38 replies to this topic

[dwealds]

Hi, I own a 2000 reg CooperS which was standard when I bought it (My first Mini ever ). I then decided to change a couple of bits as all the Mpi's look the same and I got bored of it so here she is now:

http://bit.ly/6wTUdn
http://bit.ly/7ts5fH

I had also done loads under the bonnet with polished stainless steel brackets, rocker cover etc. etc. etc. but I was never happy with the overall under bonnet look, it never had much wow factor. So I have decided to take the engine out and give it a good old clean and paint up. Having never even taken an engine out before it has been a steep learning curve so far but it's no where near as hard as I thought it would be.

Here is what the lump looked like when I got it into the shed:

http://bit.ly/7odBbT
http://bit.ly/6BuCwk
http://bit.ly/8gdssw

So next move was to strip a few bits off:

http://bit.ly/60eUrl
http://bit.ly/4PImyb

Colour wise Im thinking (for that WOW factor) Silver gearbox, flywheel housing, inlet manifold, yellow block, black manifold and breathers.

Also I am thinking of doing a few internal mods (nothing overly expensive) such as ultralight steel flywheel, any other suggestions would be welcome??

[Sir Cheat]

Looks really good! You could allways change the cam? Maybe a SW5-07 Link

[dwealds]

Looks really good! You could allways change the cam? Maybe a SW5-07 Link

Thanks. Yeah I have thought of that but it barely scrapes through the mot with the current mods:

Minispeed stage 4 head
Fuel pressure regulator
Stage 2 manifold
1.5:1 roller rockers

So if i stick a high lift cam in its really going to struggle.

[dwealds]

I managed to clean the engine yesterday although I think that I have lost most of fingers due to the freezing temperatures!! Going to give it another clean tomorrow and a rub down with a fine wire wheel.

Is it a good idea to put primer on first? Obviously a high temp primer.

[dwealds]

Here is the newly painted engine ready to drop back in, I still have the engine bay and wiring harness to clean before that can happen.

http://bit.ly/7RD9xx
http://bit.ly/8xKf9f

[jordie 08]

nice looking car looks brill with the starmags
engine looks good too

[nicksuth]

Very nice MPi How do you get away with those little number plates ?

If you don't want to go to the extent of a performance cam, there's aways the 52mm TB kit which you should be able to make use of with a PBV? Also, what about an Icon Race Superchip?

[dwealds]

Thanks guys. Number plate wise nicksuth I have got away with them so far as I havnt been caught yet but I may well change them back soon.

Yeah since I wrote the spec I have actually bought the 52mm throttle body, how much of a difference will it make paired with my pbv?

I have thought about a superchipped ecu but im moving out in February so that shall have to wait
What sort of power increase can you get with the superchip?

[nicksuth]

The PBV made the biggest difference for me as the original regulator in the fuel rail was u/s (o rings had gone). The chip is supposed to give +/- ignition timing and is advertised to give and extra 5 bhp ???
It does now fuel/breath better with the K&N, 52mm TB and PBV after a set up session on the rollers, I think 80 bhp at the wheels is pretty healthy !!!

[dwealds]

The PBV made the biggest difference for me as the original regulator in the fuel rail was u/s (o rings had gone). The chip is supposed to give +/- ignition timing and is advertised to give and extra 5 bhp ???
It does now fuel/breath better with the K&N, 52mm TB and PBV after a set up session on the rollers, I think 80 bhp at the wheels is pretty healthy !!!

Ooooo thats not bad! What else have you done to yours?

Last time I had mine on the rollers it got 91bhp, I was rather happy!

If I remember rightly are the chips not around £300, it's a bit much just for 5bhp

[Retro_10s]

Just a word about the SW5 cam,... It's whole selling point is that it provides bags of smooth torque and is Super friendly on emissions - so might be worth researching if you do fancy a cam change.

[tomsbluemini]

Nice car - I wish i could do some more stuff to mine, but alas, it's for sale... cheap too

[dwealds]

Ah thats a shame man, never good having to sell a Mini

Right I need to ask for other peoples opinions now, just to help me make my mind up what to do. Currently I have a stage 2 Maniflow manifold followed by a straight through link pipe with a supersport rear box with 2 x 2" exits (sounds gorgeous!!!!! ). But I have lost back pressure so my performance has dropped a little, can feel it when I drive. I want to put a silencer in (shame as it wont sound as good) but im not sure how far to go with it, these are my options:

http://www.minisport...o_MSLPM43B.html

http://www.minisport...o_MSLPM44C.html

http://www.minisport...fo_MSLPM45.html

Im worrying that if I go for the first one it wont increase back pressure enough, or consequently if I go for one of the other two it will increase it to much and the performance will not increase or will get worse due to to much back pressure.

Help please!?

Edited by dwealds, 02 February 2010 - 09:44 PM.

[Spannerhead]

Looks really good mate. I've got the same MPi Mini as you, got the engine out 2 weeks ago (engine bay is a rusted and dirty mess) and took it up to Mini Spares to see what needed doing - I knew already the gearbox and clutch were no good and I wanted to Stage 3 it.

After seeing the bill (£2k) for all the parts for a complete rebuild (that's heat treated crank, cam, rockers, ported head, re-con box, new clutch etc etc - bores were perfect so pistons staying put) - including £340 labour to sort the crank and completely clean and re-paint the block I asked how much more to rebuild the engine for me. Now I did really fancy re-building it myself, done loads of work on cars and built two kit cars, but never re-built and engine. He quoted me a discounted price of £175 to give me the engine back ready to drop in the car. So it was a no-brainer really, £175 to ensure everything is spot on and professionally done, with a guarantee.

Shame, as I fancied the re-build, and all credit for you for doing it yourself. Oh yes, and the other reason for letting them do it was to know I had all matching parts so it will all work well together.

Great looking wheels too

[dwealds]

Looks really good mate. I've got the same MPi Mini as you, got the engine out 2 weeks ago (engine bay is a rusted and dirty mess) and took it up to Mini Spares to see what needed doing - I knew already the gearbox and clutch were no good and I wanted to Stage 3 it.

After seeing the bill (£2k) for all the parts for a complete rebuild (that's heat treated crank, cam, rockers, ported head, re-con box, new clutch etc etc - bores were perfect so pistons staying put) - including £340 labour to sort the crank and completely clean and re-paint the block I asked how much more to rebuild the engine for me. Now I did really fancy re-building it myself, done loads of work on cars and built two kit cars, but never re-built and engine. He quoted me a discounted price of £175 to give me the engine back ready to drop in the car. So it was a no-brainer really, £175 to ensure everything is spot on and professionally done, with a guarantee.

Shame, as I fancied the re-build, and all credit for you for doing it yourself. Oh yes, and the other reason for letting them do it was to know I had all matching parts so it will all work well together.

Great looking wheels too

Cheers, the wheels took soooooooooo long to get hold of!!! I ordered one set from P&L Mini and they sent ones with grey inserts then when I wanted them changed they refused to believe that there was any difference! Finally sent them back and got my money back, then I bought some off Ebay but they never turned up and I couldn't contact the seller, eventually had to get Ebay to order her to give me the money back. Then I finally managed to get some from Midland wheel. What a pain!! >

It sounds like you have a nice engine there, what colour is it? I found a chrome paint the other day hence why mine isnt running yet im spraying quite a few bits with it, lol!

Also I went to replace the front brake lines the other day but I can't shift the damn things, they are stuck rock solid, ended up shearing the faces off the nut with a pair of 24" stilsons on one end and a 21" breaker bar with socket on the other! Typical Mini!