403 replies to this topic

[mighty mini jack]

Sorry to hear about the carbs not arriving. Its a shame as i'd like to see it all assembled!

Good work though.

[AndrewJ530]

Ah okay. My bad , sorry. They look good. You're gettting quite a collection of different carbs now Jan. All you need now is some sort of webber to finish off the collection .

Yeah - probebly got somethig like a carb-fetish

Weber is actually on the 'get and try' list.

Haha. Which weber are you going for?

And to not have to change manifolds for all sorts of carbs, I bought this rare-ish beast:



Looks like a Weber manifold - but it actually is more.



Flange can easily be drilled to take SU carbs. But they need to be HIF4 (or HIF38), as the flange pattern is 'reversed' to the std. twin HS4 setup, so the float chambers would hit each other. And as you can see in the above picture, there's a conection tube between the two ports to allow fitting of the SUs (got something to do with piston rising & impulses when using twin SUs on separate ports).



It's a JanSpeed manifold - and looks like it has superb flow capabilitys, eventhough it's only 4" long! It was actually meant for Metros (to allow the Metro guys runing twin SU carbs - at least with LHD Metros the brake master cylinder get's in the way with std. twin carb manifolds). But works also on Minis of course. If I remeber right, Vizards gibves it an excellent rating. And even if there'r better flowing manifolds - if looks so tasty boobylicious - I coulnd't resist



Unfortunately the carbs I bought of eBay UK didn't arive (bougth on september 10th!!) - nor does the seller respond my mails which makes me slightly mad And they were not cheap (ok, neither very expensive - but 70 quid are 70 quid and 70 quid are much if you'r on a tight budget)... We'll see... Doesn't make sense without improved head anyways. If they don't turn up next week I'm trying to claim my money back and buy some other carbs. And look out for the tools for some porting work.

But this will take a little time and not happen before next year I guess.

Cheers,
Jan

That manifold looks brilliant. Never even heard of it before nevermind seen it. Real shame about the seller not getting the carbs to you. Are you going to try and source some more or just keep the manifold for a rainy day?

[Asphalt]

Sooooo... Long time no see! Time for an update...

That manifold looks brilliant. Never even heard of it before nevermind seen it. Real shame about the seller not getting the carbs to you. Are you going to try and source some more or just keep the manifold for a rainy day?

I didn't get the carbs in the end. But PayPal was able to get me back my money. And I ordered some alloy to make an adapter for HS carbs. HS carbs need an adaptor plate because the drilling pattern on the manifold is 'reversed'; so the float chamber would be pointing face to face - and there's obviously not enough room between the carbs. With HIF carbs it doesn't matter (float chamber on bottom of the carb). I got a RH HS4 in the meanwhile - should be ready next year.

And then I did some further research with the Metro oil/water heat exchanger. It's getting cold.

First I made a spacer out of 5mm alloy and fitted it to my 'test' engine.

It's very close, but fits even with only one gasket.




That was yesterday. So today I went to fit the exchanger to the car - and DISASTER!!

It didn't fit at all! Even with TWO gaskets in place. So went back to the test engine - fits. Back to the car - doesn't fit.
Compared teeast engine's gearbox with another gearbox under the work bench - no difference.

HMMMMM.

A closer look on the gearboxes revealed the issue. On the test engine I used a DAM2886 gearbox (A+/A- mix).
The other gearbox I looked at is a 'early' 998 gearbox, DAM5626 (A+).

In my car is a DAM5626 gearbox too. But: it's a late gearbox from an SPI. And this gearbox doesn't have a cutout for the oilfilter like the other gearboxes have. It's much smaler and with a big ridge from rough casting (the earlyer boxes have a much much smoother casting!).

Nothing a big rasp can't fix!

Now it fits fine and leaves about 0,5mm clearance between exchanger & gearbox, and about 3-4mm between subframe and oil filter. This should be sufficient with well maintained engine steadys.




No leaks after a short test drive, full oil pressure (no drop) - perfect! Water get's joined tomorrow together with the heater. I decided to be a girl and refit the heater because it's a bit too cold and the damp windows drive me nuts

Cheers,
Jan

[Asphalt]

Soo - 35% of the twin carbs done...

The adaptor plates started theyr life a siamese twins...



And after some carefull sawing & drilling they were separated to carry the twin carbs.



