Dutchys Supercharger Project
Turbo Mini Forums

So the reason why I joined this forum is to get people's opinions and ideas while supercharging my mini. As they say, two heads are better than one. (Or hundreds)

1988 Rover mini, fully restored to look like a 97 Cooper Sport pack.
I transplanted a 94 1.3L SPI manual into it as we'll.

I chose to supercharge instead of a turbo cos I like the low down torque for around town and of course the general look of the M45 in the engine bay.

I am sure some of you will disagree but that's life. Each to their own.

Plenty of research has been done but I only managed to start stripping her down tonight.
Pics below of what I have done so far.





Most of these parts aren't going back in. A/C included. I want the engine bay to have space. Looks too cluttered with it.



Some of the items that I have purchased so far:
Throttle body from a 2005 Kia Rio
A couple of pulleys / rollers
Eaton M45 Supercharger from an R53 Bini
2 core aluminium radiator
Coil pack






Started to modify the radiator bracket/fan shroud to fit onto he new radiator. Finished for the night. Will be back into it on Sunday.

Edited by Dutchy1978 on 1st Mar, 2013.

looks very nice. a tidy car. did you find you used the a/c much and was it any good?

1275 N/A Sprite, 998 T2 Turbo Mayfair
1275 EFi Turbo

Used it once to test it 18 months ago when I finished the restoration. Worked well but haven't used it since so I don't think I need it.

Check out the following page on my website for the latest update.

Stripped the engine out to change the seal behind the clutch as it was leaking oil out of the bottom of the clutch housing. might as well change the clutch and machine the flywheel while i am at it.
Will start putting it back together soon

http://www.dutchysmini.com/supercharging.html

Looks good! Another supercharger conversion in Holland!!
Where are you going to mount the supercharger?

Remko
Supercharged Pickup

I am making a cutom inlet manifold using other supercharger examples. bit of this, bit of that.

On another note I am in Australia. Surname is Holland hence Dutchy

Blow through and an intercooler, jonnysti had a nice blow throw setup, it produced 160bhp and that was using a carb

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

Running a pole on my website on whether or not to add a Bini Cooper S bonnet scoop to my beast.

Click on the link below, scroll to the bottom of the page and vote.

http://www.dutchysmini.com/supercharging.html


Your comments on this thread are also welcome. :)

Edited by Dutchy1978 on 11th Jul, 2013.

Recently cut out a new dashboard out of MDF. had it carbon fibre wrapped a couple of days ago and finished assembling it. Much better than the woodgrain in my opinion. Almost looks like a bought one.

Not a fan of scoop, I don't even like them that much on the new mini's

My 2p's worh though car looks stunning

Not a fan of scoop, I don't even like them that much on the new mini's

My 2p's worh though car looks stunning

See I quite like the scoop in the new mini but not sure how it will look on my car. I think it will be good for keeping the engine bay a bit cooler as the lights on the front of my car can tend to block a bit of fresh air. Being in Australia the air temp can get quite high.

Latest update for those interested.

A fair bit has happened since my last post.....a while ago.

Engine is back in the car, manifold and intake pipe all welded up and test fitted, fuel lines and adapters plumbed, injectors located, Autronics ECU installed.
Now need to polish the stainess components before finally installing them for good.

very clean indeed .nice job . be very interesting to see how it runs.

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Nice looking fit. doesn't look like a lot of room near the wiper motor/ pulley> where does the top rad hose feed?

Still need to work on the heater hoses. That is what you can see not connected.

Latest update.......got it running the other day but needs tuning above my knowledge.
It took a while as there were some teething issues with ignition and timing. Before I put it on a dyno for tuning I need to add an injector to the intake before the supercharger to assist with cooling the rotors. Unfortunately the intake temp is a bit too high without it.
Also needed an idle control motor so still to wire that.
I decided to buy some race seats and have them recovered to match my existing interior. Pretty happy with the outcome.

This weekend I am getting the centre piece of the exhaust fitted (stainless) will also get a lambda sensor bung put into the collector to assist with a more accurate reading of all ports.

Getting there. Albeit slowly. Too much work travel is keeping me from finishing it quickly.
Aiming for a supercharged mini under the Xmas tree. Fingers crossed Santa comes to my house.

Very nice work there, are you water injecting before the charger? Just wondering because I believe the Eaton M45's don't like fuel, it kills the Teflon coating on the rotors. And said Teflon coating ends up inside your engine, and nobody wants that!

Yes fuel. I was very undecided on water vs fuel and there wasn't anything I read that said either was best.
It is only required when boost kicks in or hot days.

Below is some of the things I read. But then you can't always trust what you read. Hence the indecisiveness.

Water
++
Cheaper than fuel to use
Cooler than fuel
--
Corrodes components - rust
Extra water tank, pump hoses required
Always need to check water level to ensure you don't run out.
May remove Teflon (but then again the earlier rotors didn't have Teflon)

Fuel
++
Easier to set up as I already have fuel injection
No monitoring of level required
Cheaper set up cost
Can be tuned to spray during boost as required via ECU
--
More expensive on a daily basis
May remove Teflon (but then again the earlier rotors didn't have Teflon)

I called Harrop who import the eaton chargers and their technical team don't recommend injecting at all but I have no other way to cool the air temp down.

Thoughts?

That's a nice neat install. Well done.

The low level switch is a Good idea. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Or be proven....
I've just decided to go fuel at boost for cooling. As you mention, it will evaporate anyway. it is only mist. Not enough volume to probably make a difference.

Are the rotors an issue really? How do OEMs get round it if it is?

Id have thought that an intercooler after the charger eould have been far more beneficial

Not sure what you mean by an issue.


In my set up there is no possible way I can put an intercooler after the charger and before he manifold. (Physically)

I need to cool the air temp as it sits aroun 85 degrees when running at 3000rpms at idle. Also need to keep in mind that Australia is a hot country so air temps of the ground get up around 50 degrees through summer.

Is that a typo? 3000rpm Idle speed!?

Edited by Andy500 on 13th Nov, 2013.