Ivan and John have made massive progress on the 1959 Mini. This video focusses on the engine work and implementing the appropriate modifications. Plus SHED fan, Brian visits the Shed with a NOS Speedwell head.
This is pure gold. Brings back so many memories of late nights in the shed years ago, doing the same experimentation and theory just for a few BHP. Wonderful to listen to and watch. Thank you all.
thanks as always Ivan Jhon and Tanya , and Brian your guest at the end there what a cracking episode , i recently lost my uncle who i used to share your latest video with , i would send him a email and the link and we would have a good old chat about it the next week when i generally used to see him , he watched some of the videos over and over again , he was an electronics engineer but would turn his hands to most things doing as good a job as he could and the knowledge he gained from talking to guys like you Ivan was immense he always said to me listen and ask cause you don't know it all and never will , thanks again in loving memory of Christopher Avery
Please can we get John out on some of your test drives? He works hard, so it would be nice to see you both enjoying the fruits of your labour together.... 🙂
I remember Chris Smith from many years ago when he used to race MG midgets before he started the Westfield company, he had a little garage in green street Smethwick in those days, real nice bloke !
Fantastic video Ivan. Always great to watch John and yourself in the workshop. Everyone needs a Brian in their life with rare new old stock parts! Best wishes, Dean.
Also if you’re grinding the bucket shims on an E-type head to achieve the correct clearance to the cam lobes, ( an extremely tedious job ) it’s important to tap-in all of the valve stem collets first, to ensure they are all settled home before grinding the shims to the exact clearance.
With these basic "A" series engines dating back to late 40,s,early 50,s the devil is very much in the detail! When I hillclimbed/raced Minis in the early 70,s we used to spend a lot of time on the head/carb/manifold-exhaust matching process & it paid dividends.Some people would just throw whatever tuning stuff was then available at the motor without really understanding the fudamentals of gas-flowing etc & then wonder why the car would,nt go! Wonder if you can still get Speewell rockers;these were the dog,s b.............s at the time! All the best.
love all old thing you do on the eng. some are the things i did back in the 60's 64 to 68 i started at 11 yr old no money on big tools. we work on mines racers
It might be a good idea before relieving the edge of the head around the exhaust valve part of the combustion chamber , to make sure it is not exposing part of the head gasket.Very much enjoy seeing you 'mucking about' ( In the nicest possible way!!) I am still doing a bit myself here in France with a '58 Panhard. Best wishes to you both.
Oh my ! The memories of doing all this in my garage ( usually freezing cold 🥶) in the late 60s on my 998 cc mini ! David Vizard book open at the relevant page ! Next thing you know it’s 2am and you’ve got work in the morning !!!!!
I would always use a tubular long centre branch manifold, you can buy them for under a £100 and they just sound so much better, I used to do my valves in a similar way with the electric drill held in a clamp using but used grinding wheels acquired from the factory where I was an apprentice, everything else spot on for mini tuning in the 60’s, also we would use a 649 or 731 camshaft back in the day but I expect Swiftune and Kent now have something better.
I am so glad I came across your channel love it your all such great people and always make me smile . Suck a gentle man too . What knowledge Ivan has and stories are great too . Such a character 👍👍
You brought back happy memories of the first A series I rebuilt, at my mother’s insistence, in a corner of the kitchen as it was warm and dry. It’s had been a GPO van, so massively dished pistons which I swapped for standard CR. Happy days indeed.
Love it! Reminds me of when I wedged a Mini crank using a hacksaw, file and angle grinder in the shed. Minimal cost, but took a bit of time (and sore arms).
Use 'Millers Classic 20W50 Mineral' high zinc (ZDDP) oil in that Mini engine Ivan, it's formulated for older type flat tappet engines, whatever you do don't use a modern full synthetic oil or you might get scuffing between the cam and followers leading to early failure. I like your show and especially your attitude my friend, I think you and I are very much alike in many ways (including age), Roland, HT Racing Ltd
Proper gas flowing, I did this to my Reliant 850cc engine and it felt it had a bit more ginger up the exhaust, just revvier and livelier. My grandfather taught me how to do both the inlet and exhaust valves, polishing the inlets, matching the manifold to the inlet and exhaust ports, even today lies the knowledge of making ones own head gaskets out of copper sheets and how to anneal them to make then do the cutting, anneal once more then work harden with a quench, slap in between the two gaskets a liberal dollop of high melting point grease and torque the bugger down... job done :D
Great episode, thanks team! I loved all the little tips. Maybe we need some better close ups next time, it wasn’t always easy to see, but we knew what you meant. Can’t wait for the next episode!
