If you are going to do head work on a car that is going to see track time doesn't make sense not to install race springs, retainers, and valves.
Software is required for a/f and timing optimization. With my valve train I can comfortably raise the rev limit up to 8K.

 

The biggest difference I noted between the stock cam and the Schrick+head work is that my car no longer runs out of steam at 6250 RPM's like it did before. Now, it pulls all the way to the redline strongly.

One note about the valvetrain with the Schrick cam - without upgrading the retainers, springs, and keepers, I'd be shy about raising the rev limit too much from stock. Otherwise, you run the risk of floating a valve and causing major, major issues. Mine's currently set at 7k RPM's via the MTH software. Eventually, I may install stronger/better stuff and tweak some more, but for now I'm having lots of fun...

It's very much a pairing issue, as others have said - IMHO, the Schrick cam by itself is silly to do without serious porting work to complement it. I eventually installed a Milltek header, too, to complement the work, the CAI and the cat-back... It's like a completely different car now, and way, WAY more fun.

 

The only reason i said equal to or better is because i dont know what materials are used in the MINI's heads, Im use to air cooled VW engines (Old beetles mainly), and we tend to use titanium valve retainers for drag cars (as they dont last that long) but for high HP street cars the main material used is chromoly steel.

Often we use double valve springs for high rev engines (8k-9k) these put alot more pressure onto the cam, to keep cam float to a minimum. If you get too strong of a spring, it can actully wear your camshaft out faster. But for a NA engine, lift and duration of the cam play a big roll in performance as the cam controls your valve operation.

Im not sure what the shrick cam has for duration/lift for the NA cooper, but on alot of street/drag VW's they use something like the Engle FK-87 cam, it has a 320 duration with a 0.390 lift at the cam, and is to be used with 1.4:1 ratio rocker arms. The rockers push the valve further in that much more and this setup really makes some serious HP!

I was wondering if they make big cams like this for the NA cooper or are they more mild? It would be nice if a company came out with some radical parts.

 

well I've been bidding on an s head for the past three days, and it still has 6 days left. so im crossing my fingers to get it cheap. it will still be a while before I have the money to actually have someone port and polish it. cams are out for right now, as far as what ive read the ones available arnt worth the money(for now) what would just polishing do? anything?

 

are you increasing valve sizes?

 

so far im not sure at all what im doing. Im pretty sure ill have an s head in 6 days so hopefully by then I will have a plan either towards saving up and waiting for it to be port and polished, or some way for myself to do alittle work for anykinda noticable gain..

plan x; sell crx and go for a complete engine buildup for the cooper including everything listed above. but I doubt thats gonna happen

 

The cam IS worthwhile once you get the head ported and polished... Until then, it's not worth the $, IMHO.

I kept valve sizes the same on my build... For one, I was trying to stay within a certain budget. By the time I bought my head ($200), porting and polishing materials (alu-cut carbide burrs, flapper wheels, crossbuffs, ~$100 for all), cam (~$400), and install stuff (~$300), I was at ~$1K. Secondly, we just weren't sure bigger valves would provide markedly better gains on the Cooper. IMHO, the biggest bottleneck is in the ports. For the S, I'd wager that bigger valves would be a plus, especially if you were running a reduction pulley...

Keep in mind that beyond the cost of the head, the cost of the required gasket kit, head gasket, and new head bolts isn't exactly "cheap" (around $300, IIRC). Also, unless you do the install yourself, you're looking at 7-8 hours of labor @ whatever the going rate is in your area (probably another $500-700).

 

id do the install myself, my uncle knows how to port and polish heads but hes never done the work smaller cars. Im gonna try to talk to him and see if he could possibly help me for cheap. (he has the tools exc.) if not im still looking for options. But it looks like it could be a while for me

 

He'll laugh when he sees the size of the valves, ports, etc. The cavities behind the exhaust valves are particularly tricky and VERY tight!

BTW, it was me that got into the water jacket on the spare head I was working on (it was training, yo!) - and it was on the exhaust side, behind the #2 exhaust valve. I cut a bit too deep probably, and we think I hit a flaw in the casting...

Just be careful and take your time... Personally, I'm all about the lowbuck, grassroots method (although, like I said, the head work and install was a beating).

 

low buck is definatly what im going for, If I dont have to spend it I wont ^__^ how did yall get everything even? and how much did you initially trim in the first place? do you have any statistics or any info?