Thank you! I spend way too much time selecting music for every video. I would say 50% of the time I spend editing is just finding "the perfect song" hahaha.
I've always wanted to build an engine for my Mini myself, but having never done a complete engine rebuild for anything other than 50cc 2-stroke mopeds, I've always felt it was a bit of a daunting task. However, after watching your awesome video, I feel like I might actually be able to do it! Thanks for the awesome videos so far, looking forward to the next parts!
Great video ! Want to add something, when hitting down the piston be careful so the studs/bolts on the rod dont hit the crank, some rod makers even included a little condom/protection to have over the stud :)
The opening sequence brings back fond memories of my Mini City, what an amazingly capable little car it was. They used to be literally everywhere and it seems that they almost vanished off our streets overnight. I also had the car originally intended to replace the Mini, the Mini Metro, another fun-mobile. I shall follow your exploits with interest. Subscribed.
When you look at the elegant simplicity of that little engine first launched in 1951, you can see why it lasted almost 50 years, even if that life was extended more by lack of investment than anything else. Nissan licensed it, but rapidly developed their own version with a five bearing crank and it influenced another generation of their engines. It is such a simple little unit, and I reconditions an 1,100 cc version back in the late 1980s. I certainly didn't take as much care then, but in those days it cost almost nothing to get the parts and do the necessary machining. So simple was it, that an engine could be removed, stripped down and reinstalled in a couple of days if you had the engineering shop ready to do the machining work. In those days the wear could be enormous; the oil pump components on the engine I refurbished had grooves about a millimetre deep, and the cylinders were so worn that the pistons had a pool of oil sitting in the dished crowns, yet still the thing started first time, every time, even if it did lay down a blue haze.
Wow amazing Cole... really enjoying seeing all the top quality parts coming together. I can really see the thought process that has gone into them well done
Great Video Cole , started following you from UK 🇬🇧 and this is the first video I've watched. I will be supercharging my Mini hopefully this year so your videos will come Handy 😉. Keep the Videos coming and stay safe .
Cole - Great set of videos and you have a very good way of presenting. I have a '66 MGB which I fully restored from the ground up and which has quite a bit more horsepower than stock. One thing I have heard you refer to in this video and in one of your earlier videos is the term "cold rolled steel lifters" or "cold rolled cast iron lifters". I believe the term you may be looking for is "chilled iron lifters" as that is how I have always heard them referred to. Cold rolled is part of the steel manufacturing process whereas the chilled iron process is that the lifters are heated after they are forged and machined and then rapidly cooled. This changes the grain structure on the face of the lifters (increases the hardness of the face) and makes them longer wearing. One other thing I was also told by the guys who helped me rebuild my engine (ex-Offenhauser racing engine builders) was that you should use a Parkerized or Nitrided camshaft with chilled iron lifters. That way you have both wearing surfaces of relatively equal hardness. The ex-Offy guys said that if you put chilled iron lifters with a regular camshaft (i.e., not hardness treated), you will see accelerated wear on the cam lobes as the lifters will basically grind away the lobes. Great to see a young guy really into older British cars and keep up the good work.
Interesting. Thick flange block, solid chests, adjustable twin chain timing wheel on the cam, threads countersunk on block face, oil pump with no casting fraise on it, non standard water pump. Did you prime the oil pump with a bit of light grease, engine oil tends to drain away before your first start. I would check the thrust washers dry and then lube them as too thick a lube can give a false reading on the dti. Oh, nearly forgot. Where the dog bone engine stabiliser long bolt goes I carefully drill this out to 3/8” ( I suppose 10mm is OK) as the 5/16” one is prone to snap.
I have 3 questions? Don’t they make a Hi performance timing chain setup, so you don’t have to use a tensioner? Also don’t they make a Hi performance ALUMINIUM Head? Couldn’t you relocate that front breather ¼-1/2” over to make it easy to r&r the belt? Remarkably interesting video. Thanks
Generally speaking high lift isn’t something that is ideal for boosted builds. You’re more likely to have overlap with high lift and that can be really hard on a boosted engine. Standard ratio is the safest and most performant when paired with a boost suited camshaft.
Wow cole this thing is lovely it’s turning out great the amount of progress you got done In the episode is awesome 👏 😎 well done keep up the good work I can only think of what this beast is going to be like once done.
