Are there any diy/install threads on this? I have a 20th 1.8t gti and an 04 r53 and bounce back and forth between which I like driving more. I would love to do this would love some info on it


R53 steering > Gti steering
R53 torque < Gti torque

 

not worth the effort and money. and i don think there are many who have, and they are probably the only ones who probably have.

your gti 180hp at 5500rpm/ 173 at 1950 rpm /weight 2916lbs

your R53 163hp at 6000rpm/ 155 at 4000 rpm /weight 2678lbs

just get a 17% pulley, intake, exhaust, and a tune and you will be golden the almost 250lbs betwen the to cars will help too. i think R53>GTI i came from VW by the way and have driven a GTI.

 

Greek did you have the 1.8t and if so what mods did u have? My 20th has APR93 tune and other bolt on's but the turbo kicks in at 1800rpm's and rips. I just put WMW 16% pulley, intake, and have pretty much straight pipes(too loud). It's mainly torque I want in the r53. I have seen 1.8t motor's going for not that much money. I could source the other parts used to save a bit. I'd also like to see Think Mini's "1.8t conversion" kit. I converted gbp to usd and it's something like $2800. I bet it'd be a lot cheaper if you made your own conversion kit. If I went this route i'd get an LSD and use frankenturbo's F21 which just came out not too long ago. People are getting 260whp/300lb tq. I just like the way the 1.8t builds power and also the better fuel economy. I've been reading about the wide band conversion kit's for the o2 sensor's. After reading about narrow band's it makes me wonder why they ever used em in the first place. I think wideband's came out in like 1997 or so.

 

i havent owned a gti i have driven a few

the 1.8 has 200cc more displacement than the 1.6 and that tiny turbo it has helps kick in a lot more torque... imagine the r53 if it had 200 more cc it would have the same spec's


next step is cam! im not sure how to get more toque out of the r53 with out doing a lot of work(i mean money)bigger sc, stroker kit, head work, convetring to a turbo still new to mini's so not sure whats out there

also from what i understand your 6 speed may have a different 1st and 2nd gear ratio than mine, dont remember what year i was told they changed it i have a very short 1st & 2nd while you may have a longer, so it would give me the false impression of more torque

 

I've heard the VW 6 speed's feel faster than the 5 speed VW's. I love working on cars and think it'd be a fun project. I need to find out how many more mpg's you get after a wideband o2 sensor conversion.

 

02M VW 6 speed info


Final Drive (w/dual mass flywheel)
62:16=3.875
Final Drive (w/o dmf)
62:20=3.1001st
41:12=3.417
2nd
40:19=2.105
3rd
40:27=1.481
4th
38:33=1.152
5th
35:30=1.167
6th
32:33=0.970
Reverse
30:12x23:14=4.107

 

The folks that put wideband o2 sensors on gen1 mini's have them attatched to displays to know if they ate lean or rich....they are NOT connected to the mini's computer...it simply cannot use the info.
Remember, the gen1 mini tritec motor is a pretty simple, cast iron block, motor....basicly unchanged from 2002 till mini finished with it with the last cabrio's in 2008. It was never ground breaking, or hightech, just compact, low volume production joint venture between rover(then bmw) and the pre-dalhmer crysler....made yo power very specic cars in fairly low production volumes.
With just a few modes, you can SAFELY MAKE 220+ to the wheels....and still get high 20's mpgs....maybe 30 driven nicely. Remember, the mini's steep windshield is draggy...so no great areodynamics involved.
you can knock yourself out and spend $2000+ (by your estimation) and gain 2-3 mpg, maybe match it to a custom tranny...but i think the actual space to fit everything under the hood, with the tranny will be the biggest issue. Might be fun....but for $800, you can have a great mini that does 90% of what you hope your one off custom car might be able to do....

 

Thanks for the info Zippy. What would be next for me then...tune and camshaft?

 

First, imo, check what you have...many cars have varying degrees of mods....many have a pulley and a cai....
Nect, make sure the motor is worth investing more than basic $$ into...more than very basic mods call for a compression check, and general reality check on the cars overall health....

So once you are ready...pick your goal...in all honesty a 200 hp mini is a blast, but to go above, you will need a cam (generally...), and you want the tune to be the final step...so kinda play around, msybe drive a buddys car, decide if the basics are enough or more...
most cars get....
1 a pulley...15 or 17% reduction is most common, simple, fun, great bang for the buck...
2 cai just a bit of hp gain, but mostly sound....most love the sc whine!!
Do a reality check...
Msybe a swapbar to make curves more fun, or still thurst for more power...
more power..then time to decide...
slightly bigger injectors (or none) and a tune eill get you to about 190-200 whp...
But get a street cam, injectors, and tune....maybe even meth injection for the truely power hungry or a ported head, tune, you have a kickin mini...most folks have added an exhaust by now...$$ per hp, but sound is important to many.
At about 200 hp imo, unless you want bragging rites, its about right...tune ties it togther, makes it factory smooth, safe power. But a cam then tune...for the $$ is a great gain...again, bigger injectors for 190+ hp, tune for more than the jcw380 to run, tune to run RIGHT.

 

Hi, what would you like to know? im the guy behind it

 

Any and all information you can give would be awesome. You have any pictures or step by step's on the install? You have any pictures of the kit you sell? Any special information on the tricky parts of the install?



Thanks and you tha man!!



: )

 

TBH its all easy once you have done it once, they key is getting the engine and gearbox in the correct location giving you enough room for everything with no room to spare.

