I had a nice surprise waiting for me at the house after work today. Opened up a box which was cleverly disguised as stereo stuff or something to find a full-up cylinder head, RMW cam, ARP studs, head gasket and spark plugs. Still got a few other things on the way to complete the package, but I'm gettin pretty pumped to get some zip installed in the cabrio!!!

 

Sounds exciting to me. Are you going to install it all yourself? If so, PM me for my email and maybe you could write an article for the AMOK newsletter about the experience.

Later

 

I would recommend doing pulley install while your this deep into the motor...trust me, now would be the time to do it. Also, you'll definitely need an ECU flash but I'm more than sure you already know this. the belt tensioner tool is highly recommended too ( we used a pry bar and a small screwdriver, but only b/c we didn't have the "special tool").
thanks,
Mrs. Mini's husband

 

Good advice. I am contemplating a 17% pulley. I already found a pulley removal tool, which is on the way. I may just buy the tensioner tool new. I need to find out if one pulley is any better than another and take my best shot at getting the best. I think I will go ahead and take pictures of the process and document it. I have the Bentley book to guide me through. Sounds like soon we will have the expertise in the area to help other members do their mods for whatever the parts cost. Perhaps we can have some gatherings once a month or week (whatever) to do some wrenching on our babies.

 

GL on the install !! Should be pretty straight forward, but if this is your first time digging into a motor this far, take your time !!

Who is going to do the tuning for you on this ?

 

I got my parts from RMW for the most part. I've done many engines in the past, my most recent a Dodge/Cummins 4WD pickup. I took that engine from 160hp at the flywheel to 650 hp at the wheels. Jan at RMW will be doing the tune. If I get my cat-back to the house and get everything installed in time, I hope to catch him in Dallas. But the odds are against me, and I may have to do the remote tune. I've found a couple Dynojet dynos here in the Little Rock area. But Jan would prefer a non-inertia dyno. So, I'm still looking.

 

What dynos have you found ? There always the rumors, but actually finding one in the LR seems to be the challenge.

I know of Polk Performance, Dyno Drag'n (mobile dyno out of Heber), and then Dyno Performance up in F-Ville. I have heard of one in Sherwood, and another in LR, but really dont know for sure on those.

 

Polk Performance is one I heard of. The other is Street Performance in North Little Rock. Both are DynoJets, though.

 

That means I should have all the necessary ingredients to make a MAD Mini salad this weekend. Cylinder head, cam, pulley, header, cat-back, and so on... Looks like a wrench party in Maumelle for me!

 

Ooohh...I am a wee bit jealous of all the new parts - just not about the install. Good luck. If ya need any help, PM me...I'll be around this weekend.

 

Well, all I can do is embark upon the job fully expecting the unexpected. I'm never disappointed that way.

 

Wow, that's impressive! Maybe after you do your install you and MrsMINI can volunteer to lead a mod weekend as an AMOK event? Just wait until next year, when I've paid off my MINI repair bill and can afford to buy some engine mods.

 

I wouldn't mind that. I like wrenching (as a hobby). I was a member of a group of people involved in diesel engine performance up north. We had a small 4 bay shop we rented, we all pitched in for tools and supplies, and we all worked on each other's trucks. It was cheap, fun, and however demented, it was social.

 

Paul,
If you want to, could you kinda keep track of what you do and then after you get done, write a "Tech" article for the AMOK newsletter? I know you're not a member yet, but we hope you will come on board soon and it would be GREAT info for our members. Let me know if you are interested. The next newsletter will come out probably next week, but we could use it for the Sept./Oct. newsletter, that would give you more time to get done.
If you want to do it, THANKS, if not, no big deal.
Later,

 

I do intend to take pictures at various stages, since even big, fat manuals like Bentley are not perfect. I'll have to scrounge up my Microsoft Office disc and do a little PowerPoint presentation.

 

Well, I started my adventure today. I must say, it ain't a simple job. Before I knew it, it seemed the whole front of the car was laying on the floor in a pile. And I haven't even really gotten to the meat and potatoes of things yet. I spent quite a while trying to get the nut for the intake manifold on the far passenger side off. I had to uh, make a 'special wrench' to get a bite on it, since it's wedged up against the supercharger outlet duct. once I got all the nuts off, I still couldn't get the intake off, again due to the SC outlet duct. Of course, you can't get the SC outlet duct off because the intake is in the way. Catch 22. The solution, it appears, is to leave the intake on the head till the head comes out. Live and learn. I went to rotate the engine so the alignment arrow on the cam gear was at 12 o'clock. It was already there! So that was a good deal. I haven't taken the timing chain off the gear yet. once the cooling system is drained, and I deal with the timing chain and exhaust manifold, I guess the head will come out. I'm going very slowly and carefully since I'm a Mini newbie. But so far, I haven't uttered any bad words. So far, so good.