I have a confession to make… I’ve never really been into drag racing, until recently I’d hadn’t actually seen drag racing in person until I went along to Santa Pod to lend a hand with the 1320 Mini crew. It doesn’t mean I’ve not watched a lot of drag racing
Continue readingCategory: Turbo Conversion
Race Technology DASH4PRO
One of the decisions I made early on in the build was that I wanted a set of gauges or a dash that would allow me to monitor most of the critical parameters on the car: Oil Pressure Oil Temperature Water Temperature Air Fuel Ratio Boost Pressure Intake Temperature I decided to
Continue readingJuly Update
I’ve not posted an update for a number of months and those of you who have been following the earlier posts are probably thinking the car has been running for a number of months and I’ve not posted because I’ve been enjoying it too much! I wish this was the
Continue reading
R53 Turbo Build – Part Four (It’s alive!)
With all of the electrical work done it was time to move onto assembling all of the parts to actually have the turbo mounted on the car! The next job was to test fit the cooling package (radiator, fan and intercooler) from proalloy.co.uk although not a cheap solution (£1500 all
Continue readingR53 Turbo Build – Part Three (Wiring, Wiring and More Wiring)
One of the major benefits of using a standalone ECU (aside from actually being able to tune the car properly and decent throttle response!) is that the standalone ECUs usually support additional inputs/outputs above and beyond those offered in the stock configuration. The ViPEC ECU uses an extension loom that
Continue readingR53 Turbo Build – Part Two
In part two of the build I will be focusing on some smaller jobs that are needed to allow the mounting of the ECU on one of the frame rails in the engine bay. This is possible because the Vi-Pec ECU is fully weather sealed and the location chosen has
Continue reading
R53 Turbo Build – Engine Specification
Before Turbo Stock Crank Shaft Stock Connecting Rods ARP Rod Bolts Mahle Motorsport Bearings ARP Head Studs 1320 MINI Big Valve Head with Ferrea Valves, Crower Springs, Titanium Retainers CatCam 1302469 Camshaft Bosch 550cc injectors Home made CAI with ITG GP Filter CAVS 17% Supercharger Pulley JCW GP Intercooler Janspeed
Continue readingR53 Turbo Build – Part One
Preparing the car for conversion to turbocharging requires removing all of the engine ancillaries, inlet and exhaust manifolds. Luckily this can be done with the engine in place, this does save a lot of time but having a lift available does make life a lot easier. The first stage is
Continue reading
R53 Turbo Build – Introduction
Performance cars are currently undergoing a bit of a turbocharged revolution with every significant carmaker adopting the technology for its blend of performance and economy. Even cars that previously were considered pinnacles of naturally aspirated technology are being forced down the turbo charger route. With advances in the design and
Continue reading