Thanks JJF, I am starting to consider doing the rebuild myself. It would cut the costs way down, and our engines internaly look like a caveman designed the thing. (Thank you Chrysler!) I have done a few rebuilds before, and they have held up nicely, so I'm confedent that I can pull it off as long as I really take my time.

 

Knowing that they are different cars, 5 counts is high on EVO, STi, Honda ect. Ive never tuned a MINI. Tuned tons of other cars including my 700hp evo on e85. I have no idea how the knock detection works on the mini but being that high just doesnt sound right. Also ive noticed on e85 where you make maximum TQ it does not like lots of timing. You can ramp it up pretty fast after that. Also with E85 you don't tune by knock you tune by MBT. 11.8-12.5 A/F on a gasoline wideband is about the sweet spot for 85. Also you scaled your injectors 30% back for the e85 I hope....just trying to help you out a bit...dont know if you know any of this or not.

 

Go for it You've done everything else. You'll need a machine shop you can trust, resize the rods, fit the bearings, balance, etc. YOU CAN DO THIS
Bottom line, lets hope the crank isn't too beat up.....

 

Wow sorry to hear about the noise there. Hopefully it's just a worn center main thrust bearing.

Jeremy

 

I hope you're right. An easy to check the end play is to "push pull" the crank pulley.

 

Bummer about the rod bearing(s) going out on ya.

But, on the bright side (and I'm really straining to see it), once you flush out the oil passages and reassemble it with the rebuilt bottom end, you'll end up with a more or less new engine.

I'm with stevecars60 - get thee hence to the machine shop! If you do half as good a job rebuilding the bottom end as you did with everything else, it'll be great!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Thanks guys, I will probably be scouting out a good machiene shop, and aquiring some new tools.

Building an engine really isn't rocket science, and doing the build myself will save a ton of cash. Only thing is I know what I will be doing with the car, and I dont know if I can get the tollerances close enough for it to last. Its the whole "Yes I can make it make power but, will it hold up." Versus "Theese guys know more about it than I do, and they gaurantee the work." debate.

One things for sure though, when I'm done the car will have way more power than anybody really needs in a MINI. I'm also probably going to spring for a good limmited slip, just so it has a chance of saving a little rubber.

 

Rick, "I dont know if I can get the tollerances close enough for it to last" = if you go to a good shop, have them assemble the short block. If you want to learn http://www.lceperformance.com/Tools-...-p/1093083.htm, you can check tolerance like the best. If you need help send a PM. Have faith brother!
Cpt. America, really.....

 

Good shops will match each piston to the cylinder. The only thing I am thinking is you might want to get a stronger crank. I've read some posts about the 250 HP threshold; I'm sure you've seen them too.

 

JJF, there are quite a few MINIs running around with more than 250HP on a stock crank. The factory unit in the R53's TriTec is pretty stout, from the factory it's forged, the counter balance lobes are polished, the lubrication journals are smoothed out and an adiquate size, and if it's balanced properly it can hold some crazy amounts of stress. It needs to be able to take abuse it's stock, stock is built to be durrible even if neglected or abused. The OEM rods are pretty strong aswell, but in my case they are going away. Most of the failures related to the main rotating assemblys that I have seen, have all been due to bearings or hardware.

 

Rick, the crank is pretty good, as are the rods. If there's a weakness, it's the pistons - the top ring land is too close to the top of the piston IMHO - detonation tends to melt the land with too much ign & lean AF, take your pick, or both......

 

.040 9.3:1 JE's with Swain coatings are going to adress that issue.


If you think back to my first big thread, I'm building the "Death Rocket".

 

"death" = no, that can last a long time...... "rocket", works for me.

I have JE's in 1 of my cars, they've been very good to me. You want to make sure the bores are matched w/coating - not on the bore they need to be matched to the piston with the coating. Are you getting a coated top ring? If so, they will last for quite some time or not at all, it's a 50/50.....

 

Nice....

C ya,
Dutch

 

Well seince there is really no point in working on the car right now, I am off to my other house for the weekend. No internet, no phone = no updates.

 

THIS IS NOT MY WEEK FOR ENGINES!!!

I got on the highway, and poped the head gasket in the ZOOK!
Steam pouring out the exhaust on restart, I managed to get it back home but, this SUCKS! Its like the engine gods hate me.

If car #3 breaks, I'm gona be the one blowing the gasket!

Atleast the ZOOK is a 2 hour $60.00 fix.

 

Not such a good week for DGs. First the 223, the Zook....

Good that you're taking a break

 

Geez man sorry about the luck. But if anyone can rebound it is you!

 

Well good news, car #3 didn't spin a rod bearing, blow a head gasket, or anything else, so I finally got away for a couple days. I formulated the plan for the MINI's new motor while I was gone.

Here's the list:

TPR2R head, the intake valves might stay the same size, but exhaust valves are deffinately going bigger.

NitroStick NS2 cam, NS1 is too small, NS2 will go good with what my intentions are.

NitroStick valve spring / retainer set, OEM springs are only good in OEM applications the way I see it.

JE 9.3:1 pistons, Swain coated, I want the higher compression because of my high altitude drives, even with the Sprintex I only get 8psi of boost at the top of Squaw pass.

NitroStick rods, the motor is going to have a little more power than a stock R53, might as well do it right, and build it to take whatever.

Stock crank, some slight refinishing may be needed, but the OEM crank is a good pice.

Some other things might find their way into the motor, such as a copper head gasket, new oil cooler, might polish some items, might do this might do that. But this is the basic list of what will be done.

 

Damn it sucks to hear about your miss fortune Dicks, i wanted to see some dyno numbers, ow well fix her up ASAP im sure many of us dont wanna hear that it "Bytes" the dust

 

Rick, sounds good. Don't forget the ARP hardware...

 

Hmmmm., High compression, BVH, NS2, 550's, & 64mm Sprintex....That'll be FUN.

Depending on when it's finished you'll be the first HC/BVH Sprintex car. WooHoo (you lucky ba***rd).

Wait I'm getting a vision......do the letters LSD mean anything to you?

Good Luck man.

(I'm jealous though, I was really wanting to be the first Sprintex BVH car but couldn't think of a better person to beat me there.)

 

Mine wont be done until next summer unless I can find a boatload of cash, so your in luck.

 

I guess it's a race then.

I know what you mean about cash, I'm lucky I only need a dingy load.

If my M45 actually lasts mine's gonna be a present from Santa anyway so I'm sure someone will beat me to it.

If it doesn't hold up its gonna be a Ramen Noodle Fall.

 

When you get your Sprintex, start out with the 70mm pulley, change your mapping to suit, then step up to the 64mm. There is a world of differance between the two pulleys, the 64mm more than maxed out my MANIPRESS1 HPA scale on everything! The scales only go up to 1802 HPA, my logs are (WHERE) showing low 2000's! I am slowly going through the tune and adjusting the scaling to suit the newfound boost.