Malcolm
2 posts
Joined: 12/06/2011 20:44:38
Location: SITTINGBOURNE United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Mpi mini 40 won't start
hi I've had my mini 40 mpi engine out of the car and done it up with new clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, oil pump, water pump, coil pack, crank case sencer, new plugs, everything else on the car was working ok before the engine was taken out. The car turn over ok but no spark had the ecu tested that's ok but still no spark, any ideas
Posted: Oct 16, 2015 05:57 PM
Barry Brown
511 posts
Joined: 23/06/2008 12:08:31
Location: New Barn United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Did you reconnect the engine earth straps?
Posted: Oct 29, 2015 12:35 PM
Hi yea I renewed them all..
Posted: Nov 05, 2015 04:36 PM
Mini40
1 posts
Joined: 03/03/2021 09:23:07
Location: Colchester United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Mulberry the Mini 40
Hi there just joined the forum today. Got this for my birthday after nearly 20 years away from the classic scene. I’m so thrilled to be back with this 40. She is called Mulberry (for obvious reasons) and am honoured to be her new custodian. Looking forward to getting her back to her original splendour as she is going for major cosmetic surgery. Wish me luck and hope to see you at a meet sometime soon. Can’t seem to add the pic so you will have to look at the profile pic.
Posted: Mar 03, 2021 09:40 AM
DDW
23 posts
Joined: 19/04/2005 20:41:22
Location: Pwllheli United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
New Seats for the beast!
does anyone know if the subframes that come with the cobra clubmans front seat package from mini sport (http://www.minisport.com/classic-mini-shop/products/seats-seatbelts-harnesses/cobra-seats-packages/cobra-classic-clubman-seats-and-product.html) will tilt forward?? I've emailed them but still have'n got an answer. Tilting subframes from minisport are something like £40 each, so since the front seat package is quite cheap I was worried that they only came with sliding subframes.
Posted: Jun 01, 2007 11:15 AM
John
1948 posts
Joined: 28/05/2006 16:49:46
Location: cambridge United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
fouling plugs
20w50 is a bit thick for a low milage engine the bearins are tighter and thick oil like 20 w 50 doesnt get in as well. not that its not gd oil but for low milage engine its not the best. for instance when they run in new engines they use 20w50 oil as it allows the new engine to wear and bead in, as the tight spots on the bearings dont get lubricated so wear as the thick oil cant get in. they then put a thinner oil in like 15w40 which will not cause the engine to wear so quick. so really 15 w 40 for low milage cars 20 w 50 for higher milage cars. but for higher milage cars which most minis are as they havnt been made for 7 years 20 w 50 is the best as it offers the best protection on low tolerances of a higher milage engine and 15 w 40 is best for getting into those tight bearings. all oils have to come up to a certain standard to get the sae 20 w 50 standard. they have to have a certain thickness or viscosity (20) and a certain heat tolerance where that viscosity it maintained (50). where the oils do differ is what addatives the put in the oil and better quality oils are more likly to have better addatives. iv heard somone say b4 that u cant u synthetic oils in mini engines as the 'long chains' of synthetic oils get chopped up in the gearbox. well firstly synthetic compounds are aromatic so are not long chains but many loops containing benzene rings, these are very stroung chemically and would not be brocken by a cog. if they get brocken down anywhere it would be the combustion chamber. however there may be anouther reason that i dont know about why synthetic oils are not gd in mini engines if the viscosity is right.
Posted: Jan 11, 2007 12:03 AM
mini90
32 posts
Joined: 30/09/2004 16:35:30
Location: Nottingham United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
..
