My mini begins

[Ferrer]

Also there's no need to go mental with boost. A supercharger could be helpful to haul around stuff as Sams says.

[nota]

Blower says: I'll huff and I'll puff 'til I blow this old Highlight to bits

[johnnynumfiv]

Think of it as a relentlessly self-improving project, then

I have seen supercharged ones before.

I have too, it's just that you can't slap a supercharger on an old motor and hope it'll work, because it usually doesn't. You have to rebuild the motor with stronger parts if you plan on supercharging it.

[clutch-monkey]

that a serious problem? i have never heard about that.... hmmmmm

how long have you been working on yours for?
do you have any pics?

also do you know anywhere that i can get parts, i have been talking to a friend who owns a local auto shop he reckons you can still get your hands on all the parts even the body parts, you heard bout this?

yes - if you bore it out more than 1350 then the walls of the engine block are just a bit too thin for comfort i bought mine about a month ago
as for parts, no idea - i just have a neighbour trained by leyland to work on mini's and who is an avid triumph fan, and a friend in repco who's building a similar project

As far as I'm aware, once you get past 1340, reliability goes out of the window. My mate had a 1380 with stage 3 head, roller rockers and various other whatnots, it was great for a short while, but it just became a pain in the arse very quickly.

i can imagine...

I have seen supercharged ones before.

i might be about to buy another one with 3 different engines - a clubman GT engine, a turbo engine, and a bored out hill climb engine.
the owner wants to go back to offroading

[magracer]

I can't see how that really matters. I mean, you are going to put a rover V8 in the front, aren't you? It's a Clubby! They were born to be V8 powered!

But your handle states otherwise?!?! They should have Honda VTECs!

Seriously now, wouldn't it be cheaper to do a swap for something more modern and efficient? I guess if you are going to do all the work it could work out, but still, I'm guessing original parts would have to come from england, which would make it slow and expensive. There is a guy here doing suzuki swift (1.3ltr, 100hp) swaps and he says the engine is not only much more powerful but also lighter (something like 50kg).

It's true about the 1380, a friend of mine had one here. It was monstrous, but also very expensive to keep running. So much, he gave up, made it "oem" again, and sold the performance bits elsewwere.

[clutch-monkey]

Seriously now, wouldn't it be cheaper to do a swap for something more modern and efficient?

no

I'm guessing original parts would have to come from england, which would make it slow and expensive.

not necessarily
leyland built mini's in Australia - mine is an australian built model. parts are cheap as, performance parts (disc brakes etc) are not unreasonable either
EFI is around a grand though

There is a guy here doing suzuki swift (1.3ltr, 100hp) swaps and he says the engine is not only much more powerful but also lighter (something like 50kg).

it's not difficult to lose at least 30kg off the standard engine, when you see what can be replaced by lighter, modern materials (exhaust manifold..)

[magracer]

it's not difficult to lose at least 30kg off the standard engine, when you see what can be replaced by lighter, modern materials (exhaust manifold..)

What kind of power are you expecting from that motor?

[clutch-monkey]

What kind of power are you expecting from that motor?

i don't really care. i'm going by the seat of my pants
i figure, when it starts to get scary i'll stop modifying it

[johnnynumfiv]

it's not difficult to lose at least 30kg off the standard engine, when you see what can be replaced by lighter, modern materials (exhaust manifold..)

66lbs is a bit optimistic, seeing how the motor weighs about twice that.

[clutch-monkey]

66lbs is a bit optimistic, seeing how the motor weighs about twice that.

lol
i read my post, i meant the entire car not just the engine
so far i've taken off ~20kg from the motor and it's down to little nitty gritty things now

[johnnynumfiv]

What the hell did you take off the motor to get rid of that much weight?

[clutch-monkey]

What the hell did you take off the motor to get rid of that much weight?

everything
i haven't put the engine back in the car yet
~20kg isn't that much, the new exhaust, extractors etc will all help to save, although the enlarged radiator will add weight

[johnnynumfiv]

Ah it's not in a running state. I don't think you can take that much off and have a running motor. An aluminum head saves a lot, as does a header, but not that much. 44lbs on a motor that weighs about 150 is a LOT.

[whiteballz]

make sure you have a tight fit on your radiator pipes sam, the silvia nearly suffered a death today :'(

and about the mini's, what will you do if you buy the other one with the other engines? sell it off to someone?

[clutch-monkey]

and about the mini's, what will you do if you buy the other one with the other engines? sell it off to someone?

use them all clubman GT engine in the other one, and the current mini engine goes off to get rebuilt, but yeah i'll probably keep the turbo motor for laughs unless i get a good price on it