Can of worms LOL, As Richard says the original Freestyle was a Mini subframe at the rear, in standard form this only take the A series engine. I currently have a subframe semi cut & braced trying to get a K series to fit. It's proving very difficult, one because of the lack of space I have, physically in my workshop & more importantly physically in the subframe. I'm struggling to get the diff back far enough to be able to connect the driveshafts, It is possible to do it as they fit these engines into Mini's in this subframe, but they normally extend the front which we cannot do. Once installed I will then have the complexity of trying to get the gear linkage to work, it's 2 separate linkages as opposed to the one off the A series.
yes l did have a look at a k series engine and came to the conclusion it might be a bit of a squeeze in a mini subframe, presumably grafting a metro subframe in place of the mini one is doable ?
toyota mr2 gear change cables are easy to use on other vehicles and may suit your k series ?
Another option if you wanted to stay with the A series subframe would be to consider a Nissan Micra engine, these apparently fit a lot easier.
funny that l was just looking at micra auto's on ebay, they look cheap enough but as usual they were all miles away, and besides l am not sure 1000cc would be big enough, l was more thinking 1600-1800cc
There was another version of the Freestyle called a Tomcat that used Metro parts, this differed in the fact that the rear subframe was of the wet variety. The subframe was bigger & I believe gives you a bit more move to fit a different engine.
As for going straight to K series, ther are currently 3 being built that I know of, Will, Shaggy & a friend of Wullies. They differ in the fact that Will's & Shaggy'd are both using MGF(MGTF) rear subframes Wullies mate is a standard Metro one, converted from wet to coil overs.
My personal choice 'IF' I had the skills would be to make a passenger compartment similar to the Freestyle's & then make a new rear with Mcpherson struts off the donor whatever that might be. I have threatened for long enough to measure how wide the Freestyle is & then armed with a tape measyre go round Tesco's car park looking for something of similar track, Corsa, KA, Fiesta, Micra etc. etc.
yes perhaps that is another viable route, not use a subframe at all and use the struts that come with the doner car, that would open up all sorts of vehicles for use in a buggy, one that springs to mind is the suzuki baleno
l know l know not what most people might choose but l have one parked on the drive that is out of mot and tax ;D 1600cc 16v 105bhp and best of all its all alliminium construction makes it very light
but l am not sure about size l like the idea of a small buggy and have been looking around 3 cylinder cars ( thats how l came by the subaru justy), l was wondering about the corsa 3 cylinder 12v engine and box make a nice compact buggy, but if l were to biuld the buggy around that engine and it turned out it wasent fast enough l might then struggle to squeeze a 4 cylinder in its place :
There are quite a few posts on here about this, have a search I'm sure you'll get some ideas.
Alan...
there was a freestyle on ebay that finished a couple of days ago that attracted no bids at £300 is that about the right price for an regestered one ?
Andy
lol the mulit quote thing dident quite work out as intended, but you get the idea