Any advices to help me doing the best choices for my build ?
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi ! I 've just received my donor MG turbo.

I'm going to pull out the engine, front brakes, fuel pump and other bits...

I've read a lot of topics on this forum since months but I still have some questions now about the choices I will have to do for my project.

So my project is to realise a reliable « sleeper » road going mini because in France it's not road legal to modify the factory fitted engine or to install a diffrent engine from the standard one.

The receiver is a 1991 carburetor Mini Cooper which will retain 12 inches wheels.

My idea in the first time is to pull out the engine from the metro and realise this on it:

fit a Minispares 4 pin diff
fit an oil center pick-up pipe
fit a centre main strap
change the oil pump
fit a Kent 266 camshaft with new followers
fit a duplex timing chain

Then install the engine in the Cooper with all the necessary modifications done and use no more than 8 psi boost pressure in a first time.

In a second time I will plan to fit an intercooler and change the head for a ported one with bigger chambers.

Here are my mains questions at the moment:

1- What do you think of this mechanical setup ? pros and cons ?

2- Which final drive should I use with my 12 inches wheels as the 165/60R12 development is shorter than 165/60R13 (it represent a 205 rpm difference in 4th gear at 130 km/h).

Thanks a lot for your experience, help and advices.

Edited by Alexandre on 4th Jun, 2008.

Hello guys I'm from France and since my 18th birtday I 'm dreaming of a turbo engine in my Mini. I'm here to do it !

To be honest thats as far as I (personally) would go with a near std transmission, especially if you want reliability. Uprating the drop gears Is always a good reccommendation, the standard transmission should be fine tho if all is in good order. what you have planned for the second stage is near to my engine spec, which produces 111hp at the wheels at 6 pounds of boost, (am using a T2 tho). Binning the dizzy in favour of Megajolt is a worth while investment imho. As for final drive ratio, I have always used 3.44:1 in my na minis but this is a little tortous for distance trips, for my turbo motor I kept the std metro final drive and the car is an absolute pleasure to drive for miles in. But at the end of the day you need to decide what the use of the car is going to be?
Hope this helps
Shane

Thanks a lot for your reply Shane.

No more suggestions or advices from other members ?

Hello guys I'm from France and since my 18th birtday I 'm dreaming of a turbo engine in my Mini. I'm here to do it !

As Shane said, you are on the limit of the standard gearbox and drop gears, so you need to either limit your boost or drive carefully.

I would go for a 2.95:1 FD ratio.

I would consider improving the turbo from the Metro T3. How about using a GT1752?

The key to good power from minimal boost is maintaining efficiency, so keep your compression ratio reasonably high and use Megajolt for ignition. Use a high efficiency turbo and as big an intercooler as you can fit in the airstream.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

i think you could do without the duplex chain and the centre main strap alexandre, the stock block and simplex chain with tensioner as standard should be fine .
bear in mind that , if you do fit straight cut drop gears , the noise will broadcast to everyone that the engine is modified .
we have a french chap on here ,'fab' who may be able to help you with the legalities of what you can get away with ,,you could pm him .

regards robert

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

as Paul , depending usage the std mety diff is fine,but a 2.95 is a top diff for road use .
completely agree with Robert about double chain ,main strap
About the cam, I would use something with a larger lsa, as a mety mg na cam (or kc 500 for repro),
and yes Paul the first mod to do is to bin the T3 for a gt1752, or at least a gt turbo one
fab

Thanks a lot for your help, I will try to follow your advices.

A friend has a spare gearbox with a 2.95 FD, so it's interesting for me.

For the MG Metro cam I believe that I actually have one somewhere in my garage, the most difficult will be to find it !

For the turbo it is possible for me to have one from a Renaul 5 GTT but I don't know the GT1752 one.

On which car is it factory fitted ?

Hello guys I'm from France and since my 18th birtday I 'm dreaming of a turbo engine in my Mini. I'm here to do it !

From a Saab petrol 9-3 and 9-5 non aero model i believe..

Impossible to find my MG cam, do you know from where I can buy a Kent KC500 ?

Is the KC500 better than the MD266 for a turbo application ?

Do you see something I can use for my build in this list:

- Swiftune SW5
- Kent MD286SP
- Calver RE13OT
- Minisport CA4

I ask you this because I already have all this cam in my garage... (and impossible to find the MG one ;-( )

Edited by Alexandre on 9th Jun, 2008.

Hello guys I'm from France and since my 18th birtday I 'm dreaming of a turbo engine in my Mini. I'm here to do it !