triumphlux Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Ah, you'll fit the Specialist Components kit, very intersting Would you be so kind to show us some pictures and tell us how good this kit is Maybe in another thread ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) No it's technically related to this project so I'll pop it in here as I'm still saving for the injection for the spitfire. Its expensive but I have a funny feeling it will be sooooo worth it. Â As a side note for the mini, I've bought a Mini MPI (multi point injection) fuel tank and fuel pump. Its the same shape and size of the normal tank but has the fuel pump sit inside it, the pump has both inlet and return in its top which makes thing very simple. All I need to do now is run two copper pipes under the car (one feed the other return) and plumb the feed to the fuel rail and then as it comes out it goes into the regulator and then back to the return line. Simples. Â Chris. Edited August 21, 2012 by CHRIS211083 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestquality03 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi Chris  Why don't you use the existing feed line for the fuel return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Good question, because I have not looked at it yet so don't know if it would be suitable.   Ok so today the Mini MPI fuel tank turned up for the Wife's EFI mini conversion. It came with everything needed, fuel pump, fuel sender, breather and all for £130 delivered and it looks mint.    Because of the shape and the price, this go me thinking. Would this fit into the spitfire????? So I gave it a go.....   Above you can see the shape of the tank and how Im thinking. I want it on the opposite side to the drive so as to off set the weight but I thought I'd try both just to see.   Not a bad fit, however the filler cap would have to be sat coming out of the left rear wing and this would not look its best.   As I said I wanted the filler out to the rear so I tried this next.    Its pushed right into the corner but i do prefair it on the other side. I must admit it would be cheaper and because of this I'm now going to look through ebay to see if there are anymore options.  Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Nicely situated for a rear ending, Chris? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Lots of moderns have tanks with pumps inside. Fiesta mk 4/5 are steel, mk 6/7 plastic. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Fiesta+fuel+tank&_sacat=0 Â Just a random example - Corsa is similar. Â James is right about not positioning right up against the rear panel or in extreme corners. You want at least some "squash zone" around it. Â Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 Well Guy's most the parts for the Mini Arrived today. However today's job was to Paint the mounting brackets and strip and paint the bulkhead and any other rusty bits in the mini's engine bay in an effort to keep it in one piece for longer.   This car was stored for ten years and we bought it and recommissioned the car and have used it since Feb. However there are a few bits that have annoyed me so now I'm fixing them. The engine was the original but it started burning loads of oil so it came off the road and I managed to bag a rebuilt engine and gearbox for £550. However the head needs lead replacement fuel so I'm swapping the head with the one we bought and fitted to the old engine with hardened seats. However while you have the head off you might as well fit a better cam/followers/and valve springs rated for the cam. The cam is a CA3 from Minisport(Road Rally Cam) and power is from 2,000rpm to 7,000rpm. Its suppose to work very well on the 998 engines. Another reason to put the cam in now is because the engine must be out to change the cam on the mini engine. So while its out we changed it, we will then run it in with the standard head and then later on fit an uprated head. The EFI 45mm throttle body is rated to 100bhp so will let the 998 see its real potential even though a very fast 998 only makes 65bhp. Being able to remap the efi myself is such a big plus point as there will be no more crazy carb needle guesses. I've decided to fit Polyurethane engine mounts as the standard type fell apart after 6 months use as did the engine steady bushes so they were uprated to poly's too. I've also bought a bunch of bits and bobs to get the car as up to date as possible and Will be sorting some wiring issues to. Tomorrow I'll be applying the second coat of Hammerite No1 Rust beating primer. Then on Friday the top coat of Hammerite direct to rust metal paint will go on. This will hopefully keep the rust at bay for the future until more resto work is needed. Tomorrows second job is to order more parts and the third is to strip the rebuilt engine down and fit the new cam. i'll then rebuild it and fit the brackets and parts so the engine's ready to be fitted into the car straight after the topcoat goes on, on Friday morning. The Second job for Friday should be to fit the EFI fuel tank and fingers crossed fit the EFI system its self. Then Friday night can be spent with the wife driving the mini and me tuning it in.  Fingers crossed it all goes to plan. Then the next job is the Spitfire GT.  Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomwah Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Doing anything else this week? Â Cheers James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hope so. If I have any spare time i'll be drilling the engine mountings and test fitting them to the engine. Â Really need to be getting on with the Spitfire soon as the RBRR2012 is closing in..... Â Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumphlux Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hm, you order parts in the morning and drive the car the same evening. Sounds like everybody works as fast as you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Ok I've hit a road block........ Â Removed the rocker cover off the old engine and removed the head. No problem. I then did the same to the new rebuilt unit..........Ho dear the crank wont turn very easy. So i removed the head and here is what I found. Â Â All Looks ok but the crank still wont turn past half way. Upon closer inspection the pistons are pertruding from the block and they are not the same brand. Â Â I'm now a little annoyed but the engine was cheap enough and we new it might not be perfect. I've now had to order the correct size crank pulley socket and a fly wheel puller. A bit annoying but it still looks fixable. Â Pistons are +30" apparently you can't buy these??? They only do +20 and +40 piston and dam they are expensive. Problem is the pistons are different makes and all protrude different amounts. Looks like some on has skimmed the block a little too much. I take it apart and see whats what. Â Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motov8id Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 put a straight edge across each piston and measure each height. The top of