jlm,

Are you refering to Endyn of Ft. Worth? The Honda people?

 

oh yeah...


also known as The Old One, TOO and Larry Widmer.

check out his site, there is a thread in the "Technical, ask TOO" section on my head and block with pics (you will have to register to get on board):
www.theoldone.com

 

jlm,

Thanks for referring me to Endyn. Larry is just finishing work on my spare supercharger. The head will be sent to him by end of this week for the full treatment. Haven't yet decided on what to do with the IC runners and intake manifold, probably send the lot to Larry also.

I also have the Milltek header and catback on the car. Will larger injectors and fuel management computer be a must?

DDTUNG

 

my car fitted with the valved head, header, slightly higher lift cam, 61mm throttle body, blower mod, extrude-honed snoots and 19% pulley was running out of gas above 5500 and had an overly rich mix below that. the A'pexi can lean out the mix down low, but if you start to lean out above 5500, you will need bigger injectors or more fuel pressure as well as the A'pexi. Those last two items, plus the dyno time to set them up cost about $1k, but gave me another 25hp (mods above, without A"pexi: 188whp, added A'pexi: 198, added injectors: 212whp)

 

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE...

JLM, my head is in the process of being ported polished and having the new cams installed...I already have SS headers,SS cat back, bored out tb, am running the 15% pulley and have the Webb Powerchip ECU. Do you think I'll need to change the s/w? what S/W did you have before a/pexi? is that a stand alone management unit? Should I put in a 19% and get V38 flashed into the car? Would the dyno tuning you've already done be any help to someone with similar mods?

Thanks,

L

 

above is what worked for me. I forgot to add I had the AMD one-click and am running pre-ver 38 dealer software. the a'pexi is a piggyback, simply over-riding the injector pulse commands with its own programmable settings. Randy's offering with Unichip seems to have more refinements, but can't be user-programmed, if that is a concern. I wouldn't have experimented with the piggyback without guidance, a dyno and a wideband A/F sensor.

check out the pic of a real header.

 

Sounds like the head is a better way to spend my money than a header. Does anyone know of someone in So. California that does this type of work on Minis?

 

You can also purchase a head as well. I know that both Pilo racing (http://piloracing.com), and Webbmotorsports (http://www.webbmotorsports.com) sell reasonably priced heads. I think they both sell them for about $800 for a ported polished head, and roughly $1400 or so for a ported polished head with larger exhaust valves. The labor will be higher for the installation of a head than a header. Not sure if you have the experience to install the head or not. It will give you some good power gains and will be a good base to start from. Also if you are going with a header some time in the future and a pulley, you may want to look at some injectors as well. M7 tuning (www.m7tuning.com) sells some 400cm injectors at $100 a piece.

 

Peter at M7 Speed is doing mine....and they are in SoCal, http://www.m7tuning.com

It's not on the menu, but the chef can cook it up.

On the subject of "dyno tuning" how is that done? Do a run, check the results, change some parameters in the program? How did you do that? I don't know of any dyno tuning facilities in Houston, so it's gonna be a little hard to do that.

 

Dyno tuning is typically done by placing the car on a dyno, and hooking up some instrumentation, which typically includes at least an A/F meter. Then they make changes to try and tweak the most amount of hp out, while still staying within the safety parameters of the engine. There are two types of tweaks, and they are dependent on what you are having done. First are physical tweaks, and second are electronic tweaks. Physical tweaks involve someone making changes to airflow, maybe Intercoolers, or an exhaust system. This is usually done during design of the products by manufacturers, but there are some with deaper pockets who spend time handbuilding an exhaust and tweaking the tube lengths, diameters... until maximum hp is achieved for their desired range.


The second, which is more typically done by the consumer is electronic tweaking, or modifying the computer settings on the car. This is done by making changes to fuel delivery settings, throttle positions.... until the car is producing a desired power output. Most aftermarket chips you are not allowed to do this (i.e. powerchips..) because you do not have access to the code. Other companies have certified tuning shops, such as GIAC and Unichip, which allows you to further fine tune the settings that are delivered for a generic car with your configuration. Finally there are piggyback fuel systems that allow you to modify fuel maps (such as Apex'i). These allow configuration without a certified chip tuning shop, but they are also more limited in what they can do. For ultiimate tunability it seems that at this time Unichip taken to a Unichip certified facility is the way to go. It is very dense and allows you to make all the changes needed for your exact car.

 

without question, if you are going to the trouble and expense to do the head, do the larger exhaust valves and focus on the exhaust side of the head.

 

What about the installation, do I need to find someone familiar with the Mini, or is replacing the head pretty much the same on any car?

 

aside from the usual things: the cam chain tensioner is a ***** to get at; you have to remove the upper motor mount brackets to get at the tach sender and camshaft sproket nut; be ready to remove a lot of doodads that are going to be in your way, like the intercooler, intake box and fuse holder, water expansion tank, header heat shield, etc.


allow 5 hours if you know what you are doing and have air tools.

 

We have not mentioned a lot about our heads as yet but we have done several installs to date. We have come up with a cam and head combo that is working VERY well. Pm me and I can arrange a test ride for you as well as an interview to design a engine program for your specific needs.

Randy
Team M7
www.m7tuning.com

 

Randy,


Are you going to post any info on your site? Price and details?

 

Like what head shop is doing the work?

 

We will post info as it becomes available. We are not offering the heads as a " stock " item as yet so to speak as we are currently dealing with custom requests . After seeing what is currently available in the market there is a lot being left on the table performance wise. We also offer complete install by factory trained BMW specialists.
Randy
Team M7

www.m7tuning.com

 

I am one of those "custom" people but my head is not yet on...should be soon.


Randy...will it be a problem that I am running the Webb Powerchip ecu? I am planning to revert to stock (v38) and get the Apex from a place here in Houston who can dynotune, but I want to know if it dangerous to have that other s/w on for a couple of days before I can take it to Mini.
I'm also thinking about adding a 19% while I wait for the head (since work is alredy being done) how will my s/w situation be affected?

L

 

jlm or samawil- would you have a pinout diagram of the 03 MCS ECU?

thanks. :smile:

 

Long time since this post was active, but I have a question of the crew....

I've done just about all the mods to my car that I want to do, with the exception of brakes and suspension.

I am considering a header, was wondering what the consenus was with my current setup. 2002 MCS, John Cooper Works Kit, BMP air intake, and an upgraded Throttle Body.

Since I have the bigger throttle body and the JCW exhaust, do you think I'd get much gain from a new header?

99% street use, no serious track days or racing. I just like to trick the car out and get the most out of it within reason.

Also, assuming it'd be a decent project to undertake, how big a deal is it to remove the stock header and install a new one?

 

Normalizer,

I would guess you are not going to see much performance wise. You would see as much if not more performance increase from an air-to-air intercooler and you would still save some money. Again, you are really not going to see much from a header without larger exhaust valves.