2011-03 R56, Sneed / Super 42 build
 

Hey everyone, I felt like posting a little bit of a build log, and sharing my project on this car...<br /><br />I bought this 2011 British racing green MCS back in February of this year, 80 something thousand miles on it. With the intentions of using it for the light travel that I do for work, and driving it until the wheels fell off... But, I absolutely loved the car, it is probably the most fun that I have ever had behind the wheel of a stock car.<br /><br /><br />Unfortunately, the fun did not last very long. All of a few months, and 15,000 miles or so. I was in the very beginning of a 2.5 hour drive home, when the car started surging, lit the check engine lamp, and stalled on me. I was able to get it restarted after I had sat for 20 minutes or so, but as soon as it got back to operating temperature, it stalled again.<br /><br />An 800$ tow bill, and a week or so of shade tree diagnostics later, I found this nightmare of a milkshake under the valve cover...<br />​​​​​​​<br /><br />I suspect the reason for the surging and stalling was due to the milky oil not being able to correctly supply the VANOS solenoids, but I am a diesel guy, I have no experience with variable valve timing at all.<br /><br />The culprit... A 16mm cup plug in the head, between cylinders 2 and 3. Dumped all of my coolant into the oil, and I have no idea how long I drove without coolant in the car for. Could have been 2 minutes, could have been 10. I highly suspect that the coolant all ran into the crankcase before it could overheat enough to log a fault. The sensor does funny things when it is not submerged in coolant, like, not properly reporting coolant temperature.<br />​​​​​​​<br /><br />More parts coming...

To continue.... I took about a week, and researched what all of my options were. I was fairly certain that the engine was toast. Literally, but I did not have the room in my small garage to disassemble the car and the engine.

A borescope inspection did not reveal any scoring of the cylinder walls, or damage to the pistons. There was no metal in the lube oil or filter element, but still... It left me with the nagging feeling that there was serious damage to the engine. Warped block, head, that kind of stuff. That I would fix the car and either be mixing coolant and oil, consuming coolant, or pressurizing the cooling system with combustion gasses. All of the fun stuff that comes with head gasket issues.

Either way, it was going to be a lot of work as the head would have to come off and go to a machine shop, to install a threaded plug in the hole that the cup plug came out of. If I was going to be putting that much of my own labor into it, I wanted something out of it. Something not stock... Something more powerful.

After much research I ended up deciding on the following:
- Chris Sneed, street tier engine
- Borg K03 Super 42, "Quick Spool" turbo.
- Wagner Gen 2 intercooler
- NM intake, with a paper filter. (HAving been a diesel guy all of my life, I do not like washable filters. long story...)
- Sneed Boost muffler delete
- Clutch masters stage 2 kit, with a steel, single mass flywheel.
- Quaife LSD
- Craven speed gauge pods, with Boost and Oil pressure

I also decide to do a ffew other things, not really HP related, while I had the car ripped to bits. Some of them are maintenance parts, some were just because...
- Sneed oil cooler kit (I was replacing the stock one, due to the milkshake... it was a "Why not" moment)
- BC racing coilovers
- New water pump
- New vacuum pump

The journey begins
I very quickly realized that the front of the car had to come apart in order to get the engine out
And she is finally free
​​​​​​​

I had to wait longer than I really would have liked after this point. I was able to get the engine stripped for core pretty quick. But, the engine took longer than expected to build, and the differential that I wanted was on international backorder.

I missed a few steps for photos... Hanging some of the external's on the side of the engine, installing the differential (That would have been a fun process to share. I do not have much room and pressed the bearings with the transmission sitting in my lap. But, I am finally to a point where I have most of what I need and am making some real progress.

Engine and trans are finally remarried, and hanging back in their old home
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...8637cdeb7a.jpg

Manifold, turbo, the belt driven goodies, all installed
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...0a35598800.jpg

Another angle
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...83abd65380.jpg

And, of course, being the diesel guy that I am, I could not have possibly fathomed that 4mm was such a big difference. After all... I am used to working on turbo's where a 70mm compressor is on the small side. (Ever seen the turbo on a GE 16V250??) 38mm stock K03 vs the K03 super 24
Attachment 193342

And, the front suspension going in, it was way easier than I thought it was going to be to swap out the struts
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...e1d50acbfc.jpg

Anyway, that is all I have for today. I am still waiting on a few small parts that are holding me up. Gaskets and stuff that I forgot to order before hand, I will try to keep this updated with photos, and a dyno sheet after it is all said and done. I want to get the car through M7 tuning when it is completed. But, I have to run the engine in, and flush the cooling system before I take it in for a tune and dyno.

Great thread, looking forward to more! Moving you to the Builds forum so you'll get more eyeballs.

Nicely done! Love the Mini in BRG and all the work you've put in so far. Your smiles per mile ratio is about to go through the roof.

Nice!

For sure!! I have no idea what to guestimate for horsepower, or if it will even run worth a crap on the stock ECM calibration... But, I imagine I should be able to bring it to ~250 with a tune pretty easy. I want to try and keep it below that mark for sure. Just enough for it to be a blast, but not so much to make it a pain on the street.


A few more pictures, getting the oil filter housing, and Sneed Oil cooler plate in place. Not too much I can do right now, between being smack in the middle of a winter storm, and recovering from a tooth extraction (FUN!!!)....

