mk1 turbo 'old banger'
Turbo Mini Forums

i've been hanging about this site for years and never really thought my old banger was worth posting a project thread about but recently i've started to think it may be nice to keep a record of some of my progress, the story starts with me on the hunt for a mini and being the snob i am it had to be old and it had to be cool! i found this car on ebay in kent it had been used in some hill climbing and some southern historic racing saloons championship i had to have it...

this is how it looked when i got it home




it had a bill richards 1380 with twin split webers and some other goodies but i wanted to go turbo so the engine was split and sold along with some of the wheels and tyres that where no good to me.

i purchased an engine from here and stripped it down found it to be in questionable condition but with the correct parts so set about rebuilding it...

cleaned and painted



setting up the springs



shimming the idler gear



checking and adjusting timing



almost ready



the car was pretty well specced with nice brakes and suspension but the interior needed a revamp as the dash was hidious and the seat in the wrong position for me so i welded in some new seat rails fitted my seat that fits me nicely and started making a simple dash




when i fitted this to the car i decided i didnt like all the dials it looked messy so i wanted something simpler but that didnt look too modern and like a christmas tree i decided on a simple stack gauge that shows revs a pressure and a temp and a spitfire boost gauge



i didnt want to re make the whole dash working in sheet aluminium is not my strong point so i had the idea to let in the carbon fibre and solid rivit the two together its a bit of a mish mash of ideas but i quite liked it

the car was running a specialist components 5 port kit however i did not get on with it and to be honest just couldnt get my head around the mapping and nor could neil at slark racing after a day on the rollers it made decent enough power but it was dog shit to drive! deflated i decided to start again the turbo i was running was a small t2 and the engine was strangled by it and after trying to get my head around the arguments happening on here about wet manifolds and fuel injection i bought myself a turbo su



i rebuilt it and did some tidying up of the inlet i know its hardly a well flowing lnlet design but neatening up the ports made me feel better anyway





the engine is currently out as the dyno also highlighted low oil pressure which i'm currently investigating i will measure the crank and have it ground and balanced with my new flywheel and my attempt at an rts.

i also hunted around for a gt17 to use as its more suited to the engine and my use but finding a decent one is proving hard i have one for mock up purposes

been running the external gate for ages it controls the boost so well with 0 spikes



had to cut and re weld the mirage as the gt17 hit the block



the car isnt really going to be anything special i just hope i can get it to around 150 bhp and keep it reliable and build it to a decent standard as some of the cars on here seem very well screwed together and i'd hate to let the side down

anyway last few pictures of how it looked a few months ago (bonnet not help down hence the raise at the back just resting in postion)

Speeding is like masturbating, everyone does it, but not all of us film it and put it on the internet

[quote=fab,8th Oct, 2010]fuck off

Looks good lee!! about time you put some pics up.

I have started posting on Instagram also my name on there is turbomk1golf

Nothing is impossible it just costs more and takes longer.

Looks a great car and build

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

looks good

fecking finally!! whens the mag feature :)

also some more piccys that i found on my phone for your "record keeping"


mk1_grass by lilpinkiy, on Flickr

art getting the engine out

mk1_engineout by lilpinkiy, on Flickr

the cold place where it was kept for years while he worked on it in secret ready to blow your minds

mk1_barn by lilpinkiy, on Flickr

trying to lighten her up; although we decided she did need an engine.

mk1_barn2 by lilpinkiy, on Flickr

and finally one with the god awful headache that was the efi kit

mk1_efi by lilpinkiy, on Flickr

Edited by t@z on 24th Nov, 2012.

Nice work. Love it !

13.95 1/4 mile on a 2.95 fd. Carnt be that hard to beat!

Really cool car mate!

My build thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=454802

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85313398@N02/

I like that.

Looks well cool! nice work dude

Really nice mate, need to get my mk1 going instead of just buying bits and dreaming about it.

