76 replies to this topic

[TR7]

hi I have £5000 that I can spend on my mini I have had the cars body work done and suspension so the things left are brakes and engine and gearbox

 

so if you were me what would you do with engine and gearbox and brakes?

car is going to be used for weekends and shows

[HarrysMini]

It entirely depends on usage.

 

With regards to brakes, a decent two pot 7.5" or 8.4" setup will suffice for general road/fast road use. Those alloy four pot vented kits are pointless unless you race your car and are regularly using your brakes heavily. Then again, some people will happily waste money on shiny things, it's up to you.

 

Engine, again, it entirely depends on what you want. We can't really give you ay more information unless you tell us what you want. If it was me, I would be looking at building a reliable unit producing a sensible amount of power with lots of low down torque for road use. It's all very well having a hot cam, but if its power range is between 3000 and 8000 RPM, you're buggered if you want it for road use.

 

Gearbox. If it were me, In would spend some money rebuilding the gearbox and fitting an X pin diff, just for peace of mind. If it's not for race use, don't bother with straight cut gears/drops as they are just noisy and in road conditions, you won't notice any benefits. You may want to change your final drive ratio. You can choose a long or a short FDR depending on whether you want top speed and economy or acceleration. My personal favourite for road use is 3.44 as a compromise. Although, engine speeds of 4200 RPM on the motorway is unacceptable for some.

[AVV IT]

What mini do you have? In all honesty I wouldn't go spending £5k on any mini unless it was something particularly special. It's not that I see classic minis as an investment or anything, it's just that I wouldn't want to spend over twice the amount that most of them are worth on one. So unless I had a particularly rare/special example in the first place, I'd probably sell what I had and combine that with the £5k to get something more desirable/ valuable. With the market as it is currently, you could probably pick up something pretty fantastic right now with that sort of cash.

[jpw1275]

What mini do you have? In all honesty I wouldn't go spending £5k on any mini unless it was something particularly special. It's not that I see classic minis as an investment or anything, it's just that I wouldn't want to spend over twice the amount that most of them are worth on one. So unless I had a particularly rare/special example in the first place, I'd probably sell what I had and combine that with the £5k to get something more desirable/ valuable. With the market as it is currently, you could probably pick up something pretty fantastic right now with that sort of cash.

+1 on this...... or spend your 5 grand on a conservatory on the back of your house.....;0)

[Midas Mk1]

It entirely depends on usage.
 
With regards to brakes, a decent two pot 7.5" or 8.4" setup will suffice for general road/fast road use. Those alloy four pot vented kits are pointless unless you race your car and are regularly using your brakes heavily. Then again, some people will happily waste money on shiny things, it's up to you.
 
Engine, again, it entirely depends on what you want. We can't really give you ay more information unless you tell us what you want. If it was me, I would be looking at building a reliable unit producing a sensible amount of power with lots of low down torque for road use. It's all very well having a hot cam, but if its power range is between 3000 and 8000 RPM, you're buggered if you want it for road use.
 .

How are four pots pointless? Have you even tried them??????

There is defiantly a decent difference over two pots...

And as to regards to the hot cam... Op says its a weekend car, having a hot cam in a road car is perfectly fine, cams such as the 266 style are boring if not for an everyday traffic car.

To the op, I'd be getting kad 4pots or even kad / tarot 6 pots and considering a sc twin cam engine -

Or get a second mini to use everyday whilst you keep your weekend / show car in tip top condition, so you can still enjoy driving a mini without worrying about salt, grit etc.

[HarrysMini]

I have tried both 4 pot and 2 pot setups and can honestly say I can't tell a difference that makes them worth the extra money. I haven't ever tried 6 pots but have heard good things about them. If you're going to be using it at weekends and for shows, especially if you may want it for the occasional track day, 4 or 6 pots may be worth it, but for any kind of road use, it really isn't worth it.

 

You're correct with regards to the cam. If you're not going to be using it everyday in traffic etc. then by all means get a hot cam.

 

But I agree with AVV IT, depending on which Mini you have, you should put the money towards a more desirable model, rather than spending £5k on an 80s City for exapmle, which won't be worth any where near as much as you spend on it.

[steven]

What mini do you have? In all honesty I wouldn't go spending £5k on any mini unless it was something particularly special. It's not that I see classic minis as an investment or anything, it's just that I wouldn't want to spend over twice the amount that most of them are worth on one. So unless I had a particularly rare/special example in the first place, I'd probably sell what I had and combine that with the £5k to get something more desirable/ valuable. With the market as it is currently, you could probably pick up something pretty fantastic right now with that sort of cash.

+1

[Yoda]

Personally i would spend it on the one thing that never lasts on a mini!

 

A brand new Heritage shell, properly sealed and rust protected. That way your 5 big ones will last at least 50 years, work that out at a cost per year and you will realise the saving you would make over several restorations in that time. The mechanical stuff and upgrades become just as affordable over time due to not spending out on more body repairs.

 

Just my tuppence worth!

[madaboutcherry]

give it to me?

[TR7]

I have 8.4 brakes on car already so depending on what power/torque I get from the engine might not need to upgrade?

looking to use the car at weekends and shows so mixture of motorways and b roads I have a 1330cc engine in the car age of car is 1994

[HarrysMini]

The power or torque of the engine is irrelevant to decide which brakes you need. From what you say, you're only going to be using the car on roads. Therefore, an 8.4 two pot setup is enough. Spend the money on giving them a decent service with a set of Mintex pads high quality discs and braided hoses etc. 

 

If you really want four pots, a set of Metro vented 4 pots are really good for the money.

Edited by HarrysMini, 13 October 2013 - 05:48 PM.

[olds_kool_lews]

If you were going for engine/brake upgrades, I'd look into buying a decent mini that had already had these bits done, then, swap the engine/brakes between cars, then sell the "donor" car on to recoup the costs, that way you'll end up with a decent spec engine/brakes for next to nothing and still have most of your money left (if not all of it) to invest elsewhere :)

[TR7]

what would be the best thing to do with the engine would like about 100 to 120 bhp plus high torque levels

[Shifty]

£5k is a fair chunk of money, why not drop AC dodd a PM and see what he could do for you.  Couple that with some new brakes and suspension and then a proper set up by some one like Track road and race.  

 

Job done!!

[HarrysMini]

There's lots of things you can do; 

Head work (porting, polishing, enlarging valves)

Hot cam (Kent 276 would be good for weekend/show use) 

Over bore (1330 is a good size as it doesn't scrap the block once it is worn out)

High lift rockers

X pin diff would be good for this sort of power, a gearbox rebuild would be a good idea too

 

If I were you, I would be in touch with a professional, such as AC Dodd. He would be able to give you a better idea of a spec list and what sort of power to expect from it.

 

It might be worth you getting this DVD http://www.minifilms...iesbuilder.html

 

I got it and it's great. Bill gets 100bhp out of a NA A series and tells you exactly how to get there.

Edited by HarrysMini, 13 October 2013 - 06:12 PM.