Having spent many hundreds of miles in a friend's VTec Mini classis (pickup) I can sympathise.....so much vibtation that the inside mirror won't stay put and you can't even see the instruments! So much noise that you better be wearing earplugs! After driving a lap like that I'll bet he has no feeling in his hands!
But............fun as hell when that little Honda motor starts hitting 7-9,000 rpm!
If I were going to do a motor swap in a Classis Mini I'm afraid I'd use the same vehicle - a clubman wagon - for the extra 4" of room under the bonnett and the longer wheelbase, coupled with enough room inside that you can move the seat back far enough. I noticed he used the plastic dash and intrument cluster out of the Italian version.....good idea, if a little tacky looking.
