Tuning/Rebuild books

[DHGTR]

morning guys,

my nephew has just bought his 1st mini (he's 16)i think the mini is a j reg. could any of you reccommend a fairly basic tuning or rebuild book that i could get him, just to get him out there and starting work on it. hopefully it will inspire him but more importantly it will give him somewhere to start.

thanks in anticipation guys

dave

[Pat H]

Just bash David Vizard into Google.

His book on improving and modifying Minis is ancient, but still quite valid.

The latest edition of his book on A Series tuning is invaluable if you are getting serious.



Also check out this one, which is a little superficial, but covers all sorts of modifications and is pretty good value.



If he is just starting out, the latter one is probably best.

[love machine]

Speedsport do a good series they are old but a good introduction.

Tuning engines and transmissions
Suspension and Steering
Tuning the mini
More tuning the mini

Vizards engine bible is awesome, but probably the better book is the "Tuning the Mini by Vizard"

Avoid Des Hammill's stuff.

Haynes 719 Metro Haynes Manual. Has all the engine codes for the all important MG and VDP models with big valve heads.

I quite like British Leyland Minis "tuning and modification" Marshall and Frazer.

Old mini magazines

Good luck and glad to hear we have another one on the way

[wildoliver]

Clive trickeys book is pretty good too, old though now!

[DHGTR]

thanks for your help guys, amazon here i come.

dave

[jont999]

Yep, what they said!

Top of the list is Dave Vizard's big yellow book, coveres everything from tuning your car for economy to turbo and supercharging an A-series.

Clive trickey at number 2, covers running an A-series on alcohol, great read, not a huge amount of tech data though.

Worth checking out old issues of car and car conversion as well as the tuning books from Mini World as they cover alot more recent info.

[JTBUSH]

Get Clive Trickeys books. They basically show how to make the mini fast and handle properly on a budget. Also, as said above, any mini owner worth his salt has a copy of Vizard in his collection!

[guru_1071]

my 10p

1) vizard yellow engine 'bible' if you dont have a copy stained with oil, full of biro notations, missing pages etc then you aint a mini enthusiast! - ive got through 3 of these in 15 years

2) vizard white tuning book - again an oldie, but 75% relevant today, and you can always have a look at the photo of his 'fit' missus

3) haynes manual - the older the better, the new ones are crap, but the old ones are very detailed, in a bit 'refitment is reverse of removal'

4) haynes resto manual, again old but very good reading

5) haynes tuning book - a bit lame, but useful

6) bagshots racing story, if one book you buy will make you laugh, cry, think 'fu@k me' and wish you had been born to appreciate the 1960's then this is it. some great photos too.

7) parnells cooper resto book - not really relevant for a 16 year old lad, but a well thumbed oil stained copy with biro notations is a good sign!

8) as much as lm hates him, des hamills 'how to' power tune 998,1275 books are good, if a little repetative - look at him as vizard-lite! lets put it this way, you wont get a headache reading his book!

9) ditto 'how to' s.u. carbs - a good book.

10) rob goldings '25' (or '35') years book - some great stories and pictures

i could go on, i think i have 200plus books in my 'small' collection

[Pat H]

guru_1071 said:

...and you can always have a look at the photo of his 'fit' missus

Where did she get that skirt....?

[guru_1071]

its a pair of hot pants....

its the hair cut that does it for me!

white stilletos and a pair of hot pants

dirty minx

[Pat H]

guru_1071 said:

its a pair of hot pants....

Dammit, how could I forget.

If I recall correctly, there's a Lotus Cortina in the background.

How could I remember the car and not those hot pants.

Sad, eh?

[guru_1071]

Pat H said:

guru_1071 said:

its a pair of hot pants....

Dammit, how could I forget.

If I recall correctly, there's a Lotus Cortina in the background.

How could I remember the car and not those hot pants.

Sad, eh?

its a 'east hull' cortina.........


....its got four doors!

theres a photo burnt into my memory.......

'build a car like this, pull a bird like this'!

[skyedriver]

Your sad, the lot of you.....now post that photo so we can all see!

[dogfather]

i dont no to much but depending on the engine prefferably 1275cc a stage 1 tune is fairly simple if u have basic car knowledge. stage 1 consists of LCB manifold, intake manifold a performance air filter and a new carburetter needle fairly simple apparenly.im just about to fit my stage 1 on saturday ive gone for a ashley exhaust system and ofcourse k&n filters

[Cooper1999]

Is the Vizard yellow book relevant to MPi minis? I'm toying with the idea of doing my own cylinder head for the car.

[big welly]

No, injection is rubbish unless you've got an 8 port. A debatable fact but show me an Mpi car which will beat a carbed one. There are lots of injection 8 ports which will beat carbed 8 ports of similar spec (as you can set them up right)