Adrian

Nice looking car buddy

Innovative use of red paint inside the engine. This engine will make serious power! ...or it'll all flake off and gunk up the pickup pipe.

Car looks great!

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Sorry just realised I left t@z out of the build diary we live pretty close and swap parts and labour for our own currency of KFC beer and mc flurrys

Speeding is like masturbating, everyone does it, but not all of us film it and put it on the internet

[quote=fab,8th Oct, 2010]fuck off

haha i dont really do much man so no need for me to be in it. i just point and try and get you to paint your car silly colours :p

hello again found some more pictures,

i had a decent quick release steering boss i wanted to use on my car its clever and locks together with ball bearings this wasnt a cheap copy that started appearing on ebay a year or so ago i cant remember the brand but i got it from a company selling parts for jap cars, however on bolting it to my steering boos with my deep dish wheel it was just too close to me for my liking so i hatched a plan to storten the stack heaght of everything. t@z very kindly donated me an old bolt together boss which i took appart leaving just the splined flange that bolts onto the steering colum. now i wanted to machine down the outside as it was wide and ugly after a begging post in the wanted section an old colum was also donated by mike998 thanks mate!
so i bolted the lot together and shoved it in the lathe machined it down along with the base for the quick release boss, i machined it with a step so one fits into the other to keep everything central and V'd out the edges to allow for good penatration when welding it together



i'd like to say i welded it but we have an old boy at work who can weld pretty much anything 'good ol ray'
anyway the finished item



i have also been trying to use the lathe wherever possible to save myself money and make things that not everyone has on their cars, so i turned up some aluminium bar for some engine steadies i tapped the ends for 5/16unf lh and rh threads so they can be adjusted on the car this is one i made to tension the alternator belt



they are cheap rose joints but i wanted to see if the idea works first if i find them crap i can just buy some nicer ones

sneaky peak of the screamer pipe!

Speeding is like masturbating, everyone does it, but not all of us film it and put it on the internet

[quote=fab,8th Oct, 2010]fuck off

just had a propper measure up of my crank this morning it would seem i'm quite below bottom tollerence so a re grind is in order and i think the tail of the crank could do with a polish where the drop gear runs...
main bearings: (-010 1.9912-1.9917)
#1 1.9899
#2 1.9899
#3 1.9895

big ends: (-010 1.7404-1.7409)
#1 1.7402
#2 1.7390
#3 1.7394
#4 1.7403

Speeding is like masturbating, everyone does it, but not all of us film it and put it on the internet

[quote=fab,8th Oct, 2010]fuck off

wheres the big daddy rose joint!

superb keep up the good work

give em hell

Just to let you know, I bought the SC 5 Port EFI kit off you. You choose not to mension this.

'and finally one with the god awful headache that was the efi kit'



However I have it running perfectly on my 1330 N/a engine.

Looking at the map left on the ECU, I wasnt suprized it ran poorly.

Anyway nice project.

Matt

Edited by alaskanow0 on 24th Nov, 2012.

Class C 3rd Place Avon 2011 14.18 @101mph

Hi matt I'm glad you have this running perfectly you certainly got it very cheaply too
Lee

Speeding is like masturbating, everyone does it, but not all of us film it and put it on the internet

[quote=fab,8th Oct, 2010]fuck off

Yes more than happy with the kit, setting up idle was a little tricky, especially on cold starts without the manual choke function with no ICV. However I guess setting up forced induction is a little more tricky. I'm lucky enough to have access to a rolling road, but not looking forward to mapping when the turbo goes on.

One other points regarding this system. I didn't realise the Typhoon ECU doesn't have a self learn / correction map for lambda. This made base mapping a little more difficult, but generally found the software very user friendly.

On 24th Nov, 2012 supermotolee said:
Hi matt I'm glad you have this running perfectly you certainly got it very cheaply too
Lee

Edited by alaskanow0 on 24th Nov, 2012.

Class C 3rd Place Avon 2011 14.18 @101mph

Looks great!!!!!

great build mate