That is a good book. Sad to say my copy was given to anther classic owner a few years ago. Worth the price. It is easy to spend your money Dave, but now is the time. I think a cam & roller rockers would be nice $$$$.....
This one? Tuning the A-Series Engine: The Definitive Manual on Tuning for Performance or Economy: David Vizard: 9781859606209: Amazon.com: Books
Yes, but you notice they're out of stock......used ones are stupid expensive for a paperback. Either that one or the one on how to tune your Mini.... Love to borrow one for a bit, promise not to get it dirty! :biggrin5:
Not out of stock everywhere, just Amazon direct. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1859606202/sr=/qid=/ref=olp_tab_new?ie=UTF8&colid=&coliid=&condition=new&me=&qid=&seller=&sr= http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1859606202/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Yes, I just found out the man himself sells them on his website - APT - for $52.00 APT Your One Stop Shop For British Sports Car Engines
Found an excellent deal deal on the Vizard book I wanted at B&N, so I ordered it....thanks to everyone who looked on my behalf. I would have liked to borrow one, but this is just as good - I got a hardbound copy for $27 and free shipping. Today I also scored the flywheel puller I needed from a local club member, so now I can proceed with the teardown. I did a rough measurement of the bore with a set of verniers and it has been overbored, so that much is settled. I also started work on the subframe clean up after getting all the suspension removed...I'll take some of the bits up to school and clean them in the glass bead blaster. I'm very happy to note how solid the subframe is, no rust at all, and just a few bent places due to injudicious use of a floor jack in days gone by. Those were easy enough to straighten with a little hammer and dolly work.
So after school today, I decided to get on with the engine teardown, to see what I have. I still need to do a lot of measuring of the bores and crank and such, but I have to say everything I saw today looked positive for a change - it certainly buoyed my spirits. So this first pic is to show those who aren't familiar with this power unit how the power gets from the engine to the transmission in the sump- these drop gears....a lot of guys like to put straight cut gears in here as they're stronger, but they also howl like crazy - I like quiet. That round silver housing is the oil pump, driven off the back end of the camshaft. On John's Mini (the white car with the checkered top in the Fun Run thread) the intermediate gear had destroyed it's bearing and then all three drop gears, and had filled the transmission sump with tiny bits of metal shavings. I was worried that those would then be sent thru all the engine bearings and such, but I guess the sump screen and oil filter did their jobs. He just cleaned it all out , rinsed it with diesel fuel and put her back together. It's done many thousand miles since with seemingly no ill effects. Mine look good, and the bearing in the cover housing looks and sounds new. You have to remember to put the engine on TDC #1 so that this horseshoe clip is vertical, other wise it can slide out and jam when you're trying to get the flywheel off. It's easy(er) when you have the right tools....I had to make those studs out of some 3/8 fine all thread - stuff's not easy to find! The flywheel sits over a taper on the end of the crankshaft (see first pic) - sometimes they can be a real bear to get off, and it's almost impossible without the right puller. Next you have to remove the front timing cover, timing chain and gears and then the plate behind them to get to some small bolts that hold the trans and engine together. This duplex timing chain is not standard, but it's a good thing! Once everything's undone she just comes right apart, now I can get the pistons out for a look at the bores.... The rods were held together with ARP nuts (more good stuff), and the bearings looked new. You can see the piston is marked .06 too - which matches the paper work that came with the car. Tomorrow I'll get out the inside bore gauges and micrometers and see what's what, but I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far. Still don't know why it was using so much oil tho...that bothers me.
Yeah. I would love to do that, but I just got the bill for the headwork.....$635! It basically needed "everything"....intake and exhaust seats, 8 new valves (stellite on the exhaust), new guides, seals, valve job, resurface etc. Whew that's a lot of money for head work! :crazy:
More "good" news..... Pulled the crank out so I can mic check the bores tomorrow, but got a good look at them and I think they're toast - the wear patterns look like crap. That means a re-sleeve of the block. I can take it back to stock 1275, but that means I'd have to buy new pistons and rebalance the rotating assembly. I can have them bore it back to .60 over, but if anything happens it would have to be sleeved again, as there's no room to go past that. Camshaft is also worn out, I found at least two flattened lobes. Crank looks OK but I won't know for sure till I mic it, at the least it will need a micro polish. My $200 hardened seats valve job has mushroomed into total rebuild. Yikes!
