16v Project Progress - Now Back in Business
Turbo Mini Forums

Best I managed was a 14.9 with 106hp, so not too lardy.

The windows were never mk1. There were some home made attempts at 1 point and rapidly realized making them yourself is not worth the effort.

Many wasted hours later and its starting to come together.

Looks good, forgive my lack of knowledge of k heads but i take it theres no turbo manifolds out there for them? Also out of curiosity how is the turbo supported in a couple of your pics? And lastly is that lipari blue?

Nice work and an interesting build.

Class D Winner 1997 - 1998 - 2003
Class D 2nd 1999 - 2001

Every turbo installation is different so no real off the shelf manifolds given the range of turbos that people might use. (also the fact I did not want to cut the bulkhead and keep it out the way has made life hard)

Found today that with a bit of fettling a gt17 fits if ever there is a desire to tone it down a bit.

It took 4 hours just getting the bracket right, supported from the fuel pump holes. Its just there to support it while tacking the first couple of pipes.

It certainly is lipari blue. Though was fully restored a few years ago.

Huge soft spot for lipari blue as was my first minis colour, so look forward to the build

So asides from your current gearbox issues (what a bastard to have the engine out again) I assume that you got all the fabrication done for your intended engine build? I'd be interested to see what you came up with.

Speed series this year if you can address the issues with second gear?

Stu

Sorry Stu, only just seen this. I was hoping to get to clay pigoen, but will be a last minute issue if the gearbox gets resolved.

No new engine for this season, and given all the issues associated with a basic a-series questioning whether I can be arsed to take the unpredictable special 16v turbo over the predictable. (i.e sprint cammed n/a 16v 1380 with known power curve)

Not sure I'm happy with the manifold now either, but does fit down the back now tacked.

Another 2 years passes.

Basically messed around with the turbo engine collecting parts and a bit of fettling here and there.

Notably finally ordered a new set of 7x10 wheels from carl. Excellent service and stunning wheels. I requested the 'old' style outer rim type.

Entry in for Gurston down in a couple of week after a couple of seasons of spectating at the hill climbs and sprints due to not sorting a compliant tyre combo out after a regulation change.

The photos don't do them justice.





Link to manifold pic which I don't seem to be able to embed.

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/uploads/i/wh32...ole23-3773.jpeg

Edited by minimole23 on 24th Jun, 2017.

Nice work mate :)

here you go ( i hope)

Looking good!

looks a fair sized turbo, what is it?

Gt2056. Though I will probably add an external wastegate to save any issues with boost creep.

Figured out how to incorporate itb's into the plenum arrangement too so hopefully make some progress on that soon.

Once the plenum is done it's just a case of throwing it all together.

Well, a bit of a step backwards. Driving back from Wiscombe hillclimb having survived a weekends competition someone pulled out into my path, and tagged the car into a 60mph spin. In short every corner is damaged in some way, as is the floor, toe board and front subframe. Therefore its time for a rebuild.

It will need stripping down for full assessment, I have pulled the engine and front subframe and the whole thing is repairable, but could really have done without the bodywork which really, I don't have time do myself.

The car will be getting a 16v engine, although the below photos hint and what is to come, I am still tempted to bin off the turbo stuff and build a 170hp N/a 16v valver. In the mean time I will get the nice bits off the current engine now no longer needed sold and start getting certain components machined.

Few pics of where it lies now, also a bit of mocking up too before body repairs start.
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Edited by minimole23 on 28th Nov, 2017.

what a goof i hope you can save a lot of it and get going again

Ah shit... annoying how u can use in anger on track n some nonse on the road can just end the minis life like that... the other person probably doesnt care got a new car n on with their life.. does my nut in

With a new competition season approaching I need to get my arse in gear.

Having settled with the insurance company it was possible to strip the car to assess the damage. The rear of the car has panel damage which will need to beaten and pulled straight, and hopefully the front end can be tapped out as opposed to needing replacement.

In an ideal world, and after 10 years since its last restoration I would quite like to give the car a bare shell build, however time is not on my side, so apart from some general tidying it just needs to be returned to the road/track.