It's always a good idea to put a drop of engine oil into the NEW OIL pump to create suction for the first start up because the oil has quite a way to travel up the pickup pipe from the sump and oil like everything else NEVER runs uphill. Been building and rebuilding engines like these for 50 or so years and only EVER used engine oil for assembly of Crank Bearings and Piston assembly,all this special lubricant Nonsense is Bullshit and not needed. When assembling the Pistons into the bore it's best to torque up each one in turn as you fit them and then turn the Crank to see if it turns freely, if it doesn't you know immediately which one is running tight instead of having to undo each one to find out the the problem, if all the machining work is correct and the bearing are the right ones there's never a problem if their installed correctly but it's best to check as you go along. All the A-Series engines had brilliant oil pressure and that's why they lasted so long in service, the oil pumps used were great and normally would run at about 50/60 psi when hot sometimes higher depending on the engine oil used and it's Viscosity.
Back in the 60's BMC comissioned Riccardo Brothers to dieselise the A series engine for the mini van and pickup but never followed through with it. Nuffield fitted them to its mini tractor and G&M Powerplants built generators using the diesel engine. Because of the thicker flywheel the distributer drive was extended out the other side of the block and an oil pump was mounted on an extra casting on the block. The end of the camshaft was machined flat and sealed with the bellhousing plate. An extra simplex timing chain was added to drive the injector pump. Standard A series pushrods, rockers, valves and seats were used. BMC 950D engine, 948cc, 16hp. Have heard of people fitting them to Morris Minors but never seen it myself. Apparently they do crazy mpg but are quite underpowered. I know my tractor runs forever on a thimble full of diesel lol.
Great video.... Question, my 89 998 engine runs a little rough. Sometimes when I slow down and then suddenly accelerate, the engine hesitates and jerks like its staling. Any suggestions to why this is occurring?
HI! Excelent video! I am looking forward to build my 1098cc engine, do you recommend using a supercharger? Also I need to know how is it possible to put it in a stand to work, is there any adapting plate to use? Best regards!
Scary stuff with that cam lube I fell in to the same trap by putting cam lube all over the followers and in the bores and one got stuck. Tear down and rebuild after 40km and found a flattened follow because the lube was to thick and didn’t allow it to slide. Use 20-50 engine oil in the holes and cam lube only of the follower cam face.
Cole, Great video the engine looks the nuts, What do you think the HP & Torque will be. Will you be checking and setting the engine up on a rolling road. I am so impressed that Paul got mine HP & Torque almost the same. Cheers Dave
Thanks Dave! My goal is 150hp but I will be happy with anything over 100 honestly. I will 100% be getting this on a dyno when I get it all buttoned up and back in the car.
Hi you called this an A- engine now the a series engine in the mini came in 850cc , 998cc and cooper S's 970cc ,1071cc and 1275 you appear to have a 1275 GT engine from a clubman if memory serves when the clubman appeared that's when they moved away from tappet chest covers. Anyway the point is what engine is it cc wise as an aside if anyone wants to have a very revy engine you want the 970cc as it is a square engine which can be made to rev in the high 9's. but they are as rare as hen's teeth.
great vid! I noticed you didn't use any gasket sealer on your gaskets. do you ever have problems with oil leaks? do you use sealer on the block to gearbox gaskets?
I'm somewhat surprised to see you opening a fresh set of main bearings after the crank has been ground. It is usual practice to supply the bearings, caps and the block to the machine shop to they can match the crank grind to the bearings for the correct clearance. If you were building a shopping car, it would not matter - anything within standard tolerances will do. But for a performance build I think you need to have matched components.
This is a bespoke camshaft from VMAXSCART. He has a contact nearby him that actually grinds their own cams. It a relatively high lift cam though but with the EFI setup, it will do a good job of normalizing the idle and not making it weird to drive daily!
Hi Cole, great start to assembling the supercharged build! Question... Did you have to set No1 piston at tdc before putting on and aligning the timing gear?
@@classicminidiy OK, cool, I thought that was the case, as I'm re-watching another engine build by Bill Sollis and was sure he said the same thing. Also be interested in seeing how much the build will cost as I'd like to do the same 😊
For the supercharged setup I ran a billet cam made by vmaxscart and he sold a profile to match the boost level I was targetting however, I no longer have the supercharger anymore and I am running an Avonbar Phase 2 Cam now.
