HI guys, new to the forum and new to mini's. I picked up a 2005 mini s for cheap ($600) guy said it over heated. I took it apart last weekend, and only damage I could find was some blow by on the head gasket causing a lack of compression. I brought the head to my local machine shop and it was decentlay warped. Had to take 20 thousands off.
So my question is what's the acceptable amount that can be shaved off? Is there gonna be extra slack in the chain? Or can the tensioner take up the slack? Is the cam sensor gonna read right? Or just in general is that gonna raise the compression to much for his supercharged engine?
The machinist said he believes they make a shim kit for this motor if that is to much.
Thanks Dusty.

 

These guys sells three sizes thicker than stock, but none are 0.020". I would call and see what they think. That is a lot of machining!

http://www.sneed4speed.com/r53-mini-...l-head-gasket/

 

Yeah I know it is quiet a bit. But. I was able to get the car cheap enough that I wanna see if it can work out. I purchased the sneed .040 head gasket, so that would bring it to within .007 of stock and I would think that would be within the range of what can be removed or I hope.

 

Good luck!

And, to answer the philosophical question you asked - the MINI definitely doesn't like having that much cut off the head. The timing chain would be pretty slack, making it noisy and probably wearing out your chain guides, and of course, the compression changes.

If the car was run with the blown gasket, the engine adaptations may be pretty far from normal - look up the threads on reseting the engine adaptations before you try to start it. If it went bad suddenly and was shut down, then this wouldn't be a problem.

Look into getting the ARP head stud kit - they are stronger, and a little more expensive, but for you I think the best part is that they are reusable, so if this doesn't work, you can remove the head and find a decent used head and not have to buy a new set of one-time-use-head-bolts with each attempt.

Definitely check the block for warpage too before you put it together - a straightedge and feeler gauge if you haven't done it before.

 

Know the owner on another board had both his head and block skimmed/decked in two rebuilds...
He ended up having to add a washer to the timing chain tensioner to give it the extra reach needed to get rid of the slack...yes...highly modified car anyway....but a simple fix.
It was Nathan's car over on the "other" board, aka the alliance.

 

Thought I read about adding a washer to the tensioner somewhere, thanks for reminding me. I'll keep it in mind if it seems to be necessary.
I have a straight edge, that I'm gonna be checking the block with hoping the cast iron faired pretty well.

 

So I put the car back together, but it won't seem to suck any coolant in.
The only coolant that went in is what seemed to fill the expansion tank, and maybe some into the hose. So around 1/3 to 1/2 of a gallon.
The bleed screw by the thermostat housing is very rusty and doesn't want to loosen.
The bleed screw at the front on the hose is out, obviously nothing coming out of it. Heat on high.
After around 5 minutes it starts to go above half way on the gauge so I shut it down. Not wanting to cause damage.
I replaced the thermostat, could it not be operating? Bad water pump?

 

The waterpump is run off a PTO off the bottom of the SC...
Some cars have the lube leak out if the PTO, and the gears run dry....gears turn to dust...fix is a different/rebuilt SC. it might not be the issue....I'd change the thermostat first (edit...just saw you already did it, ouch, is it in right?, Maybe try it without one temporarily?)...these cars don't hold much coolant....but if it is rusty....might be worth trying to flush it...might save you a heater core later...many forget these are cast iron blocks, a require regular coolant changes.

 

Yeah I put it in right, triple checked it. Looked at pics of the one that was in there before removing it. I might end up taking it back out. The coolant it self wasn't rusty just the bleed screw that's next to the thermostat housing
Even if the car doesn't hold much coolant, still need to get that stream coming out of the front hose. How much coolant do they hold?
What do you mean by PTO? Can't seem get the abbreviation.

 

I have a hard time getting coolant into the front of the engine also after head work.

I remove that front bleeder screw (the one by the radiator) and with a tiny funnel, add fluid there until that section is full. Seems to really help. After re-installing the bleeder screw, I will give the large hoses some good two handed squeezes to get coolant moving around. Definitely notice bubbles moving into the reservoir.

 

PTO...power take off...just like a tractor or truck...
There are gears under the sc that the waterpump runs off of...a unique desgin.

 

Was able to ad more coolant in through the hose bleed screw at the front. Doesn't seem to be running hot, staying a little under have on the gauge.
The car does seem to take a few seconds to start though. Turning the key it kind of seems stumbly for a few seconds, then it catches and its fine.