14 replies to this topic

[minimadjonesy]

Right people, When I get back from IMM I'm selling everything including my MX3 daily runner and taking on the GF's diesel Astra :sick:

However, this should let me have about £1700 to get a new engine sorted for the mini and finish the thing off once and for all!

So, I'm thinking about a 1340 stage 3 but not sure about cams, carbs etc etc!

What do you lot think? Ideally i would like a VmaxScart Weekend Racer box (4 sc gears and 5th helical) but at £1200 it'll be a little out of my budget!

Any Suggestions (serious ones jammy and TC!) would be appreciated

[TimS]

what do you really want it for and how much power! a 1330 is a good place for cheap(insurance) reliable power. the CC's give it good torque but has more revs than a 1380 mixed with a good head and cam(around stg 3 depending on the company) and cam depening on your drivability and power prefrences id either go for a switune sw5 for smaooth power or a 286 for a bit more umph

[minimadjonesy]

I want it for weekend use and the occaisional holiday! basically will have the diesel:sick: for the daily runner! this is the first car i have built to be a "show car" all others were just to be run into the ground and that's exactly what I did! this one will be looked afetr but i still want grunt when i put my foot down

my old engine is a 1293 stage 3 witha kent 286 cam. the idle is a little lumpy but once you get to 3k rmp it just takes off! Had 95bhp at the flywheel from that so would be looking for an increase with the new engine!

I've heard about the SW5 cam, what's the difference with it in relation to kent and piper cams?

[Bluemini]

PM sent

[minimadjonesy]

PM returned!

[TimS]

ping pong game with a guess its about heads! the sw5 and sw10 are regrond kent cams which are a little tamer. the sw5 was passed on the 997cooper cam. if your after more grunt though than your previous engine then it looks like a hike up in cc's on the cards 1380/1400 or even a 1430 with the right combination of head deigned to suit the rest of the engine you should be looking at 120bhp+ . im sure rich would b able to do you a head to suit

[minimadjonesy]

Rich has given me a couple of options but 1380 is about as far as i woudl want to go on block size! 2 friends of min had 1430's and both of them had serious issues with reliability! one of them even had engine management system on it and still had problems!

[Guess-Works.com]

ooh, what could I do with 1700 notes...

If this is a trackday/show car, forget the fifth, your never gonna need it, 4 speed sccr with X pin diff bottom end. helical cut drops, high comression 1330 stage 3/4 head, and I'd be tempted with the SW10 rather than the SW5..with ulta light flywheel / orange diaphragm clutch, HIF44 and big bore Maniflow system...

If you have any pennies left from that, get the rotational gear balanced and possibly crank crossdrilled and wedged... and maybe 1:1.5 rockers

Edited by GuessWorks, 21 May 2005 - 12:31 PM.

[TimS]

yeh with a 74mm bore the walls tend to get a little thin, and its very expnsive using the s rods on a stroked crank too. 1380's not bad all the needs doing is offset boring. Centre main strap, and fully balanced bottom end would give you a bit more strength, and a tuftrided crank. I think a fav. of richs is stright cut drop gears. although expensive they will loose alot less power than the hilicals. again a 286 would be a good option for drivability and power

[TimS]

im likeing guessworks idea! for road use the sw10 would be favoursed but the 286 as i bleive yould give more power(though i dont have expeince with the sw10 so cannot say for sure)

[minimadjonesy]

guessworks, How much for you to build me that box then??

[TimS]

TMF should start up an engine building service!lol

[Guess-Works.com]

I'll try to get it all in this time before my battery goes puff !!

Here's a few options with different costs...

SCCR with X-pin diff

For something of this nature you should be looking at a full rebuild, no point putting in new gears and not having new bearings for them to run on, you could also put in a new 3rd motion shaft but at nearly 100 quid a bit, I think a good used one will just as good if not better. So, to list it down..

Full recon gearbox ( diff not done as new X-Pin Diff used )
Competition Layshaft
Competition diff bearings
Central oil pickup
SCCR Gearset
X-Pin Diff in new output shafts

The gearset there are a couple of choices, there is a clubman set which is/was available which uses the original 1st gear but replaces the laygear 2nd 3rd and input (4th) gear with SC, minispares still list them (Clicky for just less than 300) but they are getting hard to find. The alternative is a complete full gearset which are available for about the 350 mark

The X-pin diff I'll have to investigate, but the last one I bought ( about 2 years ago ) cost me 150 but not sure that was with the new output shafts... I will check that

A full rebuild with the comp layshaft, CPU and Comp diffbearings would normally cost about 300, but I could do it for 250 because of the SCCR gearset and X-pin dif reducing the amount which I will be using from stock, and essentially everything in the box would be new with the exception of the 3rd motion shaft the synchro shells, the crown wheel and pinion, the selector arrangements and the case.

An estimate of total for this would approx 750 ( +- 50 quid ish )

As I said up the top, I'll give you a couple of other options.. as that coudl be quite hard to swallow..

I now do what I call a "Trackday Pack" which is a upgrade to the standard recon box with a number of higher quality items for 50 pounds...

This includes...
Competition Layshaft ( high grade steel )
Competition Diff Pin ( Molybdenium coated )
Competition diff bearings ( steel bound instead of the old thrust type )
Central oil Pickup

So a standard recon gearbox and diff, with the TD Pack comes to 250.

or.. I also have some close ratio gearsets from MK3 Cooper S and 1275 GT's, I could do a gearbox using these for an additional 50, so 300 for a CR Helical cut box.

If you want to play with the ratios and what revs/speed you be getting use the ratio calculator... Clicky Link

Cheers,
John.

[minimadjonesy]

Now £750 for all that sounds about right and with the possibilty of getting Bluemini to help me get a new Short engine I should be able to stretch to that! i'll definitely have to give you a shout!

[Alburglar]

I had a really good spec 1330 with gas flowed big valve head, kent 276, all the right trimmings blah blah blah. It was ******** and not worth the money!
Do a 1380.
Or a proper 1340 with proper de-stroked crank and other 1340 tom foolery and you will have a torque monster.

But you can't afford it so get a 1380 short kit. Put it with a 4speed straight cut box (guesswork's one sounds ideal) an use a Kent 286 / sw10 or similar. Use an 1 3/4 carb and worry about hi-lift rockers etc, at a later date.

I reckon this will get you the best results for your money, and you will love it.