The only wiring left is a short harness going to the gas tank. Driveshaft is out and all the brake lines are disconnected. I will try to post some pics tomorrow.
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
Thanks Toyanvil,
I considered the Miata as whole cars are cheap. How do you like that motor in your car?
 

Toyanvil

Gold Level Sponsor
I love it, it really wakes it up. I have driven this car for 37 years, 34 with a Datsun B210 running gear. I can tell you this, the Datsun stuff was about the same as the stock Sunbeam. The Miata has a LOT more power around 120 hp., it pulls good all the way into 3rd gear and runs 3200 rpm at 70 mph in 5th gear. I still need to weigh it with the Miata, it was 2006 lbs. at 51/49 ratio with the Datsun and the Miata motor & trans is around 80 lbs. more. Handling feels the same, with about 3 times more performance.
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
Here are the pics of what is left of the donor car and the wheels I scored yesterday. If I position the rear wheels correctly, should have 1/2" of clearance on both sides of the tire. Also got both sway bars out as well as the driveshaft and exhaust system.
 

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belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
Nice job! Any clearance issues with those wheels? They will look great.

I will have to move the rear axle assembly 1" back so I don't hit the front of the wheel openings. Hopefully it really won't show since the tire/wheel combination will fill the openings nicely.
 

Alpine66

Donation Time
You are moving along well.

Like the rims, I've probably missed this but is the bolt pattern the same or are you swapping out rotors/hubs and the rear axle?
 

Alpine66

Donation Time
The link works on my PC but you can surf to here:
BritishV8.com
Web Forums
Rootes Group Cars
S2000 Mynx

Hey Bashby, following up- yup the linked works fine on my laptop, appreciate it.
Wow that was a well done and unusual project. The 49ish slantback buick in the second pic was icing on the cake.
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
You are moving along well.

Like the rims, I've probably missed this but is the bolt pattern the same or are you swapping out rotors/hubs and the rear axle?

The plan is to use all the suspension from the donor car so I will have 5 X 114.3 or 5 X 4.5" bolt pattern. That will also give me disc brakes on all four corners, power rack and pinion steering up front also. Just hope I don't have to modify the firewall. One day at a time.
 

Alpine66

Donation Time
The plan is to use all the suspension from the donor car so I will have 5 X 114.3 or 5 X 4.5" bolt pattern. That will also give me disc brakes on all four corners, power rack and pinion steering up front also. Just hope I don't have to modify the firewall. One day at a time.

Ambitious for sure, I really want to see how you do the steering as I might steal your ideas.... Did I say that or just think it....
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
I like the idea of electric power rack and pinion for sure, one thing I did notice on the S2000 is that the rack is mounted actually too far back in a way that the tie rod ends are angled forward. Hopefully there is enough room to shorten the tie rod ends or have new ones made. As far as the rear suspension goes, found a company called Dutchman that will shorten the half shafts for less than a hundred bucks! Sweet deal.
On a side note for some reason I am not getting any email notifications to this post so please excuse the delay in answering.
 
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