Before the car goes to the body shop though I need to get it rolling again.

I'm not sure if the front subframe did twist, however having already bought another to fit it was given the mandatory treatment and a coat of paint.

Top arms now rebuilt as they were getting a little worn anyway. Also a few other bits renewed as a precaution too, new steering rack, track rod ends etc. One of the steering arms got bent so it took a fair clout. Theres a little bit of unwelcome modification required to the steering rack mounts, they need reinforcing as it keeps bending and causing the rack to come loose.

I am also getting engine bits packed up for machining, as while the car is now apart it will be getting the BMW head treatment in a fairly serious way. The 1380 has done well but its time to up my game.

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Edited by minimole23 on 25th Feb, 2018.

Looks like it shouldn’t be to hard to get it all straight again.

To quote my post from Feb "With a new competition season approaching I need to get my arse in gear"
lead times for machining etc. put end to any activites this year, however i'm itching to get the car back on road/track. Realistically to allow for suspension set ups etc. it needs to be ready by the end of March 2019.

Despite still looking like a bit of a hopeless case its actually now not too bad. My panel beater was busy so in the end so I just split the front seams, and broke out the hammers. I'll junk the steel front end at some point for a fibreglass one.

The sportspack arches seemed a bit bulky with 10's so have fitted some group 5's. The only annoying this is that the rattle cans do not match the cellulose finish as can be seen on the wing. Luckily my local supplier can still mix it up so will some to blow the front end and arches in. May have to buy enough to paint the whole car as it is looking scrappy now. That will be a project for next winter though.

The big change in direction with the car now is the engine plans. Due to house and qualification commitments I won't have time to do the turbo, so will build a sprint spec 1380 twinky with fully ported head, sorted bottom end and good rev limit.

Also nearly finished building a structure for it to live in Bristol when between events next year.


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Edited by minimole23 on 28th Nov, 2018.

Well several more months pass, the garage is finished, the house still a disaster, but the mini making some progress.

I have decided to go down the NA 16V route with a target power output of at least 150hp, as I feel although not as quick as a turbo, the power/torque band and 'noise' is much more my cup of tea, for now anyway. Specialist components have carried out most of the general machinging including fully ported head and reprofiled cams and supplied all the usual bits and pieces required to make sure it goes well in remarkably quick time. Force racing prepped crank, ground then tuftrided by Rob Walker Engineering should be nice and robust.

I'll get to the engine in due course, but finally managed to get the front end straight, and painted. Ideally I would do the whole car, but think the best approach will proably be to get the 16v engine working, have some fun then wait for the next 'incident' before a full rebuild as theres a lot of changes I would like to make when time is back on my side which only a ground up rebuild will be able to deliver.

Going to flat it all off and polish the car in the next couple of weeks then start getting some parts back onto it frankly to create some space. The engine in the car at the moment is just spares thrown in for mocking up.

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looking good mate

Looking good. Soon be out on track again

Things are coming together a bit now.

Bottom end dry built, measured, re-measured and then given a mega clean before the final assembly and coat of blue hammerite. Didn't realise the cast pistons foul on the BMW oil jets, so some reliefs were filed.

Flatted back the front end, and arches, offered them up and they have now been fitted with the black trim.

Started throwing some bits and pieces back into the engine bay, head lights back in etc. Going to get all the mocking up done using the dummy engine before mating the bottom end, gearbox and head.

Next plan is to get the air filter position sorted, going with a big ITG filter. It seems that long intakes seem to boost the torque of these engines so the plan is to use the ram trumpets to get the engine running then on the rolling road experiment with adding a 4" extention piece to see if the torque improves. If the improvement is significant the bonnet will be gaining a hole and the air filter dropped out front.

After that can get the radiator and oil cooler backets finalised and mounted, check the exhaust postion and run fuel lines before the final engine assembly and wiring odyssey.



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Edited by minimole23 on 9th Aug, 2019.

Coming along nicely !

Phil.

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