Advice needed
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi folks -

I am looking to treat my Mini to a Metro Turbo engine transplant in 2004. The car is a road car used daily but I see Mirage do manifolds so that no bulkhead chopping is required, so they're on the list. I am hoping to run 15-18psi and aiming for 150-180bhp.

I will be using water injection and an intercooler, and the Mirage manifolds.

What's the best route/spec to go for and the costs involved?

Which turbo? What should I do with the gears?? Do I need forged pistons for that level of tune?

Vizard reckons that with intercooler, water injection & a decent head then 150bhp from 15psi is easy. He doesn't mention any other internal mods so what should I consider the bare minimum spec required?

Ta for any advice/comments!

Jim
PS Sorry about putting this is GENERAL - the tech board wasn't available for some reason!

Hi Jim,

1st you need to decide on what manifolds you are going for.. the Mirage stuff is for a T2 and requires less body mods.. see the other posts on this board about fitting a t2. If you want a t3 you'll have to modify the bulkhead!

For that level of power you don't need water injection, which is good news as its hardly cheap... but you are going to need a serious transmission to handle all that power!

an example spec would be

http://mini.lyons-it.co.uk/spec.htm

Std pistons are not bad, but the CR they give isn't great and that tends to be the decider!

Alex

AlexF

"but you are going to need a serious transmission to handle all that power!"


Can someone explain this to me .
i have always used std helical gearsets and I have enough power, and have never had any probs what so ever.

Everyone knows that instructions only have to be read if the thing doesn't work....

lol

ok mark

Where did I say SCCR jacknight in titanium? lol I plan to use helicals, but to rebuild a box properly is lots of money just in little parts and most people buy a cheapy gearbox and wreck it.

most off the shelf and 2nd hand transmissions wont take all that power for all that long...

alex

AlexF

Hmm....had a chat to MiniSport yesterday and the guy there said that the problem with the gearboxes is with the bearings failing, not the gears themselves. He also said that they wouldn't touch a turbo Mini with a bargepole

Vizard says that you can safely handle 150bhp with standard helical gears and just straight cut drop gears - is this correct? Can I get 15psi from a T2??? I reeeeally don't wanna cut the bulkhead, but I reeeeeeeeeeeally want 150bhp+

Jim

Well haven?t really got to 150 hp, only 140+ hp and 150 lb ft but with helical box AND helical drop gears. Total mileage over 30000 miles (primary gear 10000 miles, changed due to worn bushes), boost most of the time 10 psi, currently 15 psi).

Jukka

Can I get 15psi from a T2?

What engine mods to run 150bhp at 15psi?

the t2 can supply up to 15psi without too many probs, but this seriously HALFS the life of the turbo.

The renualt 5 GTT runs at 10psi out of the factory. From what the r5 guys tell me this was mainly due to reliability, the turbos are very willing to go upto 15+ but the turbo life will be reduced from 100k to about 50k, lol

No turbo bigger than a T2 will fit with Mirage's manifolds, correct? If that's the case then why not have a T2 case converted to a hybrid turbo (i.e. running a bigger turbo's internals in the T2 case)?

Reading Vizard's book, he tells of a 190bhp lump with:
* T3 at 18psi (1.2 bar) [will use T2 housing with hybrid internals]
* 2 pass large intercooler
* Blow through SU HIF 6 carb
* C/R of 7.5/1
* Camshaft of 270 deg intake and 290 deg exhaust with 0.39" lift
* Ported & polished 12G940 head with 1.31" intake and 1.25" exhaust valves (so that's standard intake slightly & enlarged exhaust)

Starting with the Metro Turbot lump, this is what I'm going to be using as a basic spec. What pistons would you recommend and what other mods to go hand-in-hand with the above spec?

I don't like to pester but are there any websites giving comprehensive breakdown of big power turbo builds - both engine/gearbox & car?

Cheers!

Jim

The bolt pattern is different for t2 and t3s, so with the mirage u need a t2. You can happily run a hybrid t2... but thats yet more money and you begin to loose the cost effectiveness! As you approach t3 size and lag etc you might as well have gone t3 in the 1st place.

Vizards book is very old as he says some wher ein that chapter, he's has very little personal experience with them.

As for a spec well... how much do you wanna spend!

I'd personally look a building a 1293, with 8:1 cr (11cc dish pistons and reworked head) with a t3, intercooler all based on the std mg metro turbo engine.

Websites.... you on the only one!!!

well except for some good stuff on

http://www.turbo-mini.com/4598.html

alex

AlexF