V8

[abri]

I made the mistake of posting a lot of the updates on this car in the introduction section. I hope you don't mind me re-posting it here where it actually belongs. 
 
So the name of the car "V8" comes from an Afrikaans joke about repeated removal of an engine ("wee® uit"), which sums up my first year of ownership of this car. When I bought it in August 2014 it was running poorly due to a badly fitting exhaust manifold fouling the inlet and preventing it from sealing on the gasket. Once I got that sorted out I discovered that it smoked and used A LOT of oil as soon as you started going over about 45mph. So, I pulled the engine out to clean up the engine and bay slightly at the same time as having the head cleaned up and new stem seals fitted. Put the lot back together....smoke! I then realized the problems were more serious and took it out again for a proper strip down and check. The bores were at +0.020" and it had +0.020" BMC pistons fitted, which was interesting because I have a reliable history that the engine had never been opened apart from the head being skimmed before in 1979. 

Sourcing rings for the old 4 ring BMC pistons was a struggle which I overcame with the assistance of a local contact who can sniff out old stock. However, they sets of rings he could get were only 3 ring sets. I bought two sets so I could make up a 4 ring set of the correct size and thickness. Long story short, put the motor together and.....smoke!
 
This brings me up to the start of this thread....the engine "wee uit" (3rd time lucky), and options reconsidered: 
Here is the car as I bought it - 1967 Morris Cooper S 1275

 
Work done to the motor: 
Crank cut +0.010"on mains
Crank re-nitrided (after 10thou the hardest part of the case hardening is off)
Crank straightened and crack tested (it warped during plasma nitriding, apparently not completely unusual)
Crank, flywheel/clutch assembly and crank pulley balanced
Rods balanced
Block line bored
Block sleeved to std (after a long fruitless search for +0.020 rings for the original BMC pistons that were in there)
NOS BMC four ring pistons std
ACL trimetal main & big end bearings
Cam bearings
Core plugs
Full gasket set
BK450 head gasket
Minispares EVO AEG410 oil pump
 
The gearbox received some minor attention as well:
New Minispares laygear + bearings
New 3rd motion bearing
Center oil pickup
 
This little lot has added up to an eye-watering amount but we're assembling it tomorrow!! 
 
I plan to find an unmolested GTS head and do some porting, gasflow and nice seats for this motor. It is unfortunate that I had to sleeve it back, but the reasons for it is a long story. Basically, the original four ring BMC +0.020 pistons that the motor had could be re-used, but none of the usual suspects sell rings for it. I went on a wild goose chase to find rings which I eventually did but at 110GBP I decided to rather look for a set of NOS +20thou pistons with rings. I found these nice Hepolite nogal, on Ebay in Canada, got them shipped over only to find they are std BMC pistons in a +20 Hepolite box   . If I'd known this, I would have just gone onto Minispares and bought a new set of whatever modern stuff they recommend at +20. So despite me wanting to make this one a bit more sporty, I'm actually de-tuning it unfortunately. I'll still do the head though. Now to find an engineer who has heard of David Vizard
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update on the progress. The motor has been assembled, everything apart from the head. I discovered on Thursday that there is severe wear in the valve guides and on some valve stems. All this after the head was supposedly checked out by a reputable local engineering company way back when I first pulled it out. I would not have known this if I hadn't stripped the head myself and had a good mechanic to check and advise. Either way, another delay and more money to throw at it. I have also chatted to some knowledgeable people about performance in the mean time. Some bits that are on order and plans include:

New set of inlet and exhaust valves
New manganese bronze valve guides
Three angle valve seats to be cut
New set of high lift rockers
Maniflow standard bore LCB

I'm now running out of things to replace on this motor, so hopefully after this round it will all be done...but I've said that before several times. 

I also discovered that the spare GTS head I bought off Gumtree from a local racer a few years ago is basically scrap. I bought this before I knew much about minis. The plan was to fit it on my 1275E at the time. The spare head had been massively ported, skimmed and has too much play in the valve guides. The seats have also been badly cut and the valves are badly worn. I was advised that it is not worth spending money to try and get it right. So I guess I was ripped off. Anyone looking for a boat anchor, speak to me!

