Midas Cars Forum - www.midascarsforum.com

I've removed the head from the block, piece of cake: I have no idea why these parts are so expensive, don't look very exotic to me.

Can anyone advise me on which sockets I must use for the flywheel bolt and crankshaft pulley nut? I don't have that large sockets, so I need to go to the shop tomorrow. The flywheel bolt measures 38,2mm or 1 1/2 inch from side to side. Is this then 1 1/2 inch size? The nut of the crankshaft pulley measures 30mm or 1 3/16 inch from side to side. Can this be a 30mm nut or is an imperial size as well?

Also I need to get the valves out, I was thinking of buying a a large woodclamp and rework it slightly. Or does anyone have a better idea?

Hans the flywheel bolt is just that - 1 1/2 inches. It's good if you get a deep socket as this will double up for doing Mini balljoints The crankshaft pulley bolt should be 1 5/16" - same as the steering wheel retaining bolt on a Mini

Also a proper valve spring compressor will save you a LOT of time and effort. Any of the big tool companies or Mini Spares suppliers should be able to help for about 20 Euros.

Hope this helps.

chamber shape on head is definitely modified and the pistons look like they have a deeper dish than standard (which it should have on a turbo to get compression down)

The pistons look like 18cc jobbies and the head chambers look similiar to M.E.Ds old design turbo head which was pretty much a rip off of the VMAX turbo head. I only know this cos my cousin had a turbo setup from them.....(never again though as he said it was overpriced crap). I took his word as he was a Jaguar F1 engineer so doesn't cut corners when building things up

I didn't want to spend a fortune on a valve clamp, since it's easy to make one yourself from a wood clamp. Just 5 euro for the right size one. I sleeved the head and presto!

Nice one Hans, perfect for an A-series

very novel

Update.
Finally I got my special tools, flywheel puller, sockets (the crankshaft pully nut was indeed a 30mm on my engine, something MED does apparently) etc so I was able to split the engine and gearbox.
Here are a few pics:
First I removed the crankshaft pulley and chain cover, revealing a pretty duplex chain Then I turned my attention to the flywheel. I used a spanner to keep the flywheel in its position:
To my surprise it was hardly torqued.

Then the flywheel with my sturdy secondhand puller (Ebay, 8.50 pounds) Same story, very easy to get off the shaft. The AP racing clutch plate was almost new, so that can be reused.

The noisy straight cut drop gears look like new, they should fetch some serious money: After splitting the engine and gearbox, I checked both. The crankshaft had visible and audible play. It clanked when moved fore and aft.Not good, but no surprise. For the rest no visible damage The gearbox looked worse. A few gears have damaged teeth and there is some shrapnel on the bottom of the gearbox. Perhaps this one needs to get an overhaul.I have to discuss this with my Mini garage: Next week I bring the parts to the Mini garage and then start to redo the doors of my Midas with a new paint system (alu pint system for the frames)and new seals. Then I'll attack the front suspension. This week I received a complete set of polyurethane bushes (just 80 pounds via Ebay) and new Spax dampers (170 euro including shipment) . Hopefully I'll have it done when the engine comes back. I can't wait to have it on the road again. It will be awesome.

Yesterday I brought my engine in parts to the Mini specialist for overhaul. But it seems this MED FIS (forced induction standard) head is not suited for skimming due to the shape of the chamber, so I may have to get a new head built. On itself no problem, the MED FIS head is new 885 pounds, so if I sell it for half it should be enough for a refurbished head with money to spare. Also the oil pump was heavily grooved and the previous owner had installed a Kent 266 camshaft but hadn't renewed the cam followers. Result was heavy pitting of the cam followers and probably a shot camshaft (have yet to check). Axial play of the crank shaft wasn't that bad, although it needs to be ground because of damage to the thrust flanges. When the mechanic removed the central strap he found pieces of copper. This turned out to be pieces of the bearing surface that had broken in small pieces. It seems 14 psi turbopresure may be a bit too much for these blocks.

July 2011 I brought the engine to the engine builder. Yesterday I got it back. It was a long wait but it looks perfect to me. I hope to have it coming Friday in the car. Today I intend to finish and install the new instrument cluster (now with KM's on the speed dial!).




Close up of the timing ring with sensor: