does anybody know if their are upgraded pullys for the supercharger for more boost???????? and if so how do i go about finding one and what are their cost?and are they hard to put on>>>thanks for any responce

 

Helix13 and BMP are both working on pulley mods. The concern is that you would also speed up the water pump as it's powered by the same belt.

 

Search for the Hartge site in Germany. They have kits available already to 212HP! Zoweee!

 

the pulley that Helix has consists of a press-on steel hub onto which you screw an aluminum pulley. The first edition pulley gives a 15% blower rpm boost and is being tested. There have been no waterpump issues at all. Should you wish to change pulleys (to back to stock, or to another size), you can do it without again removing the blower due to the separate hub/pulley design.

the initial install requires removal of the blower and the use of a spedial puller toremove the stock pulley.

 

>>Helix13 and BMP are both working on pulley mods. The concern is that you would also speed up the water pump as it's powered by the same belt.

Wouldn't they just change the size of the pulley on the supercharger, not the size of the pulley attached to the engine?

 

>>Search for the Hartge site in Germany. They have kits available already to 212HP! Zoweee!


Hmm.... I went to the Hartge German site (in English) and all I see for the MINI is exhaust and suspension....have a link?

 

>>>>Helix13 and BMP are both working on pulley mods. The concern is that you would also speed up the water pump as it's powered by the same belt.
>>
>>Wouldn't they just change the size of the pulley on the supercharger, not the size of the pulley attached to the engine?

Problem is the pulley that drives the supercharger is also connected to and drives the water pump. But from companies i've talked to and heard things 2nd hand about...they find that 15% is not enough of a difference to cause problems with the waterpump.

 

go check out Turner Motorsport they have a pulley and chip set up for sale. They state it makes between 201 and 207 hp depending on intercooler temps. The cost is 1599.00 hmm mkaes me want it.

 

go check out Turner Motorsport they have a pulley and chip set up for sale. They state it makes between 201 and 207 hp depending on intercooler temps. The cost is 1599.00 hmm mkaes me want it.

 

>>the initial install requires removal of the blower and the use of a spedial puller toremove the stock pulley.

That's been the key issue. This isn't going to be a mod that's as easy as unbolting the pulley and throwing on another one. The stock pulley is pressed onto the compressor shaft, so if you tweak the shaft trying to remove it - oooooops!

That said, Helix seems to be doing their homework (as I'm sure are others) to bring this much requested mod to market. I am a little dissapointed that the Turner mod requires an ECU upgrade, and with the pulley is only getting 200 hp. If you do the chip and the pulley I would hope to see 220-230 hp, especially with other mods (like the Turner car has). This isn't to say that Turner hasn't done the research Helix has - I bet the numbers will be similar. The drawback is that to give the boost necessary to make a significant change (not that 35 hp isn't significant) you will be cavitating the water pump.

Here's a peek:



Turner Motorsports version




_________________




MINI-Motorsport

 

If you can believe the British motor press, various teaser accounts tend toward some degree of predicting a 200bhp Mini "works" edition in the next year cycle. There are also a few tweaked Mini modified S road tests (see Car, Auto Express, etc). I would definitely wait to see if Mini makes a kit OEM. Then again, I was fooled by the US website's build your own Mini drag racer, thinking the whole kit was orderable! What were they making fun of, or was it simple irony?
John-96 328ic

 

yuppiemobile,

Welcome to MCO!!

I spoke with Helix on the design of their pulley. It does NOT include software (and has had no problems associated with that aspect). They have alevieted some of the pulley issue by designing a puller specifically for the MINI. This is still a delicate operation. The water pump cavitation has not produced any cavitation issues. They plan on offering two different set-ups: a 10% and a 15% system. Both are still in the test phase for an indefinite period. They HAVE been installed on two cars with no adverse effects.

I will be carrying these systems when R&D has been completed (mine and theirs). I will also be doing the install of this system.

Once GIAC has finished the design and testing of the software package they have created for the MINI, I will be carrying that as well. One of the things I really like about Garrett is that they will desgin a system based on what mods are out there. So you can buy a chip for your intake and exhaust modded car, your stock car, or your flowed head - pulley - intake - exhaust - high compression monster.

More info as it comes available.

Randy

 

Randy, Thanks for the news on the GIAC chip. They have always put out quality products. Who will do your chip install/testing. I know that the ECU in the mini is on a thin flexable plastic (not like the old PC boards) and is a very difficult job. How will you mount them?

B

 

Bret,

Welcome to MCO!

The ECU will most likely have to be flash programmed, but we're still working this part out. I would love to have a "piggyback" system that allows programability. I'll keep you updated on the progress of new components.

Randy

 

Anyone notice that Minimania now has a pulley upgrade? on the plus side, it's only $130.00.

"Get more POWER from your Supercharged MINI Cooper S with our economical and effective Pulley Upgrade Kit. Designed for maximum blower speed at redline, this upgrade achieves stock 'maximum' horsepower at 2200 FEWER RPMS and builds up to redline. A simple 15% reduction in the supercharger pulley diameter increases the boost by more than 4 pounds resulting in a Dyno measured 20 additional horsepower AT THE WHEELS. Factory ECU adapts to the increased boost with no modifications. The Kit includes a new high quality Pulley and Belt. Professional installation is recommended "

I still want to wait for Helix. I like the Idea of being able to change the pulley sizes. I will wait to hear about cost for their Pulley, before deciding which to go with. Plus I want to see how Minimania suggests pulling the old pulley off, are they going to make a puller?