@@classicminidiy thanks. I have the Vmaxscart EFI currently on my stock SPI. I already had plans to rebuild my engine this winter. But I wanted to get the SC on my stock engine to see how it does. So far its a blast. But with the stock SPI cam I can expel the boost fast enough and its impacting my overall HP potential. Also my tuner is afraid that if I maintain hi revs for too long that the boost build up will create a too much additional heat. I am currently doing research on head and cam configurations. Lots to learn about EFI and forced induction. Loving the learning curve. At the end of the day i will probably go with Stuart's set up.
why wouldnt you touch the big end bearings with your fingers ,,, and why do you put the pistons in dry ,, a taste of engine oil on them and you dont need to beat them in , they will push down smoothly , if they dont your too tight on the ring compressor .
It was something I was taught when I was training to be a diesel mechanic. Any chance you can avoid introducing contaminants to the bearing you should do so. Small things even the size of a human hair can cause premature wear and damage to the journals. I do actually line the bores of the block with some engine oil or graphite lubricate I forgot to show/mention in this video.
@@classicminidiy its a new one on me ,,, but no harm I guess , I normally use oily hands when putting bearings in , and have never had issues ,,, to be hones I didnt even know there was such a thing as cam lube ,,, always been a smear of 90 ep ,, best I go buy some .... thanks t
Hi so while I like the topic because I love the a-series motor your engine build is poor. The first thing to install on the a-series motor are the cam followers. Well lubed and with the crankshaft out the way clear access. Then the camshaft to hold the followers in place. The crank and pistons are fitted. The oil pump needs to be filled with oil or engine lube. Never and I mean never fit an oil pump dry. What fitting an oil pump allows is the quick building of oil pressure on the initial start up.
Hey Phil, the Main Caps are a different torque spec and its different depending on your bolt/stud type. Always refer to the Haynes manual to get accurate specs or you can check out my website with those same torque specs. classicminidiy.com/technical/torque
I did not mention these things because they are not concerns on this engine. Ring manufacturing has come a long way since these engines were new. If you are needing to file the edges of your rings you need to be getting rings from another supplier.
Cole, another amazing video. Extremely informative, and excellent selection of music.
Thank you! I spend way too much time selecting music for every video. I would say 50% of the time I spend editing is just finding "the perfect song" hahaha.
I've always wanted to build an engine for my Mini myself, but having never done a complete engine rebuild for anything other than 50cc 2-stroke mopeds, I've always felt it was a bit of a daunting task. However, after watching your awesome video, I feel like I might actually be able to do it! Thanks for the awesome videos so far, looking forward to the next parts!
im always amazed how small these engines are. you really see it when youre working on them hahaha
Great video ! Want to add something, when hitting down the piston be careful so the studs/bolts on the rod dont hit the crank, some rod makers even included a little condom/protection to have over the stud :)
Another video to return to later! Really super helpful as always!
GREAT VIDEO BE SAFE THOUGH GREAT VIDEO! YOU DO GREAT WORK!! THANKS 🙂
Thank you!
Loving the progress on this. Keep it up, I dream of supercharging mine 🤣
That music has an art deco feel to it. Sounds very Bertie Wooster, dontcha know. :-)
:-) I love this kind of music. Its sometimes referred to as "electro-swing". It's definitely in my top 3 types of music.
The opening sequence brings back fond memories of my Mini City, what an amazingly capable little car it was.
They used to be literally everywhere and it seems that they almost vanished off our streets overnight.
I also had the car originally intended to replace the Mini, the Mini Metro, another fun-mobile.
I shall follow your exploits with interest. Subscribed.
They didn't 'disappear', they rusted into oblivion...
When you look at the elegant simplicity of that little engine first launched in 1951, you can see why it lasted almost 50 years, even if that life was extended more by lack of investment than anything else. Nissan licensed it, but rapidly developed their own version with a five bearing crank and it influenced another generation of their engines.
It is such a simple little unit, and I reconditions an 1,100 cc version back in the late 1980s. I certainly didn't take as much care then, but in those days it cost almost nothing to get the parts and do the necessary machining. So simple was it, that an engine could be removed, stripped down and reinstalled in a couple of days if you had the engineering shop ready to do the machining work.
