So what was this engine that I was so excited about arriving just in time for lock down to begin eh? All carefully placed and tightly wrapped up on a pallet by none other than mr @threeonthetree and sent down to Nelson in the nick of time. The forklift driver chuckling away after I explained what it was and what car it was going into.
Just a little glimpse through the plastic. Those magical numbers I had been after for a fair while after having decided to take a chance and just go for it. But finding one of these engines complete, without a massive bike attached, at a price I could afford was proving to be tricky.
We got home, having completed the rounds about Nelson of whatever shops still happened to be open for emergency lockdown supplies. I knew full well that at some point during the next 4 weeks of my of enforced tinkering I would come up to a road block. Something essential would be needed. Something silly and normally easily available. But I didn't care. I would deal with it. I just wanted to get stuck in.
The wraps came off. Oooooh lordy. Its a beaut. But a beaut that was in urgent need of a diet and trim in size...
So this is what I have bought. A 1991 Honda Goldwing 1500cc flat six.
Now going back in time, way back in around April 2018 when I was restoring my Imp shell some fella called Darkspeed on this here forum was chatting about engines on my thread. Apparently he knows a little bit about Imps etc.
He uttered these words .. "I also pondered the Honda Goldwing lump for that mini 911 Vibe"
Now this struck a cord for me. It just seemed right. It was far too interesting for me to not look further into and I did just that. I did lots of research, studied the pictures so carefully on a downloaded workshop manual and had sort of sussed out that it might just be a viable option as a swap. Not for this car but maybe my other shell.
But then he came back with this bit of info...
"I cannot recall why I actually dropped the idea but I suspect that they maybe counterclockers "
Bug-ger! I said. He was right. Somehow I had completely missed this fact in all my studying. It was indeed, like many Honda engines, a anti clockwise rotating engine. Damn. So I put this idea right out of my mind and continued on with the restoration.
Until, as mentioned in the previous post, Mr Pete Valiant stepped in at the Oldschool nationals. He had been thinking about this and the idea popped into his head of taking a Subaru gearbox from a fwd Leone or Legacy, turning it around 180 degrees and in so doing counteracting the 'anti clockwise' rotation of the Goldwing engine.
Simples! Wow. So this idea played on my mind for the rest of the nationals weekend, I downloaded manuals again, looked over them and schemed. It was not going to be easy and simple though. There were going to be many hurdles. The engine was heavy and quite tall with its built in transmission. There was no bellhousing. Not even a resemblance of one. There was no flywheel and the oil pump was driven by spur gears and a chain that had to go in order to allow for a flywheel. The engine is also a clamshell that once together does not allow any access to the insides without completely taking it apart - so new head gaskets each time and a whole load of work just to get to the oil pump etc. The starter and alternator were integral to the gear system so they wouldn't be viable to keep in place.
But the crank does have a flange to which an adaptor could be added to and bolt a flywheel up to. However I could not easily work out the size of the flange or bolts. It seems to be that these engines just keep reliably going for a long time and when they die not many people rebuild them. Its just cheaper to just swap in another engine. There was/is not a heck of a lot of info out there on them like you might find for other engines. Excluding trikes I could only find two other vehicles that had used a goldwing engine and they both used them with the transmission through a diff. That wasn't going to work in an Imp as it places it too far back and high.
But I was keen on the challenge and wanted to have a go. If I could find a cheap enough engine I could have a crack and if it all went pear shaped I would cut my losses- so long as it entertained me and challenged me.
I needed a cheap engine and had been keeping an eye out for one everywhere. Too expensive to import, too much of a risk to buy a complete non running bike. Then one popped up in Auckland and it was fitted in an Imp of all places!!!! Wtf Turns out that a fellow kiwi Imper had bought a Imp race car project that was built some 20 years ago or so. I don't think they ever got it racing. He had bought it for the shell mainly. It utilised the entire Goldwing setup, like the other two cars I had found and ran the power through a Holden ( I think) diffhead along with the Goldwing electric reverse. It was indeed mounted really far back and quite high on a pretty lacklustre framework of angle iron, hopes and dreams.
But it was there, complete and really low mileage. I heard it running, it sounded mean and I wanted it. We set on a price of $500 and Neal kindly sorted out getting it down to me. So that is where this pallet of goodness comes in. Now to see what I had bought and let myself in for!....
Carbs had been removed by Neal so they couldn't get damaged...
There was this plastic board with a very carefully laid out Goldwing engine electrical system complete...
There was a book too. Very handy. This would make for great on the throne reading...
So this engine complete with transmission, starter, alternator, carbs is around 126kg which was a bit too chunky to risk lifting between us both. I lifted it out with the engine crane plonked it on the big steel bench and removed the exhaust manifolds, inlet manifold. Still too much engine...
I removed the starter, alternator. Looking better already for sure but there no doubt about it- this engine was going to go on a intensive weight loss course!
I was already enjoying this new project and looking forward to the next step.
Keen eye or a good memory - I had been hoping this had still been brewing.
