Mini Metro Turbo setup

[bugedd]

Let me preface this with that I am a bit odd. I've had a couple turbo'ed cars and have an affinity to the sound of the turbo wheel spinning up and the power kicking in. My last driver was a 92 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 with a very healthy 2.0L turbo'ed motor with AWD, and it was on par with the Evo's and STI's out there. Prior to that, an 89 Chrysler Conquest was my driver. Again, a turbo'ed car, 2.6L with rear drive and a limited slip. This established my sickness.
I've been poking around at the parts available to convert Ms. Scarlet to a turbo, and it seems like an intake/carb and exhaust/turbo setup from the Metro turbo is essentially a bolt on. Add in the boost compensating fuel pressure regulator, and it would appear that's all there is to the equation.
Has anyone had experience with this conversion, and am I leaving anything out? yes, I know I'll have to keep the boost down on a stock compression motor.

 

[nomad]

Been done by a friend in the club I belong to. Flatwater Austin Healey club out of Lincoln and Omaha Neb. His main problem is too much heat and carb vapor lock. Don't know if he really ever got it sorted but I would imagine if you poke around others have done it as well. If you have no luck I don't imagine he would mind talking to you and I can give out his e-mail addy if you PM me after you do some searching.

Kurt.

 

[AN5Sprite]

His main problem is too much heat and carb vapor lock.
Kurt.

Sounds like a good excuse for fuel-injection too...

I don't know, but I feel like if it was a simple swap, we'd see it often. Isn't there a difference in the lower end of an "A" vs "A+" series block?

Maybe it doesn't fit under a Bugeye bonnet... There has to be a glaring flaw because you just don't see it on Bugeyes... (I'm just thinking out loud)

 

[dklawson]

I have no first-hand experience with the Metro Turbo. I also don't know how much room you have under the BugEye bonnet for the turbo and carb components. However, the turbo is not so much "low" on the engine but more-or-less centered on the back side of the engine block as you can see in the picture linked below.
https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/4115992436_dec2d1ef53_b.jpg

I would be hesitant about fitting the turbo to a small bore A-series. I suspect all the parts were sized for the 1275. I also have seen several discussions about the need to keep the compression relatively low to prevent head gasket failures. Basil does not like it when we post links to other boards. However, for the A-series turbo stuff I encourage you to visit places like "The Mini Forum" (www.theminiforum.co.uk). You will find a number of turbo enthusiasts and threads regarding the turbo on that board. I suggest using Google to find those threads. (i.e. Google search using a phrase like "theminiforum.co.uk turbo"). One section of the board dedicated to turbos is linked below.
https://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/forum/24-forced-induction/

 

[Trevor Jessie]

It is more common in the UK (for obvious reasons), but still not widely done. To fit under the bonnet in requires modifications, although it seems many of them just install a "blister" in the bonnet for clearance.

 

[bugedd]

Hood clearance would be a deal breaker. Thanks for some of the tips, I'll poke around and see what else I can find out.

 

[Billm]

Doesn't Glen Burns (in Davis California) have a turbo on his Bugeye? I don't remember that he had a bump in the hood
I know that he had Megasquirt but I think that he also had turbo
Davis is not too far from Chico
BillM

 

[drooartz]

Given how rare that Metro setup here in the US is I'm not surprised folks haven't tried it much. With Moss's supercharger setup available (even if expensive) as a bolt on it's hard to compete. Still, more options are always interesting.

The setup I'm starting to get interested in is fuel injection from these guys (Patton Machine). Obviously not the same as forced induction, but interesting all the same.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Glen's system was a homebrew setup using an old rayjet turbo.

Fuel injection on the stock a-series head is real tricky to optimize due to the siamese ports. The mini guys have all sorts of variations to solve the issue. None of them are simple. The simplest way to me, would be to buy a cross flow head and then do port injection with motorcycle throttle bodies.

 

[bugedd]

How do I get in touch with Glen? Davis is a pretty short drive.

 

[HealeyRick]

Glen's last name is spelled "Byrns". He used to be a regular on the mail list, but haven't heard from him in awhile. He was running a Rajay and not a Metro turbo. If you want more info on his set-up, you can go to the mail list Spridget archives and search on "turbo" He had plenty of posts. Here's the archives link: https://www.team.net/mharc/archives/html/spridgets/

 

[bugedd]

Thanks for the info. Turns out I know the car, he was right next to me at the car show I went to in spring.

 

[nomad]

Check out Aisin superchargers on flea bay. I have one that is going to boost a A14 Datsun. Will require a bit of fab work and I already have enough compression that I can't run a lot of boost but the setup will be LOTS cheaper than Moss.

Kurt.