[toydestroy]

Ok haven't been around here for a while so some back story. I have owned a Pure Silver MCS which I've loved and looked after for the past two years. Yesterday a friend of mine brought a JCW (a year or so older than mine) round that he's planning on buying and he let me take it for a spin to see if I thought it was much different to mine. The difference was very noticeable which has given me the bug right back.

Half of the difference was the handling which I know is down to the one he had having less miles and never being drove stupidly like mine. The second was the access to power which although not massive is really noticeable and the whine really started to make me jealous so its time to sort mine out lol.

Handling: I'm getting a MOT done this week so am going to have them check over the bushes, ball joints, tracking (I know I've smacked the front right pretty hard once misjudging a round about ops) and so on. I'm going to get this all sorted out before playing about with the engine as theres no point making it go faster until I lose the loose feeling the car currently has. But..........

I've just got my hands on a new JCW charger, head and injectors. So I'm thinking right I can bolt these on (with new gaskets, plugs, belts etc) and bobs your uncle I go faster without much cost. But I also think while I'm going to have the car apart is there anything else to be done thats cheap bank for the buck. Also anyone have any idea how much a decent garage would charge to fit just the bits I have?

[BigShow300]

Cam would help and bigger I/C... but if you follow this guide you can't really go wrong:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/1320autos...-s-tuning.html

Also if you want a less baggy feeling car then polybushes are the way forward.

[toydestroy]

Cheers, read that earlier today and has lots of good info. Any ideas on fitting prices of the parts I already have?

[BigShow300]

Quote: Originally Posted by toydestroy (original)

Cheers, read that earlier today and has lots of good info. Any ideas on fitting prices of the parts I already have?

Well doing the cam wouldn't be anymore expensive if you're doing the head. Best thing to do is find your closest tuner and get a quote for fitting the parts you have. I'd defo recommend a leakdown test and dyno run before the mods are done so you can check engine health before doing the mods and see gains.

1320 could do all that lot in a day for sure and they have a RR so you could do everything in one place and they're highly thought of on here.

[Silent1]

1320 charge £160 to fit a new charger IIRC

Are you any good with a spanner and a torx screwdriver? Changing the injectors is a 15 minute job, anyone can do it. I've had my fuel rail off a few times now to tweak it about.

[toydestroy]

Yup pretty good with a spanner (brother and dad are mechanics, although they are more gearbox than engine people). For obvious reasons would rather someone with experience change the cambelt.

Been doing a bit of research today and thinking along with what I already have to go on the car a 103% crank pulley and maybe Newman cams (are they 150 for the pair from 1320?).

Uprated intercooler can wait (unless its going to be as nice as today until September ) as thats a relatively easy job to do.

[BigShow300]

You only need one cam so its £200 and you won't need a cambelt either.

[toydestroy]

Learn something new everyday, never knew mini had a chain until now . Why just the one cam? Thought the mini was twin camed

[BigShow300]

Nah, its only got one cam, oh and the 1320 cam costs £200 not £150

[Hyper Active]

I've just had the Superflex bushes fitted to the front wishbones by 1320 autos, and it's made the car feel brand new again . Every MCS should have these fitted .

[toydestroy]

Strange how I've always assumed it was twin cam, just take them for granted now.

I'm hearing nothing but praise for them, I think I might upgrade them even if the standard ones on my car are still ok. Local garage is doing the MOT on Friday so will ask them to check nothing is loose and the tracking. I think the problem is when you drive a car all the time you don't actually notice how much it looses its feel over time until you jump into one thats pretty much like new.

Any opinions on the 103% pulley? If I wasn't going to use the JCW pulley I wouldn't consider using one but it seems silly pulling it off (not to mention I've heard they can be a bugger to remove).

[sam_a156]

You mean +3% crank pulley? IMHO works well with JCW s/c. You get more midrange torque.