Stay with the SU as per preious post on Nikki downdraught they dont work well on a Mini if you must go to a Webber use a sidedraught 40
Posted: Jan 08, 2005 04:12 PM
Alexo
3 posts
Joined: 24/12/2004 12:47:13
Location: Bedford United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Rear seatbelt extensions
Hi. Im a classic Mini owner, and Im also soon to be a father! Im hoping to still be able to use the Mini, but to do this I need to extend the rear seatbelts to accomodate a rear-facing car seat. I was wondering if anyone had any experience in this area. My car is a Mini 40, so it has inertia reel belts in the back. Cheers
Posted: Feb 25, 2005 02:11 PM
engine conversion
well u either stick to a series engines for an easy job (lower budget generally) or u can put a more modern engine in honda vtec or rover k series are common. il just deal with a series. most people convert to a 1275 from a metro or a mini. 1100 is quite gd too but 1275 better. best buy engine on ebay or old metro will be cheapest. needs to be pre 89 metro 1300. i asume u have 998 so that has 40 bhp, 1275 have quite a range of powers depending on what they were fitted to. u have very rare cooper s engine 75bhp can ignore that ur not gunna find one u can aford, then 1275gt had 55-58 bhp, metro 1300 had 64bhp mg metro 74bhp, rover mini 1300 50bhp, rover mini cooper 62bhp. then u have injection engines but most people dont fit them as they have limited tuning ability without buying expensive replacement control units. all 1275's u should be able to get to 65-70bhp with a stage 1 kit that will cost around £160. as u will have engine out of car will be gr8 chance to fit a better cam, kent 266 or 276 are good road cams, 276 wont idle as well but will have more power. that will only cost about £65 and could add around 10bhp depending on chosen cam and how well u time it. so then u have an engine 75-80bhp so ur mini will be fast. then at a later date can get modifyied head cost around (£500) and high lift rockers (£200) and ajustable ignition 123 system is very gd (£200) then ur talking over 100bhp but as u see that all gets expensive.
Posted: Jan 15, 2007 12:38 PM
850cc Exhaust systems?
best on a 850 to use a small bore lcb or 'cooper manifold made by maniflow' both are wel suited to tuned 850's (£70 approx). then attach a rc40 kit £50 which will sort the exhaust out its cheap and has good note and gives gd power. all alloy intakes fit all standard mini heads but u want one to suit the carb. u will most likly have a hs2 this is best replaced with a hs4 or hif38. hs2 is small even for an 850. then u will need a alloy intake manifold with 1.1/2" bore. they normally can be fitted to a manifold bore a 1/4" larger but on a 850 fitting it to a 1.3/4" manifold is a bad idea 1.1/2" is what want. these arnt easily avalible new so ebay has them cheap. most now made are 1.3/4" bore as this is just about ok on a 998 and gd on a 1275. as for con rods u need 1100 ones or 998 cooper ones these dont have a clamp small end. these arnt easily avalible new so il have to do hunting. as for pistons its very hard there were few gd pistons made for the 850 in the 60's and most of these havnt been made for 40 years now. standard ones have a slot in them so they run quiter but its a weak point. u can get 948 ones for a sprite and skim the block to suit this is ur best bet, heprolite made some gd ones for 850 but are super rare they also made some slightly better than standard ones. it says about fitting sprite pistons to 850 in vizards book of tuning minis, its gd book as published in 70's it tells u period parts reqired for tuning 850's ect. anouther option it to get a 998 block and fit 998 pistons to ur 850 crank or just use 998 crank. cant rember is 850 block can take 998 pisons as block casting is differnt it has thinner walls
Posted: Oct 30, 2007 10:56 PM
Front disc brakes
from experience its more expensive to get discs/rotors skimmed than buy new ones unless u know somone that is. the hubs for 7.5" and later 8.4" as used on all minis post 84 are the same. whatever hubs u use u need to fit the early (mk1 standard mini) steering arms as the post 1968 ones are differnt. id buy old 8.4" set cost around 40-60 pounds on ebay maybe less at scrap yard then fit ur steering arms and buy new or rebuilt 7.5" cooper S calipers £200 new. discs will cost about £25, pads £15-25, brake hoses £20. also for same wheel spacing its best to fit 1/2" wheel spacers or buy second hand spaced drums, rember to use longer studs to match. they varied the rear brake cylinder size of differnt models for balencing so if it isnt balencing gr8 it may be gd to fit differnt size. i have some on a mini im scraping so cud do 8.4" discs plus rear spaced drums for £50 to collect from southampton if ur interested wont be able to have them ready until start of feb tho. so dont have to say for definate just let me know by end of jan so i can bring them to my houses in soton from camb. mean while could keep an eye out for old cooper s setup but usually fetch silly money.
