272 replies to this topic

[cradley-heathen]

whilst at the show on sunday i had a look at a few other minis with different head conversions on them, i took a few pics for referance and to share with you, i had a good chat with the one gut about his sons mini (the silver and green one with the ka dash if that rings any bells with anyone?) and i picked up a few tips, such as...

a. over tighten the crank pulley bolt as with a longer length pulley it has more chance of working itself loose, somthing i hadnt considered, and...
b. the dip stick will be difficult/impossible to use in its normal position, so the trick is to use a mondeo tube and stick as its a bendy one...

pics below....

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Edited by cradley-heathen, 15 September 2008 - 08:04 PM.

[ashton]

i saw this mini at stanford hall..interior looked absolutely awesome..i was incredibly jealous of the ka dash..mine is a piece of wood atm

[ivanhoew]

Just mount it on some bricks on the garage floor and let the exhaust hold it up lol. Jetblick did it on his project lol.

yeah i saw someone else do that on youtube, i think it would scare me to death trying it, i would just lash somthing together out of some steel box section or whatever is laying about at the time

heres my engine cradders ,no probs whatsoever starting it on the ground very little torque reaction .



regards robert

[cradley-heathen]

Just mount it on some bricks on the garage floor and let the exhaust hold it up lol. Jetblick did it on his project lol.

yeah i saw someone else do that on youtube, i think it would scare me to death trying it, i would just lash somthing together out of some steel box section or whatever is laying about at the time

heres my engine cradders ,no probs whatsoever starting it on the ground very little torque reaction .



regards robert

what is that set up you have there mate? is that a late MPI block as i cant see the dizzy blocking off plug? sounds lovely anyway! hats off to you sir!

[ivanhoew]

Just mount it on some bricks on the garage floor and let the exhaust hold it up lol. Jetblick did it on his project lol.

yeah i saw someone else do that on youtube, i think it would scare me to death trying it, i would just lash somthing together out of some steel box section or whatever is laying about at the time

heres my engine cradders ,no probs whatsoever starting it on the ground very little torque reaction .



regards robert

what is that set up you have there mate? is that a late MPI block as i cant see the dizzy blocking off plug? sounds lovely anyway! hats off to you sir!

thank you !!

yep ,mpi , theres a thread about it on here somewhere... not sure where though lol

Edited by ivanhoew, 18 September 2008 - 08:13 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

Just mount it on some bricks on the garage floor and let the exhaust hold it up lol. Jetblick did it on his project lol.

yeah i saw someone else do that on youtube, i think it would scare me to death trying it, i would just lash somthing together out of some steel box section or whatever is laying about at the time

heres my engine cradders ,no probs whatsoever starting it on the ground very little torque reaction .



regards robert

what is that set up you have there mate? is that a late MPI block as i cant see the dizzy blocking off plug? sounds lovely anyway! hats off to you sir!

thank you !!

yep ,mpi , theres a thread about it on here somewhere... not sure where though lol

looks like a nica job mate, and sounds fab! i did think it was an ital block for a second until i noticed there was no dizzy blanking plug, i had an ital and marina that both had screw on filters similar to the mpi block.

[ivanhoew]

thanks cradley ,

it def runs a lot smoother with 8 ports instead of 5 . i was suprised how i could rev it to 4k ish and no increase in vibes at all , very encouraging , running on propane helps though ,its very smooth combustionwise .

regards robert

[cradley-heathen]

not a massive amount of progress again, very frustrating, still on the look out for some pistons at a decent price, i have got the inlet manifold flange cut out and milled back to size, just need some alloy tube with an i/d or 30mm, and about a 4mm wall thickness to weld on for the bike carbs to mount to, im going to tackle the block face this week i think, blanking the holes i dont need, and re-drilling the block for my new stud holes.

after having a tremendous day yesterday at castle combe (on a stock 998) found that handling, grip, big brakes and plenty confidence in the car really does count for allot and i did most my passing just by being able to brake way after everyone else, or by being able to maintain speed through corners and exiting at full chat and just hoping that pulled enough of a gap so they couldnt pass me on the striaghts before i did the same thing again and pulled a little further away. the small bore unit certainly didnt disgrace itself at all, and i would go as far as saying it made easy work of several 1275's just through being set up well, and by weighing very little.

anyway, im going to crack on with the engine but i cant help but feel a slight desire to totally change my plans and throw in a 1380 after watching my brothers work exceptionally well again this weekend.

who knows maybe i will sell the project when i have got past all the hard work and someone else can finish off the normal stuff like getting a box on it and transfer gears etc...

[cradley-heathen]

right a little more progress now, i have drilled and tapped the oil and water gallery holes in the top of the block now and i have plugged them all with h/t bolts, so hopefully some time next week i can drop the block off at my old work to have the block face decked, and then i can re-drill for the few head bolts that dont line up,

also i have dropped the head off to have the alloy tig welding done to offset the combustion chambers in the head to match the unevenly spaced ones in the 998 block,

and finally i have spoke to omega pistons (who are only a 5 min drive from me) about a "special" set so i can try to eek every last cc out the block.

i have decided to persevere with the project as im sure you can tell anyway, it has still cost next to nothing so far, the most expensive bit so far was a bag of h/t bolts that came to nearly £30, sadly the pistons will require another 0 putting on the end of that, but im sure its going to be worth it......

[Surfbluegarage]

just for refference the silver mini with a green roof your on about is graheam wrights mini.. my mini was lucky to be parked next to the beast at l2b 2008.... (george on the left of it)

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[cradley-heathen]

thats the car mate, and i'll take your word for it that thats the guys name, it was his dad i was talking to though. i also saw it at castle coombe last weekend, i think it was on the track the same time as me in one session. itc a cool car, personally though i dont do the stereo in minis in fact i dont do m,uch of anything in them, not even a roof lining lol. i just dont like to drag around any extra weight, if you follow me?

[Sam Walters]

you gonig to 76.2mm bore then?

[miniboo]

76.2 on a 998 will be lucky!!! 67.6mm is +120thou (roughly)

[cradley-heathen]

you gonig to 76.2mm bore then?

as miniboo states its a 998 block so sadly not, the largest i want to go to is 66mm give or take, sometime this week i will hopefully be going to see someone at omega pistons about some "special" pistons for the job.

[cradley-heathen]

as promised here is the pic of the block with the blanking h/t bolts in, its only half finishes as yet, i still have to block off 5 of the 8 push rod holes across the back of the block, and some of the existing head bolt holes, obviously when i reach the point of finishing all the drilling and tapping i will maching all the heads off back to the block face, then re-drill and tap the new holes where the new head studs will go. as ever sorry for poor pic quality....

by the way the little bolt at the back right that sticking up quite a way is the oil feed going up to the rocker shaft in the head, this will now come out a new hole i have drilled in the side of the block, up a braided hose and into the side of the 12 valve head and into its rocker shaft, then feeding back down through the drain holes in the head and through the 3 remaining open pushrod holes (another bit of luck as they line up!)

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