OK...just got my new M7 scoop. I'm pumped. But I have a quesdtion for those who know. It appears the the actual scoop opening is slightly smaller (narrower) than stock. Is this a concern? Or will the the fact that the scoop is gulping more air make the slightly smaller opening a non-issue? Your educated comments appreciated.

ripley.

 

no M7 hood scoop owners tonight??

 

You are very correct in you observation as I saw the same thing with mine. I got mine unfinished so a few hours of reshaping the opening and adding about 3/4" to it.

Overall I still feel that this is a very important upgrade for our Minis and recommend them. I would hope though that M7 would do some work on the mold and get this opening to it's max potential.

 

I bought mine painted black and it looks amazing. Still worth it, over stock. Even if it did nothing over stock(which it does) I would still buy it for looks.

Mark

 

Thanks for the feedback. I bought mine unpainted too (my body shop will finish it for half the price of M7). It seems the top of the scoop opening matches well with the top of the bonnet opening but the bottom of the scoop opening could use a little enlarging. I think it's time to get out the dremmil and cut 3/16's or so off the bottom lip on the inside of the scoop. Did you do something different?

regards, ripley.

 

Yes, I did it different .... I think.

I cut four slits in the opening, in each corner. I then pulled the top inside up and the bottom down. I then filled the slots and did some shaping. I also added two small studs that stick down from the underside of the bottom lip and drilled holes in the hood (under the scoop) so these studs could then be tightened down with nuts so I can now perfectly align the bottom of the scoop to the top of the IC.
Whhhewww.... I'm sure that was confusing. I wish I had taken photos.

 

Acuually I think I understand. And in fact you've given me another idea. Thanks. I'll be back here to post if it works.

ripley.

 

as far as the alignin' issue, did d' scoop not align w/IC before?? or was it more tunin' on ur' part reason why U' did it...

 

The lower part came in too high, even for my Alta IC which sits higher then stock.

 

To have it better mate-up with my aftermkt IC, I did some minor work also. It involved some expanding foam, and some bar clamps to get it where I wanted. I also did some sanding in some areas...

It was sent back to Peter last week for painting...

I think the biggest thing is the initial openning, where it catches or gulps the air. The M7 scoop does this well, and I did a bit of sanding to aid it in getting a tad more... The backside openning needs to be the ideal size for the IC and diverter set-up, larger not necessarily better...

 

Maybe I am not as fussy but mine fit very well. Peter's shop did a great job on the paint......I have had a ton of compliments from the local Mini club.......I'm hoping someone with knowledge of "fluid dynamics" and Bernoulis (sp?) principle did the design.....seems to work well.

 

What he said for mine too

 

SpiderX, mdsbrain,

Can you go into a bit more detail about your statement "seems to work well"? Do you have actual stats or is it the famed butt dyno? If it's the butt dyno, are you saying you can actually tell a difference? If so, I'll really be looking forward to painting and installing this goodie.

 

Here is my actual experience which convinced me of its affectiveness.

A friend and I both MCSa were driving hard down a road. We pulled into his house and both popped our bonnets. My engine was noticably cooler.

 

I've had this on for 2 days now.

First things first, I have run a BBR/MINI Mania Ventrui scoop on my car for 2 years now, and this M7 piece blows it into the weeds in terms of functionality/performance!

No 'figures' as of yet (in the process of getting my data logging stuff installed), but I can tell you now that the intercooler outlet snoot is practically ambient temp after a real hard run in 25 deg celcius weather! Unfrikinbelievable!

Cheers,

Henry

 

Maby mdsbrain is on to something here . You could do a butt temperature test. Two minis run one with the M7 scoop and one without. Both drivers stop and get out and sit on their intercoolers. Our guess is the one with the M7 scoop will be able to sit on his motor far longer

Randy
m7 Tuning

 

 

 

But the one with the standard scoop would be the hot piece of .... nevermind.

 

Has M7 refined the scoop based on the "apparent" need to reem it out for better air-flow??I would like mine revised BEFORE I buy it ,,, I try to leave the wrenching and grinding to someone else more qualified and prefer not to alter it

 

This is a interesting question all hinging on the word " apparent " . We and now several satisfied customers ,have found that the M7 " stock " scoop works nicely. A few NAM members on here who are doing a great job of maximizing as much as they can on their Minis have taken our scoops to a new level of refinement. This was not done because they were lacking or defective in any way it is just what they do. Let me put it this way, you are modding your car. Is because it " apparently " needs it or that you want to do it ?

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Randy, that is exactly how I feel. I chat with Peter often, and he totally understands. It's just our nature to always want to improve more on things, even if it's very minimal... And to be honest, if I wasn't sticking with the GRS IC, I might not have modified anything on this scoop. The fast majority of what I did was to have it work a bit better with another aftermkt item...

 

It seems only appropriate to follow-up, but my expanding foam in the M7 scoop wasn't exactly well-conceived. I thought the foam was done expanding... apparently not! Peter called a little while ago, and it's coming back to me... I guess it wanted to grow a little more in the FedEx box

For those who didn't see some data-logging that I did, some of it includes the M7 scoop. The thread can be found here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=49441

Compare the two M7 Scoop IAT graphs (stock & GRS ICs, @ 68F) with the like graphs with the stock scoop. On the last 8 miles (last half of the chart, when under higher RPM and boost), one can see how the scoop lowers IATs over the long haul by about 10 degrees F (5 or so C). During peaks, the delta is even more so...

This was done with the M7 scoop, out of the box...

Just wanted to point that out...

 

Some foams expand further when in the (unpressurized / low pressure) hold of an airplane.

 

And why didn't you tell me b4???

Actually, this went ground

I've got to get that crap-out now, and draw back the openning to make it larger (back to where it was) - it got much smaller

Looks like I'll get it back for some more work this weekend, or if not, next...

Part of me wishes that I didn't dork with it, but I went down-the-road, so I'll finish-up that quest...

I'll add that Peter even volunteered to work on it for me! But given that he doesn't have a GRS diverter to mate it to, and since it's my FU, it's best that I rectify things...