61 replies to this topic

[mini1071s]

yes i do want advice. i was just pissed off with the way your advice was given in an aggressive manner.

sorry, just used to writing technical reports, which is kind of how it reads. Let us know how you get on.

[AllanMcD]

A turbo is a must for cheap (ish) power and loads of torque and reliable if you know what you are doing just ask the people who have one not the dreamers that havn't.
Allan
1330 Turbo mini van 12000 miles this year hasn't missed a beat for over 6000 miles aprox 130bhp.
Originaly ran to much boost and to much compresion but I have learnt a lot from www.turbominis.co.uk

[deanymini]

yeah thats what i thought dave. if its not enough power then i could go nitrous or even supercharger

[Bluemini]

Its all very well having all this power, but at the end of the day you need to ask yourself how much you NEED.
Looking at your car, it isn't a racer, more of a town/cruising car and when are you ever aloud to do more than 30mph thru a town. I recon you just want the sound of a dump valve?! A cheaper option (and nicer) is get a set of s/c gears, they will give you a little more power (less loss thru trans) at the wheels and have a great sound that people who know whats what will apreciate.

[mini1071s]

i know. i couldnt believe it either. thats why i started this thread. he said he'd do me a 1380 with stage 2 head, 286 scatter cam, hif44 and a x-pin diff all fitted for £1400 plus VAT.

What is the spec of that stage 2 head? Just asking as that spec cam needs a full on head to work at all properly. I have run a 286 scatter cam with a home ported (copy of Vizards all out head), and it was a dog to use in traffic, power came in strong from 4000 rpm though .

If you want to supercharge/inject nitrous oxide at a later date then you can't use a 286 anyway. It has too much overlap, (both valves open at the same time), which will result in the charge being blown straight out of the exhaust port.

I would say the SW5 is a very good compromise as you should see a genuine 100bhp with a good head, and it is a very good turbo/supercharger and nitrous cam.

We measured the power loss from a helical verses straight cut box on an A/B test the same week with the same engine and it made no measurable difference at all. So, allowing for the variations in RR readings, it can't be more than 1 or 2 hp at best. Well built helical boxes will cope with 150 bhp and 170 ft lbs of torque with a cross pin diff. If you calculate the side loads generated by the helical gears, it is not a great deal in any case. I would say spending £1000 on a SCCR box with SC drops for 2 bhp is a waste of money.

Blue Mini, that 296 road/race engine sounds cool, what HP did it give? Do you race locally on hillclimbs? I will probably bump into you sometime if you do as I race my mini whenever I can.

If you do go for some one elses engine like others suggested, why not ask around on the forum for a bit of help installing it? I am sure lots of people would. I certainly would for people local to me in Cornwall.

[deanymini]

i travel to leicester to go uni 3 times a week on the motorway and A roads. im mainly looking for a quick 0-60 time and as long as she goes roughly 100 mph then thats fine.

[Pandora]

Now have you not thought of the swift conversion cheap and easy and i believe they are 110bhp standard and with a turbo over 120bhp but are easier to tune. Have a think about it.

[DaveCoxon]

i travel to leicester to go uni 3 times a week on the motorway and A roads. im mainly looking for a quick 0-60 time and as long as she goes roughly 100 mph then thats fine.

If you have a turbo, you'll be able to pull a taller FD easier due to the larger torque.
A 2.9 or 3.1 diff will pull away from standstill easilly with the 1st ratio in the stock transmission, and feel pretty quick, whilst it'll still pull away at 100mph in 4th (unlike a 1380 with the same diff).

[Bluemini]

Blue Mini, that 296 road/race engine sounds cool, what HP did it give? Do you race locally on hillclimbs? I will probably bump into you sometime if you do as I race my mini whenever I can.

I used a Paul Inch short motor with a Kent 296, one of my st3 heads with 20 thou skim, 1.5 roller tips, s/c drops, modded inlet manifold, 1 3/4 HIF, lightened f/w, adjustable vernier, etc...

Got a grand total of 104 bhp at the wheels. I didn't expect to have that much power, thought it was around 90, but I think I just got lucky really with the right selection of parts that all worked together really well.

Had to sell Blue tho last year, but the chap who bought it hillclimbs regularly and has been top of his class a few times.

My van will be getting a similar spec engine when I get to that stage.

[mini1071s]

Bluemini, thats a very impressive engine! Most don't make that at the flywheel! Must have been a good head to get that. Never went as hot as a 296 myself. Goes to show what can be done NA. Must have been very quick. I know those hot cams can go well with the right combo.

DM, as you already have a stage 2 head and 276 cam with the close ratio GT box, maybe just getting jonspeed to rebuild what you have with the 1380 bottom end would get you where you want to go with a minimum of fuss. Cam isn't too hot to work well with nitrous either. Most box failures seem to be down to worn bearings etc, so maybe getting that reconned would be a good move. Bluemini does them I think. If you went for an SW5 cam in the rebuild, then the engine would pull a 2.9 diff no problems and would fly down the motorway quite nicely as well as doing 60 in second, which is handy for reducing 0-60 times. Also get good MPG which is useful if you at uni.

If you have any mates at uni who are handy with mechanical stuff then www.nitrous.info may be of interest, DIY kit instructions. Giving this a go myself. You have to have a CE marked bottle now though to get it filled in the UK which costs a bit, but still saves a packet on a pro kit and I think his designs are better than a lot of others. Trevor Langfeild is very good if you want a commercial kit.

I should explain the Jonspeed remark, nothing wrong with his stuff, just prone to inflating power figures of hiis engines by silly amounts. I bought an engine off him when I first started out 16 years ago of a similar spec, 286 cam, st2 head and it dynoed at 74 bhp at the flywheel after being set up. He claimed over 110. With my Vizard head and a cam swap to a milder 266 cam, it made 85 bhp, which was more like it. Very torquey as well.

[Bluemini]

Bluemini does them I think.

That'll be Guessworks for the 'boxs, I do heads... :grin:

[Guess-Works.com]

I do engines occasionally too :cheese: :tongue: but Blue is Head honcho !

[crocstarr]

[QUOTE] Now have you not thought of the swift conversion cheap and easy and i believe they are 110bhp standard and with a turbo over 120bhp but are easier to tune. Have a think about it.

Are you on about suzuki swift? how much we talking? 0-60?

[Pandora]

I have an example on the new minifilms dvd they have a swift 130bhp and does 0-60 6.07 seconds and that is slightly tuned

[crocstarr]

so whats the easiest way and cheapest to get to 0-60 7 seconds???