Sorry you are finding all of this Dave. It is far better than scattering A series parts all over the road. Darned good thing you are checking things out.
The head came home from the engine shop today and it looks terrific, I got a coat of self etch primer on it and tomorrow I'll give it some color. I also primed the subframe and I'll try and get a coat of Rusty O'Leum on it tomorrow - it takes that stuff about a week to cure all the way thru... I took the block down when I picked up the head, he's going to hot tank it first, then he'll set it up for line bore and see if it's in spec..... after that it gets bored for sleeves and the crank will get checked too - It looks OK to me so I'm hoping all it will need is a micro-polish. I'm looking at cams as this one was worn out - the engine builder says it's because it was run with modern oil in it - no zinc. A lot of guys have found out what a problem this is in their older engines - I run the ZDDP additive in the Jag and haven't seen any adverse effects yet, so I'll probably do the same in Buzz. It's that or a case of Brad Penn oil @ $100/case! I'm going with the Cooper S forged rocker arms, mine aren't bad but they're the cheap stamped steel ones and if I'm going to run a high lift cam I'll need better. New main bearings, new cam bearings , new rod bearings, new thrust washers and rings, plus assorted gasket kits and seals should do it.
honestly when it comes to oil i have been running Valvoline VR-1 20w50 racing oil which comes with lots of zinc but ill give my classic a bit of a zinc boost as well with an additive... id love to have a lift like yours so i could pull my classic's engine out...but i recently had a uprated 1098 head fitted to my 998 and the guys who did it said everything looked good under the hood so i think ill hold off until my engine gives up the ghost then go whole hog with a 1380
Part of the problem with all of these racing oils is the $12/quart cost! I got the subframe finished today, now I have to set it aside for a week and let it cure. I think it turned out pretty good for brush on Rustoleum....I could have gone whole hog and ground off all the weld splatter and bondo'd in all the tiny rust pits, but hey - it's a Mini, and not a showcar at that. Clean and painted will have to do......
I waited a long time to get mine, and truth be told it's not perfect for working on the MINI, but given my low ceiling height it's way better than a jack and jackstands! I musta had it up and down 30 times working on pulling the engine and subframe. I found mine on Craigslist for $600. If you look, they're out there.....took me three years of looking to find this one.
Today I wrapped the header. I bought a kit off Ebay for $23 shipped and I still have about half of it left, in case I need to do it again. I thought it turned out pretty well. It's true that Jet Hot or other ceramic coating would do a better job and last longer, but this should help keep underhood temps at bay and might even quiet the wee beastie down a tiny bit too. I'm satisfied with the way it turned out..... Tomorrow morning I go to nearby Lawrence to look at a block, if it comes home with me the machine shop should have it all done by the end of next week.
Today I drove to Lawrence to look at a Sprite block to replace mine - the Mini block is still perfectly serviceable but it will require a lot more money than I have to spend to make it right. The Sprite block is .040 over now so we'll bore it to .060 and I can re-use my pistons. The two are practically interchangeable except for the rear main cap, but it's easily modified. Going the other way - putting a Mini block into a Sprite - would be considerably more involved. I'll post pics of the difference when I get both home next weekend. The crank will have to be turned too...several of the rod journals are tapered! Whoever did the rebuild in England either didn't know what they were doing or simply didn't care - I've never seen such sloppy workmanship. Once I get it all back from the machine shop it will be up to me to make it all work, but I promise you I'll do a much better job in my little garage than these guys did! Today I sandblasted, cleaned and painted some suspension parts....I'm trying to get all the bits and bobs done ahead of time, so once the block's home and my order comes in from jolly Olde I can just start assembling. Still lots to do....
Dave- From what I remember my Mini guru friend saying the Sprite block will not fit on your Mini's transmission. Make sure to check that out before spending the money on it. If it is an easy modification go for it.