I'm putting a Labonte methanol kit in my mini this weekend. I had a hard time finding any pictures so I thought it might be helpful to post some.

Tonight I got the tank mounted. I ended up installing it in the battery well. This required using a PC680 battery to make enough for the tank. I won't go into the battery install in any real detail. I will say avoid the $30 mounting kit off ebay. It works but the quality is pretty poor. Luckily no one can see it when it's installed.

First picture here is off the modifications to get the fitting off the bottom to clear. I used a 1" and 3/4" hole saw to make the holes. The cross piece that the original battery bolts to needed to be clearanced a bit and a slot added to get the hose out under the car. The stock battery can still be reinstalled if needed.




Here is a shot showing everything bolted in place-




The cap on the tank sticks up a little past the height of the carpet. My solution was to hole saw a hole in the carpet so the cap stuck through. It now sits maybe an 1/8" above the top of the carpet.




I'll need to put some silicone around the feed tube to seal the battery area now. Sunday I'll be putting in the pump and nozzle and wiring. I'll post up some more pics then.

 

And you are venting this how ?

Randy
m7 tuning

 

Vent what? The battery is ventless. If you are referring to the tank- I ran the same tank in the interior of my last car with zero issues. Never had any hint of vapor.

 

Yes I was referring to the meth tank. I just would not take a chance with meth it is some sneaky stuff but good luck and at least post a few no smoking signs Are you using a gravity fed pump as well ? Just curious as to the location of that . I had to think on it a bit before i was able to come up with a secure spot for mine .


Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Pump is self priming but will be within a few inches +/- of the tank outlet. I haven't decided if it will go where my drivers side muffler was or up on the side of the fuel tank.

From what I've seen almost all these styles of tanks are at minimum trunk mounted. If there was a vapor issue it would show up even worse there since there is much less air flow. The other way I've seen is under hood. That would seem like an even more likely place to have a fume ignition problem. I haven't heard or seen of any cars with methanol spontaneously combusting yet. I did say yet, I could be first. I promise to post pictures of the carnage if I live to tell the tale

 

Sounds like you have a plan . I ended up placing the pump in the cavity where the right rear passenger's butt used to be and vented the tank into the fenderwell area . Good luck and post pics , members love this studff

Randy
m7 tuning

 

Looks like a pretty clean install to me.

 

Finished the mechanical portion of the job today. Still need to wire everything up. This is the third methanol install I've done. It always amazes me how long it takes to do. I'm about eight hours in now with another two or three to go.

OK more pictures... First one is a bracket I made to bolt the pump up next to the drivers side of the fuel tank. There were two holes in the frame I was able to tap for an 8mm thread and I picked up the screw that holds the little forward mudflap on in front of the tire.


Pump installed(sorry it's a bit blurry-



Here are some shots of the solenoid and the nozzle mounted in the inlet to the intake-





Here is the outlet of the tank. I ran the tubing inside of some fuel line since it's pretty exposed for the first foot or so. I was able to get away with this routing since I am running a single muffler Ireland catback. The power feed to the pump is in the same hose.

 

Looks sweet. Seriously thinking of doing this, I don't seem to see many UK people running w/m on minis and it's strange as the top mount ic issue looks to be best addressed by this solution. Be good to see your before and after iat's.

 

I don't have any datalogging capability right now. I had this same kit installed on my MazdaSpeed6 though. On that car with 100 degree ambient temps I was seeing 180-200 degree intake temps and with the methanol I would be around 80 degrees.

 

On a stop and go summer day out here in so cal I had a intake temp of 133. Turned on the meth , banged 4 gears up onto the fwy and the intake temp dropped to 66. This was on a 94 degree ambient day .

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Has anyone tried spray pre supercharger? I have heard of some intresting results form the V8 guys. the theroy is that the water/methanol will absorbe the heat created by compresing the air.This helps keep the efficeny of the blower up (as its running cooler) and thus you get more power. I have seen corvettes running 1 small nozzel pre SC and the 2 larger nozzels post intercooler.

 

I think Dman has done something along these lines . He has done more experimenting with Meth in Mini's than anyone I know to date . I'll see if i can get him to chime in .

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Install is done. I didn't post anymore pics since it was just wiring. Nothing exciting to see there. I also ordered an ultragauge. I hope to be able to post some intake temps by weeks end.

 

Nice! Does this affect engine longevity at all?

 

Its going to improve engine longevity as it will prevent detonation as well as keeping the intake ports, valves, and pistons clean.

 

Unfortunately I'm not able to get intake temp readings. I got an ultragauge which reads the OBD2 gauges. Looks like all that is available is a pre supercharger intake temp sensor.

You would think the computer would have to have a sensor measuring intake temps right at the motor. Not sure why I can't see if it's there.

 

That's badass.

 

Only just saw the post so sorry for the delay in responding.

I have tried just about every possible combination in regards to jet size and injecting pre supercharger and post intercooler.

Injecting post IC is the way to go and the gains you get are greater in both cooling and hp. Just injecting pre SC you will see a benefit just not as much post IC.
I run both and the gains of running pre SC meth injection was minimal but still a gain

Also you don't want to inject too much meth as you will loose hp just gotta get the balance right....

 

nice install btw

 

Is anyone going back to a hotter plug after methanol injection? I've installed post IC injection a month ago and haven't checked my plugs yet. Happy with the gains.

 

Unless your fouling plugs there's no advantage to going back.

 

One small benefit I've discovered is my MPG has gone up ever so slightly. I've been through three tanks and am getting 1mpg more since I installed the methanol. It doesn't really offset the methanol cost but it is definitely a plus.

 

I use a 2GPH nozzle that comes on at 10psi 50/50 Methanol/Water. A couple months after installation, I checked my plugs and #4 (closest intake to the post IC nozzle) had a light black film. The other 3 plugs showed more of a nice tan color. I'm assuming that more of the spray is getting sucked into #4. Comments?

 

Bringing this back. Any luck on the plugs outcome?