I chatted to Stuart after an interesting discussion on the whatsapp chatroom. My idea was to get the head properly gasflowed, ported and have the seats nicely done. He suggested that for a road engine like mine it would be wiser to spend my money on the rockers and LCB. This was before I knew the state of the head on my motor. Since I'm now having to get a new set of valves and guides and since the seats need to be cut, Dennis asked Mike (Engineer who works a few shops up the road) if he could cut three angle seats seats. So that is the plan at the moment. This is the first engine build I'm involved in and I hope to get a modest performance improvement and reliability. I'm going to stick with the standard AEG510 cam for now. It was apparently recommended for rallying by Special Tuning back in the day, according to some documents I found online, so it can't be too bad. I'm hoping the high lift rockers will do some of the work a sportier cam normally does. That way I keep it tame enough for traffic as well. I'll see how it goes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Time for a small update.
 
 
 
Since last time the car has been on the road for about 230 miles and ticking! I am very happy to report that it is finally smoke free and performs very well. The running in process is under way. The head will be retorqued, valve clearances reset and an oil change done at about 500 miles. 
 
 
 
I mentioned before that with this one I'm deviating slightly from the factory spec approach that I normally have by adding some performance upgrades. Firstly the Minispares 1.5 ratio forged rockers. They look a lot like the original S rockers, but apparently give around 20% more lift, meaning the valve is at any point in its duration further open by about 20%. In theory this helps more mixture to flow into the cylinder, aided by the 3 angle valve seats that I had cut. Pic of the rockers below.



I also fitted a standard bore Maniflow LCB. This LCB is still sold under the part number that the old Special Tuning manuals mention and is apparently basically the same as the original Special Tuning/Downton one fitted in the '60s. See more about it here http://www.maniflow.co.uk/index.php?view...oduct=1122
 


After having removed and installed the motor quite a few times since I got in it August 2014, I seem to be getting the handle on it, doing it by myself with a borrowed engine hoist in a small garage. Here is the end result in place. Sorry for the poor picture quality. My garage is also quite dark.
 

 
On its wheels and rolled out of the garage for the first time with its fully rebuilt motor
 


Then the fun starts....running in! The first pic was taken on its first run after I started it. I took it up a nearby hilly road to put some load on it to aid the rings in bedding in. The carbs were still set for the previous rocker and head setup so it quickly got quite warm because it was running lean. This was adjusted next to the road and it was fine after that. In keeping with the modest power upgrades, I added a bullet racing mirror and redid the Cooper stripes on the bonnet.
 

 
The car has been running well and I've enjoyed getting the feel of the redone motor. I haven't run it hard but I also haven't been babying it. It responds very well when you put your foot down and the sound it makes is addictive! The idling is slightly lumpy with the high lift rockers, which I quite like. Credit to Dennis Nathan for building the motor and letting me watch over his shoulder and help. 
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This brings me up to July 2016. The car has now got just over 1000 miles on the clock after the rebuild and it is running beautifully!!

This has allowed me to start focusing on other areas that need improvement/restoration. 
The car's speedometer has had issues since I found the correct one for it. A spare one I had was recently sent to an instrument repair place in England for repair and recalibration. I'm expecting it in the mail any day now and look forward to being able to see how fast I'm really going   

I've also brought in a roll of carpet from Coverdale in the UK which had sent me samples that I matched to a piece of original carpet out of this car. Still hunting for some brown felt to use under the carpets. Luckily I have some experience with this, having made the set for my other mini from scratch from the same carpet as well. 

Updates to follow soonish, I hope! 

[Quinny1293]

Man loving the beauty of the V8!!

bloody well done on the work of keeping it in tip top condition Abri

[Jared Mk3]

Really want to see this car in person

[abri]

Thanks guys. It looks much better in the pics than in person. The aim has been to sort it out mechanically before concentrating on the details of how it should end up looking. I have considered more of a race car look (based on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUQzoOF8-SA car) with wide wheels, arches etc. but also doing a restoration to factory spec, including changing the colour back to Palm green/Protea white. Changing the colour obviously means engine must come out again and a full strip down, including subframes if I want to do it properly. Keeping the British racing green means I can just strip out the interior, windows, lights and bright work, so that is quite tempting but then the engine bay paint could also do with a respray.

I'm dreading having to pull it all apart again, so I've just been enjoying it as is. But to do it justice it really needs a respray and a new interior. I'll make up my mind before the end of the year.

[Jared Mk3]

I'd be happy to help