sensible mods
Turbo Mini Forums

hi peeps, new to the turboing lark, just a couple of questions for the turbo gods.
im planning to buy a standard turbo engine and rebuild, i havent got huge bhp in mind or a huge budget, was thinking of uprating the cam, having the cylinder head modded, rebuild the turbo and run standard gbox.
1.what cylinder head mods would you reccomend
2.what sort of bhp to expect from this.
3. my car is a cooper 1.3spi, so could i use the wiring loom from this an just unplug the ecu and fit bleed valve or would i need to change the hole loom to the metro?
thanks alot, any other advice would be champion

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

The main head mod is to enlarge chambers to reduce compression. Do this and run some more boost with an intercooler and you should achieve an easy 120bhp.
The gearbox is your main problem, this will not last very long, and rebuilding it before turbo-ing is ESSENTIAL in my opinion.

The metro turbo setup uses a very simple ignition setup, you can keep the same wires to the temp sensors and oil press sensors, alternator etc, then all you need is an ignition switched live to go to the ignition coil.

thats helped alot also by rebuilding the gbox do you mean just to standard or to go for the close cut gears?

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

If you can afford straight cut gears then these are well worth it for strength, however if not it is still worth doing a standard rebuild, new bearings/shafts etc

on my build im just gonna use sc drops, as in my mind this the weakest link.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

i like the idea of having the longer 1st with the sc/cr gears, should reduce wheel spin?

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

Ive had mine for 2 years standard box, drops, diff, had no problems with any of them. I ran about 12psi of boost with an intercooler and a CR off 9.4:1.

Covered about 8000miles like this, after taking it apart the only real VISIBLE wear is on the drops.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

agree with matty, std box can cope with 120bhp
for a budget 120 bhp,
I would leave the cyl head as it is,
keep std cr (have to use an intercooler)
rebuild the gearbox with std helicals and good quality parts,upgrade the diff to four pin,
10/12psi depend fuell quality,
std bdd needle,
cheap mg mety cam
and the most important a smaller turbo (T2 from r5 gt turbo), with a 2' downpipe and good exhaust.

but this engine cannot be upgraded further without decreasing the cr and mod the head, if you are trying more boost on this you'll kiss your pistons

Look like I am in the same boat as you.

I am doing the same as fab suggests mainly due to the fact that I am spending the bulk on my money on the body work/paint cage etc however I will be getting rid of the standard ignition system and going for mega jolt jr (due to the fact I think that the port robbing issue is not going to get sorted within the next couple of years (I hope some one will prove me wrong)). At which point if it does get sorted fully mapped fuel and ignition systems are defiantly the way forward.

However here is my planned setup

* Standard Cylinder head
* 2wd Cossie Intercooler
* Nic's Plenum Chamber (Highly recommend this piece of kit quality is very very good)
* Standard Gearbox with 4 pin diff and CPU
* Straight Cut Drops
* Avonbar T2 cam (might as well with the engine out)
* Avonbar oil pump (this is a must to keep the engine alive)
* Mirage Manifolds
* Renault 5 T2 turbo
* MPI rad and cooling system
* Mega Jolt jr ignition system

The above is how I think Austin/Rover should have done it with the metro turbo. Hopefully this should allow me to run 12psi without any issues. If I need more power I can upgrade the head at a later date.

After that I can go for a full rebuild (i.e. expensive) which allow me to concentrate on the engine rather than worrying about my fuel lines etc


I hope the above help you make up you own mind.

Stig I would consider getting the cyl head to Benross for the chambers enlarging a shade. This will just drop the CR down a tad to make sure you stay out of detonation, don't need to go too far, just getting it down to 9:1 from 9.4:1 would do the trick.

Tom's right,
you'll not be safe at 12, it can sometimes but you'll need your finger crossed more than 10 and you'll need high grade fuell.
an over thing to consider when slightly lowered from 9.4to 9 it allow a litle more advance which is usefull to release a little more power without destroying the genuine very efficient combustion chamber

thanks alot guys thats a massive help, was thinking of modding the head 29mm exhaust and 36mm inlet, and if i rebuilt my spi gearbox ie replacing gears bearings and shafts could i use this for my engine or do i need a turbo box to begin with?

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

SPI gearbox rebuilt carefully will be fine for what you want.

All the above is true and good advice.

Ran my car, as a daily driver (doing about 100 miles a day!!!), for 2 years with the following set-up;

Std Metro Turbo bottom end except new, Avonbar, oil pump.

Home ported and equalised chamber (very little material removed) head with std valves.

MG metro cam with 1.5 rockers ( because I had them and prefer the roller tips)

Intercooler from a Rover 220D

Super 4 core rad

Rebuilt gearbox (best bearings and comp bulks from Mini-Its)

4 Pin diff and 3.2:1 FD

Ran at 10psi (avonbar actuator) with Avonbar spring and needle in the carb (probably didn't need the latter ....) and std MG Turbo dizzy.

The only problem I had with the car was keeping throttle pedal out of the carpet .... (126 BHP on Mech Repairs rollers in Cheltenham and did a

Not sure if I'd trust more than 10 psi though. Car gave me best part of 30 MPG even being driven like a loon as I was but a boy back then .. LOL

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

did a what???

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

if you've got an SPI wiring loom - you may want to swap it for a non-SPI loom


The wiring goes all over the fucking place, and if you remove the ECU, you'll lose your temp gauge, amongst other things. Plus it's just too damned messy for my liking

"Computer games don't affect kids, I mean if Pac Man affected us as kids,
we'd all run around in a darkened room munching pills and listening to repetitive music."


Kristian Wilson, Nintendo Inc, 1989.

I would change the clutch too, to a pre verto setup.

im confused now guys, tom suggested that i could use my spi loom if i have a switched live to my coil.
anarchist has informed me that if i lose my ecu then ill lose temp gauges and god knows what else?
please could some one clear this up for me, really dont want to strip the loom out to find i didnt have to.

so confused ive gone cross eyed!!!!

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

hey guys, after many searches i still havent found the answer to this question. spi loom or change to a standard one??
cheers

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

Leave the ECU in if needs be to control the rev counter and water-temp (are you sure this is correct for the SPI)? And run a live to the dizzy and job's a goodun.

see im unsure exactly what the ecu controls other than the injection system, if i left it in then, could i just add a bleed valve and dv to control boost?

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

rev is driven from the coil 12v, temp from the cylinder head 12v , not from ecu which have separate 5 v triggers flywheel and 5v water sensor

so in theory, i could keep the ecu, run a live to the dizzy just disconnect injection connections and add bleed valve???

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'

yes

thanks for clearing that up for me, long way off that stage yet but just wanted to clear it up. ta

'always keep a spare shot for a stray bird'