Wow Matt...... profound man! and all written at 3.48am!!

Cool A lot of us are scabs, scratching around trying to get a bargain and using mates rates to get where we wanna be, but we will also recommend those without knowledge to go to those that have it!

But as a business, people have to make a living, what you are paying for is their expertise and time, the benefit in going this way must be some sort of guarantee, no one will guarantee a full race motor, but a sensible well buit street engine should come with some form of come back if there is a problem

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Sir Alec! we are not worthy!

Go for reliability all the way... I had a HI PO motor in one of my previouse minis and I hated it all the way... It was as fast as a barsterd but you had to drive it like one... If you wanted to pot around it would buck and spit like a wild horse.. Thrash it all day and it was happy. It was terribly unreliable as I didnt want to thrash it, it cost me heaps so I didnt want to ruin it.

If you want something thats going to blow the doors of everything on the road better of buying a V8 Mate.... Throw 13 Gs at a V8 and you will have a 500hp 11sec car that will still be more reliable drink less fuel and be faster then your 100hp mini.

Cool = neat tidy reliable mini

13 Grand goes a long way. Save your money. Paint it, get the interior done, buy some rims, buy a nice reliable engine and you will have a GOB SMACKING mini.

Mike

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If it cant be fixed with a hammer it cant be FIXED!!

I agree with Mike, the life of a performance A series is inversely proportional to the power and RPM you use.
Last thing you want in a road Mini that's a daily driver, is a full race motor....

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

thanks for the input,.. if i wanted alot for power i would do up my daily a 96 200sx i could spend another 5 grand and have 260kw at the wheels but i am only going to spend big money on the mini because i have no intentions on selling it and only want to use it on weekends after the the first couple of months and im selling my 200sx to get a r32 gtr

If you do it up nice it will potentially be worth heaps depending on what model it is... Like I said spend the money elsewhere. 100hp in a mini is bloody quick mate. Sure your 200 or Gtr will beat it but you are not 3 inches of the cround in them are you...So I dont understand why you say you dont want to go quick?

100hp mini is bloody quick. Try driving one in the rain. 100hp will see you changing lanes on gear shifts pulling wheelspins in 3rd gear. Like I said in the previous post heaps of fun, Still unreliable.

Believe me you are throwing your money away... Trust me dont make the mistake I did. I still regret spending big on my motor, infact im still paying for it. Do the rest of the car up real nice and eveyone will look at you when you drive it.. For some unknow reason when people see a nice mini they feel compelled to wave. And the girls like them too. Only if they are good though..

Mike

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If it cant be fixed with a hammer it cant be FIXED!!

On a side note from my other comment. I had my engine rebuilt by reputable engine builder and machinist. I spent under 4000 on the block alone and did none of it myself. I don't have a fast road anything on it and was properly balanced and quite a potent engine now plus reliable as it never hit the hi RPM's and is my daily.

If you have 13000 goto somewhere that has a good reputation and get them to build you a setup you can actually use and I bet you use anywhere near 13000. That way you have money left over to do suspension work and aesthetics. No point in getting fully super deluxe engine if you cant get it to the wheels and is uncomfortable to drive.

Bottom line build a car not just a engine that suits what its going to be driven for and on track vs. road.

thanks guys i do want to go quick.. and if its raining ill drive my other mini (panel van).. i am going to do the rest of the mini up nicely aswell.. i am going to spend money on the rest of the mini like the coil over setup i want is 1500 i want this to be the best mini ill ever build

What you'll find dale is some people are rev heads, some are purists, some are a mixture. For me I can't stand a 1/2 assed job no matter what it is. If its going to be the best mini you'll ever have and spend lots of money on go ahead!!! Just don't cut corners , take your time and enjoy it. But most of all LEARN.

hee hee,,, yeah Graham, i wondered how many people would pick up on my late night/early morning blabber

A sooper dooper big U-Beauty rocket ship 1380cc mini engine doesn`t necessarilly need to have a big lumpy rough race cam & high compression to get decent grunt, not every big mini donk ever built is rough race type engine & un-reliable etc etc etc blah blah blah,,,

I build real big donks for the road & track & keep mild-ish cams & low comp in the road cars so i can run pump fuel & have no probelms with head gaskets or overheating or any of that "usual" sh!t that people keep on about & still take mum shopping in the thing, yet still with that very same engine i can go & do Targa Tasmania & club race meets like Speed on Tweed etc for years & years & years,,, & also flog V8s in drag races etc Didn`t anyone read my blabber? No body listens to me anymore

No need for lumpy race crap in a road car, I think Dale might be able to talk with his engine builder & sort that stuff out himself, If the engine builder understands what Dale wants & if the engine builder chooses the right package to suit Dales wishes, then Dale will get what he wants. If Dale wants a lumpy fast race type donk, then that`s what he`ll get, if he wants a smooth grunty beast then that`s what he`ll get, it`s his choice, we`re just here to help him.

Only after the donk is built & fitted & tuned & Dale has driven it around for a while , only then will he know whether he`s actually got what he wanted.

i could probably squeez one of my Bimmer twin cam turbo injected motors out for the same (or similar) money, But it won`t be tomorrow, & it won`t have S/C C/R box & X-oin diff in it for that money either, but!!! it will definately beat a 5 port N/A engine in all departments , including power, smoothness, quietness, reliability & economy (when driven economically), that`s the beauty of the use of post 20th century refinements not to mention the under bonnet "Bling" factor, & then you still have the bragging rights at the mini club runs to their favourite BBQ spot OH!!! & of course still go out to the track & whoop on some porsche/rice burner arse too

It`s just my own obviously very biased opinion but the Bimmer Twinkys really are the very best compromise & at the same time (hopefully) will be very good value for money in comparison... & i`m not meaning to push one onto Dale here either, that`s definately NOT what i`m doing, i`m just using this as an example of what can be achieved for similar money, It`s all a learning curve from the day you`re born till the day you die. If you don`t learn something new each day, then you`ve just wasted that day i reckon.

But hey,,, Dale wants a 1380 hot road/race donk ,,, let him have what he wants, not everyone wants what i want (that`s obvious ) & i certainly don`t really want what all you guys want, well,,, that is unless you want a million dollars or more & a young spunky fun loving girlfriend, don`t suppose you`d share tho hey?

& hey...besides... he`s allready learning from all this... Good onya Dale, go for it mate!!!, don`t look back, get it done & go & have some fun before time runs out.

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Great post Matt... I read it all and I still listen to u

Yes Matt good post... Oh and I do listen to you.. But in your other post you didnt say it didnt have a lumpy cam you just mentioned capacity....

Dale go get your motor mate, When its in come take me for a spin.

Cheers mike

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If it cant be fixed with a hammer it cant be FIXED!!

OK here was my point, plain and simple:

Dale, if you are a an older fellow with a good job and money to spend, then go for it. I can think of many other worste things to spend on, and to me a mini is very low on the list of spending sins

If you are a student and need to take out a loan to pay for the $13,000 with $400 monthly installments for 5 years, then there are other cheaper alternatives to building a relatively fast engine.

Cheers,
Chong

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

To quote a great Mini mechanic...

"Speed costs; How fast do you want to go?"

faster than you and with less money too

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Mew

is all I have to say/type.