Not much flesh left between the Weber & SU stuf pattern.
I still need to find someone who has 4 3/8" UNC bolts with a countersunk head.
Not the most common bolt in a metric world...

Tomorrow will see some serious drilling & filing to make a 1.5" hole in the adaptor

The carbs needed a little trimming too, had to hack off a fet bits & bobs
Then they need a common choke lever and throttle lever.
I don't know yet how to convert them - the std. twin HS4 linkages are too long.
Maybe I can trim them down or make my own - I'll see. Or make a 'external' linkage like the JanSpeed setup.

And maybe it's sufficient to use only onw choke and let the two easy starting cylinders drag the other two with them.
BMW used a similar method on they'r flat engine bikes.

Anyway, they will look boobylicious once finished



Cheers,
Jan

[carboy001]

All progress Jan.

They look pretty awesome as it is now.

[Asphalt]

Hmmm - the package stated the hole saw would be suitable for metal. Well - I doubt it... It took ages to drill that stupid hole And because the drill is so old and worn i made a 39,5mm hole with a 38mm saw - cool, eh?



Because the drill overheated I could only finish one adaptor plate today... Well - roughly finish. Still needs a bit trimming to make it look at least a little beautyfull

However, the idea Weber manifold + SU carb seems to work quite well. The following picture shows a view through the manifold with carb and TWO(!) spacers fitted. Looks very promising, in terms of flow. That's much more than you can see through the runers of a Rover-Cooper manifold without a carb!



My mechanic taught me once; "the more you can look through it, the better it is!" - I hope he's right

[edit] yeah, I know... I have the fish carb. But that's now too smal for the engine, realy
I will see - I still have the SPI head... Maybe I whack together a fast 998 if I come across a cheap one.
Just for fun... 12G940, SP-VP3 cam and Fish carb.... I have my eyes open for cheap 998s ATM

Edited by Asphalt, 24 November 2009 - 07:03 PM.

[kcchan]

Does that go for mini shells aswell?

[Asphalt]

Does that go for mini shells aswell?

Fot the lightwight ones, yes

[AndrewJ530]

Sounds like it's coming along bud. You know how i feel about fish carbs so it's safe to say i can't wait to see the 998 .

[Asphalt]

Hmm - on the other hand I don't know if I could do without the 1275
It's just so much jolly good fun! In fact - I'm actually building the next 1275 ATM.

Hell - I need to convince the TÜV to register at least 3 engines with the car

Cheers,
Jan

[mighty mini jack]

Nice work there Jan, haven't spoken to you in quite a while!

How's the other head coming along?

[AndrewJ530]

Yeh, to be fair i'm supercharging a 1330 next year so i'm not one to talk about a 998 lol. I would like to make a fast 998 but the supercharger is so aluring .

Ha, will they let you register 3 engines to 1 car? lol.

[Asphalt]

Nice work there Jan, haven't spoken to you in quite a while!

How's the other head coming along?

Yeah, can't be arsed to start that messenger thingy manually since I removed it from autostart

Slowly as ever First priority is to develop the current engine a bit further. Like with the twin HS4s.

Yeh, to be fair i'm supercharging a 1330 next year so i'm not one to talk about a 998 lol. I would like to make a fast 998 but the supercharger is so aluring .

Ha, will they let you register 3 engines to 1 car? lol.

I like superchargers too! Maybe someday...

3? It was hard enough to make the one 1275 legal
But I'll ask them, there must be a way. Other people have two wheel sizes in they'r papers - why shouldn't I have two engine sizes in my papers then?

Ok, seriously: I guess there's no way... But asking wont hurt (if I run away from the engineer fast enough ).

Cheers.
Jan

[AndrewJ530]

I like superchargers too! Maybe someday...

3? It was hard enough to make the one 1275 legal
But I'll ask them, there must be a way. Other people have two wheel sizes in they'r papers - why shouldn't I have two engine sizes in my papers then?

Ok, seriously: I guess there's no way... But asking wont hurt (if I run away from the engineer fast enough ).

Cheers.
Jan

Supercharge the 998 you have planned .

Or ofcourse, have 3 minis with 1 engine each? .

[GraemeC]

Impressive manifold, I have been looking for one myself for a while but no joy yet. Annoying thing is I have the right carbs already!!