to be honest i was looking out for four also, but im not sure what those 4 gauges should be!
here are 4gauges setup by Tron Chief from another mini forum

 

That does look a little crowded. A possible solution would be to use SPA gauges but they definitely don't have an OEM look.

 

yeah maybe 4 are a little crowded but as for the SPA gauges i don't like them at all because they don't have the OEM look, something which i believe is a must for a mini

 

I've got the Marshal gages. Boost/Vacuum, Water temperature, Oil temperature and Oil pressure.

I made my own gage mount and gage pods out of 1/8" Aluminum and 2" ABS drain pipe.





I used a Cravenspeed adapter for the oil temp and the oil pressure. I mounted the oil pressure sender remotely using a piece of 1/4" hydraulic hose, that left enough room to also mount the oil temperature sender onto the Cravenspeed adapter.

You can use the Boost/Vacuum gage to maximize your gas mileage, just keep the needle in the vacuum range as much as you can. Old Pontiacs had a vacuum gage, they called it an Econ-O-Meter.

Dave

 

very very impressive,but i don't understand what do you mean by that you made by yourself the gage mount and gage pods?

 

I cut some lengths of black ABS pipe for the gage pods, making sure that the mounting screws on the back of the gages would stick out 1/4" past the pipe sections.



I made a cardboard pattern the shape of the mount I was making. It took me four tries to get a shape that allowed me to see all four gages through the steering wheel. I transferred the pattern shape onto some 1/8" aluminum sheet.

Then I cut out the shape with a scroll saw.



I had to curve the aluminum a bit so it would clear the dashboard.



I smoothed the edges with a file and a sander then primed it with aluminum primer, I painted it satin black.



Here it is with the gages screwed to it.



I matched the pitch of the tachometer's assembly screws with some longer screws at the hardware store and screwed my bracket to the back of the tachometer. There are three screws on the back of the tachometer, I only used the top one. it is very solid and doesn't vibrate even a little.

Dave

 

wow nice work!
do you mind explaining how you mounted the oil pressure and temp sender with the hydraulic hose again?

 

The Cravenspeed adapter is hex shaped and there is a hole tapped for 1/8" pipe on each flat, so when it is screwed into the head a hole will be accessible to screw the oil pressure sender into. The oil pressure sender is pretty large and when screwed into the adapter, leaves no room for any other kinds of senders, like an oil temperature sender.



With the oil pressure sender mounted remotely, there is room to screw the oil temperature probe to the Cravenspeed adapter.

I had a 2 foot long hose made at a hydraulic supply store with 1/8" male pipe threads on one end and 1/8" female pipe threads on the other end. I used a couple of brass 1/8" street ells to get the pressure tap pointing in the right direction. Then I screwed the hose into the street ell, routed the hose around the coolant expansion tank and under the radiator support on the driver's side.

I used nylon tie wraps to secure the hose and the pressure sender to the support, it is not visible when everything is in place.




The oil pressure sender needs an electrical ground that is normally supplied through the metal threads when it is screwed to the engine, but because it is now on the end of a hose, I grounded the metal housing of the sender by hose clamping a ground wire to it.

Dave

 

There where some issues when one would chip a mini for more bhp, the engine temp would rise close to 100oC (alas on the JCW it only goes up to 85oC if im not mistaking) so that overheating would hurt the engine. What gauge should i have fot the engine temp? A water temp gauge?

 

DneprDave, what do you estimate it cost you to put that cluster together, all said and done?? BTW, nice work.

 

Great idea...great fab skills...great execution


-Steven

 

I already had the aluminum and the 2" ABS pipe, So the gage mounting cost me nothing.

There was the price of the Marshal gages,

http://www.marshallinstruments.com/c...per_gauges.cfm

Plus the cost of the Cravenspeed adapters,

http://www.cravenspeed.com/gauge-sender-adapters/

And miscellaneous wire, paint, and flexible wire sheathes, it came close to $500.00

Dave

 

MINIs run hot by design, to keep emissions down.
My water temperature runs around 220F, 105C. There is enough extra capacity in the cooling system to handle a tune.

Dave

 

A Dutch friend was telling me about problems in Holland with chipped Mini Cooper S R56. The temperature in the engine would go much too high, also the oil temperature would be too high and that would damage pistons and cylinder. In Holland (and probably in general too) when you would chip a Mini Cooper S you have to do things at your car, like a bigger intercooler and an oil cooler. There were loads of engines on the Dutch Miniclub that were damaged after a chip update!
A JCW R56 have different pistons than a normal R56 Cooper S and also have engine software that when you drive a long time above 5000 rpm then the temperature of the cooling water will go back to 85 degrees and not 105 degrees that would hurt the engine!

 

All modern cars coolant runs at temperatures above 100C, it is why they have pressurized cooling systems, so that they don't boil at the higher temperatures.

If a tune (chip) is damaging pistons and cylinders, it is because they are running too lean, or the ignition timing is too far advanced, not because of an inadequate cooling system.

Dave

 

Both the S and JCW models with the N14 engine, have a two stage electro controlled thermostat.

Stage 1: light load throttle cruising, the coolant temperature is controlled at 105 ºC

Stage 2: prolonged heavy load throttle use, the coolant temperature is regulated (full flow open circuit) down to 85 ºC

 

interesting info there czar, thanx,
though i wonder why if there are two stages and the later is the optimum, why isn't there just one stage regulating the temp to 85 in all occasions, wouldn't that be best for the engine?

 

To you and me, this seems like the best solution, however we are not governed by emission regulations to the degree that engine designers are, with the ever stringent emission regulations, and so lighter compact smaller displacement engines utilising GDI (gasoline direct injection) are now common place, and to produce decent power/torque levels, this is done with increased compression ratio and twin scroll turbo's, this in turn increases generated heat, which is good for you, as it increases MPG and lowers emissions, the reason a second stage cooling of 85 ºC is brought in, is to help reduce the rapidly generating heat from heavy load boosted throttle conditions, once normal light throttle conditions are resumed, you want maximum MPG and so you need heat, to maximise the engines volumetric efficiency (VE)

 

wow, thanx for the great explanation regarding the two stage electro controlled thermostat the R56 has.
1. I wonder though, in that case is there a good reason why i should have a water temp gauge?
2. what gauges would you recommend that the 2008R56 should have and why? (dont really want a scangauge)

 

.

 

heh u always make interesting points and you speak like a true practical racer, thanx
to be honest i mostly want them for the looks! but while having them (for the looks yes) i want them to be worth of something