Posted: Jan 23, 2008 08:12 PM
J. Clarke
Drums to discs
its really not needed, just because modern sporty cars use front and rear discs doesnt mean a mini would gain anything from them. from when mini was first built they had problems with too much brake force at the rear they had to fit pressure limiters to prevent them locking and use smaller brake cylinders. in minis about 80% of the braking force is reqired at front and 20% rear, so uprading rear wont make virtually any differnce to braking force. with modern cars with better weight distributions they end up more balenced at about 60:40. anyway, well serviced rear drums work give more than enouth brake force even for racing minis. ajjust the ajjuster on each drum until it just stops spinning then back off slightly. for front mini 8.4" discs are not bad if discs and pads are ok if they are pitted and rusty at edge they wont be very good. luckly new ones are cheap and easy to fit this kit http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=36970 is a good one, includes kevlar pads which dont fade like stock pads with heat. if u want even more braking power ever fit vented metro calipers or vented 4pot alloy ones but your talking £360 and it really isnt nessary for all but fastest minis. if u did really want mini discs kad supply a set up dont expect them to be cheap iv not looked but id expect around £600 if uv got that money to waist go for it u wont stop any quicker tho. if ur car pulls to one side under braking ul need rebuilt caliper on the side it stears away from.
Posted: Jun 02, 2008 04:41 PM
lee
Joined: 26/03/2012 18:41:50
Location: sunderland United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
picking your brains about overheating problems
hi i have a rover mini cooper sport on a 2000 so yes its a mpi :) this is how it goes copyed from my other post on the north east mini club forum ....
right lads its back over heating again this time think iv sussed it ... the systom had lots of water and only serton pipes where hot to touch and the radiator was only luke warm and the pressure in there was unreal .... couldnt even squeese the pipes at one point when iv let it cool and got the pressure out went round and had a look at some of the pipes and one of them was filled full with somthink felt like slushy like had a crunch consistancy after squeesing it for a fue mins i topped water levels back up and started it ran perfect for about 50 mins then ... over heated again ... now the slushy ness is near my heater in the car and its no where else and 3 quaters of the pipes are hot again ... so im thinking blockage somewhere ? im thinking old crappy anti freeze ..... so im on the hunt for a hose kit of my car only one i can find is this one and to me it doesnt look right so can one of you guys take a look at it and just tell me it is or if it isnt basicly iv already flushed the systom when i did the water pump and thermostat just hope its not in my radiator
i got told to flush the systom fully back and forth all pipes radiator heater the works so i did
right for all use that are intrested in this thread and not sick of me and a fue mates on sunday after getting over missing the run out we got stuck into the mini taking off every pipe i could with out removing to much and making a big job and disconected every pipe and stuck the hose pipe down every hole every pipe and ran it till it was cristle clear as i was doing this there was tiny bits of metal flakes looked like rust flakes but not 100% so everythink was clean water put pipes back on filled up water again ran it through check all pipes all were hot turned it off let it settle and toped up levels ... then took it for a run down the sea frount out for around 40-50 mins before the beer and bbq was calling with the lads obv... as the weather was loverly ... car ran loverly never over heated never built up pressure nothink today was scorching weather again run to work was around 40 mins again and nothink got a little hot but then pulled it self back down tomorrow im going to try and take it for a long run out see what happends ... anyone else have anythink i can check or do to elimanate another problem it could be or could have been may be the case ?
