Then I broke down (74 mini mild refurb)

Started by 94touring, May 26, 2015, 11:33:03 PM

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94touring

Now that the ignition phase of this project is setup, moving onto fuel.  Have a malpassi metro turbo fuel pressure regulator on the way and an MPI fuel pump to swap into the SPI tank I have installed in the car.  The SPI fuel pump from researching doesn't have enough pressure for 13psi that the turbo is preset for.  The nice thing about already having an SPI tank is it has the hardware ready for a fuel return line.  I will need to pull the carb off and use the turbo rebuild kit for it. 

94touring

Just got off the phone with Aldon.  They are emailing me the correct software version so I can toggle between vacuum and boost.  Would have gone smoother if they just had it on their website or the USB drive to begin with.   :-[

MiniDave

Yeah, that empty USB drive is a puzzler......they must have a bunch of nephews working there now...... ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Email didn't work. Files bounced back. So they decided to mail them.  But then decided not to do that either.  :-[   Upon further online research I wish I had found a similar product by cbperformance.  Essentially the same thing, probably better looking at the mapping, less expensive, and in the US. I was able to easily and quickly download their software and tutorials and have it figured out within minutes.  The Amethyst is really slick and it for sure works good, but this has been pretty disappointing customer service.

Red Riley

Wow. That's pretty poor. There are lots of ways to send large files other than by email. They could put them in Dropbox, send them by an FTP, share them on google drive, or use any one of numerous free or cheap  online file transfer apps. They must be real amateurs.

94touring

It's been annoying to say the least.  And after the email bounced back to him, he didn't even bother to reach out and tell me. I had to get on the phone a day later and he said...oh yeah that didn't work. 

94touring

Well I'm almost surprised but they put the correct software application on their website for all to download and it appears as though it will work.  I will need the car connected to a laptop to toggle from NA to Boost and I'm out of town till the 16th, but the option shows up which is a good sign.  Uploaded the file to this post just for the hell of it.

tmsmini

I am pretty disappointed with SC support as they seem to lose interest in resolving issues.
But I did have them connect remotely to the ECU once to make some adjustments. One would think that a few thousand of purchases would get a timely response.
Terry

94touring


94touring

Spares shipment arrived with the MPI fuel pump to drop in the tank.  Waiting on the fuel pressure regulator which was out of stock and coming from a seller on ebay.

Also in the shipment were some hs4 gaskets and some new springs and odds and ends to clean up my dual carbs which will be for sale.  If anyone is needing twin hs4's these are basically brand new. 

94touring

Finally back home and at the shop to test the new software.  It works and toggles to boost 77.gif.  Test drive says it still runs great too.

MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

One page back I have a picture of it on the firewall.

94touring

Took a moment to pull the SPI pump to swap in an MPI pump that has the required PSI to run the turbo.  Except someone hacked up the SPI pump piping.   A little measuring and fab work later I got it sorted.  I flared the new hard line slightly so it would slide over the existing hard line to make it fixed in position rather than flex around.  I'm going to see how 1/4" feed line does and run 3/8" return line.  Researching online the turbo mini people recommend a larger return line from the fuel pressure regulator.


MiniDave

Right, you don't want any pressure in the return line, 5lbs max - 0 is better.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Had to pull the tank to fit the sucker in there.  Opened up the sender hole and verified it sits nice and snug at the lowest point in the tank.  Went ahead and capped off my gravity feed line to the low pressure pump since it was all out. 

MiniDave

All the ones I've seen take the return line to the bottom of the tank......just FYI.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

I can add a length of pipe.  Though only thing I can think of that's a big deal by not is getting air bubbles in the fuel.

94touring

#618
Extended the return line to the bottom of the tank.  Went ahead and removed my 1/4" feed line and added 5/16".  Return line is 3/8".  Added a beefy fuel filter.  Rebuilt the carb with fresh seals and got the FPR mounted. The return line is on the bottom and not visible in the picture, the top feed that's open is the pressure line from the plenum.  I can probably leave that open for now.  The fuel line to the carb is routed nicely behind the heat shield. I also added a proper 6mm spacer to the carb with a vacuum/boost port and plugged the one on the carb.  It's supposed to be more accurate off the spacer. Need to wire up the fuel pump and add a fuel pressure gauge temporarily to set base pressure, but that will be next week. 

MiniDave

Wow, that's pretty cool how you could flip the car over to work on the bottom, sure makes it easier!    :D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring


94touring

Got it running and driving again.  Set base fuel pressure to 3.5psi and fired right up.  All the new carb seals and turbo gasket for the dashpot must have created more vacuum or something, because it idled high and richer.  Ended up going from a yellow spring down to a red and leaned it out a few flats worth.  No fuel leaks or issues and drives great.  Now that I know fuel is setup I can move onto adding the turbo. 

94touring

Also a little extra NA to turbo carb knowledge.  The float vent that's normally open needs plugged on a turbo conversion.  Sorta.  It needs pressure from the plenum sent to the float under boost.  If you simply plug it the car won't run at idle.  Drew some lines on the carb to illustrate that these are all connected internally.  However the NA carb needs drilled out on the mouth face which I've circled.  This opening matches up with a hole in the plenum that provides pressure to the float under boost.  Of course you could just run a line from a port off the plenum to #3 in the diagram, but most pictures I'm finding have #3 tied into the carb vacuum port.  I'm sure there's some reasoning behind that.  My 6mm spacer has a port for sending vacuum and boost pressure to the amethyst. I took it for a test drive like this and as suggested in the one diagram it's a lean off line.  The car runs leaner, particularly as load increases even in NA form.  High cruise doing 70mph I went from 14:5 to as lean as 16:1.  This really won't matter since I have to add a turbo needle and retune anyways.

94touring

Digging around the turbo mini forums trying to get an idea what kind of power I can expect.  Found a guy with a nearly identical setup.  Fast road 1293 with a 266 cam and a gt1548 turbo, which have been discontinued but this 1549 I'm running has nearly identical turbo specs.  On 10lbs of boost he made 107hp to the wheels and 115lbs of torques.  Comparing his dyno plot to mine starting at 3000rpms he made 25 more hp and 40 more torque. 

MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad