The (1.1L) engine on the 67 Kadett I recently purchased is seized. As I attempt to get it turning and see if I can make it run I am thinking of possible engine swaps. The engine bay and more importantly trans tunnel is extremely small. Anything large (like a Miata drivetrain) would require a lot of cutting.
Current thoughts that may or may not work:
Motorcycle engine
G13B with Samurai trans
3cyl from Geo Metro/swift
Any other ideas?
Opel 1.9?
OEM in the '68 Kadett muscle wagon.
Dashpot wrote: Opel 1.9? OEM in the '68 Kadett muscle wagon.
If I was going to shove something that large in I would probably go with a Miata engine or 4AGE.
The later large engine Kadetts had a different floor pan with a larger trans tunnel (and other differences).
Ford 1.6 kent with a 5 speed from the XR4Ti
What are you planning to do with the car? There are a number of potentially super fun motorcycle engines you could put in there, but you might miss having reverse. An R1 engine, especially the newer crossplane one, would be nuts. I also really like the idea of a VMax engine in a car, especially since it already has what amounts to a driveshaft coming off it.
EvanB wrote:Dashpot wrote: Opel 1.9? OEM in the '68 Kadett muscle wagon.If I was going to shove something that large in I would probably go with a Miata engine or 4AGE. The later large engine Kadetts had a different floor pan with a larger trans tunnel (and other differences).
the 1.9 should fit. My father had a 68 Opel Kadett Rallye (yes THE rallye) when we lived in Spain in the early 70s. I do not remember much of the car, but I do remember it tearing up the local tracks here in NJ after we transferred back stateside and brought it over with us.
Having said that, the absolutely smallest transmission I have seen comes in an original Fiat 124. It's a smooth shifting trans, but the Porsche syncros do not like abuse
The Samurai transmission is the only one with a chance of fitting in the tunnel, and even then only if you have one of the Kadett models with the sport shifter.
Further limiting is the front to back length of the engine bay.
For non-performance build the metro/samurai hybrid is probably the easiest option, and set as far forward as possible for distributor clearance against the firewall. You would be replacing an all cast iron engine with mostly aluminum, so the shift forward a bit wouldn't be a big deal.
Otherwise, cut out the tunnel, lose the heater box (or move it over to where the battery probably already made a hole in the firewall), put a Civic aluminum radiator up in the nose, and drop it whatever. Keep in mind that the 1.1 rear end is something like 4.11 gears and made out of peanut butter, so you are going to want rpms and not torque. That at least you can bolt on swap for the 1.9 unit, unless yours is so old it has the leaf spring torque arm suspension.
EvanB wrote:Dashpot wrote: Opel 1.9? OEM in the '68 Kadett muscle wagon.If I was going to shove something that large in I would probably go with a Miata engine or 4AGE. The later large engine Kadetts had a different floor pan with a larger trans tunnel (and other differences).
Any of your other options will likely require serious surgery to fit, so why does this concern you?
Otherwise, I agree the "what do you want to do with the car?" question needs to be answered first.
Easy/cheap/small: Spitfire engine/trans (std 4 spd).
While not overly powerful, a mildly warmed up example will be more than the original 1.1L lump. Spitfire engines practically grow on trees in the US, compared to other small European engines. It's a small engine and the non-O/D 4 spd is also compact, so likely to fit without modifications. To other Opel owners, you'd strung up. British car fans would chuckle. The average observer wouldn't know the difference.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: What are you planning to do with the car?
That is a good question that I don't have an answer for yet. I was planning on just using it as a fun cruiser but there isn't much usable in the interior so it is going to be pretty gutted anyway. At this point I would think something with slightly more power and a simple interior to occasionally autocross or rallycross would be fun.
Oh, and for everyone else, the Opel Kadett here in the US had at least 4 completely different floor pans, and they are all different for the transmission that was in them to maximize interior space:
1.1L non-sport shift (shifter comes out below dash out the top of the transmission)
1.1L sport shift (shifter comes out the top of an extension housing at the back of the transmission)
1.9L manual transmission
1.9L automatic transmission
And the verdict is still out on whether the 1.1L automatic used the same floor as the 1.9L.
The 1.1L manual transmission is smaller than a 6-pack of soda cans, plus the bell housing, and the tunnel for it is less than 8" wide.
In reply to oldopelguy:
There is indeed a hole from the battery. It also contributed to the only rust in the floorpan right below that.
Mine is the 1.1, non-sport shifter.
Ian F wrote: Any of your other options will likely require serious surgery to fit, so why does this concern you?
Not sure, it does seem like a silly thing to get hung up on.
I've got a 1.5L automatic parts car with the bigger tunnel in it. It wouldn't take much to cut you out enough for a tunnel transplant. The non-sport tunnel is tiny.
A bike engine won't need anything more than a driveshaft to fit in the tunnel 
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: A bike engine won't need anything more than a driveshaft to fit in the tunnel
That's kinda why I was thinking about it. Replace the sprocket with a driveshaft adapter and have a driveshaft made. It should be friendly enough to the small rear end but probably not too fun to just drive around on the street.
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
Other than the "minor" issue of a lack of reverse. I might be able to deal with that in a Locost weighing around 1000 lbs. But no reverse in a full-bodied sedan weighing a good 50% more? Yeah... No.
How about a snowmobile engine with reverse then? Assuming you want to make awful constant RPM CVT noises, that is...
I've also thought a lot about the reverse problem with bike engines, and I wonder if you could rig up something like this for occasional reverse use:
But, powering a ring on the driveshaft or something. You could use a small starter motor too, but the nice thing about the drill is it has a built in controller so you're not just full throttle any time you want to back up.
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
That has actually been done. The Galek J15 uses a starter motor on a custom sprocket ring for reverse. I think I have pictures of it archived on my computer at home.
The other option is that differential with integrated reverse that was discussed in that old thread about the Abarth SP1000, originally designed for OR racing UV's..
The rear suspension in a Kadett would not be terribly difficult to replace with a U-shaped De Dion rear axle. Once you get there, any FWD drive train could live where the back seat used to be.
In a Kadett if I was going bike engine I would probably try and leave the Opel transmission in place for reverse. In an autocross environment you could drop the car transmission into second or third and run through the whole range of gears in the bike trans.
If you want a very short engine, the first thing that comes to mind is a Mazda rotary. Not sure what you'd do about the transmission though. A Ford / SAAB V4 might also fit if you could find one of these oddballs.
MadScientistMatt wrote: If you want a very short engine, the first thing that comes to mind is a Mazda rotary.
Short yes, but a bit wide.
oldopelguy wrote: The rear suspension in a Kadett would not be terribly difficult to replace with a U-shaped De Dion rear axle. Once you get there, any FWD drive train could live where the back seat used to be. In a Kadett if I was going bike engine I would probably try and leave the Opel transmission in place for reverse. In an autocross environment you could drop the car transmission into second or third and run through the whole range of gears in the bike trans.
If doing rear engine I would probably do a Subaru engine to keep a flat load floor if possible (it's a wagon).
I had thought about adapting the motorcycle engine to the stock transmission, I'll have to do some more research about that.
Holy crap I really like that Galek J15 thing 
For the nightmare of adapting a motorcycle engine to a car transmission, read all of these Miatabusa articles.
Another idea I had is a front and rear subframe from a Miata and cutting to fit.
Here's a 20V 4AGE powered Kadett, using an AE86 gearbox. Not sure if he cut the floor though.
http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/40195?.U4CWFZQo7X4=undefined
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