was just wondering if anyone else had any other ideas hints tips i could do just like to add before this happend its had new thermo stat and water pump i run it on 50/50 water antifreeze the electric fans work all the sencers work just want to go over everythink as i have a run out to edinburgha in a fue weeks and really would like to get there with out cooking my engine thanks Lee
Posted: Mar 26, 2012 06:54 PM
a. mericanminifreak
183 posts
Joined: 02/11/2007 23:17:14
Location: rosbach v.d.hohe Germany
Rear Suspension Cones
You cant get it off as in the trumpet and cone is alreaddy out of the mini or its still in the mini? if its out of the mini just hit it a couple times with a hammer and some good old american WD-40 and ones the cone is off just use a small pipe or a long screw driver to ream the knuckle out.
Posted: Mar 28, 2008 07:21 PM
Alternator problem?
as alternators get old the diodes fail in the volter regulator, on early minis this is separate to the alternator on later ones it is all one unit. the diodes convert the electrisity from AC (like the mains) to DC for ur electrics and battery. best get exchange for a revbuilt one shud only cost abot £40 and put new fan belt on and make sure its the correct tightness
Posted: Nov 26, 2006 02:55 PM
pickme
672 posts
Joined: 08/09/2004 23:10:14
Location: Chippenham United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Turbos
You add 40% of the cc for the turbo (or super charger) so for a 998 you be running an effective 1397cc so would be in the up to 1.4L class and for the 1380 youd have a 1932cc engine so would be in the up to 2.0L class. Based on that, a very well set up 998 turbo might do rather well. Hmmm. Hadnt thought about that route, but that sounds like an idea...... Anyway, to make things slightly more complicated, if you run a diesel, you take off 50% of the cc, so the new 1.6 turbo diesel Skoda Fabia RS which Top Gear took round their track faster than a BMW Mini (Booo Hisss - I have one so Im allowed to say that) would have an effective 1120cc engine! Not sure if a super blower = 80% increase but Id take my hat off to you if you can get that lot to run in a Mini.
Posted: May 03, 2005 10:02 PM
Tozoo
Joined: 10/01/2005 14:19:25
Location: francavilla al mare Italy
fuel pressure after K&N induction kit
I had on my mini balmoral edition (Spi) an induction cone filter kit and an LCb manifold with central exit rc 40, so Ill ask you if you know how much I have to icrease the fuel pressure to restabilize the proportion fuel/air and to increase a little bit the power of my car at lower RPM, many thanks, in Italy no one could done me a right answer!!!!!!!
Posted: Feb 09, 2005 11:21 AM
Chris_G
39 posts
Joined: 30/12/2004 09:27:39
Location: Milton Keynes United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Honda engine
Popular Honda engine would be the B16a, such as youd find in a CRX, or an EG Civic. You could also use a B18 out of an Integra type R as these use the same mounting points. The engine doesnt really fit into a Mini as such. You need to buy a modified subframe, basically chop the front end off the car and fit a fibre glass front end which is extended by several inches. The conversion is very expensive, and in my opinion just not worth it considering how the car looks afterwards (lets face it, a nose job should never be to make the nose bigger) If you want a more subtle conversion, then you can get a subframe kit for around 2 grand which will allow you to fit a small block 8v Vauxhall engine without having to change the shape of the front of the car. These engines were most commonly found in the Nova and range from the 1.2 to the 1.6 and come with carburettors or fuel injected on later series engines. The best of these is probably the 1400. Id compliment this with a 1300 cylinder head (much better flowing than the standard 1400 which is rubbish), match it to an inlet manifold and fit twin 40 DCOE or delorto carbs. Then go for a racey cam and arp strengthened bottom end with arp rod bolts. You could easily see ~130bhp from that with a comparable torque figure. Which would be more than enough to propel a Mini around at shocking speeds. And its more in keeping with the style of a Mini.
