40 replies to this topic

[alexcrosse]

how much is it to get hold of a 1071 engine or just crank. Has anyone actually bought one before?

Cheers, Alex

[JetBLICK]

Yup, got one, they cost a lot. If you want to build a good one you'll need a good crank. As a rough guideline expect to pay £300 for a crank thats on 20/20 or even 20/20 that will need a fresh regrind... bearing in mind after 30/30 you need to have custom bearings made. For a fresh 10/10 you'll pay between 500-600 and unground cranks are extreemly rare and fairly priceless. That said, thats what you'll pay from a mini specialist/company, there are better prices to be had on ebay.

Blocks go for small fortunes too, similar prices to cranks, depending on how used they are. There are bargains to be had tho. I recently saw an ex-works spec used for only 300miles go for the starting fee of £650 on the 'bay.

I paid £1200 for my engine, and its gonna cost another £1500 to put it on the road. And its far from an ideal spec.

If you know people you can get a south african 1070 crank shipped over for much less, and they have a 70mm stroke (opposed to a 68mm) and they have standard size big ends (so you dont have to use 's' rods) This means they will go straight into a standard 1275 block with much less hassel than a normal 1071 crank.

Another option is to have a billet one made. John K at specialist components said he would make a batch if he had enough interest, his suff is reasonably priced too, a billet 81mm crank from him is £800. Alternatively swifty can do em for £1300.


1071's are certainly not a cheap option, and you get whey more bang for your buck with a 1380. But 1380's are boring, and i'm fairly certain with the right gearing my 1071 will be far quicker, on a track at least, than a similar spec 1380

[alexcrosse]

i got quite alot of bang with my 1430 already! but i have just seen one advertised and ive always wanted to do one, or get hold of a crank atleast. Id like to bore a block out to 73.5mm and make a 10,000rpm job. Ive just emailed the bloke hoping for the best. What was yours reving up to? and what did you do to it? Are the blocks not identicle to the 1275?

Cheers mate, alex

[JetBLICK]

Mine's not finished yet.

To be perfectly honest i think 10,000rpm is a popular myth, 9,000's probably possible. I've spoken to a lot of people about how to go about getting the best from my 1071, namely swiftune and a chap who races a 1071 in classic touring cars as well as having a 1071 road car.

What i was told by swifty is that its very easy to over-cam a 1071. I think basically people get too ambitious and think 'ooh short stroke, its revvy, so i'll stick a silly cam in it' All you end up with tho is a car that makes no power till right at the very end of its rev-limmit, when you have to change gear. The reality is you dont need the silly cam because it is very free revving. When i spoke to nick he advised me, after telling him about my lairy 998, that if i can put up with it, use a 286 kinda profile max! So, that a 544, 286 or SW10, with 1.5 rockers. Swifty was telling me he builds their racers with an SW10 and they complain that they're too 'cammy'

The other chap i speak to a lot has had the benifit of driving a race motor and a road motor. His racer has a 649 profile with 1.5's which would apparently be un-driveable on the road. I've also learned from him that the 1071 will only see 10000 rpm on downshifts if your being a bit too eager. On the track he only takes his to 8500rpm tho it will do 9000.

Soz rich if you read this hope u dont mind :S


The 's' and standard blocks are very different. For starters you cannot feasibly bore an 's' block past 60thou. To fit a 1071 crank in a non-'s' block you need to have material shaved of the thrust washers (16thou i think) You also have to deck the block to make up for the shorter stroke and bring the pistons flush.

[alexcrosse]

brilliant, really filled me in on some info mate. What have you bored your block to? is it an original s block? very interesting about the cam, i dont like cammy engines! you cant feel acceleration, you just end up going very quick and wonder how u got there. Im currently running 286 and 1.5:1 rollers on the 1430, and its puurrr-fect.

Cheers for your help, waiting for an email back from this bloke. Its just an idea, but ive always wanted a 1071 engine. And if i get it cheap it doesnt even matter if i dont use it because i can sell it on.

Cheers for your time mate! have you got a project thread for the 1071, when is it going in?

[JetBLICK]

Project threads under the siggy and from about 1/2 way through is when i picked up the 1071. My block has been liner'd back to standard.

Lemme know what you do, i may have that crank if you dont want it and its in good knick

[CanadianMiniFan]

if you want really revvy, you can go 970 don't know how rare those are though but that would be awesome. small bore is awesome, go for it mate!!!

[nmt_oli]

My 16v bmw conversion from morspeed is on a 1071 crank. Should be fun when it gets here! with the 73.5mm bore, the final capacity is 1187cc.

[JetBLICK]

^ yea, ur motors got the south african 70mm crank, i really wanted that engine That'll go like stink

As for 970's they made less than 1000 so you'll be lucky to find one. Having said that thy only made 4000 brit 1071's, dunno about the african ones tho. Thats according to the back of one of the classic car mags, cant remember which one.

[stardude]

apparently the south african ones are pretty abundant, as they were in thier bog standard engines i beleive.

[alexcrosse]

lmao! 970! i have more chance waking up and finding i have 2 extra legs.

As for that BMW head, 70mm stroke and 73.5mm pistons... THATS WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO! lol. Really interested in that. Could you gimme some more information on that? sounds really interesting. How much was the crank for that? Cheers, alex

[CanadianMiniFan]

970 would be amazing though...

[Pie]

Me and dan recently watched a competition 1071 go on ebay for £650!! was an absolute bargain.

[nmt_oli]

lmao! 970! i have more chance waking up and finding i have 2 extra legs.

As for that BMW head, 70mm stroke and 73.5mm pistons... THATS WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO! lol. Really interested in that. Could you gimme some more information on that? sounds really interesting. How much was the crank for that? Cheers, alex

Talk to simon at morespeed! i don't actually know much about it yet, don't even have a spec sheet. Was sold as a "Used" engine (only had 7ish hours dyno use though), was a demo enigne. I will probably know a lot more when it arrives!

[CanadianMiniFan]

that's a wicked bargain. (the 650 quid comp. 1071)