I am now planning to replace this setup with a 17% pulley + OEM crank though to better fit my tuning plans (already have a large valve head fitted). But if you do not plan to progress much further (head+cam etc), I believe that this is a quite nice setup.

[Hyper Active]

Personally i wouldn't touch either a lightened crank pulley , or an oversized lightened crank pulley with a barge pole .

[Jaw_F430]

+1 for what he ^said

[sam_a156]

There are 10s and 10s of pages in NAM on this topic and no conclusive evidence of the problems related to crank pulleys.

I guess it really depends on the application and how extreme you are planning to go. If you are tracking your car regularly with a 7800 rev limit then you should probably rather err on the conservative side. As I stated, I am planning to remove mine and go back to OEM (and -17% s/c) because I am planning to raise the rev limit and push the setup further (with an oversized crank and higher rev limit, you are also overspinning everything else incl. alternator...)

But I stand by my words that if you have a JCW setup already, this is a relatively easy and non-intrusive mod. If you want to play safe, you can naturally always stick to JCW

[toydestroy]

Ok spoke to 1320 yesterday and was given lots of good information about what can be done and why certain things are done. Should have really given them a call before I got the head, charger and injectors as I've left myself in a bit of a dilemma as to what to actually do with the bits I've got now (suppose I could sell them on!).

I may just get the JCW charger fitted and see how it performs or keep the one I have and throw a 15% pulley on for the time being. Oh I don't know, I've got the JCW one and it seems a waste not using it if that makes sense lol.

A lesson gained for anyone else out there speak to someone and get a clear view of what you want to do before buying stuff lol.

Anyway I'll see how much the fitting of the two options above is and get one of them done.

But long term I've got a bit of a plan which I hope will turn into a decent set up which I can start saving for.
1: Decent intercooler (probably import from the US as so much cheaper). Apparently Forge ones are made in the UK but are cheaper in the US which doesn't make sense!
2: Decent header.
3: Newman cam.
4: (This is a maybe) If I don't sell the head get it mildly ported by friend who won't charge the earth.
5: Keep the injectors as they'll probably be a benefit by then.
6: Potentially go for a smaller pulley.

Sorry this is a kind of strange rant post but least it gives me a target and a proper tuning plan.

[MINI-Morgan]

If you MINI is a facelift model then id sell the SC if its not e.g. before July 2004 then i'd stick a pulley on the JCW SC and stick it on. Thats the first step and a set of plugs See how you like it and then go from there.

[toydestroy]

Ah I'm proper old school as far as new Mini's go, 2002 so I don't think replacing a couple of bits here and there is a bad thing (even though its only done 33k)

[Silent1]

You could just do what i've done.

17% pulley
Teflon coated 'charger
440cc injectors
CAI
Janspeed Header & Cat back
GRS Intercooler
Colder plugs
Optimised Bypass Valve

With just the Intercooler and the Pulley, nothing else it made 208bhp and 180lbft

[BigShow300]

Quote: Originally Posted by toydestroy (original)

Ah I'm proper old school as far as new Mini's go, 2002 so I don't think replacing a couple of bits here and there is a bad thing (even though its only done 33k)

If I were in your shoes I'd pop to 1320 and install:

JCW S/C with 17%
NGK's
GRS Intercooler
New bushes

Power output? Anywhere between 215-225 bhp

Then I'd live with the car a bit and decide if I wanted more power, but with more power the choice is around 230-250bhp or 250 to 280 bhp... both are easily reached but you'll need to consider uprated brakes and suspension so it becomes more expensive.

For 230 - 250 bhp I'd suggest:

JCW Head (as you have it already)
Mainfold (RMW, Janspeed, GTT)
1320 Cam
380cc Injectors
Exhaust (RMW, Borla, Milltek)
RMW Custom Remap

For 250 - 280 bhp

RMW 'Jesus' Head
440cc Injectors
RMW Custom Remap
Craven CAI

It is best to try and plan ahead and set some goals then that way you won't have to keep replacing parts therefore saving you money in the long run.