In those days the wear could be enormous; the oil pump components on the engine I refurbished had grooves about a millimetre deep, and the cylinders were so worn that the pistons had a pool of oil sitting in the dished crowns, yet still the thing started first time, every time, even if it did lay down a blue haze.
Yes, huge amount of work was done. Looking forward next episode with or without Covid-19. Take good care of you all.
Thanks Luiz. Hopefully WITHOUT covid-19 hahaha.
Good job bro! Great vid can't wait to see the next one. Coming staight from Greece!!!
Thanks so much!
Wow amazing Cole... really enjoying seeing all the top quality parts coming together. I can really see the thought process that has gone into them well done
Thanks Alex. Yeah lots and lots of nights spent obsessing over choices.
@@classicminidiy can see Cole but it's really coming together now
As you have gone into such depth of instruction why wouldn't you clean the bearing caps before installation?
Great Video Cole , started following you from UK 🇬🇧 and this is the first video I've watched. I will be supercharging my Mini hopefully this year so your videos will come Handy 😉.
Keep the Videos coming and stay safe .
Thanks so much for watching and I appreciate the kind words.
Hi Cole, exciting stuff......love shiney engines!
Cole - Great set of videos and you have a very good way of presenting. I have a '66 MGB which I fully restored from the ground up and which has quite a bit more horsepower than stock. One thing I have heard you refer to in this video and in one of your earlier videos is the term "cold rolled steel lifters" or "cold rolled cast iron lifters". I believe the term you may be looking for is "chilled iron lifters" as that is how I have always heard them referred to. Cold rolled is part of the steel manufacturing process whereas the chilled iron process is that the lifters are heated after they are forged and machined and then rapidly cooled. This changes the grain structure on the face of the lifters (increases the hardness of the face) and makes them longer wearing. One other thing I was also told by the guys who helped me rebuild my engine (ex-Offenhauser racing engine builders) was that you should use a Parkerized or Nitrided camshaft with chilled iron lifters. That way you have both wearing surfaces of relatively equal hardness. The ex-Offy guys said that if you put chilled iron lifters with a regular camshaft (i.e., not hardness treated), you will see accelerated wear on the cam lobes as the lifters will basically grind away the lobes. Great to see a young guy really into older British cars and keep up the good work.
Nice work. Very similar to mine building now. I’m curious what the output will be. Thanks fir a great video series.
Nice job Cole.
Thank you!
Not sandles, Chinese safety boots!
Interesting. Thick flange block, solid chests, adjustable twin chain timing wheel on the cam, threads countersunk on block face, oil pump with no casting fraise on it, non standard water pump. Did you prime the oil pump with a bit of light grease, engine oil tends to drain away before your first start. I would check the thrust washers dry and then lube them as too thick a lube can give a false reading on the dti.
Oh, nearly forgot. Where the dog bone engine stabiliser long bolt goes I carefully drill this out to 3/8” ( I suppose 10mm is OK) as the 5/16” one is prone to snap.
I believe you can mail your center cap to MED and they can machine it and supply the cross brace.
Nicely done
Thank you!
Great job
Thank you Raj!
I have 3 questions? Don’t they make a Hi performance timing chain setup, so you don’t have to use a tensioner? Also don’t they make a Hi performance ALUMINIUM Head? Couldn’t you relocate that front breather ¼-1/2” over to make it easy to r&r the belt? Remarkably interesting video. Thanks
also, forgot to ask. why 1.3 rockers vs 1.5? Was that just the spec that Stuart recommended with his cam?
Generally speaking high lift isn’t something that is ideal for boosted builds. You’re more likely to have overlap with high lift and that can be really hard on a boosted engine. Standard ratio is the safest and most performant when paired with a boost suited camshaft.
Wow cole this thing is lovely it’s turning out great the amount of progress you got done In the episode is awesome 👏 😎 well done keep up the good work I can only think of what this beast is going to be like once done.
Thank you!!
