Hello guys and girls.
Having owned a my 1985 Mayfair for many years i had tuned it quite heavily as a naturally aspirated car. It was fitted with a Calver RE13OT cam, lightened Verto set up, 3.44 final drive, HIF44 and heavily modified 998 head, alongside the exhaust and other mods producing over 70 BHP it was a a very fun revvy lump. Rather deceptive with its standard interior, patchy blue paint and lumpy exhaust note. Fooling many into believing shes nothing but an out of tune mini with a loud exhaust. Hence the missus naming the car #Tried it
However, rather sadly, it decided to chew a bearing, just 2 days after starting for the first time after an overbore to +100 thou and a head skim to bring the compression to 11:1.
So as i rather frustratingly took apart the freshly rebuilt engine. I decided that i would take the massive jump of going not only from NA to turbo but also to undertake a conversion from carburettor to sequential and staged fuel injection and separate coils using mega squirt MSX3 ECU.
My initial intention was to reuse as much of the NA engine as possible but after loads of researching and reading, i have take the decision to break and sell the NA engine. This is all listed on turbo mini forum ( http://www.turbomini...p=vt&tid=605311 ), please take a gander as none of the parts are of use to me any more but may be of use to you. And start again with a unmodified 998 A+.
So i hit ebay for a scrappy engine, ended up buying 3 in a job lot. They arrive this Monday, hopefully at least one will be in good condition. So i can begin this journey to torque steer and frustrating tiny problems holding me up at every step. Built enough engine not to know that if it can go wrong it will.
I have been buying and collecting parts for this conversion over the last few months but am a long way of every thing.
My intended finished spec is as follows:
998 A+ block bored out to +60 thou. Opened up water ways around the pump and the two large coolant holes at the clutch end. Apart from the coolant the 3 coolant holes closest to the clutch, the rest will be tapped and blocked with grub screws. Creating coolant flow similar to that of a dry deck.
Omega Forged 998 +60 pistons.
Standard 998 conrods and crank. Though these along with all of the bottom end will be dynamically balanced.
MED light weight Verto fly wheel fitted with the AP rally friction plate and and RTS spring plate. Following the guide on Turbo Mini forum.
The cylinder head i will be modifying/grinding myself from a standard casting. Based on my NA head ports and the yellow bibles guide to modifying the chambers. I will be aiming for a 9:1 CR to give me off boost drive ability while maintaining the ability to run a good quantity of boost. i would like at least 14 psi which theoretically should give me around 140 BHP. I will be using a Payen copper head gasket to begin with which will hopefully hod it together.
My turbo of choice is an IHI VL38, removed from a Fiat 500 Abarth. according to Fiat it was a 2012 car. i have read that it can produce up to 20 PSI before it becomes inefficient. It will be mounted above the clutch housing using an equal length 3 to 1 manifold, with sample tubes for the lambda sensors. the inlet manifold mill also have to be made to support the port injection, the selection of throttle body is undecided, as i will also need a idle control motor so a 50 mm butterfly with a built in idle motor would be perfect.
The intercooler is planned to be a one off to fill as much of the space behind the grill without having to alter or remove the grill. Have to keep it as incognito as possible , and naturally a Forge Motorsport recirculating valve haha.
The gear box is a standard unit fitted with a central pick up, windage tray and a 3.2 final drive.
i am planning to use a 2 core super cool, fitted in the standard location, mechanical fan removed and electric fan fitted to the wing side of the radiator. i will also be removing the mechanical water pump and replace it with a Davis Craig 80 L unit fitted to the subframe. The alternator will be dropped to sitting between the block and the sub frame and utilise a short belt. The Alternator is a 60 AMP unit from a Suzuki swift. with the extra space generated i will attempt to build ducting to the radiator. i am also intending to use a full bypass thermostat, to try and ensure the most effective coolant flow possible.
i intend to run the to and from fuel lines through the car using Teflon braided lines.
there are a few other bits and pieces but it should be a rather comprehensive build. i will have to take a bunch of photos of my growing collection of parts and of course the build once it gets going :)
cheers
#Tried It 2
Edited by #Tried It 2, 11 January 2017 - 11:04 AM.