29 replies to this topic

[Nick Warwick]

The time has come for me to supercharge my mini now its not a daily driver.

I am going down the supercharger route, i would like to know if anybody has bought the vmax DIY kit yet? its miles cheaper than buying the kit straight out, but will it be worth my while doing the extra work needed.

At the moment my Engine is a standard 1275 with a stage one kit and HIF44.

[shellspeed]

Yes - I have. Brought just the stuff I need.

Was it worth it - Hell yes.

Should you rebuild the engine and gearbox and fit the correct pistons first - It will save a lot of messing about if you do.

Basically if you have any doughts about the age/condition of the engine and box rebuild them now otherwise you will end up taking them out soon after fitting the supercharger. Its awfully tempting to fit a de-compression plate and away you go but doubling the horses will quickley show up the weaknesses elsewere.

Dont just treat it as a bolt on mod unless you are confident of your current setup.

If it sounds like I am speaking from experiance - I AM

[Nick Warwick]

cheers for the reply mate

What sort of work was needed to do with the diy kit?
What will i need to do if i don't fit a de-compression plate?

[GreaseMonkey]

Definitely don't go whacking one of these on without knowing the engine is in good health. If you don't want a decomp plate you need to get the compression low enough for supercharger use, meaning pistons with a bigger dish or a head with the chambers opened out, usually a combination of both.

[Nick Warwick]

as far as i know my engine is in good condition had no problems with it since i have had it, although i will be checking it over before the fitting.

I think i will just fit a de-compression plate and when funds allow i will do it properly with pistons.

do i need to mod the carb?

[shellspeed]

yes in a nut shell - the internals need to be the same set up as for the MG Metro turbo. Stuart did mine for me but it may be a DIY job.

If you speak to Stuart he can guide you through - he's is very helpfull

[Billys Bits]

i never modded my carb and mmy engines does run

[Nick Warwick]

ok cheers

I found out that my engine is a metro unit so i am guessing this is a plus for me?

What about up rating my diff?

[Grahamxx]

ok cheers

I found out that my engine is a metro unit so i am guessing this is a plus for me?

What about up rating my diff?

Supercharged engines are really torquey, I had uprated diff pins put in by MED when they rebuilt my gearbox...

[shellspeed]

The MG Turbo carb has a different float needle valve & seat to normally aspirated HIF carb. Its allows more fuel in. This should mean the carb does not run out of fuel when driving under load. If pottering around town and only a quick squirt for short periods a standard valve would probably allow enough fuel to enter the carb. If the factory were worried to fit this on a 89bhp standard unit its worth looking at for anything producing that sort of power for sustained periods.

http://www.minispare...=...8178&title=

Diff - Minispares cross pin £160 unless you want an LSD

http://www.minispare...ty=pb&pid=35941

Edited by shellspeed, 18 November 2010 - 03:59 PM.

[Nick Warwick]

why thank you sir!

does you have any photos of your manifold?

[Wil_h]

The MG Turbo carb has a different float needle valve & seat to normally aspirated HIF carb. Its allows more fuel in. This should mean the carb does not run out of fuel when driving under load. If pottering around town and only a quick squirt for short periods a standard valve would probably allow enough fuel to enter the carb. If the factory were worried to fit this on a 89bhp standard unit its worth looking at for anything producing that sort of power for sustained periods.

http://www.minispare...=...8178&title=

Well I've never heard of that before, what is 'much more fuel'. If anything this was fitted because of the increased pressure seen by the needle valve on a turbocharged engine, so not required on a suck through SC setup. As long as you have a pump that can pump more fuel than is required the standard needle valve will not be a restriction.

As it happens a few things that were thought to be necessary were fitted to the metro turbo (large nose bearing, sodium filled exhaust valves, this valve), none of which were. with the exception of the pistons the metro and metro turbo engines were identical in most cases.

[shellspeed]

Just because you never heard of it, does not not mean anything. Have you got experiance of running and sc engine with the standard valve fitted and then changing it to find what differance it makes?

and if you are going to quote me at least get the wording correct.

I never post on advice unless I am absolutly sure of my facts and even phoned my engine builder to check to additional information that was edited in later. Its a pitty some people do not do the same.

[Wil_h]

Well I have rebuilt at least 3 turbo carbs, and fully understand the requirements of a supercharged carb.

I'm also happy that the orifice in the turbo needle valve is exactly the same as any NA carb on all of mine and I've never had a probelm. It may be true that you found an improvement, but this is more likely to have been caused by the filter being blocked, very common. If you are emptying your float bowl you need to pump more fuel, been there before. Had so called experts drilling out my needle valve which I can say made fun all differance to the problem of emptying the float bowl.

I'm 100% certain that all the points above are correct, and I didn't need to phone anyone to check!

[shellspeed]

Bully for you pal