Hit a milestone on the way home yesterday: While I've lost some power overall simply from age & wear, as I said in the Sprintex thread, I'm still making changes and improvements to make more power, my compression is down some but I still go through less than a qt of oil between changes, and the motor is still sound, (no reason to fix what isn't really broken) a real testement to them. Besides, anything I do now, makes for good testing and will translate when I do eventually do a rebuild. Mod On!
Well, first mod after the 200k mark, Thmpr's Adjusted Cam Gear: Since I was doing both the ACG & the 60mm, I thought why not get an individual comparison to go along with the combined effect.... So here it is, these are my results, the only change is the ACG, all the conditions were as close as I could get them, this is with a STOCK cam. OEM Gear ACG (bottom graph is power only, wanted to show, that's not where the power came from) I'm plenty happy.
After a few day's with the ACG: Between the extra low end of the Sprintex and now the added torque of the ACG the car is a completely different animal. I can't say enough about the ACG, esp. for me, I just got lucky and got one of those ECU's that doesn't like cams, so I had no choice but to stick with the OEM, but now it's the same or better than either of the cam's I tried, simply because the power comes on sooner, as the graph above tells you I got a peak difference of 7 ft/lb's, but if you look at it closely you'll see that early on it was more like a 9 to 10 ft/lb gain, and neither of my cams turned on near that early. As the guy who designed it say's "It Just Rocks!", not to mention it's a pretty simple mod. I just wish I could have used both, a Cam & the ACG.
Bought my Nitrous Schtuff a couple of weeks ago from these guy's: ZEX About 1/3 of the way done, doing a lot of specialty stuff for the install, so it's taking longer than normal. For those of you that don't hide in the "Underground" here's the project so far: Ok, there were 2 other major items I had on my list of things to do before the rebuild, W/M & Nitrous, and with the change in seasons I decided to do the Nitrous first, I'll do the W/M early in the spring. I want to start by saying, this system is Complete Overkill and will never be used to it's full potential on the Mini, but there is actually a method to my madness. One of the reasons for all the extra stuff is, I just decided to do it all now & never have to add later, no matter what vehicle I use it on. (not to mention, just a couple of things & this 1 system becomes 2) The main reason though, is control, I wanted maximum control over when & how much. So, I started with this; the Zex Universal 4-6 cyl. Wet kit, Black Out edition. http://www.zex.com/zx/nitrous-system-zextm-wet-black.html Sorry, I didn't do the obligatory "spread out everything on the floor" picture. I choose "Wet" for the safety & ease of tuning, I'll be running a small enough "shot" that I won't need much timing adjustment and with "Wet" the AFR can simply be tuned with the fuel jet. As I said, I started with that system, off of it I've built a One Off, Custom, 2 Stage system, including a 2nd "Wet Management" unit & RPM controller, I've also added a Purge kit & Bottle Heater. Here's the intent behind all the "extra's" : 2 stages, mainly for traction & delivery control, each stage acts on both a WOT throttle position sensor & a push button. (2 seperate push buttons, one for Stage 1 only, one for both Stages combined) Stage 1 will be stricktly determined by traction, what ever level I can use, up to approx. a 65 "shot" that the car will hold traction @ 3500 RPM in 2nd gear, is where it will be set at. Stage 2 will give me an additional "shot" to give me a combined total of about 100, (for this incarnation of my motor) it will also be controlled by an RPM "window" switch and will only activate from the bottom of my next gear RPM point up to 7000. (in other words, if I run out the gear to "shift point" the RPM that I am then at, after my gear change, is where I'll set the bottom of the RPM controller, approx 5400 or so) Here's a few pic's of the install so far, I'm 1/2 finished with all of the engine compartment install & have some of the wiring started: Cut out for mounting panel: Fabbed new panel: Mocked up: Installed: I still have to install my Nozzles into my S/C horn & run my Fuel line from the Fuel Rail to my Gauge Sensor, then connect it to the system, I'm also adding a NOS pressure sensor for a gauge into the car. I'm finishing up making the bracket for those sensors now, and making custom push button & indicator panels for inside the car as well. I'll get more pic's as everything happens.
Your car is seriously stunning. I was worried my car would fall apart at 130k miles but your post is DEFINITELY reassuring and makes me want to add more power to it.
I'm not at 130K yet, but working on it. These cars don't fall apart. If you take care of them they will go on for a veryyy longgg timeee.
That's what I like to hear lol Welp, I won't hijack this thread any, just glad they last as long as you all are able to prove.
I agree, I made my S/C change which in turn meant considerable changes in boost, all above 175,000. Basicly, if it's in good running order, why not. Hell I was worried about it too, once I got up over 125,000, even considered doing a rebuild, but was basiclly talked out of it, was still running good then, so why? Like I said in an earlier post, I've lost some compression & inturn, some power, but the motor is still really sound, doesn't use anymore oil than it ever did, and still just fires right up & runs, and still runs strong at that. Even as is, 4000 rpm in 1st gear, just simply stand on it and there is NO traction, with an LSD, and I still don't baby it at all, it still see's 7000-7200 almost every day, just because I have too much fun with it. I know I'm taking chances with the nitrous, and I'm not going to push it that much anyway, like I had said when doing the Sprintex, with the level of mods I'm at, I have to figure anything less than $100.00 per hp is a bargin, so even if I would only see 15hp I'd be there, and I know I'll see more than that. Believe it or not, I'm not trying to blow it up, but I do find myself in what I consider to be a lucky and somewhat unique situation, I know I'm going to rebuild, and I've always wanted to try nitrous, so I just figure, better to try it & learn a few things on the old motor, than on the fresh, just got done emptying my wallet one. :lol:
Things have been slow going with other stuff taking priority, finally had a little time on Sat, so everything under the hood is basiclly done, all I'm waiting on to complete the "under the bonnet" work is to install the pressure sensor for the NOS gauge for in the car. It should be here by the w/e. Fuel line plumbed and new sensor bracket made: Switch panel done also: (W/M, NOS, Bottle Heater, Purge, Remote Bottle Opener) Really hope to be done & testing by Turkey Eatin' w/e.