I have a 2006 MCS, built DEC 05, with 13k miles on it. Currently the car has the intake, pulley, header, and exhaust. Next will be the Schrick cam and soon afterward ECU. I know the ECU is the next "correct" step but I will be getting a custom tune and only want to pay for it once, so all the hardware changes will be done first. Also, I know the cam really works better with a ported head but I don't want to go that far yet. Are there any other parts that will need to be changed with the cam? I don't know much about the Mini valvetrain, my past experiences have been with V8's. Thanks for all your help.

 

Also, is there a break-in period required with this? Thanks

 

if you are doing your own work the cam in a stock head is ok but to pay the labor maybe there are better choices....... perhaps a header... maybe wait to do a head/cam combo......if you go Unichip you can tune and then retune

 

Very smart advice!
Waiting will save you money and sweat. Get the cam when you can afford the head work. But get the Unichip now and you'll be ready when your money ship comes in.

Paul

 

just wondering what significant of the head work and cam will do? like in what range of power or kind of power one will expect to see?

also, is porting the head making the head more rigid also? or will it increase "blowing" the head if for say, doing a twin charge setup?

just some curious question i always want to ask

 

I drove a car with a Cosworth head on saturday and it ran very nice......

I think the jury is out on big valve heads.....there seems to be some difference of opinion here..... some discussion with power numbers would be a good thread.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I can get the cam and labor at a very good price and that is why I want to do this mod at this time. My concern is can I use a new cam with used valvetrain components? Am I just asking for trouble? The car has 13k miles.

 

I've not heard of that jury. But I do have access to flow numbers of a head that does use the stock valves and they aren't too impressive. If you are going to go to the expense of doing a head and cam, get one that is done properly by someone with decades of professional racing experience; one who knows what works and what doesn't.
The head is the entire key to unleashing the power in the Mini, especially for the M62 crowd.

 

nevermind...

 

"In all due respect" what empirical proof do you have to back up this claim that the "head is the entire key" or more specifically, your head "is the entire key"...... I am curious have you taken a stock head...no other mods..... and compared it to big valve etc heads..... the flow numbers do not impress me as much as sucessful integration...before and after numbers etc...........I guess what I am asking is, what is the basis of your claim/assertion?

 

How about some of the guys doing my heads (porting, valves, and cam) have over 40 years in the professional racing business and are still going strong.
I've got track, dyno, g-Analyst, and flow data for the stock head, all of my configurations, and two other popular heads sold for the Mini.
Most of the issue is on the exhaust side: it's just simply too small.

 

Just to qualify this a bit Don.
Are we talking track performance or street? As you know the requirements are quite different for each. At least they should be

We all know stock heads are always a cheap compromise on just about any mass produced vehicle. But you can also modify a stock head to work very well in a street environment. No high dollar big valve, fully flowed, large cross section stuff.

So we really need to segregate the targets we are talking about in all this.

Some know more than others and some come here to learn so we need to keep the details clear.

I've found this to be a major flaw behind what ends up being discussed. Both parties may be correct but their targets are different. And so the argument escalates.

Let's avoid that

 

There are different configurations available depending on what the needs are: cam, porting, springs, hydraulic rockers/tappets, and valves. There is no one size fits all and that is why I do not stock heads. I put together each as a custom package.

 

alot of posturing and not much information here... seems like a re-occuring theme latley

 

You have to keep in mind the information/knowledge is power. You will not get it for free; especially from most racers/tuners. That is the "scarcity" part of our economic equation. NAMer Gandini will know about that one.

 

edit being covered in the other head thread.

 

double post

 

i have had (what i feel, which i am nobody) tremendous success with stock sized valves on both the intake and exhaust side. Now i have only built about 6 or 7 cylinder heads for the MINIs. But i believe that this was key to my 13.2 1/4 time without the use of N20 or anysort of drag tire.

Mods were: our cylinder head, our 15% pulley, CAI, OBX header and exhaust!

The reason why I bring this up is because the car had a very healthy amount of torque down low...

just putting in my experiance and my 2 cents