Metro; the engine build; updated May 2016
Turbo Mini Forums

When Jon first bought it, it still had the checkers on, should be some pics of it on here if you have a look?

found a piccy with Gromit on the side:

http://www.grsmotorsport.co.uk/metrochallengeracecar1.jpg

Rob, cheers for that.

Tom, i had a look but couldn't find much. Got a few now of the car through the years with Jon. It has varied at times a he got rid of the orange on the bumpers and bodykit for a while

well, time to start thinking about the resurrection; I'm not going to be competing in it for a while I think so its just for fun.

a series turbo or 1.8 K series?

I've got an A series engine sorted but need SC box and drop gears; could build it up as is with helical stuff but just think its wrong Alternatively, go for a standard 1.8 K series.

Colour wise, I've decided to restore on the theme of the original car

I like the Idea of the K series,

how about doing a dennis and doing a 1.4 turbo.

I had thought of that but I'm trying to keep the whole thing simple for now i.e. a couple of weekends to build up an engine and drop it in so the car is at least a driver and not just an ornament in the workshop.

I know the K series is a bit more work but i'm assuming the time i'm not spending building the engine can go into the other aspects of the conversion

std 1.4 and turbo it later?

1.8VVC from an mgf or R200 BRM would be a good option. Buy and break a full car and use the stock efi etc. I wonder how hard it would be to swap a late metro/mgf frame into the early shell...

VTEC yo?

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

I've got a 1400 k series going cheap :)

In the 13's at last!.. Just

The front end is abit different to the r100/metro but it can be done, the body shells are we the same as are the rear subframes.

Owning a metro vvc I have to say they are brilliant fun and sound awsome. A brm conversion has a lsd close ratio box and a 143 engind (change the tb to a 52mm and you have a 160)

The mg f has the same engine but diff box (mems 2 ecu)

The later 25gti, zr160, tf ect are mems 3 ecu based (lower mid range torque than the mems2) but can be re-mapped.

Mild Head work and a piper exhaust cam timmed correctly, 52mm throttle body and a modded zr160 exhuast manifold will see a mems2 143 engine to 180+bhp without needing a modded chip.

Edited by Paul R on 15th Nov, 2013.

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

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

You can buy a Rover 100 with the 1400 in it for ~ £700 why make yourself more work than you need to lol

Have been thinking a fair bit about this since some of the posts last night, particularly the info on tuning the k series. The reality is i was looking for either a bolt in engine pack from another car without thinking of modifying it or stick with what i know.

Given it was the challenge cars that caught my eye in the day and the fact i know my way round the a series, i've decided to go with what i've for now. Its not a concours show car so the reality is i can pull the engine back out at will to put SC stuff in when i've got a bit more free cash.

Hopefully heading to the workshop tomorrow to start pulling together all the bits so i can bring them up to the house and start assembly

well I've now got a bit of a plan in my head (watch this space though as i'll likely change it again!)

I've been looking at the Scottish hillclimb championship. My thoughts had been to go for a 998 turbo to keep in the B1 class (up to 1400 with the turbo), however looking at the times being currently set in both B1 & B2, I may well be more competitive in the B2 class! Accordingly, given cash is a bit short at the moment, I'd decided to go with what I've got to hand.

The basis of the engine is 1293, forged pistons and phase 2 cam (ex Oli79). The head is one of Brett's old ones. Now looking at Oli's build thread, the chamber volume on the head originally on the engine was 28cc which is exactly what the head I have. I've not checked but on the assumption all is what it is claimed to be, I'll not need to do much on the compression ratio.

I've not sorted the box or drops yet but I do have a pre-verto clutch set-up I originally had on the mini before I changed it for an RTS.

Anyhow, moving on, first stage was to sort out the dry deck - the head has already been converted




After a bit of thought as to if I needed to bung up the block, the majority opinion seemed to be that it was easy to do so I managed to get a few hours down the workshop this afternoon and got the smaller ports drilled, tapped and grub screws installed

I borrowed a handy little tool that keeps the tap square to the block;



and the finished article




I've got to get hold of an M14 tap to do the larger ports but hope to have this sorted in the next day or so.

Taking it forward, I need to get fresh mains and big ends. Trying to support local business, I went to the local component factors. Now I used to use these guys a fair bit in the past and they kept stuff in stock. Now I wasn't expecting to get them off the shelf but I had expected they would have been able to easily identify what I need and give me a price. 40 mins later the guy tells me the best price he can do me is £110 plus vat!!!!! needless to say, I'll not be buying local. So this weeks purchase will be the bearings so I can start building up the short motor

Are you pulling the oil plugs as well since your getting the M14 tap.

What the mind can conceive the mini can achieve
MITP 2012 17.01 seconds 1/4 mile against "The Don"
MITP 2013 16.83 seconds 1/4 mile

well a bit of progress at last. As you may have noticed, I've decided to put a helical box in the mini so I can rob it of the straight cut stuff for the metro. I've now got 2 projects very much live now!

anyhow, I've been working slowly at building up the engine for the metro up at the house. I've already got the crank and pistons in with fresh bearings and managed to get a few hours last night to get the cam in and timing gear. I didn't have a fresh oil seal for the housing so works came to a bit of a standstill last night but I'll pop up to the workshop and pick up a few bits tonight so I can get on with it. I'm hoping to have the engine built up over the next week or so, working in the evenings while I wait for some cash to let me order the gearbox bits to let me get on with the mini.

Lee; the oil ways already have screws fitted.

not any real progress but managed to pick up crosspin diff locally



while I'm waiting to buy the bits for the mini I may build this up a bit further and get it closer to fitting in the car

Just found a better photo of Grommet:

http://www.geocities.ws/martinsmetros/MGM2001/mgm.6.jpg

Edited by Rob H on 5th Sep, 2014.

The more i see these old photos the more i realise i need to get this car painted and back together

well a bit of progress. I managed to get up to the shed for a couple of hours last night to start stripping the old broken box from the mini box down and assess damage and suitableness (is that a word?) for a re-build.

gears have seen better days!



also found a missing tooth on 1st gear but not sure if this was caused while trying to get the pinion nut off



The box had been fully re-build with new bearings probably 3-400 miles (if that) before it let go. I'm hoping to re-use as much as I can but the bearing cage of the 1st motion shaft bearing has some impact damage from shrapnel and I'm not sure if I should re-use this or not.



the cage isn't cracked but you can see the impacts and surface abrasions on it. It still runs free and appears fine in every other way.

On a slightly separate note, I got one of these after a fair bit of thought; makes light work of stripdowns although it don't manage the pinion nut.

Do it right, do it once Rob!

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

I know John but I'm skint at the moment and the thought of buying the gasket set is enough to make me sweat!

Agree with john not worth it failing and having to strip down again.

Mark.

If in any doubt change it.

You don't know how much crap got into that bearing during your gearbox explosion.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.