Classic Mini DIY Yourwelcome loving the content
Nice video
Thanks Graham!
what happened to measuring the bearing clearances and i dont mean plastigage cause that isnt accurate , i can keep going on this
It's always a good idea to put a drop of engine oil into the NEW OIL pump to create suction for the first start up because the oil has quite a way to travel up the pickup pipe from the sump and oil like everything else NEVER runs uphill. Been building and rebuilding engines like these for 50 or so years and only EVER used engine oil for assembly of Crank Bearings and Piston assembly,all this special lubricant Nonsense is Bullshit and not needed. When assembling the Pistons into the bore it's best to torque up each one in turn as you fit them and then turn the Crank to see if it turns freely, if it doesn't you know immediately which one is running tight instead of having to undo each one to find out the the problem, if all the machining work is correct and the bearing are the right ones there's never a problem if their installed correctly but it's best to check as you go along. All the A-Series engines had brilliant oil pressure and that's why they lasted so long in service, the oil pumps used were great and normally would run at about 50/60 psi when hot sometimes higher depending on the engine oil used and it's Viscosity.
Back in the 60's BMC comissioned Riccardo Brothers to dieselise the A series engine for the mini van and pickup but never followed through with it. Nuffield fitted them to its mini tractor and G&M Powerplants built generators using the diesel engine. Because of the thicker flywheel the distributer drive was extended out the other side of the block and an oil pump was mounted on an extra casting on the block. The end of the camshaft was machined flat and sealed with the bellhousing plate. An extra simplex timing chain was added to drive the injector pump. Standard A series pushrods, rockers, valves and seats were used. BMC 950D engine, 948cc, 16hp. Have heard of people fitting them to Morris Minors but never seen it myself. Apparently they do crazy mpg but are quite underpowered. I know my tractor runs forever on a thimble full of diesel lol.
Great video.... Question, my 89 998 engine runs a little rough. Sometimes when I slow down and then suddenly accelerate, the engine hesitates and jerks like its staling. Any suggestions to why this is occurring?
No checking bearing clearances??? Ok buddy, your engine.
HI! Excelent video! I am looking forward to build my 1098cc engine, do you recommend using a supercharger? Also I need to know how is it possible to put it in a stand to work, is there any adapting plate to use? Best regards!
I have a question for you. When installing the oil slinger on the back end of the crank does the dished side go toward the block or the trans?
The oil slinger has a small F on the washer which I mention in this video. If the F is backwards, the slinger is on backwards.
Scary stuff with that cam lube I fell in to the same trap by putting cam lube all over the followers and in the bores and one got stuck. Tear down and rebuild after 40km and found a flattened follow because the lube was to thick and didn’t allow it to slide. Use 20-50 engine oil in the holes and cam lube only of the follower cam face.
How much boost does the super charger give and what make of super charger is it
is the deck smooth or is the pitting something else?
Cole, Great video the engine looks the nuts, What do you think the HP & Torque will be. Will you be checking and setting the
engine up on a rolling road. I am so impressed that Paul got mine HP & Torque almost the same. Cheers Dave
Thanks Dave! My goal is 150hp but I will be happy with anything over 100 honestly. I will 100% be getting this on a dyno when I get it all buttoned up and back in the car.
Hi you called this an A- engine now the a series engine in the mini came in 850cc , 998cc and cooper S's 970cc ,1071cc and 1275 you appear to have a 1275 GT engine from a clubman if memory serves when the clubman appeared that's when they moved away from tappet chest covers. Anyway the point is what engine is it cc wise as an aside if anyone wants to have a very revy engine you want the 970cc as it is a square engine which can be made to rev in the high 9's. but they are as rare as hen's teeth.
What camshaft are you using thanks
Hi Cole, ¿where did you get that Ac Dodd oil pump? What’s the price? Regards!
I got it from AC Dodd on Facebook. He has no website. I have his Facebook linked in my description on this video though. 👍🏼 I forget the price
great vid! I noticed you didn't use any gasket sealer on your gaskets. do you ever have problems with oil leaks? do you use sealer on the block to gearbox gaskets?
Hey thanks! The video doesn’t show it well but I def use gasket sealer on basically every gasket except the head gasket and the oil pump gasket. 👍🏼
@@classicminidiy cool. why not the oil pump gasket?
It has a tendency to chew up the gasket sealer that smooshes out when you tighten it on. Then gums up the pickup, oil feeds, etc
I'm somewhat surprised to see you opening a fresh set of main bearings after the crank has been ground. It is usual practice to supply the bearings, caps and the block to the machine shop to they can match the crank grind to the bearings for the correct clearance. If you were building a shopping car, it would not matter - anything within standard tolerances will do. But for a performance build I think you need to have matched components.
