oh yay

the car now pulls like a train in all gears

I remember now why I so enjoyed the Works kit when it first went on

the butt dyno feels the difference clearly, and i do hope that by the end of the next week i'll have a baseline number from the same Dynojet that was used a few years ago

I rather suspect that it's time to do intake and exhaust, possible including the CAT -- i know this is a forced induction engine, but why half measures?

and anyway the original Works stainless exhaust, although gas tight, as a resonator that now rattles at 2600 RPM and surely the CAT cannot flow as intended after 130k miles

we shall see.

what would be ideal would be

dyno, and then
CAI, CAT, and cat-back
dyno again, with tune

i'm hoping the Conferti Shark Injector system can now handle the Works software (which it could not do a couple of years ago)

Charlie

 

ok, new rear brakes (the front brakes were fresh), and finally - a new windshield.

staring through clear glass is a wonderful experience, I had so gotten use to the slightly opaque original screen - sandblasted over many winters

and this morning, the inaugural cruise from Hampton to Portsmouth up the coast road.

the sunrise was made much more entertaining due to a seal that had apparently nodded off around the high tide, and was 50 feet from the water when he and i met.

for your reference, it takes a small seal in a good humor about seven minutes to scootch and hump himself 50 feet. good fishing to him!

cheers,

Charlie

ps: 23 days until the season opener...

 

now i've a date with the dyno on April 8th...

I have to admit that this project feels a bit like what happens when one takes a cloth and cleans one portion of a large and well soiled cadillac...

the result is the rest of the caddy looks terrible, so of course one continues...

and it becomes difficult to know when to stop.

i expect the dyno will reveal that opportunities exist in the ECU, in the JCW intake ('04 OEM), and in the OEM JCW exhaust, and so forth.

Oh well.

 

well at 133,390 I haven't been able to schedule the dyno yet, so the jury is still out on the power level of the new motor.

the car did win the first event of the year though which is encouraging (good car + rusty driver = just barely enough)

oil change at 2k miles shows just a dusting of metal from the break in - all small specs (smaller by far than a pencil tip) and not enough to be a concern

so onwards, and we shall see...

 

2nd win, but tomorrow will be the real test -- the fast gent in the RX8 didn't show up last weekend...

now considering abandoning the Kosei K1 15x7 for Enkei RFP1 15x8...

 

and... the gentleman in the RX8 beat me (by at least a 10th of a sec, but perhaps by more)

a phillips head self tapping sheet metal screw is a good thing unless one finds it in the center of the tread after the 4th run of the 1st heat. Oh well, a can of goop and I made it home...

so - time to get serious (er?)

1st - the loose nut behind the wheel (who gets two days of Evo school this weekend - oh yay!)

2nd - more traction (so lose last year's R1R carcasses and strap a fresh set of Z1 Star Spec 205/50-15 on)

3rd - check power... the wrinkle here is that at Turner's the racing team kinda owns the dyno room. however they leave for a two weekend stint at the end of May, so while the cat's away the mouse can play -- Dyno date 5/27.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

The Evolution schools are great. More than 50 runs in two days, and some of the best coaches in the country.

I took the Challenge school today, which featured running the course without walking it and with tape on the windshield obscuring everything 50' or close to the car. The bloody well forced me to look ahead and to my amazement it made no difference. I was still on the cones and probably a little faster because by looking ahead I felt smoother.

The other treat of the day was trying to beat Beth Strelnieks in my car. She took it out on cold tires and set a time, and after three tries I had not beaten it. She taught me a lot about driving the Mini, and about driving in general, and I had fun learning. For those that do not recognize that name, I believe she has nine National Championships so far.

I hope that all the lessons stick.

Incidentally the Phase 2 school on Saturday was conducted in the rain - interrupted by one or two deluges and accompanied by thunder aplenty (some of it close by). The Challenge on Sunday was dry, but 41 degrees at 7am and blowing 20 with gusts to 35. Blessed New England Spring!

Next -- the new tires.

 

And now the car has a fresh set of Z1 Star Specs at 205/50-15.

This Saturday I'll scrub them in and see what the best pressures are (I've a good starting point, having run the 195/55-15 Z1s a couple of years ago). Hopefully the Corvette Club won't mind my treating their event as a test and tune.

The Divisionals in Landover are coming up at the end of the month, and it would be lovely to try and bring the new power, Beth's lessons, and the fresh rubber together for a good weekend.

Fingers crossed.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Wow.

There were a lot of really fast drivers at the Northeast Divisionals this weekend. One of my favorite battles was watching Sam Strano in someone's GT3 go head to head with Mike Johnson's Corvette in ASP. Lions and Tigers and Bears!

I had another Works Mini to run against in STX, and greatly enjoyed battling (and losing by a tenth over two days) with both Dave and David (Ogburn?) on the uphill and downhill course at FedEx field. Thanks to both of you and good luck for the rest of the year.

