Mini needs tune up

Mini needs tune up

Author
Discussion

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Sunday 5th December 2004
quotequote all
Hello, as you may know ive just picked up my new mini(which is great by the way!!!)But the motor needs some love, its just been run in from build and needs a damn good tune up, so does anyone know of a good tuner in the luton area??? (engine is 1293 with webers)
Cheers
Andy

>>> Edited by vodkakid on Sunday 6th February 09:07

Cooperman

4,428 posts

257 months

Monday 6th December 2004
quotequote all
Andy,

Peter Baldwin, near Royston, is really very good (01223 207217).
However, I,e found another at Great Gransden- MASS Motorsport. They recently did my 'Black' Enduro car and the result is excellent. The cahrged £67-50 for a full rolling road session. The guy to call there is Chris Conoly and his number is 01767 677800.
I hope this helps,

Peter

alextgreen

15,403 posts

249 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
ML Motorsport in Knockholt, Kent.

Special offer day on December 18th, full tuneup is 25 quid plus parts.

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 8th December 2004
quotequote all
cheers but anyone know of something a little closer to luton?

cooperman

4,428 posts

257 months

Monday 13th December 2004
quotequote all
No, Autotechnique, who used to be in Kingsway, went out of business several years ago and I have used Peter Baldwin, who realy is the best there is with Minis. He's not all that far from Luton really. Just go out towards Cambridge and go North from Royston for about 7 miles. Acutally a better way is out via Henlow, Langford, Dunton and on to Wimpole on the A603 (which is where he is).

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Sunday 23rd January 2005
quotequote all
Hello again.
Since the last time i wrote the mini has had new plugs, new cap, new arm and electronic ignition put in the dizzy, this with a little tune up solved all my running problems........Then i went on a long drive and there all back again! Runs very lumpy if it runs at all, any ideas what it could be? Its been feed optimax if that makes a difference??? help needed other wise i wont be able to drive it to the rolling road i've got booked saturday.
(p.s. plugs look a little black even though they are less than a month old)

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Sunday 23rd January 2005
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Was also wondering if it could be the weber causing problems??

danwebster

503 posts

241 months

Sunday 23rd January 2005
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Dont supose by any chance that the bracket that holds the dizzy in is loose? The dizzy could be swinging itself and that would cause it to run bad. Its a long shot but it can happen.

Cooperman

4,428 posts

257 months

Tuesday 25th January 2005
quotequote all
Is it running at the right temperature? If it's running too cold it can foul up the plugs, which then look black and 'orrible. Try blanking off part of the grille with baking foil. You can peel off bits of the foil as you test it until you get the temp right, then make up a blanking plate in hardboard or plastic that size until the Spring comes with warmer weather.
I had a big problem on the Carpetbagger Rally last Saturday night. My 'S' was fine at first, but with the frezing blizzard conditions in Devon it started to misfire, then this got worse. In the end we lost 10 minutes changing 2 plugs which had foulded up because the temp was far too low. We taped a clip board in front of the grill and after 3 competitive miles the temp guage was up to normal and the running was fine - well, that is until a terminal gearbox failure put us out 30 miles from the end.
So, now I need a complete new s/c, c/r gear set, drop gears, selectors, syncros, etc, etc. A very expensive night's rallying. And to think we were lying 4th at the time amongst the modern cars in our 40 year ols Cooper 'S', even after losing the 10 minutes. Shows just how good the Mini design was and is.

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Wednesday 26th January 2005
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cheers all! cleaned the plugs and it started straight away, looked very rich on 1 and 4 pot, It could be what you said Peter, its happened twice, both being long trips in cold weather!!!

Coco H

4,237 posts

244 months

Friday 28th January 2005
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Cooperman said:
Andy,

Peter Baldwin, near Royston, is really very good (01223 207217).
However, I,e found another at Great Gransden- MASS Motorsport. They recently did my 'Black' Enduro car and the result is excellent. The cahrged £67-50 for a full rolling road session. The guy to call there is Chris Conoly and his number is 01767 677800.
I hope this helps,

Peter


Seconded MAss - superb - I have all my cars set up there - they doubled the BHP on one in a few minutes !

Coco H

4,237 posts

244 months

Friday 28th January 2005
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ALso used Peter Baldwin and for minis he is superb.

vodkakid

Original Poster:

1,076 posts

279 months

Sunday 30th January 2005
quotequote all
Had it rollin roaded and it was deemed fit! he said the engines the best it can be with the set up its got. Report gives it 81.3bhp at the fly.. was hoping for more but hey.....

Cooperman

4,428 posts

257 months

Monday 31st January 2005
quotequote all
That's not too bad
For a road car you really don't want to go to more than about 90 bhp at the flywheel as it's after that the unreliability starts to show up the limitations of the transmission. At over 90 bhp you do need to consider having s/c c/r gears, a cross-pin diff and, possibly, better drive shafts. The trouble with the close ratio gears is that you then have to drop the diff ratio to prevent 1st being much too high and then you lose top end cruise capability. With 12" wheels and a s/c c/r box you really need nothing higher than about a 3.76 diff or, ideally, a 3.9. Higher than that and the clutch takes a real hammering when pulling from rest. In my Historic 'S' rally car I run 10" wheels with a 3.9 final drive. My engine gives about 112 bhp. at the flywheel and is a bit cammy, so even the 3.9 can seem a bit high sometimes. However, I only pull 14 mph/1000 rpm in top.
The earlier Cooper 'S' and Clubman GT ratios are much better than the later 'A-Plus' ratios, which are not really very good.