BTW, I also notice that Minimania has a Phantom Grip for the MINI. Anyone done one yet? At less than half the cost of the Quaiffe it seems like viable alternative for those of us who can't afford the better things in life.

 

Ordered a pulley last night, will let all of you know how it went. Also I have a ? about the water pump issue. Is the water pump driven by the belt? If so changing the supercharger pulley would not change the main pulley, water pump pulley ratio. The ratio that you want to change should be the only one affected.

 

No, the water pump is driven by a reduction drive off of the supercharger itself, so it directly affects the water pump when you change the pulley. Helix has two of the pulleys on cars and has no reports of an increase in water temp, so the pump isn't turing fast enough to cavitate.

Apparently, you run into a wall at about 16psi of boost (the return for compressing that much air doesn't give you enough of a gain to overcome the additional drag on the motor to turn the compressor). At the pulley size to get the pressure to 15 or so psi, the shaft isn't turning fast enough to cause problems.

It is a full on job to change the pulley though. The front of the car comes off - intercooler, fuel rail, supercharger, etc. - about a 7-8 hour job at least.

Which pulley did you order? Did they give you a tool or some idea of how to press the stock pulley off of the shaft? I'd love to hear your feedback.

Randy

 

from my experience:

when removing the blower, which you absolutely must do, you have to release tension in the belt tensioner which requires a special lever bar. be forewarned and don't fool around with ***** alternatives, this is a serious spring! The stock belt works fine with the replacement pulley.

once you have the blower on the bench, do yourself a favor and tape the openings to keep debris out...the blower vanes are a closely machined wonder and will ,not tolerate any grit. You will gain new respect for the need to maintain your air filter!

a conventional bearing puller won't fit as there is not sufficient room behind the pulley for the puller blades. It is mounted too close to the housing. since it is an interference press fit, it takes major force. we constructed a steel split clamp with a machined rib pattern in its bore that grips the pulley grooves and used a conventional bearing puller to pull that , making sure we did not mushroom the shaft end or ream the threaded hole in the end. removing the stock pulley will destroy it, so if you want to go back to stock, you better have an alternative. BMW does not carry pulleys.

The replacement pulley needs to be heated to 300 degrees and slipped on to the pre-lubricated shaft; here the problem is not to put any end loading on the shaft and get the pulley on quickly, before it cools or the shaft heats, an to just the right depth of engagement.

 

After reading jlm's post above I think I am going to keep mine just the way it is. Man that sounds like a major job. And my luck I will never get it right and probably will have a few parts left over.

 

I think Randy should post a "how to remove your supercharger" thread and sell the tool jlm talks about needing to remove the belt. Then send the supercharger to Randy or someone like him to have the pully swapped, then sent back to you to reinstall.

Seems like a way to get this done without spending $$BIG MONEY$$ on install fees. I know I, for one, could live without my car being operational for a week or so while the supercharger was sent out and the pulley was swapped.

But at normal shop pricing, you're looking at close to a grand to have this installed. YIKES!!! Whereas for a few hundred you could ship it off to someone like jlm who has fabricated the press and can do it quickly/easily.

Worth thinking about, no?

R

 

Hey Kite,

Which pulley did you order? TMS, or Minimania? Please do keep us up to date on your install...

 

good plan, davbret.

most of the BMW/mini dealers know how to get the blower out since they have had to deal with a few waterpump leaks, so that part should be do-able for some with simpatico dealers.

A few tuners, Helix and probably BMP and Randy, could remove the blower and do the bench work to install the pulley.

Those same tuners could probably just do the bench work to a customer supplied blower.

But you are right, it will cost in the neighborhood of $600 for the labor to r and r the blower. Fitting the pulley isn't too much with the right tools.

overall, not abad investment foor the power gained. Especially if you can go back to stock with the bolt-on without then need to remove the blower again.

 

Is it true that the only way to get a stock size pulley for the dealer is to order the whole supercharger? I called my dealer today on the whole uniot is ONE!!! part #. The Helix two piece unit looks like the way to go if they offer a stock size pulley as well. Anyone else get this info from their local MINI dealer?

B

 

I'll post this how-to the first time I do the pulley mod here in Denver. It will be a HUGE job though. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

I talked with Chris and actually discussed this idea. I think it may be a good option to just have the "tool" at a few installers around the country, and then you send your supercharger to them for the install. Otherwise, we may have some yahoo (not that there's anything wrong with that) try to pound the pulley off or tap the shaft to get it off and WHAMMO, you lose your supercharger - doh!

Once all of the R&D is finished, and I decide which pulley is going to be the best out there (I am leaning in the Helix direction right now), I'm sure a plan will be formulated on the install specifics.

Keeping you informed,
Randy

 

I would like to throw in a bit of caution on this subject. As the owner of several supercharged cars, I know that there can be a downside to pulley swaps. In the early days of the Thunderbird SC, several owners followed this route. It was not long until headgaskets were popping. Seems that bad gasket design along with exhausts that were too small to handle the added flow was the problem. Remember that Boost alone does not make horsepower, it's Flow. What goes in must come out somewhere. I think I'll watch this issue for a while :smile: