329 replies to this topic

[KieranB]

Well we have some progress

 

Only got a chance to work on the mini on the weekend just gone, annoyingly i had lost my MAP sensor, one of those "I'll put this in a safe place" and it turns out its such a safe place I couldn't find the damn thing. Anyway Craig up in Perth fast tracked one down for me and i set about wiring it in. I really need to remove the enitre loom and tidy it up because i ended up wiring it straight into the ecu due to the pins in the plugs had been blocked off (yipe I don't understand either). Once that was in I started it up and it seemed to run better however it was idling really high, about 1400rpm. So started mucking about with the dizzy. Ended up turning it through about 3 degrees clockwise and it lowered the idle down to 700rpm.

 

So with this lot sorted I wanted to check the emissions so took it to a garage just around the corner (not the one i used for the MOT) and it appears to have worked. The CO2 is 0.3 above the limit which is considerably better than 9.99    but it wasn't really warm so the bloke said take it for a wee spin to get the exhaust heated up nicely then retest it.

 

I will do this on saturday morning, with a bit of luck all will be fine. When i left the garage i managed to let Vtec come into song, i don't think it worked before so happy days

 

Will let you all know how saturday goes, fingers crossed!!

 

Kieran

Edited by KieranB, 25 September 2013 - 09:59 AM.

[filski]

Nice one best of luck dude!!!!

[thelegg]

woohoo good news at last

[KieranB]

Even more good news!!!

It passed!! Oh what a brilliant feeling. I'm on my phone at the moment but when I get a chance i'll upload some pics and videos

Kieran

[thelegg]

soon to be out terrorising the streets then ;)

[filski]

Nice one Bud, what the next step then? How much is the insurance?

[KieranB]

Cheers chaps,

 

Filski, next step is to drive it about, it's my daily runner at the moment as my peugeot has been neglected over the past 18 months and so is off the road getting a few things done to it. Once I have that done, i'm gonna build the mini a new home, tweak a few things on it and have it in mint condition ready for next year. Then take it off the road at the end of next year ready for a respray/rebuild with a few engine tweaks. That is the plan as it stands at the moment

 

Insurance isn't so bad, I pay in full so just swap it over but with mods declared its just slightly less than my peugeot 106.

 

Might try get an onboard video tonight

 

Kieran

[filski]

Hey Kieran,

 

Nice one! looking forward to the vid, I finally got myself a garage and getting all the bits together doing few bodywork bits but will start the conversion next year!

 

Glad that the insurance is not too bad as i was worried that it be loads=)

 

Well done!

[KieranB]

So 1 month later........

 

I should really start from the MOT I guess :) It turns out the MAP sensor was quite a big contributing factor to the extremely high emissions, couple that with a few tweaks to the timing and hey-presto the CO2 reading dropped from over 9.99% to 0.28%. Just goes to show how little I really know about cars I ended up spending a long time at the garage that day, every customer who came in wanted to have a look at the car and I was only too happy to show it off including a flyby past the garage as I headed for home, that was a good day :)

 

So since then the car has performed faultlessly, its been my daily runner whilst the pug has been off the road being repaired. I spent one weekend doing a spanner check over the whole thing making sure everything was still attached, worryingly this was the point when I found out Vtec didn't actually work. I've never driven a Honda before so I never knew what to expect and just sort of presumed it was working so just to make sure I wired the solenoid into a switch and took it for a quick spin.......boy was I wrong. It wasn't working before so I had been driving it for the best part of 2 weeks with 30ish BHP less than it can make    so this resulted in 6 hours trying to figure out what was wrong. Turns out I had the same issue as Mr Thumb where the signal wire and electrical feed on the VSS were the wrong way round. 