After the crank has been ground? At 4:16 he said there was no cutting or polishing of the crankshaft.
Hi Cole, sure you may have mentioned this before... but what cam are you using in this build?
This is a bespoke camshaft from VMAXSCART. He has a contact nearby him that actually grinds their own cams. It a relatively high lift cam though but with the EFI setup, it will do a good job of normalizing the idle and not making it weird to drive daily!
Hi Cole, great start to assembling the supercharged build! Question... Did you have to set No1 piston at tdc before putting on and aligning the timing gear?
Thank you and yes definitely. I sped through it in this video cause I’ve covered it before in a previous episode but that’s the first thing you do.
@@classicminidiy OK, cool, I thought that was the case, as I'm re-watching another engine build by Bill Sollis and was sure he said the same thing. Also be interested in seeing how much the build will cost as I'd like to do the same 😊
bit of a glaring error really. and failing to mention the point is two glaring errors
what cam are you using in this build?
For the supercharged setup I ran a billet cam made by vmaxscart and he sold a profile to match the boost level I was targetting however, I no longer have the supercharger anymore and I am running an Avonbar Phase 2 Cam now.
@@classicminidiy thanks. I have the Vmaxscart EFI currently on my stock SPI. I already had plans to rebuild my engine this winter. But I wanted to get the SC on my stock engine to see how it does. So far its a blast. But with the stock SPI cam I can expel the boost fast enough and its impacting my overall HP potential. Also my tuner is afraid that if I maintain hi revs for too long that the boost build up will create a too much additional heat. I am currently doing research on head and cam configurations. Lots to learn about EFI and forced induction. Loving the learning curve. At the end of the day i will probably go with Stuart's set up.
Oh no, i just happened upon this and was so looking forward to the series .... Then i seen he had sandles on. No!!! I'm out.
I know I’m the worst.
Just wanna add to my previous response. This dudes right I need some close toed shoes! I’m being dumb.
Living life on the edge..... I cant handle it 😂😂 still watching btw.
It's sad that classic minis are so damn expensive here in France
:-(
why wouldnt you touch the big end bearings with your fingers ,,, and why do you put the pistons in dry ,, a taste of engine oil on them and you dont need to beat them in , they will push down smoothly , if they dont your too tight on the ring compressor .
It was something I was taught when I was training to be a diesel mechanic. Any chance you can avoid introducing contaminants to the bearing you should do so. Small things even the size of a human hair can cause premature wear and damage to the journals. I do actually line the bores of the block with some engine oil or graphite lubricate I forgot to show/mention in this video.
@@classicminidiy its a new one on me ,,, but no harm I guess , I normally use oily hands when putting bearings in , and have never had issues ,,, to be hones I didnt even know there was such a thing as cam lube ,,, always been a smear of 90 ep ,, best I go buy some .... thanks t
Hi so while I like the topic because I love the a-series motor your engine build is poor. The first thing to install on the a-series motor are the cam followers. Well lubed and with the crankshaft out the way clear access. Then the camshaft to hold the followers in place. The crank and pistons are fitted. The oil pump needs to be filled with oil or engine lube. Never and I mean never fit an oil pump dry.
What fitting an oil pump allows is the quick building of oil pressure on the initial start up.
Cole, I watched you torquing the big ends to 35 but missed you torquing the main bearings. We’re they also to the same?
Hey Phil, the Main Caps are a different torque spec and its different depending on your bolt/stud type. Always refer to the Haynes manual to get accurate specs or you can check out my website with those same torque specs. classicminidiy.com/technical/torque
I really like how people are saying you are doing a great job. YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG hear why rod & main are to be on first then you ck and play.
Only 12 thousandths? How "little" boost are you planning on putting through this engine?
12 thou is the recommended spec for this bore diameter and setup.
You make no mention of having no piston ring gaps on the thrust face or filing the edge of the rings to prevent scratching the bores.
I did not mention these things because they are not concerns on this engine. Ring manufacturing has come a long way since these engines were new. If you are needing to file the edges of your rings you need to be getting rings from another supplier.
Classic Mini
I have carried out that procedure on every race engine I’ve worked on from A series to Ford BDA.