The STX class had 14 drivers, and was liberally populated with RX8 and WRX as usual. Having mostly run on the airfield at Devens, the FedEx field course, which was essentially on the side of a hill, offered new challenges in assessing breaking and turn-in points.

On Saturday there was a downhill off-camber decreasing radius right turn featured in the course, and on Sunday in the opposite direction that turn was a pedal to the metal uphill increasing radius left hander.

It was an honor and a pleasure to run with that crowd, and I'm grateful to the host region, and to Craig Garfield the event chair, and to all the folks that put that great event together.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

This past weekend contained two New England Region events -- on the Saturday a charity race to benefit Loaves and Fishes of Ayer MA, and on Sunday the 4th points event for the season.

Both days were threatened by weather, with Saturday ending under a tornado alert, and Sunday interrupted for about 45 minutes due to nearby lightning.

Good courses and good competition, with a decent drive on both days by yours truly and the reconstituted drive train.

I love it when a plan comes together...

Cheers,

Charlie

 

... and now the gap. Waiting for the Finger Lakes National Tour, and worrying that all the momentum accrued thus far will have dissipated leaving me with a clumsy drive in July...

where can I find an event I wonder? time to search...

 

Keep it up Charlie!! Get that "new" JCW to the top of STX!!!

I may be going to the Philly region's event to the North West of philly this weekend. Let me find the link and I'll post it. Kind of a hike down from New England though.

You should still come though, You've never seen anyone put such a hurting on those dunlop run flats as me trying to keep up with those RX-8's, 370-Z's and Mazdaspeed miatas in CS.

 

Here's the link:

http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.c...2919EE2361AAC5

Only 7 people registered so far so we should get some decent run time in...

 

Thanks very much - I wish I could make it, but that isn't the case.

Have fun and good luck!

 

.mmm

A mileage check this morning showed 35.9 mpg, which is on par with the best that the original motor could produce.

Mind you that is highway (less than 75 mph) and the Portsmouth coast road (putting along at 50 in 5th) so that is better than my average.

Encouraging though...

 

Interesting write up. I may consider doing the same thing when the time comes for my MINI at 90k miles now.

How much did you pay for parts and installation of the works motor?

 

the long block (Works spec) was 5k, the blower was 1.5k

the work included axles, bearings, clutch, and essentially everything that moves in front of the firewall

given that, the labor was 2.8k

when the dust settled, the total damage was 11.9k

 

Finger Lakes - 2010 - 4th place in STX

 

2010 National Solo Finals - 31st of 54 in STX -- (and 38.3 mpg on the trip from Boston to Lincoln - at least for one tank)

 

Wow Charlie, great thread - and you were almost the only person to write in it!


Did you ever get it dynoed?

 

nope, still not yet.

1st appointment, I cancelled due to work
2nd appointment, Marco couldn't use the dyno - the race team needed it
3rd appointment, race team again, but also my car had O2 sensor issues

I need to replace the original works exhaust, as the resonator is worn out and both O2 sensors are throwing codes. Then I need to get a Borla on the car, and THEN the dyno will make some sense.

Whomever described a boat as "a hole in the water into which you pour money" might have been describing autocross cars too...



> the heater coil sprang a leak westbound between IN and IL, and darned near stranded me and made me miss the race (see the "Thanks to Bill Jacobs Mini for a great save" thread...) by the way the steam bath is a great facial but one cannot SEE~
> the OEM (yes I knoww -- I knew better) battery stopped being able to start the car the night before the first heats at Nationals, so I bought an AutoZone battery booster which got me through Nationals and all the way home too.

New drill (think WWII fighter pilot):

a. get in car
b. find keys
c. close door to try and reduce draw on weak battery
d. cross fingers
e. hit start position with the ignition key
f. listen to one click, and watch the pretty lights go out!

g. open door
h. remove objects blocking access to the battery in the boot
i. connect battery booster to battery
j. leap back into drivers seat, start car (yay!)
k. leap out of car, disconnect battery booster
l. jump back into car really fast because I always forget to set the ebrake and sometimes it starts to roll away!

 

 

Gollum's OEM battery is now history - better late than never.

I worried myself needlessly as even with jumper cables, or a booster pack I had been unable to start the car.

Remove OEM, replace with Odyssey, hit key, and VROOM.

Oh yay yet again...

DAMN that OEM batter is heavy - it's a two handed lift with strong curled fingers to the edges of the case. The Odyssey is a one handed with only a medium grip - day and night.

I'm gonna need it for the next event so fingers crossed...

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Well mebbe the battery helped...

I squeaked out another victory by about three tenths, giving me a six point lead going into the final event.

That'll be enough unless the car breaks and I cannot compete...

Fingers crossed for October 10th.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Good luck. Great read. Maybe over the winter you might be able to get on the dyno.

Any thoughts about the MagnaFlo exhaust? It has tested as having the highest gained hp and torque of the aftermarket systems.