Smallcox, thanks, when i first started research on the conversion popular thinking led me to inline mount, quaiffe diffs, sierra gearboxes, etc, etc, etc...... so i built my busa project sort of in this way. Chain drive diffs and "car" gearboxes wasnt the way i wanted to go as both my setups have an integrated gb and wet clutch setup.
The inline setup 1300 is chain drive to a bearing mounted shaft and being solid mounted does transfer some vibrations into the chassis, but it is not unbalanced in any way. Have taken this up to 200kmh+ and no unbalanced feeling.
The transverse setup 1000 is becoming my favourite as the appearance can be kept somewhat std looking (you dont have an engine sitting behind your ears)
This is also chain drive to a flipped BMW E36 diff with modified suspension pickup points (ie: no mods to chassis). This also uses the bike gb and wet clutch setup, but its not at driving stage yet so i dont know how unbalanced or how much vibration i will get yet.
So i think in theory the "unbalanced" issue comes from mating components from different vehicles and the engineering involved. As for unreliabilty, the only issue i think i will have is that over time the gb may feel the strain of an extra 180kg
Bloody work getting in the way of me finishing these projects now. Just been appointed CFO and the last 3 months have been super hectic. I havent even looked at my projects since August. I will post photos of the project as soon as it complete (at least the mechanicals) which should be around Jan2011
Darrell, give me some power and nm specs on your 600 and XS and i'll give you performance specs (1/4 mile times) on both those engines in a 126 weighing 480kg. You got it in one with your last comment - its all about power/torque to weight [-/