10 replies to this topic

[minisilverbullet]

Stumbled across this on ebay! 

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e9728933c

 

[Fast Ivan]

he's been trying to sell that for years, keeps popping up, started at around 700 I think, very slowly coming down

[Bubblebobble]

I dont think thats anything special . Just  Webcon throttle body set thats incomplete  , and possibly damaged . Why it would be incomplete god knows . Another person making out  what they are selling is 'super rare ' .

[Black.Ghost]

I think the 108hp is a tad optimistic! When the GP was released, it came with 86hp. It originally had a Weber Alpha ECU, but these proved to be quite unreliable and so John Cooper and Co decided to switch back to the standard Rover ECUs as they could cope with power up to around the 90hp mark. I don't recall seeing this as an optional extra anywhere. 

 

The injection manifold on the standard GPs was re-worked to improve flow and is a lot less restrictive that the standard Cooper items, which in part allowed it to get up to the 86hp mark (along with a better cam and Stage 3 head I believe). I find it hard to believe that these and the Weber Alpha ECU would be sufficient to add an extra 22hp - or 25% more power over the standard GP, which itself was around 32% more power than the standard Coopers on which they were based. 

 

I have no doubt they would look very nice in a Mini's engine bay, and with the right ECU and engine set up, you could probably run a nicely tuned injection set up. I will do a bit more research though. If I am wrong I might see what other mods were required to get the 108hp mark, as it might add a bit more value to my own car! 

 

Edit: I have just looked through my scanned copy of the John Cooper upgrade options for all the later cars, and I cannot find any mention of these at all. Also, I notice that he says they were an optional extra for the GP, but says as well about being an option for the MPis - the GP was only an SPi. I'm not sure if they will still work but I'm not convinced about them being a genuinely available part. 

Edited by Black.Ghost, 27 December 2014 - 04:52 PM.

[minisilverbullet]

I think the 108hp is a tad optimistic! When the GP was released, it came with 86hp. It originally had a Weber Alpha ECU, but these proved to be quite unreliable and so John Cooper and Co decided to switch back to the standard Rover ECUs as they could cope with power up to around the 90hp mark. I don't recall seeing this as an optional extra anywhere. 

 

The injection manifold on the standard GPs was re-worked to improve flow and is a lot less restrictive that the standard Cooper items, which in part allowed it to get up to the 86hp mark (along with a better cam and Stage 3 head I believe). I find it hard to believe that these and the Weber Alpha ECU would be sufficient to add an extra 22hp - or 25% more power over the standard GP, which itself was around 32% more power than the standard Coopers on which they were based. 

 

I have no doubt they would look very nice in a Mini's engine bay, and with the right ECU and engine set up, you could probably run a nicely tuned injection set up. I will do a bit more research though. If I am wrong I might see what other mods were required to get the 108hp mark, as it might add a bit more value to my own car! 

 

 

you are way more informed than me! 

 

But I did some googling and saw that they were fitted as part if a kit with the number '1400', was the block also changed? I also saw that the ECU was placed under one of the front seats. 

[Black.Ghost]

When I got my first mini it was a 1984 Mayfair. I quickly started looking and realised that the Cooper was what I wanted next. But I kept reading about the Grand Prix edition being one of the most limited in the 90s. I decided pretty soon that was the car I wanted to own. Due to being very lucky, I managed to achieve that. I am now in the process of making it just how I want it.

 

On the early numbered models, the ECU was red and was indeed under the passenger seat. This was the Weber Alpha unit. The wiring was routed accordingly. However, on the later models, the standard Rover ECU was kept under the bonnet, like the standard Coopers. I have recently taken the engine out of mine to have some gearbox work done to it, and noticed a whole cut in the blanking plate over the round hole in the bulkhead. It was covered with black nasty. Thinking about it now, I believe this was to allow the wiring to pass through and into the passenger side. However, when I put it all back together, I will get a new blanking plate without the hole as it just looks cleaner. 

 

As for the 1400 option, I know that they did this as an option on some earlier cars, but I didn't think they did it on the GPs, which were a pretty unique edition of the car. John Cooper has a 1400 engine, with a private plate I believe. Not a great number of these cars were produced. I can't remember if this was for the Carb'ed Coopers of the early 90s or the early injection Coopers (the first ones were late 91, and my first Cooper was a 92 injection model). 

 

There were a lot of options on the Cooper tuned cars throughout the 90s. I know MaxAndPaddy is pretty clued up, more so the later ones I believe. Tanya may also know a fair amount more - she has a couple of the RSP Coopers. Thinking about it, the 1400 option may have been for the RSP models. So much interesting history surrounding all of these cars. I'd love to have been old enough to buy one new in the 90s. I know Bungle on here has a Mainstream Cooper that he bought from new and still owns.

Edited by Black.Ghost, 27 December 2014 - 06:21 PM.

[MaxAndPaddy]

I can't say I can shed much light on this either, but I agree with BB above, without access to the remapped ECU or some serious knowledge, I can't see it being of much use on its own.

 

The seller does have a nice range of kilts though.

[Black.Ghost]

I was reading a magazine last night and saw H15 FUN and remembered that was the plate of the 1400 conversion. I knew about those conversions. I didn't realise however that there was an injection option for the Grand Prix. I wonder if any of them received the quicker engine. Do you have any links about the Grand Prix options by any chance please? Thanks.

 

Edit:

 

Actually it seems I am just an idiot and that forgets things the first time round. If I ask you again in 2018 about this, I apologise in advance. 

 

http://www.theminifo...mini-cooper-si/

 

I still want the 0-60 in 8 seconds though! Would the 1400 kits be a re-bore and new pistons compared to the 'Super Kit' of the GP, along with the injection unit for sale linked above and a Weber ECU? 

Edited by Black.Ghost, 28 December 2014 - 07:36 AM.

[Black.Ghost]

That's some great information there, many thanks. Now I just need to get some ink in the printer and have a proper read. 

 

You are right about the Super Kit being in the GP. Looking at the pictures, it appears the exhaust system upgrade for the Super kit is Cat backwards, which is great news as that is what I have managed to source. 

 

It is seriously tempting to try and collect the pieces to put the injection 1400 unit together. It would make it a very special GP! I wonder how much you could have spent on a brand new GP, with the 1400 unit and all of the available extras.