actual horsepower acheived - be honest!
Discussion
Right, I've just had my mini back from Green & White for a 1.75" carb, brakes upgrade, and a rolling road tune - I now have 57 BHP at the wheels! to put that into perspective, the first reading they took was 44. That's a near 25% power increase, with power throughout the rev range - It is a far better car now 
So - what kind of horses do other PHer's minis put out? I don't want to start a big cojones contest, just friendly banter....
BTW - can anyone offer roughly what I might have at the flywheel?
So - what kind of horses do other PHer's minis put out? I don't want to start a big cojones contest, just friendly banter....
BTW - can anyone offer roughly what I might have at the flywheel?
Sounds good.
On my Mini, I had it set up at Willshers Garage (Peter Baldwin) in Cambridge.
My 1310cc Downton gave 84bhp on the rollers
- which I believe is an at the wheels figure.
According to the Guru Baldwin there is more to come out of my engine, so a new camshaft is awaiting installation!
I cannot recommend Peter Baldwin enough to anyone who wants to get their tuned A series running really well, the guy has loads of experience, races in the Mini Miglias (race car is stored in the workshop.
Sorry, I appear to have gone a little O/T!
On my Mini, I had it set up at Willshers Garage (Peter Baldwin) in Cambridge.
My 1310cc Downton gave 84bhp on the rollers
- which I believe is an at the wheels figure. According to the Guru Baldwin there is more to come out of my engine, so a new camshaft is awaiting installation!
I cannot recommend Peter Baldwin enough to anyone who wants to get their tuned A series running really well, the guy has loads of experience, races in the Mini Miglias (race car is stored in the workshop.
Sorry, I appear to have gone a little O/T!
Mine regularly puts out about 80hp at the wheels on a dyno that is reported to be 'conservative' compared to Peter's or Aldon's. Unless the figure is corrected for ambient conditions you should be carefull when comparing figures from different dynos...... use it more as a reference for future mods and to set the engine up correctly.
But anyway, I use Mike Barrett in Lincoln (01522 545189), who is the guy who Keith Calver raves about in the Mini Magazine and on the MiniSpares web site. You can check out the spec on my profile.
But anyway, I use Mike Barrett in Lincoln (01522 545189), who is the guy who Keith Calver raves about in the Mini Magazine and on the MiniSpares web site. You can check out the spec on my profile.
Mr2Mike said:
Right, I've just had my mini back from Green & White for a 1.75" carb, brakes upgrade, and a rolling road tune - I now have 57 BHP at the wheels
What engine spec?
just a 1275cc
with a stage one kit & a 286 kent camshaft - goes well though as I have stripped out all the crap (soundproofing, seats, etc)
minimax said:
just a 1275cc
With the standard helical drop gears and box, you can have anything up to 30% loss in a mini box (they aren't the most efficient things ever...). Being optimistic, and saying your gearbox is one of the worst would give you 57/70*100=81.4bhp at the flywheel. An MG Metro gives 72bhp with a considerably milder cam (but slightly larger valves) so this can't be a million miles off. However, as any se7en or miglia racer will tell you, the secret to a good A series engine lies mainly in the head. Either buy a cylinder head from a reputable tuner or grind your own from DV's book and 100bhp won't be far off.
Adding an ultralight steel flywheel is mandatory just to get the ultra rough idle which worries people at the lights
A straightcut box and drops will boost reliability (a lot) and power (a little) but but most non-mini fanatics just can't appreciate the whining and will insist that your gearbox is about to expire 
>> Edited by Mr2Mike on Tuesday 13th May 22:37
chris.mapey said: OOOh a 286....
That what I have waiting to go in mine.
What does it drive like?
I keep being told differing advice on camshafts, but I'm a tight old git, and I was given a brand new Kent 286 - the price is right
Chris
well chris, not much go below 3000, but above, oh boy! like a turbo effect! if you have a larger engine than 1275 (1330/1380) then it will go much better
Mr2Mike said: most non-mini fanatics just can't appreciate the whining and will insist that your gearbox is about to expire
A friend has a straight cut box and drop gears, his girlfriend was sat in the car with the engine running when a boy racer came over to tell her the it was about to blow up, she just looked at him then said “you’ve obviously don’t know what straight cut drops sound like” she made him look rather small if front of his mates
chris.mapey said: OOOh a 286....
That what I have waiting to go in mine.
What does it drive like?
I keep being told differing advice on camshafts, but I'm a tight old git, and I was given a brand new Kent 286 - the price is right
Chris
It's an excellent cam, one of the best IMO for a car that still needs to be driven in traffic sometimes. The one Kent cam not to go for is the one I mistakenly used, the 276 which seems to give the idle qualities of the 286 but with considerably less top end power.
I'm surprised Peter Baldwin doesn't know better than to give a flywheel figure from a RR. The number you get back from the computer is a best guess based on a coast down and is neither very accurate or repeatable. The only thing a RR can measure accurately and repeatably is power at the wheels.
What you get from Peter Baldwin is a figure at the wheels which is comparable with other similar cars. The actual figure is, in relative terms, less important, unless you just want to brag to your buddies. The real test is in the driveability after the car is set up compared with before. My 1964 historic rally Cooper 'S'(it's 1293 cc) gave 97 bhp at the flywheel at 6000 rpm, but the torque figures were most impressive and the car goes very well and is highly competitive. It has a 286 cam and a very good head with 2 x 1.5 H4 Su's.
What Peter B. did was to optimise the power available from a given engine configuration. He will also advise on where you could get improvements. For example, with my car he said I could gain up to 5 bhp by using offset roller rockers. I think I probably knew this, but those rockers are not allowed under historic rally regulations.
What Peter B. did was to optimise the power available from a given engine configuration. He will also advise on where you could get improvements. For example, with my car he said I could gain up to 5 bhp by using offset roller rockers. I think I probably knew this, but those rockers are not allowed under historic rally regulations.
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