after a lot of labor and flow testing i finally finished my head and installed it. this is a mod i think is a must for any mcs. here are the numbers.

before the mod head: 14.65@96.7 mph 167whp 0-60 5.75
mod head installed: 14.01@103.2 mph 205whp 0-60 5.85

i am using a gt-1 made by passport to log the info, before anyone starts barking about these timing gizmo's, all i care about is the before and after numbers. as you can see it is quite a nice gain. the car has a cai, custom exhaust, 15% pulley, mth, and now a ported head with 1mm oversized valves and 2 head gaskets. the cam is still stock. i will post the flow numbers if anyone is interested. bottom line is, lots of power in the cooper head.

cheers

 

almost made it into the 13's!

 

Interesting that the 0-60 time was slower... problems keeping it hooked up from 0-60, I assume?

Flow numbers would be great... My S head is sitting here, along with all the tools to port and polish it (aluminum rotary files, flapper wheels and cross-buffs)... and a Schrick cam for the Cooper (non-S - I have a regular Cooper). I'll be kicking off this project in the very near future, and I'll post pics and my results as well...

 

P.S. I too think the head will unlock a lot of power for both the MC and MCS!

 

Head and cam, are coming after full exhaust and GIAC...probably next summer. After reading Tritec's site and realizing that the MC, and MCS shared the same valve sizes...I figured there was a lot to be gained from getting our heads worked on. Thanks for the info!!

 

103MPH
thats *****!!

 

How does the power band feel now?

 

I will be interested to see what happens when you add the cam.... I have the Schrick "street" cam that is no longer produced..... I would like to move to the "race" version..... If you have an interest in moving to the street let me know. Also, I am interested what the cam will do to the power..... some say you may loose torque down low. since most people do their head/cam at the same time you have an opportunity to give us all "cam" info.

 

there is much power everywhere as i am still using the stock cam. the best way to put it is to compare a stuffed up head to a clear head. no pun intended. check these flow numbers and you will see why this is a important mod that should be done . as for 0-60 i had to slip the clutch alot more than before to get a good launch, had a lot of trouble doing better than 6.2. tires have about 20,000 miles on them and the temp is about 32f.


Intake stock Intake ported
.050- 32.7 /54.6
.100 -66.2 /111.1
.150 -98.2 /144.1
.200 -127.4 /173.2
.250- 153.0 /200.3
.300- 169.1/ 213.4
.350 -174.0 /220.7
.400- 175.7/ 232.4 *
.450- 175.3/ 235.9


Exhaust stock exhaust ported
.050 -31.0 /35.4
.100 -51.4 /69.3
.150- 77.0/ 101.5
.200 -97.5/ 128.5
.250- 106.0 /148.6
.300- 111.0/ 164.2
.350- 113.0/ 171.7
.400- 114.5 /173.1 *
.450- 116.0 /174.2

cheers

 

I just wanted to make sure. Does your car have an factory, aftermarket, or no exhaust header?

 

For my application, I plan on using the stock valves, Schrick cam, and slightly opening up the exhaust and intake ports, as well as normal porting and polishing... and then using the factory manifold... IMHO, none of the aftermarket headers have long enough primaries or they're too big...

The valve seats look pretty good to me, so I'm not even going to bother with a multi-angle job there... Not sure it'd provide much more benefit than just opening everything up...

 

right now i am using the stock header. i am now going to add a 4% crank pulley and get new numbers. then injectors, then a cam, and finally i am going to remove the pre cat on the stock header, i think the stock header will perform good with the pre cat removed.

cheers

 

if you are going to go through all the work of removing the head i strongly advise you to find access to a flow bench, this is the only way to get max performance from a head, i have been building race engines for many years and i still have to grind and flow grind and flow etc., etc., untill i get max flow from my work. now that i have done a cooper head i have a pretty good idea of what and where to remove material. also you can cut the seats to take 1mm oversize valves. good luck.

cheers

 

Also, I am interested what the cam will do to the power..... some say you may loose torque down low. since most people do their head/cam at the same time you have an opportunity to give us all "cam" info.[/quote]

yep, that's the plan

cheers

 

I recently drove an S with 15% pulley, head work and a "hot" cam. My butt dyno read was that it had a little less torque at low revs than my Works car, but definitely pulled better at wot once it broke 5k. More of an "on and off" feel to it.

 

this is my concern also, the biggest reason i did not change the cam is i wanted to see what the head alone was worth in power. right now the car pulls as smooth as before, but much much harder. my experience with cams is rob from paul to pay peter, do you think the trade off is worth doing?

cheers

 

I would say it depends what rpm you like to drive your car around at. If you like to rev it all the way out, then do the cam, if you like to have sum torque down low(which the mini lacks) then leave the stock cam.

Here is a question for you, I have a new head sitting in my shop that I have been tossing around about p&p & maybe larger exhaust valves. But, I am going twin charged as soon as I get the chance to install the kit. Would it benefit doin the head with the turbo or just be wasting money? I have the turbo manifold mocked up to the head & it looks like there is a lot that can be taken out of the exhaust ports on the head. I would do it myself, but I have never done a head before & so therefore feel it's unwise. Any insight?

Thanks!

 

a properly ported head will make better hp on any engine, the key is properly ported. i am not a expert on forced inducton, but from what i have seen here guys are getting sick power out of this little 1.6 by twin charging, the turbo is able to produce much more boost. i would like to see a test using a set amount of boost with a stock head and then a ported head. i think the temps would be worth looking at too.

cheers

 

Port the head proffesionally
ask around WHO has a succesful head porter because u will find ALOT of hp in the stock mini head.
its all proportional too. the more air u cram into that sucker the more pronounced difference a P&P head will make.
If u got the $ drop it like its hot on a properly built head.

 

Hmmmm.....

Well I could send out the head & get it done, dyno the twin charge with the stock head, then swap out for the ported head & redyno. It wouldnt be too bad since I have 2 heads. it only makes sence, but the exhaust manifold should be matched, as well as the intake manifold. that would throw a crimp in the quick turn around time for the dyno.

As for doing the head, I was thinking that if I did the head, at that time I would do the pistons. I was planning on making that the 2nd or third stage after the turbo was up and running. As much as I want to have that all done relatively soon, I really need to uprate the brakes on this thing first.

 

My torque numbers are not that great but the car after 4 K pulls very hard especially after 5K to redline...... In talking with randy who doesn't drop below 5K on the track... he thinks that for the street that the race cam will lose torque....what I really want is more torque ...... oh and more whp

 

If you're asking me... Based on my little comparo, I would say:
- for the street - No (could be a different story for the Cooper, though)
- for the track - Yes

 

maybe the race cam and a 40 shot of nitrous?


cheers