Bike engines have been used in Minis for years.There was a firm in Scarborough UK that did the swaps.Think Allansons was the name.

Hiked to the top of that hill many times. Cool place.
Great trail around the west side through the rain forest, not sure what the last hurricane did to the island.

Maybe I am getting old. Buddy has one of the original Mokes that I have ridden in. It's "go-carty" for sure, but all I could think about was some distratcted SUV driver decapitating me when they blew through a stoplight.

The maximum speed on STT is 35mph, which helps. The new Moke is a lot sturdier than the original, and the roll cage is pretty stout. Plus it’s nimble enough to get out of the way. No airbags but I’m okay with that.

I mentioned this earlier, but with a
35 mph speed limit, wow! How many miles of road are there on the island?

This could be a perfect setup for an electric vehicle.

Put the $s you were thinking of using for the conversion to petrol power.
Into a solar system and batteries in your home there for when the power is out.

Is there a particular reason you don't want an E V. ? Even if it fits your situation nicely?

A friend on Kauai got himself a Chevy Volt and put in a solar system at home. Almost never uses the gas engine in the car, and saves on his electric bill at home besides charging the car. Kauai is a much larger island with higher speed limits, EV works there.

Cheers Richard

All:

Based on advice above, and the potentially astronomical cost & legal/DMV/insurance technicalities I’ve decided that hot rodding the electronics is the best way forward. I have a feeling that the $25k ‘quote’ from EV West was a bit of a ‘go away’ quote, so based on the video below, I plan to 1) talk to them and 2) see if anyone closer can do thwe work with the same parts. When done, it should go like this one, maybe a tad slower because the new Moke is heavier;

https://youtu.be/j0g3ypjBL9Q

I will keep you updated.

Thanks,

Paul.

Update:

We test drove a ‘Moke’ copy the other day. Wider & longer than the original. Huge fun, but not the ride for us. So I plan to buy an old Moke, possibly with a new shell (~$10k from the UK) and put a fuel injected, turbo-charged 1300 engine in it with an auto trans. Should be able to do that for about $25k, which is the asking on this one...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1532220874.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1532221075.jpg

We also test drove a Nissan Figaro. LOVED it, but still not the car for us, mainly due to the poor rear seat access & no way to carry paddleboards.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1532221596.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1532221180.jpg

If you know of an old Moke for sale that’s RHD, please let me know.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1532221395.jpg

Cheers,

Paul.

All:

I just bought this from Pelican board member beautifulsurf. Let the restoration begin!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1584647299.JPG

Cheers,

Paul.

Update: Restored it, shipped it to St. Thomas, had an absolute blast driving it, transmission exploded. She’s heading to AZ for repairs & will then be sold. My Defender is done & I’d rather have a boat than a Moke.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1722638913.jpg

Not surprised. Those seats look hideously uncomfortable.

Call it the Mini Woke and it will sell like hotcakes with the Genz