the piston can be milled if not excessive and the thickness of the head gasket will accommodate some of the piston crown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 You'll need to CC the dishes in the pistons too as these will affect CR. If protrusion and differences between them are visible with the naked eye...... I think you have a problem. These things should be measured in thou not mm! Â Do you have the Vizard A series book? Some good info in there. Â Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) Well guys after a look on the mini website it could just be that one of the conrod caps is on backwards. As for the piston pertrusion 4 is at +0.50mm and 1 is at +0.30mm. The old head gasket is 0.90mm so the pistons will sit in the head gasket space. However I need a puller to remove the fly wheel and a large socket to remove the crank bolt. Both have been ordered so we will have to wait and see. Â Chris. Edited August 23, 2012 by CHRIS211083 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6 Nick Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Chris, if the pistons are from different manufacturers, they'll probably have different weights. If the engine hasn't been balanced to compensate (and it's starting to look like a total bodge job) it'll be damned unpleasant to drive. I think you should strip it right down, measure and weigh everything and start again. At this point I wouldn't assume that any of the machining has been done correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 I agree nick I'll be checking everything but it might have just been thrown back together as the seller(not the builder) had photo's of it stripped. Fingers crossed it's an easy fix. Â Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Spoke with Minisport today and they said that the tools and gaskets for stripping and rebuilding the engine should be with me today. So hope fully by tonight we will know what the problem is. Â Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomwah Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 How many extra man-points will all this earn you or is it a case of you broke it you fix it? Â Cheers, James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) Well guy's the problem with the engine was no.1 piston was too tight. however all the pistons Gudgeon pins have over heated and stuck to the rods so the rods and pistons are FCUK'ed. However I have a second hand set on the way.  So now the plan now is to strip and re-bore the original old engine as we know it to be good and then rebuild it with new seals and gaskets. I'll rebuild the other pistonless engine later on and sell it on once I've re-built it correctly. The EFI kit Arrived today see the pic.    More on this once it's fitted later in the week.  Chris  P.s. Neither of us broke it, it just wore out. Edited August 24, 2012 by CHRIS211083 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motov8id Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 (edited) If the engine was just bored and assembled how did this happen? That is serious car bling , Edited August 25, 2012 by motov8id Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 It' a very nice kit, I like the trigger wheel alot.......   The Trigger bit is adjustable and so you bolt the hub through the pulley and then adjust the teeth to the correct position and then lock it off. I think it would fit a Spitfire without too much fuss.  45mm shaftless throttle body intake into ported manifold.   The filters really nice to, quick release.   This was an extra but for £40 why not, cut from billet.   Here is the throttle shut.   And the best bit, ECU with custom wireing harness for the MIni. A real plug and play system. Now I just need to build the engine.  Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomwah Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Come to me my pretty, and I don't mean you Chris. Â Cheers J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Well I've never been called Pretty before. Ha Ha.  Well the past few days have been spent fitting poly bushes to the Mini and Ordering the new bits. I rode down to Yorkshire to the Minispares place to buy pistons on Saturday gone. I also bought a new oil pump, cam bearings and diff seals. I made the decision that I would rebuild the worn out original unit and this needs a full re fresh. So why travel down to Yorkshire (on the motorbike) instead of phone order and post. Well It was bank holiday Monday and I need the car on Friday for a Charity (Cash for Commando's) event. So the Mini engine not only needs rebuilt but installed too in Double time. So If I waited till today for the pistons then the pistons would only arrive tomorrow which is too late as then the rebore would be on Thursday and reassemble on Friday and then fit EFI....... is too much and too little time. So I collected and can now hit the ground running. Today the block went in to be rebored to +60 and it will be ready tomorrow. I'll then go to collect it and get Chic Doig to fit the new pistons to the rods(press fit). Then on Thursday the new Main/Big end bearings will arrive and the Assembly process can start. Unfortunately neither the original crank or the one in the duff engine was good enough to reuse without a grind. However there are plenty on ebay that are so I've ordered one for £30. So I should have it built for Thursday night and fitted back into the car. Then I'll finish the EFI install and map it Friday morning so it's ready for its maiden trip on Friday night. Once it's run in I'll take it to a dyno to have the ignition mapped properly and the fuelling adjusted to suit the timing changes. I'll post pic's of the rebuild once it starts and that should be the Mini Finished for a wee while.  Back onto the Spitfire Process..........  ATpower Throttle Bodies and ECU Kit where ordered today and should arrive about the 13th September.  This will give me 21 days to have the Spitfire Gt on the road and ready to roll and ready to take part in the RBRR 2012.  Will it make it.........  Will it pass it's Mot.......  Will it snap it's Diff into a million pieces.......  Find out, Same Bat time, same Bat Channel.   Chris. Edited August 28, 2012 by CHRIS211083 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS211083 Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 Collected the re-bored mini engine today and also got the pistons fitted (press fit) to the rods. I'll clean out the block tonight and paint it ready for assembly tomorrow night if the crank and bearings arrive in time. I'll also fit the new cam matched valve springs to the head. If it stops raining I also go and fit the fuel tank but I don't think it will so that will have to wait. Instead I'll clean and paint the exhaust manifold. Â Â Its wet and that bag is quite heavy. Â Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 That is the Mini engine in the back-pack, Chris? Whatta guy! Already back in training! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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