Very unexpected but I have now fitted a new performance cam from Newmans Cams. Thanks to them for getting it made and sent out the same day and arrived the next day :) Impressive! Especially only costing £200 which is cheaper than others but not the cheapest on the market. This is however an everyday cam and gives good gains in the mid end too. Hopefully I can get it on a rolling road in the next week or so!

For the first time in a few years I have been drag racing and this was at Santa Pod. The results werent what I hoped and maybe is a clear demonstration that a stock intercooler gets seriously hot on the strip with a 17% pulley. My best time being the first of the evening and as the track temps dropped hooking the car up on the start got worse. Best time was 14.7Seconds at 95mph. With more grip and better cooling I think the times will fall :)

I have also been to Castle Combe to test the car out on the track and defiantly it certainly perfomed far better than previous years which I can only put down to the new fuelling and the Quaiffe allow far quicker corner exits. Just cant wait for the turbo! And after needing 3 sessions to get the new brake pads up to scratch I really need to look at a big brake upgrade. Video of Castle Combe to come! :)

I cant believe its been four months since the last update! Sadly things are taking far longer than expected but there has been quite a few changes under the covers.

Firstly I now have the Quaiffe ATB Diff, Clutchmasters lightweight flywheel and FX400 paddle clutch fitted. It took a little while to get all the parts together like new bearings, seals, sealent and oil. The biggest difference straight away was how the handling is just transformed by the Quaiffe. Where once you would understeer if you put the power on mid corner now I find the Quaiffe just pulls me around. Certainly makes roundabouts and full throttle exits out of corners on the track very easy! The new clutch certainly does grip well with no chance of slipping at the moment but is very aggressive for day to day driving which I am slowly getting useto.

Secondly I now have the Innovate AFR, SSI4 and Apex Neo fitted so I can monitor AFRs and use the Neo to help smooth out the fuelling. Both of these will prove extremely valuable once the turbo goes on during testing :) I hope for all changes to be updated on the ECU maps in the end so these are only for testing tuning.

Innovate AFR Guage


Apex-i Neo


Still with all that wiring and 7 sensor inputs available to attach to the SSI4 you'd expect wires everywhere but not when it comes to the work of Dave at ThinkMini. You'd have to look hard to see any of the wiring.

Engine Bay No Wires


The only place they can be seen is where the Innovate AFR is located and where the wires come through the firewall in the passenger side cowl vent.

Cowl Vent


Thirdly I now have the GTT Adjustable Fuel Regulator fitted so I can basically manually scale the injectors for when I am testing and via lowering the fuel pressure I can extend the range of adjustment into the early 20s PSI. No major fuel system upgrades will be needed for phase one of the turbo! How far can we take it before we run out of fuel?? It will be interesting to find out :)

I would like to say a massive thank you to Dave and Ade at ThinkMini for their fantastic work to get the gearbox, flywheel, clutch and fuel pressure regulator all done in a matter of a few hours. And the quality of the wiring job is second to none! Perfectly routed and hidden from view which is quite impressive when you conside how many wires are involved with the Neo, AFR, 7 sensor inputs for the SSI4 and the data cables that link them. Thanks guys :)

After a BMW service and back to Full Synthetic oil I think we're ready to see how much we are putting old. This brings us to Surrey Rolling Road and disappointingly a quite hot day so as most people we are seeing a drop off of timing at high revs.

To the numbers!

Torque: 197lbft @ 4250rpm

BHP: 222.3 @ 6750rpm

WHP: 186.2 @ 6750rpm

Things are now progressing and after an extremely busy weekend and very late night last night, the engine is now rebuilt and running nicely!

Saturday was strip down day and get as much the engine to pieces.

Part way into the job:



Look at those tiny stock inlet ports:



Coming along nicely and time to get the head ready to come off:



Sumps off:



All looks good so lets get the big ends off:



Lets get the pistons out and see what state they are in:



Pistons arent looking too bad but id suspect the rings werent sealing all that well:




Sunday, time to get the rings on the new Pistons and get them installed.

All the pistons removed:



Built new head and ready to install:



Time to put the new head on and get it bolted down:



Even the sumps back on:



A massive thank you to Lee at LTSTuning both for the use of his garage and his extremely valuable help to complete the install. :)

With the engine now running Castrol Minerial oil its now time to get it run in but first impressions after just 50miles, its going to be strong :)

The lack of pictures towards the end were due to concentrating on getting the job down and forgetting I was suppose to be camera man too!

Total time (estimated) : 16 hours

Well its time for a quick update!

The new set of forged JE Pistons have now arrived! Thanks to Hubie for his help sorting them out! Now I just cant wait to get them fitted and get them run in especially since we have a Rolling Road in a couple of weeks time!





Also the new clutch and lightweight flywheel have also arrived a little while ago. This is the Clutchmasters FX-400 chosen to hold the final HP of the car but lets hope its not too aggresive on the road. Too many hills on my commute!







A big thanks to Graham at GRS Motorsport for the loan of his 380cc Injectors :) Check out his website for both his uprated intercooler and chargecooler http://www.grsmotorsport.co.uk/minicoopers.html

With the first parts now here everything seems so much more real and we are finally on our way. 2 weeks from now the engine will be coming out for a rebuild with some nice new pistons so when better then to fit some new parts as well.

First off we have to think strength so who better to trust than ARP for Rod and Head Bolts? Their quality and attention to detail is quite suprising. Why not use stock bolts? Well better safe than sorry really! Would you trust the stock bolts at 7.5K rpm and 400+BHP?

Head Bolts/Studs


Rod Bolts



As with every head change you need to change the head gasket and since its important to change and not cheap I though it worth mentioning.

Head Gasket



Whats the worst problem with a high power front wheel drive? Traction and on power corner exits! So to help reduce these problems Quaife have exactly the product. The Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing(ATB) LSD Differential. Unlike normal open diffs the Quaife will spread the power across both wheels and move power towards the wheel with the most traction when either one starts to slip. And unlike most LSDs it comes with a lifetime warranty and no clutches to wear out over time. Best of all it maintains its road manours so no having to grip the steering with both hands and try to keep it on the road everytime you put your foot down.

More info is availabe on the Quaife website: What is a Quaife ATB?

Quaife


Quaife Bottom



With all the expected performance increase we need to be able to get the fuel and air in and the exhaust gases out as efficiently as possible. For this I have selected the Revolution MINI Works Big Valve Head. Why? Because its tried and tested on more applications around the world than any other that I know of. The price is middle of the road so not the cheapest or the most expensive but very well priced for what you get. First testing end of May we will find out how well it performs!

RMW Head Top


RMW Head Valve Springs


RMW Head Enlarged Valves


Watch out for more new parts arriving soon and the big rebuild first bank holiday of May! Full pics!

The first stage of parts started to turn up today so things really are on the move. Full update tomorrow with lots of nice pictures!

Everything is progressing well and I have made a major decision to keep my current MINI Cooper S. This will give me a good chance to see the changes the first stage of parts will make atleast.

I have also ordered the Pistons today so will expect them in the next 3-4 weeks time and now I am on the hunt for what Cylinder Head to use! Watch this space to find out!

Today the new website goes live and today is day one of the new project. Time to source a new MINI for this project as instead of using mine I want to start with a clean slate so to speak.

There are a few features to gain along the way though:
Jan 2005 Onwards LSD Gearbox
Multi Functional Steering Wheel
Aero Kit
Works Seats
Lets get this moving and see how we do!