11 replies to this topic

[ashley00]

as title suggests who runs a 1430 and how do you find it,
if daily used etc any information welcomed

cheers ash

[kmol468]

I used to own a race 1430 MED engine (138bhp) and it was great. I had a few niggles with the overall unit but the engine itself was great. The ancillaries need to up to spec aswell and you need to keep an eye on things as engines that highly strung will put added pressures on external components.
I went through an exhaust manifold, as it cracked, a clutch release arm as it snapped and the exhaust, due to its size was only able to be put in when the engine was out! lol
I used the car daily and it started first time, but had a high idle due to the scatter cam, but if you can live with that and your handy with a set of spanners then why not go for it.

Oh and when you do get it running all nice, it will be definately worth the money/stress

What spec were you thinking of?

Edited by kmol468, 04 April 2011 - 05:41 PM.

[ashley00]

i am enquiring for a friend he is just joining the forum now as i told him there has been a reply im sure he would like to ask a few question,il help him build it looking at a MED 1430 kit and head,what would ou suggest gearbox wise i suggested straight cut box due to power.

[understeer-into-wood]

Thankyou Kmol468 for your reply, Ashley was asking for me. As he said i've been looking at the MED 1430 engine build kit but I want it for everyday road use but with the odd track day aswel. For this reason i was thinking of using HIF44 (1.75") carb or perhaps twin 1.5" rather than webers, mostly due to the fuel consumpsion. What did you use and why? Also what cam would you recomend?

Regards

[kmol468]

Yeah no worries, i will be happy to offer what advice I have, but like with everything its dependant alot on your circumstances - finances, ability to repair, intention for use, etc etc

However, i did have a straight cut gearbox on mine and it handled the power. I had it on for two years with no sign of notchyness and i did drive it properly! It was a jack knight 5 speed straight cut box with straight cut drop gears, it was quite noisey but i loved it!

[aston19uk]

Yeah no worries, i will be happy to offer what advice I have, but like with everything its dependant alot on your circumstances - finances, ability to repair, intention for use, etc etc

However, i did have a straight cut gearbox on mine and it handled the power. I had it on for two years with no sign of notchyness and i did drive it properly! It was a jack knight 5 speed straight cut box with straight cut drop gears, it was quite noisey but i loved it!

what happened after two years?

[johnatandy]

I have a 1430 and it goes like stink but it is a hillclimb car with a 3.9 diff in the gearbox.

Its got a SCCR gearbox and a cross pin diff which has been fine ( Drop the clutch at 4000rpm).

Its a good engine for hillclimbing because of the torque so would equate to a nice motor for the road with a rally cam or fast road cam.

Mine has a reworked 649 cam in it and is a bit of a pig to drive on the road, but i didn't build it to do that.

Whatever you friend goes with he's sure to have fun, but on the road i would probably go for a 1380 as that would have more than enough power and cost quite a bit less than a sorted 1430.

Have fun
John

[kmol468]

Thankyou Kmol468 for your reply, Ashley was asking for me. As he said i've been looking at the MED 1430 engine build kit but I want it for everyday road use but with the odd track day aswel. For this reason i was thinking of using HIF44 (1.75") carb or perhaps twin 1.5" rather than webers, mostly due to the fuel consumpsion. What did you use and why? Also what cam would you recomend?

Regards

I had both twin 1.5 and a weber 45 on a 6" inlet (bulkhead mod required)
Personally if you want abit better fuel consumption then go for the twin 1.5" I had it set up at Pete Baldwins on both set-ups and only made 7 more bhp with the weber, so if you can live with slightly less bhp then i would go with the twin su's
I hadnt personally used the single 1.75 so cant really comment.
As for the cam, i had a 296 scatter cam installed on mine and it didnt really like alot of load under 2700rpm, after that its started to scream and just pull like a train up till about 7500rpm. On idle it hunted and didnt really idle consistently, but that was to be expected. However you got used to its behaviour and you adapt to it quickly. As you couldnt really give it the beans low down you learnt to drive the car quite respectfully. However when needs must, you dropped it down a cog and and it was ready to go.
Obviously there are different cams available and i think the scatter cam was on the limit of 'normal' driving. If you dont want to put up with all that uneven idle and off cam lack of power have a work with MED and see what suits what you want. (maybe a 276?)

[kmol468]

what happened after two years?

I sold the car! I was gutted, but the shell was getting worse for wear and the engine and box was the only good thing in it! lol
I cut my losses and moved on (only to get the mini bug years later with even more financial implications!)

Regards, Peter

[aston19uk]

what happened after two years?

I sold the car! I was gutted, but the shell was getting worse for wear and the engine and box was the only good thing in it! lol
I cut my losses and moved on (only to get the mini bug years later with even more financial implications!)

Regards, Peter

lol. mmm i am at a stage where im on my first mini, with a med 1330 engine.lucky for me it had this in the shell. im getting so fed up with it not starting. starting to wonder to change car. i may regret selling

[Gulfclubby]

We have a 1430 with twin HS4s and an SW5 cam. Very torquey engine even low down but clearly more challenging to drive than a 1380 with similar spec, especially in road traffic. Wouldn't want it as a daily driver for various reasons. Basically 1430 is already close to the absolute max you can get out of an a series and as such, stuff just wears a lot quicker than with a standard engine. Ours is well below 50'000km now (I think about 40k, but can't confirm atm) and it already had a clutch lever snapped and the clutch disk is on its way out too, despite a gray diaphragm spring. And that's with an estimated 110bhp only.

As for the HIF44: they're good in single use for up to 120bhp, beyond that you need a weber or twins.

[kmol468]

lol. mmm i am at a stage where im on my first mini, with a med 1330 engine.lucky for me it had this in the shell. im getting so fed up with it not starting. starting to wonder to change car. i may regret selling

Well i wouldn't jump to any hasty decisions, just try and work out why it isnt starting, once you get that fixed you will love it again.

A problem with mine, was that it didnt start when hot. I was racking my brains about it for a while and was worrying that the gine was somehow to blame, but it turned out that the fuel line was too close to the exhaust. So a quick wrap in heat foil and the job was done. Started all the time when warm after that.