Mr. Dutton, have you ever tried having your exhaust manifolds Cerakoted?!? There are three benefits: 1) The ceramic coating locks the heat in the exhaust passage for higher pressure = faster flow, 2) rust proofing and 3) heat insulation for adjacent components. The most effective method now seems to be coating the exhaust both internally and externally. I’ve even seen a race engine builder who ceramic coats his piston crowns…
I did that in the 1980s, a man was introducing it from the US. We tried it on most bits - manifolds, valves, piston crowns etc - took the car to the rolling road, having tested it beforehand and it didn't make any more power but the bloke couldn't believe that we had to keep adjusting the carbs to weaken it off. From a fuel economy point of view think it is a very good idea but if I could get the cast iron manifold done easily and cheaply I'd consider it
Another fantastic edition .That Speedwell head is a true 5* gold-dust item !.Interesting hearing Brian over the powder blue carpet being unable to find a quality replacement .My Austin Seven is Surf Blue and as he says , it is impossible to source carpet in that subtle shade of blue and would be interested to know if it is ever reproduced as original. .
Shed racing is more entertaining than the TV car channels. This is proper engineering reality stuff, not people with seemingly only a very basic understanding having to dress up and make a pantomime of the programme in an attempt to pad it out. As an amateur engineer I say that I just keep on bodging till everything cancels out and it works. I was very happy to see Ivan making little adjustments to the shape of the edges of exhaust valves, just like I have done on the engines I’ve rebuilt over the years.
don't forget we don't have a producer - it is just John and me - and Tanya filming - we're focussed on getting things done, not stunts ..... unless it is me driving around the field like a loonie
Great series of videos, it's one of the high spots of the week. In the late 1970s my mate used to build minis with a 1275 head and 1100 long stroke bottom end to produce a 1430. I know that the original minis are fantastic, but these were superb. How about that as a next project Ivan?
The heart shape combustion chamber is the most perfect shape for ohv engine GM have perfected it so good on the LS and LT range of v8 engines they can run high compression on supercharged applications ie fast burn chambers
Ivan, although the step is in the 'right direction' on the manifold / head junction, note that when the gasses tumble over a sharp edge into a larger bore, turbulence will result. This is why sharp edged tailgates on estate cars get so dirty due to turbulence at the exit. Suggest you bellmouth the inlet manifold to ease the transition to the larger bore in the head.
i have a january 1960 mini which is basically a 59 (almost all the '59' features) and its lightly period modified. rally suspension cones, hilos, a 998 engine built similar to yours and a hybrid magic wand box with A+ gearset. it seems completely original. much more fun and practical to drive. goes like a rocket. i still have the 850 engine on a shelf if its ever needed but visually you can't really tell the difference. i also have 7" cooper s discs on the front. the single leading shoe drums were totally useless. still got them on the shelf though. i think its the best of both worlds.
sounds like a very good car - I've also got a set of later gears, which I wasn't sure if they would fit in the old gearbox but as it happens, the gearbox is magnesium, so don't want to meddle with that - they only produced magnesium gearboxes for 2 months
I kept my 850 and gearbox complete, never rebuilt. I used another magic wand box on the 998. It needs some machining to fit the gears. There is guy who operates under the name ‘VG gear’ who builds these ‘hybrid’ boxes. Stock gears are not good for a torquey engine - first is way too short so you end up with a 3 speed and too much spacing from 2 to 3. The Dunlop aquajet tyres are another incredible addition. Amazing grip and look original….
Used to do minis in the 60's and 70's. Did the same trick with valves in a pillar drill but with a carborundum stone. Liked the 1071 S bored out as short stroke and turned a few revs, those were the days!!
I am glad you said you never put hardened seats in anything. I never have either and I have never had any trouble after many many thousands of miles in all of my classics. I think hardened valve seats are a bit like climate change - a load of old cobblers.
