I've got a JCW Head and SC sitting at my fathers shop and wondered if there is anything else I should do to them before installing? I figure might as well kill a few birds with one stone.

Maybe consider a Schrick cam too while I'm at it?

Any idea's would be appreciated.

 

Some over-sized valves would be a nice touch.

 

And maybe a Schrick cam.

Cheers
JD

 

>>I've got a JCW Head and SC sitting at my fathers shop and wondered if there is anything else I should do to them before installing? I figure might as well kill a few birds with one stone.

You mean you don't have the full JCW kit but only two parts of it? The head and SC with reduced pulley? No smaller belt, exhaust, plugs, intercooler cover or badges? How did that happen? Are these parts new or used?

You don't need to do anything to the head and SC. Those parts are fine the way they are.

>>Maybe consider a Schrick cam too while I'm at it?
>>
>>Any idea's would be appreciated.
There are many many upgrades that would work with the JCW head and SC-
1. Schrick cam is about $500-600 plus labor and at best adds 5 HP.
2. Intake- consider the alta intake, adds about 8 HP. Silicon hose only if you add the trottlebody upgrade
3. Milltek exhaust header and 3 piece cat-back exhaust, adds about 14 HP and 13 lb ft of torque in midrange rpm
4. Pilo ignition upgrade- coil/wires/colder plugs- the full kit or add IK-22 plugs
5. Larger air-to-air or water-to-air intercooler, adds about 8 to 10 HP
6. Quaife Limited Slip Differential with lightweight flywheel-greatly aids traction
7. Webb/Powerchip ECU upgrade- $690, can add 10+ HP and 7+ lb ft of torque
8. Rebored 63mm throttlebody- adds 2 to 5 HP for $399 from Helix13 or Webbmotorsport
9. Lightweight rims and non runflat tires
10. suspension upgrades-coil overs or lowering springs and rear swaybar.
11. Short shifter with Whalen shift ****
12. Many more...

 

I have the full JCW package, but I only want to add the head and SC since they are supposed to be better than stock. Yes, I have everything else too.

I'm not sure how mild or extreme the head was worked on, and as far as I know the SC difference is the vanes are coated differently than stock. I've read a few people are making some of the ports in the SC larger. For those who have done this, is there much to be gained by doing that work? Also, is there more to be done to the head? Looking at it, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot more, but I was hoping for some input from people who have worked on the head a bit and had some ideas.

Thanks
Tom

 

>>I've got a JCW Head and SC sitting at my fathers shop and wondered if there is anything else I should do to them before installing? I figure might as well kill a few birds with one stone.
>>
>>Maybe consider a Schrick cam too while I'm at it?
>>
>>Any idea's would be appreciated.


Matching the intake ports to the intake manifold might be one win/win improvement. Most people now seem to recommend leaving a mis-match on the exaust side (with the header opening larger than the port).
I've heard good things about Schrick but haven't seen any meaningful technical data posted on the Schrick cam other than duration figures. Perhaps someone has some technical data comparing OEM vs Shrick that they could post on this forum.
The valve sizes, port size/shape & valve lift/duration,etc all work together to determine at what RPM the engine will make optimum power. Then you add supercharging to the equation. Just adding larger valves might not yield a meaningful improvement for street driving. There are formula available to determine optimum valve size to port ratio for a given RPM range. All else being equal, on a naturally aspirated motor, increasing valve sizes usually means the power band moves higher in the RPM range. Don't know if this applies to supercharged motors. Maybe some of the guys familiar with improving flow on 4-valve supercharged motors could chime in.

Could someone in your father's organization could be persuaded to put that JCW head on a flow bench?!! It would be very interesting to see how it compares to stock.

 

I would also be curious on the flow rate between the stock and the JCW head.

 

I wouldn't mess with the head or sc. They have both been subtlely improved. Add the alta with the hose (you can always add the bored tb later). Consider long term what you are after you may want to install a 17 or 19 pulley while the sc is out
You have the makings of a sweet ride my friend, I for one like those parts best on the JCW as well (I would keep those too!)

 

Yes add the Alta intake with the hose (the only way it makes HP on a brake horsepower dyno).

I'd like to see this in person before I believed that. Again on the Mustang dyno, no exhaust has made more than 5 HP and no exhaust header to date has made any power.

 

>>I've got a JCW Head and SC sitting at my fathers shop and wondered if there is anything else I should do to them before installing? I figure might as well kill a few birds with one stone.
>>


At the price of a JCW upgrade, why would you NOT use all of the parts? One of the primary reasons for getting the JCW upgrade (as opposed to the generic pulley) is that it was developed as a PACKAGE; that, and the fact that BMW honors the warranty (which may be questionable if installed "piece-meal&quot. Hopefully, at a minimum you will also upgrade the ECU software. My MCS went from having the "yo-yo/surge" symptoms to running PERFECTLY; AFTER the JCW upgrade. I'm convinced that it was either the head-work, or the software upgrade.

If you do go ahead and install other parts, software, or exhausts; please try and check to make sure that the parts DO in fact generate more horsepower (or get some kind of return option). The magazines have numerous examples of actual dyno tests of Mini's; indicating that adding more stuff doesn't always improve performance.

(by the way; NOT trying to talk you out of the JCW... it's an absolute BLAST to drive! Personally, my next $$ will probably go into coilovers, NON-runflat tires/wheels, or the Quaife differential. ENJOY!)

-DavidG

 

>>>>I'd like to see this in person before I believed that. Again on the Mustang dyno, no exhaust has made more than 5 HP and no exhaust header to date has made any power.

Certainly you should wonder how true anything really is so good for you for questioning this. Ask Randy Webb how he got these numbers.
Milltek exhaust alone- 9 HP, 8 ft lbs torque estimated
http://www.webbmotorsports.com/forum...opic.php?t=156

Milltek header and exhaust 13 HP and 10 ft lbs torque estimated
http://www.webbmotorsports.com/forum...c&start=30

Oops I over estimated it!! my mistake. See what happens when you are old and senile!

_________________
Mele Kalikimaka & Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

 

Thanks for the info Minihune. But I knew where you got those numbers. But i also know that the Milltek header was dynoed by Helix and showed ZERO power. Helix thinks the exhaust header might still be the limiting factor holding back power gains. It's just that they feel no one has yet to develop a header that truly makes any power.

I'm also not saying or implying that Randy's making up data or falsifying anything. But if a performance part is tested on 2 dynos and one shows power gains and one doesn't, it's much more likely that the one showing gains is an error and not the one showing no gains. It's much harder to duplicate test conditions and if you change parts and get the same results, you most likely tested correctly. Yet if you add a part and get drastically different numbers, there is most likely an error of some kind.

 

the bung is the tiny exhaust valves, poor bowl shape and port size.

 

Thanks jlm. I was hoping you would say something. Word from BMW Motorsport in Germany, who actually took a MINI apart, is the head has a pretty bad design and that hurts the little thing more than anything.

The JCW kit we received was a gift from MINI. Which is why I am only picking and choosing the head and SC.

Thanks everyone.

 

TomM:
check out this link; that is my head being worked on:
http://www.theoldone.com/forum/topic...mp;whichpage=1

you may have to register to read the BBS, if so go to:
http://www.theoldone.com
register then find the mini threads under: Technical...ask TOO

 

Same thing at the drag strip too.