Ok, Picked the car up yesterday from GT Tuning, and done 200 miles so far running-in, Which is so boring but has to be done. However car is probably the sweetest Mini i have heard, A nice gentle hum from the front, Whilst at the rear is the hefty thrub of the exhaust which still tells you theres more than a standard engine there.
My confidence in the Mini is gradually returning but will be a long time till i get passed the half throttle position. This is now officially the most unreliable car i have ever had and the most expensive. So hopefully it will keep getting better or I'll be chopping it in for something Jap or go back to VW's.
Must also thank Roland at GT Tuning for sorting the engine swap for me, been a great help.
I'm gonna pile on some miles this week, want to get some miles under its belt as quick as possible
Last edited by Ant FR; Feb 13th, 2008 at 10:40 AM.
Good to hear mate. I am sure this will be an excellent car now. I think that you had a one off problem there with the oil pump. SOlong as you check the oil level frequently and change it every 5k then you'll be fine.
I'm going to get my oil pump internal parts changed when it is in at GTT (i think the casing and the shaft will be fine).
It's got to be great now knowing you have a 200mile engine all built to the GTT260 just waiting to be used as it should
I consider it a better approach to do several shorter journeys to make up your 1000 miles as opposed to one long journey. It's better to go through a number of heat and cool down cycles as that is what i believe wears in your engine better.
Have fun !!!
Cheers,
K.
Too many mods to list, PM me if the cat needs killing...
Not sure, Roland put it in, but i do know its a semi synthetic. Oh and even now after 390 miles, i still can't see the oil on the dipstick easily as its soooooo clear and clean.
Yep its running as smooth as you like. The reall big difference seems to be the immense torque. I mean i am rarely going much above 3000rpm, but the engine just seems so torquey . In fact i have found that to keep with normal traffic you honestly do not need to venture over 3000 rpm. Car sounds deeper too, but that may be after having the Manifold flowed out
Only thing thats killing me is now i am runnign in, i have had so many crap cars pushing me and what i would'nt give just to plant it and take it up to the limit.
However, fuel economy is tupidly high, average since getting the car back is now at 47Mpg and that includes plenty of round town.
Once i pass 500 i will be upping the revs to the occasional 5k, but still no WOT, no more than half still. Its actually quite fun, plus even though driving slow it still sounds meaner than your average mini.
Well the 150 mile trip from Rolands to mine, which took 2hr45 mins, i got 53.8mpg for the whole journey but gone down to the 40's. Gonna be out again tonight as got to drop some stuff in to work, so that will beanother 100 miles.
AntFR - so you use semi-synthetic to run in and then change to fully-synthetic after 1200miles???
This must be the most famous "car to run in" on MINI2 ha ha ha
I also had a high mpg rating once i got the work done on the 260 and moreso when i got the 450cc injectors fitted. Strange yes! Perhaps just driving style.
Glad it's all going well !!
Cheers,
K.
Too many mods to list, PM me if the cat needs killing...
Now I know a lot of you will cringe at this, but I always use the cheapest oil I can find when running engines in!! I was told to do this by my dad who’s been building engines for years!! Using cheap nasty oil helps bed the piston rings in. Then drain the oil after 500 mile and use decent synthetic oil from then on. I’ve always run the first 500 miles at no more than 3-3500 revs and without letting the engine labour (very important!). Next 500-600 I give the engine a lot more revs and make it work much much harder. Never use the motorway to run an engine in as this won’t help bed the engine in.
This method has always worked for me so don’t slam me down, last engine I built has now done 25000 miles and produces 100bhp (or classic Mini Cooper S) with no reliability problems, well unless it rains!!. This engine is soon to be supercharged using the MCS supercharger
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I was told to do this by my dad who’s been building engines for years!! Using cheap nasty oil helps bed the piston rings in. Then drain the oil after 500 mile and use decent synthetic oil from then on. I’ve always run the first 500 miles at no more than 3-3500 revs and without letting the engine labour (very important!). Next 500-600 I give the engine a lot more revs and make it work much much harder. Never use the motorway to run an engine in as this won’t help bed the engine in. 
