irishminis.ie

I'm reading about the Specialist Components 7 port aluminum heads here and they sound great! I have decided (kinda) to do an engine conversion to a rover k series on my mpi, but I keep finding myself wanting to just go all out on an animal a series. Hard to decide.
I was asking about the NCT in a post a few days ago in reference to classic car status and engine conversions. But whats the crack with tuning the mpi and emissions testing in the NCT? Is it possible to supercharge and convert to carbs or go the 7 port route or similar - would the car have to meet the mpi emission standard? Also if I was to purchase an fast road engine from MED or similar would the same apply?

Emission levels are set for MPIs and modified ones can find it hard to get through.Merlin had a highly modified one and the last time I was talking to him he was thinking of returning it to a more sedant form as it would not pass the emissions.Talk to him as he would be far better equipped to inform you of what each route would entail.The other route is to get a 30+ mini and put what you like into it.

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Real Clubmans have a square nose.Seriously.

Yeah I had that suspicion alright. 30 year old sounds good but whats my chances of getting the hands on one! sticking in a rover k series would sort it too as I presume the emissions would be on the 'K' and not the 'A' engine. Just a bit of a pain that I dont have the option of sticking with the A series.

if you go with a K series conversion you only really change the cylinder head, this would not warrant the cars details being changed as the engine itself would still be a series,
plus on a 30 year old mini it would not have to go in for NCT

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no I'm on about a rover k series not the bmw head

the rover k-series will get *much* better emisisons than the A-series, without a doubt. the only reason Rover put injection on the mini's toward the end of their life was to pass the emissions test, which was becomming tougher.. when the A-series was first designed (some time before the mini!) no one had thought of emisisons.

the rover-k series was designed while testing was already in use and set to get stricter.

my mate karl has what looks like a stage 3 kit on his 00 MPi (1:5.1 rockers, hot cam, head work, dbl valve springs, modified fuel pressure reg.) the car is remarkably quick. but it has failed the nct on emmisions about 4 times in a row, in spite of new cat, lambda, injectors etc etc.. he's now faced with having to re-buld the engine to much milder spec so he can enjoy it on the road!

i dont think its possible to tweak later minis and stil pass the nct. i predict there will be a glut of SPi/MPi's sold off if/when their ECU's die.

IMHO if you have the money and can manage the insurance, there are better engines than the Rover-K series to fit in a mini: im currently very keen on the SOHC vtec of 1500cc. about 115 bhp, 5 speed, efi, bullet proof internals and probably in excess of 50mpg.

If you have the pockets to go for a 7port then do it I would dearly love one, but talk to your insurance company first about any drastic action as they don't like it.

Tuned mpi's can pass emission tests, mine has never given me any problems,(tested last december) just make sure you avoid those god-awful after market variable fuel pressure regulators they're just snake oil.

The benefit of seven porting an mpi is the reletive ease and the ability to do it in stages, lcb (lambda in the Y is another tip for emissions) and 52mm tb, strong diff and gearbox, while your there a cam then rockers.The hardish part would be the handbuilt inlet manifold but the absolute beauty of doing it is that the mpi's ecu is wired for four injectors.

To my knowledge it hasn't been done yet but I would bet that not only would it break the seemingly unpenetrable barrier of 90bhp but go past 100 too. All on a ultra reliable standard ecu.

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Politics is just cheap television.

constantdreamer,
As you are Probably aware I sell My own Cast Alloy 7 port cylinder for the A series, This head gives you the option of running Throttle Body Fuel Injection when mapped will meet any Emissions test in the land even with a 286 cam, this option means you can tune your Standard A series to easily over 100hp with out insurance risks of fiting an engine from another car also means no body modifications,

Going down the road Of buying Fast road engines from the UK tuners is a false economy there engines look great on paper but having pulled down numerous one I have found them to be lacking quality, when something then goes wrong you have no back up from these people they will simply tell you to return the engine at your expense for them to assess. Which you understand is not at all a simple matter.

You have access to at least 4 well experienced A series engine tuners here in Ireland,

My self - Hickey Race Engineering
Lloyd Hutchison - Lloyd Hutchison Autos
Ray Cunningham - Galway Mini Centre
Eamonn Byrne

Keep your business local and you at least have the back up and experience to hand.

As far as fitting engines from other makes such as, Honda Vtec, rover K series etc, there is a very grey area around insurance, sure you can get the car insures as a Honda or a rover 200 etc but in a crash situation where someone could potentially be killed I'm not sure how well it would all stand up in court. I have done my research on this a few years back and no one would give me a straight answer on the matter but a number of well placed Insurance people advice me to stay very clear of the idea on a road car.

If you want any more information on the above you can contact me on (086) 816 0774

Best regards,
Paul.

Great post Merlin,

Very informative.

Billy

cheers for the replies all, informative stuff. My mpi is up for NCT in October and I reckon the rust will see it fail, so the plan was to take it off the road and fix it up over the winter. I suppose the reason I'm looking at the engine conversions is for the reliability, mpg and performance achievable from their standard engines. They k series also seems cheap, well relative to what an A series would set me back. The A series would then become my long term garage project - I could build a good solid engine over time as I could afford it
I wounder about the insurance 'greyness' you mention Merlin - Would it be simpler/possible to register the mini as a kit car and insure it as such. I just found the Irish Kit Car Club. I will post up on there and see what they reckon as I know they do insurance for their members.