Des Hammill - How to Power Tune Mini on a Small Budget

HOW TO POWER TUNE

MINI

ON A SMALL BUDGET

NEW UPDATED & REVISED EDITION

DES HAMMILL

First printed in paperback format in 2001.

First published in ebook format 2013 by Veloce Publishing Limited, Veloce House, Parkway Farm Business Park, Middle Farm Way, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 3AR, England Fax 01305 250479 e-mail .

Ebook edition ISBN: 978-1-845845-87-2

Paperback edition ISBN: 978-1-904788-84-3

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Readers with ideas for automotive books, or books on other transport or related hobby subjects, are invited to write to the editorial director of Veloce Publishing at the above address.

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Contents

Using this book & essential informationUsing this book

Throughout this book the text assumes that you, or your contractor, will have a workshop manual (specific to your Mini, the engine and other major components to be worked on) to follow for complete detail on dismantling, reassembly, adjustment procedure, clearances, torque figures, etc. This books default is the standard manufacturers specification for your Mini model or component type so, if a procedure is not described, a measurement not given, a torque figure ignored, you can assume that the standard manufacturers procedure or specification needs to be used.

Youll find it helpful to read the whole book before you start work or give instructions to your contractor. This is because a modification or change in specification in one area will often cause the need for changes in other areas. Get the whole picture so that you can finalize specification and component requirements as far as is possible before any work begins.

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

This book contains information on practical procedures; however, this information is intended only for those with the qualifications, experience, tools and facilities to carry out the work in safety and with appropriately high levels of skill. Whenever working on a car or component, remember that your personal safety must ALWAYS be your FIRST consideration. The publisher, author, editors and retailer of this book cannot accept any responsibility for personal injury or mechanical damage which results from using this book, even if caused by errors or omissions in the information given. If this disclaimer is unacceptable to you, please return the pristine book to your retailer who will refund the purchase price.

In the text of this book Warning! means that a procedure could cause personal injury and Caution! that there is danger of mechanical damage if appropriate care is not taken. However, be aware that we cannot possibly foresee every possibility of danger in every circumstance.

Please note that changing component specification by modification is likely to void warranties and also to absolve manufacturers from any responsibility in the event of component failure and the consequences of such failure.

Increasing the engines power will place additional stress on engine components and on the cars complete driveline: this may reduce service life and increase the frequency of breakdown. An increase in engine power, and therefore the vehicles performance, will mean that your vehicles braking and suspension systems will need to be kept in perfect condition and uprated as appropriate. It is also usually necessary to inform the vehicles insurers of any changes to the vehicles specification.

The importance of cleaning a component thoroughly before working on it cannot be overstressed. Always keep your working area and tools as clean as possible. Whatever specialist cleaning fluid or other chemicals you use, be sure to follow - completely - manufacturers instructions and if you are using petrol (gasoline) or paraffin (kerosene) to clean parts, take every precaution necessary to protect your body and to avoid all risk of fire.

Introduction & Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

This book deals with road going Minis for which an improvement in engine performance is wanted, but at low cost, without too much mechanical work and with reasonable fuel economy too. Most people want cost-effective bolt-on or bolt-in performance enhancements and thats what this book features.

In the context of this book bolt-on means things like inlet manifolds, exhaust manifolds and cylinder heads and bolt-in means components that are fitted inside the engine such as a camshaft or a timing chain.

There are no very expensive parts to buy for any of the alterations suggested in this book, the use of standard readily available parts being recommended wherever possible though a few parts just have to be aftermarket components.

Engines are packages in the sense that no one thing is the magic ingredient that is going to transform the engine from a docile standard unit into high performance engine. There are a number of things that have to be done to an engine to get the most out of it, and theyre detailed in this book in basic order. To skip a recommended alteration is to miss out on some power, and perhaps economy, somewhere along the line.

The modifications detailed in this book are not very time consuming. Nevertheless, you can undertake the work (or have it done for you) with the certain knowledge that the results will be very acceptable, so your time and money will have been well spent.

Surprisingly - after so many years of A-Series engine use - there is still a huge amount of confusion about what to do and what not to do to these engines to improve performance. Its all too easy to spend a lot of money on an engine which then does not perform as expected. Often the reason for this is that the engine is simply not tuned (adjusted) correctly once it is running. Make no mistake about this, a good tune-up to the right specifications (especially ignition timing!) is vital ...

This book also covers likely scenarios for when things go wrong. Anyone with a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge will be able to check and in most cases rectify problems themselves. There are no tricks with any of this work, just a logical sequence of events to be carried out with care.

The A+ range of engines, which means 998cc or 1275cc engines made after 1980, are the best A-Series engines to use because of the improvements made to them, and because they are the most recent (so have fewer fatigued parts). The MG Metro engines were the most powerful naturally aspirated A-series engines (72bhp). The factory tested these engines to 7000rpm and they were very reliable. The 1275cc Cooper S engines, by comparison, produced only 67bhp.

Final testing of the MG Metro Turbo engine involved the technology being applied to the North/South versions of these engines as fitted to Morris Marinas. The reason for doing this was that with the boost at a maximum of 9psi, the East/West gearboxes were not holding up. The Marina cars were able to have the B-Series gearboxes fitted to them for the trials, and they could take the extra power. The 4.5psi that the MG Metro Turbo cars all had was settled on after the trials as the cylinder head gaskets started to become unreliable. Power output was reported to be 115bhp.