64 replies to this topic

[Pickering]

Wow, I have been out of the mini scene for a couple of months now due to starting Uni so ive missed all of this. You have defiantly made progress. I can't wait to get back on with building the 1275 engine you sold me. It's a 1310 now :)
Did you say you did the spraying yourself with the purple ?

Elliott

Hi matey sounds like your making good progress too :) my progress is hopefully going to start speeding up when my ppi money comes through it will be paying for the vtec front subframe and awd rear subframe just waiting for my cheque lol and yep the painting is my handy work lol took me ages and two attempts only painted the rear quarter to test the colour, when the bits of body work are finished one of my mates will be doing it properly

[MiniElliott]

Hi matey sounds like your making good progress too :) my progress is hopefully going to start speeding up when my ppi money comes through it will be paying for the vtec front subframe and awd rear subframe just waiting for my cheque lol and yep the painting is my handy work lol took me ages and two attempts only painted the rear quarter to test the colour, when the bits of body work are finished one of my mates will be doing it properly

Sounds good, Id love to have a look at the Vtec once its finished. Hopefully in a year or so I will be able to do a respray on the mini (I was thinking DIY). How was the final finish without cutting back and polishing? I will let you know how the 1310 goes when I get a project thread. Also do you know of any good machine shops for head valve work instead of Drakes ?

Elliott

[Pickering]

Finish wasn't bad, was 100% better after cut and polish just take your time and it will be fine :) I personally wouldn't go to drakes anyway heard 1 too many horror stories for my liking :\ I will ask around for a decent shop to have it done for you I need to find a decent one anyway so I can have the new liners fit into my block and race port and polish head :) I remember Jordan talking about a company that do 3 stages of porting and polishing 1 mild 2 fast road 3 race he had his 2lt head done so will find out prices etc

[MiniElliott]

Finish wasn't bad, was 100% better after cut and polish just take your time and it will be fine :) I personally wouldn't go to drakes anyway heard 1 too many horror stories for my liking :\ I will ask around for a decent shop to have it done for you I need to find a decent one anyway so I can have the new liners fit into my block and race port and polish head :) I remember Jordan talking about a company that do 3 stages of porting and polishing 1 mild 2 fast road 3 race he had his 2lt head done so will find out prices etc

Thanks, I had the re-bore and cam bearings done at Drakes. It came out very nice and cheaper than I expected but I would like to try other companies and people who might do a nicer job. I'm hoping to do the head porting myself as I have a couple of old heads to practice on. Im probably just looking for bigger valves fitting, new valve guides and maybe unleaded seats.
If you could get the prices for your mates work that would be great. It will probably be a few months before I start the head though, so plenty of time.

Elliott

[Pickering]

Yer I will ask him when I see him :) the problem with drakes is : 2 people I know had full engine builds so rebore forged pistons fitted head work etc etc one of the engines failed after 4 days yes 4 whole days and with a build bill just short of £6,000 it's simply not good enough and same with the other but not as drastic the head gaskets failed after 2 week meaning more cost as they used cheap head gaskets and not the ones that were directly asked for :\