Nothing special, just an oil cooler housing. Nice to have it back in place though, and have the unfiltered, pressure side lube system getting sealed back up.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...13885c7635.jpg

Sneed's Oil cooler plate!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...2e4604bcc9.jpg

He sent the wrong bolts with the kit!!!! They are about 5mm too long, and the stock ones are too short. Gonna have to take another quick trip to the parts store, but I don't want to be on the roads right now. The temp is rapidly dropping into the 30's, it is sleating, and my other ride is an '03 Mustang GT with performance summer tires. Not a good combination.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...2ed158f7d8.jpg

I am probably better off with the stock liquid - liquid oil cooler, as this car is probably only ever going to see the street... But, it was in the budget, lol. Why not??? If it I have too much of an issue with condensation in the oil, I will come up with a t-stat and bypass circuit for it. It shouldn't be that hard to make something and plumb it into the external plumbing of the cooler kit.​​​​​​

Edit... I really, really need to run that transmission through a good steam cleaning. It really sucks that I was not in a good place to get it to the coin wash while I had it apart. Being in a rented garage, in an apartment? I do not have anywhere onsite that I could really get it clean.

Yes get it steam cleaned once it is back together and driveable. I had to have that done on one of my other cars after the boots on the CV joints failed and threw grease everywhere. The engine compartment looked like it was right off the showroom floor when they were done.

Having worked for so long in a portion of the diesel industry, I am now realizing that I have a very focused, and one-track mind while I work. So... Some of this is going to seem kind of random, as by the time that I realize that I needed to take pictures to document something? I am already done with it!

But, either way, I still have some completely random sets of photos for the forums.

I got some properly sized bolts for Sneed's oil cooler adapter plate. And put together most of the hot side of the engine. Stock exhaust for now, it was not in the budget for this year. I realize that it will be a pain in the read to install a new downpipe with everything put together, but... It is what is it is. I also got a little part happy installing the upper brace. i realized pretty quickly that it was in the way, not there was no reason to have it there. I took it off not long after this photo.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...3309b8b66c.jpg

Installing the Cravenspeed tapless adapter while I was in the area.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...86db5c86c9.jpg

Gauges!!! I am about to remember why I hate working behind dashboards.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...e8fa03eea1.jpg

Craven mount coming together. This thing looks pretty clean and well thought out...
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...4129ee6866.jpg

Bolted up. I still have to finish the wiring, but. The mounting solution really looks good. I have to give props to the guy that designed this.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...83c5842ce2.jpg

And the front end is finally coming back together. Radiator and condenser in their homes. The question is, will the AC system hold? I ended up having the system evacuated and I was intending on removing the condenser. But, I decided against it, figuring the risk of damaging the system by leaving it open for months was greater than the risk pf puncturing or damaging the condenser with it hanging in the way most of the time.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...eecc59a10a.jpg

Wagner intercooler! This thing is big! Well, big for this car, not big compared to the stuff that I work on, on a daily basis.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...ca52d250b2.jpg

Sneed's Oil cooler.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...21b47c16a7.jpg

Oil cooler all plumbed up and the bumper back in place! And yes! The AC held vacuum. Got it charged back up while I was in the area. Don't worry. I have jack stands in place under the rocker panel lifting boxes. I just left the jacks in front. I am working alone, and err on the side of paranoid when it comes to lifting redundancy. (When I was installing the rear shocks? I had the vehicle weight on a jack stand. Left the jack under the car, and also placed the wheel underneath the car.)
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...0a73ec16bf.jpg

Buttoning up the top end. Figuring out that I need to send my new vacuum pump back to the seller, they sent me one for an N12. No wonder where this random vacuum line was supposed to go! Also fitting up the NM intake.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...9bdbcc8f42.jpg

This car really needed a bath just before it broke down... my wheels are filthy too. But, the BC coil over's slammed this thing. Those are stock 15 inch rims. I feel like I might get a little to personal with a rock that I run over if it is too big.
Attachment 193336

Anyway, all I have for now... I am hoping to have it running over the holiday weekend. One of my vendors missed a shipping estimate though, so I might not get a few parts that I have to have before the holiday.

Once I get it running, I still have a good bit of work to do. Check for leaks. Hopefully nothing does. Check the AC pressures and function. And flush the cooling system at least 4-5 times to get out any remaining milk shake.

I almost forgot the most important work though!!! I actually accidentally bought these. Left them in my amazon cart, and checked out buying something unrelated a few weeks later, without checking. Decided to keep them.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...2cd50f4406.jpg

Great!

And it lives!!!

I unfortunately don't have a first start video, it was dark and rainy when I fired it off. But, it fired within the first 2 seconds of cranking. I was impressed.

I just have a little bit of troubleshooting to do along side my cooling system flush. Something grinding on the front left brake. Along with two active fault codes, resulting in a derate. P00BD and P1338. The engine is lacking boost... I am not sure whether it is the derate, or if I have a boost leak somewhere causing the P00BD, like I said, a little bit of troubleshooting ahead of me. I might be able to get my hands on a smoke machine to help though.

Look for videos later this weekend!!! Merry Christmas and happy holidays NAM!

Edit, I see you on the thread a few times, I have to say thank you for coming through with quick shipping on a new vacuum pump ECS. With how late I ordered it, I was worried about getting it in time to get the car running over this holiday weekend.