Blown motor - any good

Blown motor - any good

Author
Discussion

vrooom

Original Poster:

3,763 posts

268 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
i has been hackering for a turbo engine. so is it any good or am i better off with N/A engine ?

MG metro turbo engoine sound like good fun, i probaly change t3 to t2 for spool up faster.

I know i need bulkhead cutting, and return fuel tank, and fuel pipe to 8mm id, i would like to run it without ECU. is that possible.

there is loads of MG metro turbo engine about if you know where to find.

would it be good for daily driver?

Jay

Fatboy

7,986 posts

273 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Only problem with the turbo engine is it overheats chronically, but with care I don't see why it couldn't be a daily driver..

miniman

25,025 posts

263 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Fatboy said:
Only problem with the turbo engine is it overheats chronically, but with care I don't see why it couldn't be a daily driver..


Is that a problem that can be solved with better rad and oil cooler? I've got my eyes open for a turbo lump at the moment too.

vrooom

Original Poster:

3,763 posts

268 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Can I move the engine forward, so i dont have to cut the bulkhead like those mini ERA turbo?

Jay

phil hill

433 posts

277 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Yes......... but not enough !! You would end up with extended wings like the VTec and Vaux XE conversions with the turbo in the "normal" position. Nothing to stop you doing like JanSpeed did with their Metro conversion and putting it over the flywheel housing....... except that the brake servo is mighty close on late model mini's........

Fatboy

7,986 posts

273 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
miniman said:

Fatboy said:
Only problem with the turbo engine is it overheats chronically, but with care I don't see why it couldn't be a daily driver..



Is that a problem that can be solved with better rad and oil cooler? I've got my eyes open for a turbo lump at the moment too.

Probably - would possibly be better to heat-shield the turbo though - that's what really cooks the engine IIRC, the underbonnet temp goes through the roof.

They're bloody powerfull though - mate of my brothers had one give 90 bhp on the rollers only running on 3 cylinders!!!! It went bang shortly afterwards though

Buzzin' Hornet

24 posts

248 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
With all the right bits and pieces a turbo lump can be very powerful. I seem to remember someone managing to extract nearly 200bhp from his 1300 metro lump

Plotloss

67,280 posts

271 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Theres a couple that run around 170bhp reliably.

Still think the best option for that sort of power is either a VTEC, XE or Bike engine though.

Z Cars are working on a FWD Busa conversion that sits in the engine bay, looks interesting...

WildfireS3

9,790 posts

253 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
If you're going to move the engine forward, you might as well get a Vaxhaull or VTEC engine in the car.

Turbos do overheat a lot. Things can be done to sort this out though.

Paul V

4,489 posts

278 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
Its a conversion I’d like to have done but never got around to it, I did use a turbo bottom end with a skimmed head, modified cam and a 1000cc box, it was extremely quick until I blew it up at castle combe

8PortChris

35 posts

247 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
You DONT need to cut the bulkhead.
Mirage Motorsport do a kit using a T2 turbo, sounds like exactly what you want www.miragemotorsport.com

Chris

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

256 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all
1) The engine is reasonably reliable in standard form, as long as it has regular oil changes, and the turbo is treated with some care.

2) You can run the standard engine without the ECU, but you will be limited to 4PSI boost. If you attempt to increase this to the nominal 7PSI, you will suffer from detonation. The ecu only allows the full 7 PSI when the engine is well past peak torque. Whilst the engine is out, you might as well spend some money on lowering the compression ratio to a more reasonable level, so you can run at least the stock boost without detonation problems. However....

3) Standard helical gearboxes don't last long with a standard engine. Tune it, and it will eat through them. A turbo Metro running 10PSI (with lowered CR) will typicaly destroy the final motion shaft bearing in well nuder 10,000 miles. Shearing the teeth of the drop gears is not unheard of either.

vrooom

Original Poster:

3,763 posts

268 months

Thursday 15th January 2004
quotequote all

hmm. 90bhp is more than enough for me.
That migreage kit sound good idea, anyone know it prices ?
im bit worried about gearbox being ripped apart by torque, and jack knight gearbox are very expenisve.

Jay

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

256 months

Saturday 17th January 2004
quotequote all
8PortChris said:
You DONT need to cut the bulkhead.
Mirage Motorsport do a kit using a T2 turbo, sounds like exactly what you want www.miragemotorsport.com

Chris


Are you saying you don't need to cut the bulkhead when fitting the metro turbo lump, or that the Mirage conversion dosen't require it?

I've seen an awfull bodge where someone extended the engine steady to move the engine forward to get better clearance for the turbo. I don't thikn moving the engine forward is a great solution though, with the weight of the A series, it's really not going to do the handling any favours.

8PortChris

35 posts

247 months

Saturday 17th January 2004
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The kit doesn't require it.

Chris

vrooom

Original Poster:

3,763 posts

268 months

Sunday 18th January 2004
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What about tilting the engine forward ? using longer engine stabilty bar thingy. ? just thought.

jay

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

256 months

Sunday 18th January 2004
quotequote all
vrooom said:
What about tilting the engine forward ? using longer engine stabilty bar thingy. ? just thought.

jay


As I said above, I've seen it done and it's just a horrible bodge.

The driveshaft angles get screwed up, the oil will be more in the front of the sump with can give problems with oil surge and differential lubrication problems. You would have to tilt it forward considerably to make the turbo clear with no bulkhead mods at all, and this will cause clearance problems between the carb and the bonnet.

If someone is up to the job of plumbing in the extra fuel line, installing the high pressure punmp and fitting the engine, then safely modifying the bulkhead really shouldn't present them a huge challenge.

NDT

1,753 posts

264 months

Monday 19th January 2004
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Mr2Mike said:

safely modifying the bulkhead really shouldn't present them a huge challenge.



I did this on my current (i.e. last 12 years...) project car.
The key thing is to get a decent amount of lateral stiffness back into the bulkhead - and this isn't a trivial task.

>> Edited by NDT on Wednesday 21st January 08:58

kneegrow

220 posts

257 months

Monday 19th January 2004
quotequote all
Whack an MR2 (4azge 4age) blower on it. No hacking stuff up. You have a built in bypass, suck through a 1/3/4 SU as well. Run about 9 psi. This will be a much nicer engine than the turbo one. If you are interested. I have done a lot of research on this. You need to consider your gearbox very carefully. A rebuilt one is necessary at least. Straight cut gears are nice and probably a wise choice. But then if you spend £900 on gears, you may as well get forged pistons and an EN40B crank and actually USE the gearbox, and then you will need some sticky tyres etc, £££££££ mrjazzpiano@hotmail.com. Have got some interesting pointers on bodge on 8 port heads.

turbodave

33 posts

244 months

Monday 19th January 2004
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Check out www.turbominis.co.uk

Lots of good crack on there!