Driveshafts are simple when made buy a shaft company and the cooling the same.

The electrics were a pain but easily resolved.

The only downside is due to the lack of space the engine mounts have to be quite firm and this does create some cabin noise, but the torque is worth it.

The BAM and AMK engine codes are the ones to have running a K04 turbo, one I have built is running a IHI turbo and is around 350bhp with no turbo lag and it pulls from about 1500rpm, the stock rods are good to about 275lbs of torque, the pistons are forged OEM.

I would say a good guy with the right skills and enthusiasm could do it all, but having pre made mounts and bushes will get the motor installed much faster, and the same with the drive shafts, then most of the rest is down to simple mechanics.

I will dig out some of the development pictures, nowadays its more of a hobby between restoring my classic minis

 

I would love to tackle this sometime and thanks for the info!

 

The biggest advantage I can see with the 1.8T motor swap is the ease to which you can make massive amounts of power. The 1.8T with just forged rods can handle something like 400hp which is pretty easy to get to with just a bigger turbo and injectors. A lot of the MINI crowd think 220whp is a large amount which it is in such a small car, but think about almost doubling that. The 1.8T is a far more tunable engine than our 1.6 and can be turned into a 1.9 stroker for very little cost as well. It also won the Wards 10 best engines award more times than our Tritec did.

 

400hp isn't that easy. I came from the 1.8t world.

So on top of the Rods as you mentioned you are looking at a t3/t4 setup and injectors and fuel pump, FPR, tuning, misc other odds and ends.

It would be about 10k + or - 3k (including sourcing the motor and trans) before you saw that kind of hp...I also don't think you can put down that much power in a mini...wheel spin is going to be a huge problem.

 

In all honesty you dont need 400, 300bhp with 400lbs/ft is a LOT

If you get the right engine code to start with the costs are much cheaper.

Wheel spin is not a massive issue due to the torque coming in so low down the rev range.

In the UK the 1.8t unit is around £1-2000 to buy complete

 

Did you start with an AWP motor or older than that? Also out of which car? I think the transverse mount 1.8t is somehow cheaper...

In the US -- A decent 1.8t is probably on the top end of that price scale so:

AWP Engine and Transmission roughly $3,000 USD
t3/t4 turbo and ATP manifold -- maybe $1,000 or more. Even the K04 kit is around $2,000 I feel like custom has to be close to that.
Lines hoses misc items -- $500
Piping and intercooler $1,000
Forged Pistons and Rods $1,000
Software and Tuning Costs $500
Edit: I forgot to add in for custom Axles of maybe $500-1,000?

If you created a kit for the engine mounts I am sure you want a few dollars for that - if not I guess you could custom fab your own with the right tools and some decent measuring and cutting skills. I once helped a friend weld in some HAsport mounts into his CRX -- even those were about $500.
So without even digging into it --

I'm seeing about $6,000-$7,500 as a rough probably low figure.

 

I used a AMK from a Seat Leon Cupra R, its the same as the Audi S3 and the TT here in the UK and it come with the K04 on it.

It depends how active you a willing to be, a guy here bought a crashed complete car and broke it for parts and was left with a free motor and trans along with the correct ecu, sensors, turbo, downpipe and much more.

Then he sold his Tritech motor and trans which are selling for top money as a few are getting melted.

So now he has a free 1.8t and around £1300 in cash from the sale of his no longer needed MINI parts, including that awful electric power steering pump, as the conversion uses a normal fluid pump.

Axles or shafts are a big chunk of money but are 1 step away from rally spec.

From memory he spent about £3000 in total.

My car runs a 100% standard 1.8t unit, so even if it does throw a rod its no big deal, I just get another block, but so far its run sweet. it runs much cooler.

 

Oh Seat -- how I would love to have those kinds of VW products here in the US.

To answer the original post though getting 400hp out of a US spec'd 1.8t is going to be a bit of work.

If you are pushing 400 hp -- please let the VAG community know how you are doing that on stock internals... if they are that bullet proof, the VAG community should be pushing them harder..and I may consider going back to a VW :-)

 

400 with rods and a turbo upgrade is possible, but then you need a diff and a better clutch... it all adds up but driving a 350bhp as is one I help build for a friend is and there is no going back.

On track its on another level

 

Beyond gorgeous work...did you do any sheet metal work (smacking the firewall or cutting it out to get the K04 to fit?

Us spec'd VW 1.8t came with a K03 up until 2003 when they upgraded it to a K03s. The K04 came on the Audi products I believe.

I'm in the process of figuring out at 80k miles should i pre-emptively get a used supercharger off of eBay to be sent to be rebuilt or should I just hold and see.

While I would love to say the car will be my toy, it's likely going to be the car my fiancée drives around town only (shes a brit who has always wanted a MINI) and I'll be looking for a CPO 3 series sedan.

Can I really justify the cost and also the time and room needed to take on anything more difficult than direct bolt on parts? Probably not.

 

No metal work required, all electrical plugs remained, could be reversed back to tritech if ever needed!

 

Nice work. Any pics while doing the job?

 

This is too cool. I wonder what putting a k04 on the mini's 1.6 engine with a custom tune would accomplish?

 

The 1.6 non turbo car? It would be a high compression forced induction motor. If I had to guess that the K04 would add about 60-100 HP with the right tune.

If you are talking about the supercharged motor it would not be worth your effort.