Posted: Aug 17, 2005 11:05 AM
Bren
Joined: 06/08/2005 00:57:30
Location: Clarksville United States
98 Mini MPi Fuel Delivery Issue Questions
Vehicle: 1998 reg. Mini 1.3 MPi I have been told by my less-than-highly reputable shop that I have a fuel delivery issue. I had the Mini professionally BG fuel/air flushed and the injectors are suspected to be good and the valves are clean (This Mini was stored for six years without the fuel flushed/stabilized). Compression is also good and equal across. Deciphering the fuel pump pressure, I think it is supposed to be apprx. 40 lbs/sq in, Im not sure, though (Workshop Manual shows 3.0 ae 0.2 bar constant, whatever that means). Mine is currently running around 30 lbs/sq in. and makes a high B Flat whine audible from inside the vehicle. I pulled the tank and pump out a few nights ago to check for deposits on the pickup filter bag and all seemed fine. I dropped a few drops of oil into the inlet of the pump and ran it on the bench for a few seconds to try to lube the pump (removed the bag and reinstalled). It didnt seem to be making the B Flat noise on the bench, but I guess that is just resonance from it being mounted to the tank, tank mounting to car... It seemed to run a bit better for awhile but still pops/loss of speed, at hard acceleration or cresting a hill/downshifting. Since the symptoms did seem to lessen a bit after the fuel pump lube job, Im leaning towards replacing the pump. Everything except the price. So, I am looking for the cheapest fuel pump that I can find (WFX100810), new or used, especially if the pump isnt supposed to whine or 40 lbs/sq in is supposed to be what it should be pumping. I have also been told that the Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) (MLZ100090) is the main fuel/air sensor feeding info to the ECU, I might be interested in replacing this, as well. What type of fuel should I be running in this thing? Again, the Workshop Manual says, 95 RON minimum - UNLEADED fuel. US Octane grades are generally: regular (usually 87 octane), mid-grade (usually 89 octane) and premium (usually 92 or 93). I guess RON doesnt equal US octane numbers. Ive been running mid-grade, simply because I didnt know and I assumed a 98 reg car would be either mid-grade or premium. I have been running premium for the last couple of days with no notable change in running quality. Troubleshooting work to date: New fuel filter, new Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) sensor, New Air Filter, New NGK plugs, Oil change/filter, BG Fuel/Air Induction Service, removed and cleaned: Crankshaft Position (CKP) sensor, Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensor. A used ignition coil pack/leads and new Crankshaft Position (CKP) sensor are due in for fitting and further trouble shooting. So, any leads on a cheap fuel pump (if it’s replacement seems valid) or Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) would be appreciated and any ideas of the fuel pressure for a 1.3 MPi in lb/sq in or fuel octane to use would also be appreciated. I’m getting ready to go back to Iraq and I would sure like to have this thing running right for the family to use while I’m gone. Thanks for any assistance in advance. Bren. Bren Workman Clarksville, TN 37042 (931) 906-0391 (h) (931) 217-0812 (c)
Posted: Sep 10, 2005 03:43 PM
BALDYMAG
77 posts
Joined: 24/10/2004 10:49:55
Location: Uckfield United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
van stuff
if you can , buy genuine, heritage or mini machine panels. they fit the best, the pattern panels look lovely laid out over the grass at a mini show but panel fit can sometimes be a problem, but lots of people think there ok and have no trouble. as for other mechanical and electrical bits use minispares and somerford parts they are the best quality. non genuine chrome, lights and those cheap looking lamp bars with 4 spots mounted on them for 40 quid can be dodgy crap from china., newton commercial are best for new standard original spec interior seats and trim. If you need a complete new wiring loom call autosparks, i bought a loom for my mark 1 from them , top qualiy, they even carry out mods to your own spec. original spec stuff is the best quality, i have learnt that the hard way years ago by buying the cheap crap and regretting it,. unfortunately there is even more cheap tat around these days. dave
Posted: Feb 21, 2005 11:09 PM