 

So now I can answer my own question that I've been asking everyone else, what is driving a Vtec mini like? Well in truth, its brilliant. I was always worried it would have lost its mini characteristics but if you don't drive a A-series powered mini all the time then stepping into one with a honda engine just feels normal, you've still got the bouncy ride, the brilliant steering feel, the handling and ofcourse the open-mouthed pedestrians with their thumbs up as you scurry on by. I never really got chance to enjoy the car when I first bought it, it had too many faults, now though its good fun and by god its fast. The over taking ability its savage, addictive even, no matter what gear you are in or what speed you are doing it will make cars 4 times the price look daft. I'll admit wet roads do hinder it slightly (spinning in fourth gets boring after a while) but what did I expect. 

 

But now the car is off the road for the winter, I've had a chance to make a long list of all the things I want to alter with it ready for next year, gonna take the engine out, change the clutch, maybe buy a b18c4 and put the gearbox on the b16 then rebuild the b18 with the vision of turbo'ing it this time next year. Other jobs include wrapping the exhaust manifold, full suspension setup and spray the doors. The to-do list is quite large but it'll get done as and when I get time. 

 

To finish off here's a few photos from the past month and a short video, sorry for the extremely poor quality, it was recorded on my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will keep you posted on developments but I doubt much will get done before xmas, we shall see

 

Kieran

Edited by KieranB, 11 November 2013 - 08:01 AM.

[filski]

 

Hey Kieran, nice one congrats!!!

 

I just got my subframe! so cracking on with bits and bobs.

 

What are the brakes like? how does it feel without the servo? 

 

Just watched your vid bud..... its maaaaaad! Be safe though ;)

Edited by filski, 28 October 2013 - 07:45 PM.

[KieranB]

 

 

Hey Kieran, nice one congrats!!!

 

I just got my subframe! so cracking on with bits and bobs.

 

What are the brakes like? how does it feel without the servo? 

 

Just watched your vid bud..... its maaaaaad! Be safe though ;)

 

 

Hello Filski

 

The brakes are surprisingly good, I had to tweak the back drums to get them working in harmony with the wilwood bias valve, I don't really notice the lack of servo to be honest, the little bit more effort needed to move the pedal just adds to the basic motoring experience which is what I want.

 

Haha ye the last bit of the video when I'm at the top of 4th gear I nearly crashed, the corner was off camber and it caught me out a bit. I think I'm more at risk of crashing going back to my Pug, it just hasn't got the overtaking ability as the mini

 

Kieran 

[filski]

Hey Kieran,

 

Thank you, it just look much tidier without the servo and gives little bit more room by looks of thing so i might go that route as well will see (never driven anything without the Servo).

 

Also i was looking at the pics of your front end over and over and i cant figure out how noticeable the extended front end is. (I got standard round nose so wonder if i should flog it and get extended one) Im sure it looks different in real life. what your thoughts on the extended part or is not too much of a difference?

 

Yeah take it easy, as its fair amount of power in a mini ;) i love the sound, sounds like normal mini at the start and then when you floor it its sounds insane, I guess thats the vtec kicking in. (people must be like whhaaaaat)

 

Cant wait to see your progress with B18! hopefully by that time i will be closer getting the engine in.

 

Keep the updates coming ;)

 

Fil

[KieranB]

Hey Kieran,

 

Thank you, it just look much tidier without the servo and gives little bit more room by looks of thing so i might go that route as well will see (never driven anything without the Servo).

 

Also i was looking at the pics of your front end over and over and i cant figure out how noticeable the extended front end is. (I got standard round nose so wonder if i should flog it and get extended one) Im sure it looks different in real life. what your thoughts on the extended part or is not too much of a difference?

Well the extended front is a wierd one, the only way you would really notice it is by parking next to a standard mini, the extra 90mm is noticeable then. I spot it being a longer front end on some photos depending on the angle. I think the way I fitted the arches makes it difficult to notice I suppose. I was gonna try make it a standard front end in the future but I'd rather use the room to hide a turbo and intercooler  

 

Kieran

[filski]

 

Fair play will be interesting! Although turbo....? it did not look like you were lacking power hehe ;)

[johny:)]

Well done Kieran can't watch the video on my phone but will look on my PC later :)