Ivan great videos for a young chap. Question mate you sure about 60 thousand of the head that’s quite a bit yeh? What do you think compression is going to be? Then your talking about a different cam? That mini is going to sound really good mate. I really enjoy your old Bloke’s “infusiazem”. You sure you didn’t work on those minis in the original Italian job. You are a diamond Ivan. I truly hope I’m still working on old bangers at your age. That video with you driving that old A40 getting the cobwebs out. I must of watched that video 10 times because it was truly brilliant. Thanks a million for sharing. I’d say your channel is in my top list. Besides, Pete and is bus. Cheers Ivan
no don't forget we are doing this as ' a bloke in a shed, with only an electric drill' - there are a million things we could have done to really finesse it - this one we want to get done and done in a way anyone can do it
Do you equalise the volume of the chambers in the heads when you modify them? I did on my Riley since I had to measure them to work out the compression ratio and it seemed like them all being the same wouldn't hurt if I was grinding them all anyway. And do you set the piston ring gaps to not line up when you assemble the engine. That one never made sense to me as 1. the gaps are so small and the combustions so fast having gaps lined up won't really matter and 2. the rings rotate anyway so never stay in the place you put them (which is why 2 stroke ones are pinned). Fascinating to see what you do based on what you know works. Most helpful.
if we were doing this very seriously, we would equalise the volume of the chambers - but this is a 'Shed' job so we're not obsessing about such detail. With regard to the piston ring gaps, we always make sure they are NOT lined up. Once I took a BMW 2002 turbo to bits - it had just been worked on by someone else but was smoking - the only thing we could find wrong was the gaps were lined up. We moved them all round, deglazed the bores and hey presto NO SMOKE
@@shed_racing I guess the tricky thing building engines is to really know if and how much the details matter would be to build two engines exactly the same, at the same time, one with a particular detail and one without and dyno them, at the same time. It's always hard to know if the little tweaks I do make any difference or if it's just wishful thinking! That's why it's so useful to see what someone with actual practical experience does.
Ivan, I think I’m right in saying the early engines only used the little o ring valve stem oil seals. I don’t remember even having the sprung valve stem oil seals on the early heads, so I’m just slightly concerned using both types on one stem will starve the valve guides of oil…..
@@shed_racing true. Seizure is more of a risk if they ere new and tight, so you should be ok. However, lng term they would accelerate the valve guides wear to oval but as you’ve said Ivan this motor won’t be doing much mileage..
What you are doing is lessening the compression ratio removing metal from the valve area i don't think you can make it up by just skimmimg the head or am i wrong ?.love all your videos thank you
You are correct about the issue David but fortunately skimming the head is normally sufficient to compensate. Ultimately it’s important to have a high compression ratio but actually this is normally calculated to produce the required chambers volume using a calibrated pipettes and a perspex plate.
Question and i dont know how true. I was told that the intake manifold needs to be ideally rough (casting) to create turbulence and therefor a good mix. Smooth intake on head side. Opinion Ivor? regards, Paul
When it's this shiny, it's a shame to hide it all. Aquaplane inlet manifold, no idea they did mini bits,just Ford but then every man and his dog did stuff for the mini, learn something new every day. Nice to get it on the road against a good Imp, not a sport, that would be cheating🙂
@@shed_racing FWE Nuts and washers are the same.😉 You should try one, great bit of fun, if they have 60+ hp. I.e. the same work your doing to the mini.
😂😂😂 great bit of workshop reality mistakes are made you don’t need to change components all the time check them and reuse love what your doing with this mini I started my apprenticeship in 1969 found my indentures at mums when we were emptying her house We used to strip and repair starter motors and fix stuff would you believe it 😂😂😂
I have an old TVR Grantura 1800BMC engine and will be doing something similar it’s supposed to be the only one tuned by a company called Viking performance in Suffolk in the 60s I’m trying to find any info on it if you or any of your followers know of them 🙏🏻
My 2004 Civic SI hatchback is pretty much the 21st century version of a Mini with few unmodified ones left. Newer hatchbacks are just like everything else, too big, too complicated, too heavy, and not enough smiles per mile.
I noticed that you fitted 4 'top hat' valve stem seals in addition to the 'O' ring seals is that correct for an early mini? According to a couple of workshop manuals I have and the minispares website, the top hat stem seals were fitted to later cars. I have a 63 Austin Cooper and have only fitted the O ring type which I believe to be correct for an early car. Very interesting restoration and most enjoyable to watch 👍
I think 75 mil will be to much , I did the same many tears ago 50 th off th head wii giv 10 to 1 compresion then grind the chamber out down to 9 to1 OK
yes we've discussed this. Tania does some great work for us, but her English is not yet perfect and my English is not BBC standard - and apparently I jump about too much, which I am going to try and moderate. BUT it is so exciting
