MINI 998 TURBO
Turbo Mini Forums

hi all

im looking to get the mirage motorsport set of manifold to convert my mini to a turbo. 2 questions i need to get a 12G295 (998 cooper) head, does anyone know where i can get one of these???

also i want to look into put the megasquirt system in there, from want ive been told, for the turbo to work i need a metro turbo carb and inlet manifold, how can i get the megasquirt system to work because i presume the engine either has to be MPi or SPi??


cheers in advance!!

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

You don't need a 295 head (although that is what Paul & myself are planning on using) Wil & Ben have got a 940 head one of there 998 Turbos. As to where to get one, try the normal places, auto jumbles, eBay etc, remember the 295 head was also used on the MG Midget & the MG 1100 so it often pays to keep an eye out for MG heads.

As for Megasquirt I'd definitely recommend it for the ignition, however the fueling side is a lot more complicated than most people think due to the Siamese ports and before you do anything I'd suggest you have a read through some of the threads in the EFI section.

You will need the 12G295 if you are planning on retaining the standard flat topped pistons.

I usually get mine from ebay or mini shows.

The Megasquirt system is still under development, so unless you are a Fuel injection expert, best left alone for now.

Have a read of this if you have not already:

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=173132

Edited by Paul S on 4th Dec, 2008.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

yea i think thats best, i going to go with megajolt for now and wen theres any advances on the megasquirt i will give it a go.

as for the head, as i understand it you have to drop the compression ration for the turbo. could this be done with dipped pisons rather than the head change? it sounds easier plus i could source the parts easier from mini sport, but would the standard head with uprated head gasket be up to the task of the turbo?

cheers

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

Yes you could drop the CR by using the standard head and having (say) 6cc dished pistion. But to go to all the effort of turboing and keeping the crap 998 head seems a waste to me.

As for head gaskets, a good quality copper gasket (as supplied by minispares) is more than up to the job.

Also, you can still use the megasquirt, just only use the ignition function. This is what I do.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

thats true, the only reasons i said that is i have been looking for a head which no luck but i can buy pistons off the shelf, but i have possibly found a head now. is there an uprated 998 head that you can buy that wont affect the CR?

im thinking of getting forged pistons anyway, because i want to strenthen everything before the turbo. o yea im looking to get between 100-120 bhp out of this, is it doable or am i dreaming, ive seen the figure 12psi boost out there and think it can be achieved?

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

if your planning on going megasquirt at a later point you may as well fit it now and just use it for the igntion instead of the megajolt as the jolt is just a cut down megasqurt really.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Yes as Paul says a lot of 295 heads have been well skimed as they are often thrown onto non-cooper engines, therefore you wont get the CR drop that you want. But I take it you can still get hold of unskimmed examples then?

what sort of power would i get with 12psi do you estamate???

also am i correct that standard cams would be the best for everyday use?
or do i need better ones.

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

not sure on the power, but yes a standard cam is probably best.

will and ben h use a N/A mg metro cam in their hill climber.

Edited by alpa on 6th Dec, 2008.

std 998 A+, g295, MD266, RHF4, 109hp @0.8bar/5400rpm

Edited by alpa on 6th Dec, 2008.

std 998 A+, g295, MD266, RHF4, 109hp @0.8bar/5400rpm

The MG metro cam is best IMO.

It gives great flexability and on the hillclimber 7k rpm is easy.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

std 998 A+, g295, MD266, RHF4, 109hp @0.8bar/5400rpm

cheers guys i think i will go for the 295 head with n/a metro cams.

im going to go all out on the gearbox as i have heard its the weekest link in the turbo, think of straight cut gears and drop gears amd a 4 pin diff. i dont know about the clutch though, recomendations??? ive heard something about an 'orange' clutch.

cheers guys!

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

That's the way I'm going, MG Metro cam, 295 head.

Remember to time the cam in properly. All MG Metros cams I've fitted have needed 3-6 degrees advancing from "straight up".

cheers vegard very good to know!!

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

Is the MG Metro still sold brand new ? I'm a bit scared to buy a used one on ebay.
Is there any Kent equivalent ?
I saw camshafts on Minispares, prices are much higher than what I remembered from my last cam purchase. They are far above 100 GBP !

std 998 A+, g295, MD266, RHF4, 109hp @0.8bar/5400rpm

It seems as the factory Rover cams are very good. I'm very dubious to used cams as well, but the Kent range are ALWAYS more worn than factory cams. That's my experience.
There IS a Kent equivalent, but I cannot remember what it is...

I think the reason why the price on cams have exceled is because of the lack of good cores.

The Kent 500 cam is the MG Metro equivalent.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Surely the reason the Kent (etc,) range wear more is because they are all regrinds from an original factory cam and so,

(a) the base circle is thus a much smaller diameter, and

(b) the re heat treatment (if indeed they all do it) is probably not as effective as the factory treatment.

I've always avoided regrinds because of (a) - the wear rates surely have to be higher, if only because there is less surface area (circumferentially) to carry the loads.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

As above it's the Kent 500, spec below. Ive used both a Kent 500 and secondhand MG can and had no worries.

Application Mild Road
Power Band 1500-6000
Cam Lift(mm) 6.67
Valve Lift(mm) 8.12
Duration I 252 Deg E 268 Deg
Timing 16/56 59/29
Full Lift 110 Deg
VC (mm) 0.40
LTDC I 0.99mm

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

cheers guys
also what is the favored brake setup does people use for the turbo setup?
i have all round drums at the moment but im upgrading to front disks, im looking at the metro turbo brake conversion with the right hubs and flanges ect. is this an easy straight swap or is there more work involved

Jay

MINI: BENDS THE RULES, RULES THE BENDS!!

Don't bother with the metro turbo set up it is not worth the trouble. The normal mini front disk setup is perfectly capable of stopping any mini. Just get good quality disks and pads. You can upgrade the calipers to 4 pots if you like.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.