hmmm well hoping to pull the engine out this weekend so we will see how that goes first! That's if all this wet stuff that keeps falling from the sky lets up by then Will keep you all posted - I am sure I will need more help once we get the insides out on the ground and opened up!

_________________
~ My greatest fear is that there is no PMS and this is just my personality ~

It's just a bit of smoke, just drive it and see. If the amount of oil it burns annoys you, then conisder getting a new engine or rebuild this one.

Don't bother just changing the rings, i would just leave it.

If the smoke is bearable and your not going to get done by the EPA and the motor feels strong enough, just keep driving it.

_________________

Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

^^ what he said.

_________________

Click here for the Turbo Conversion Thread!

Nat, its always blown smoke but has gotten worse the more you drive it. It is the rings! the big end bearing is likly to be hitting the bottom of the head. Thats why the muffler is sooty, cause it blows oil and its all over the rear of the car. dont drive it, just rip the head off, and block off. The head is COMPLETELY been reco'd.

_________________

well just to set everyone straight with the recon of the head has it had exhaust stem seals replaced as most reconditioers dont putt hem on the heads now days.

I have a 1380 that has brand new everythign in it and she smokes when you boot it so you telling me my rings are stuffed. or should i mention that i dont have any valve stem seals on the motor, or the fact that when she gets up to 4500-7000rpm you actually start getting a bit of boreflex and getting blow by.
I also run my car on penrite?
I hope i dont have to pull it all down considering its only 1000km old.
didnt smoke on the dyno and it doenst smoke when i drive it just when i boot it.

check everything first as a set of valve stem seals are a few bucks instead of a whole rebuild.

_________________
www.minicranks.com add me to your watch list and come back again soon, under construction.

if its a big puff of smoke when you start it its valve stem seals, if it smokes under hard acceleration its the rings i think.

How about we start a betting pool! I think the rings have it... There doesn't seem to be any majorly big puffs of smoke on startup, but in saying that I have really only had a few minutes to play with it since the long drive back up from Melbourne on Sunday! Stay tuned and I will let you know the outcome. Hey, just to throw another opinion into the pot (just to share the varying bits of advice I have been getting around the traps)... I was told by someone else a couple of days ago that it could be that the head had not been tightened back down enough after the reco...

_________________
~ My greatest fear is that there is no PMS and this is just my personality ~

i would like to set the record straight here FOR EVERYONE, since it was my mini last week!

The rings are SHOT! it has always smoked.

The head has had everything replaced brand new, except the double valve springs which are still good, and didnt need replacing! When i say this, i mean everything, stem seals, guides, seats, valves all hand-lapped in, and the valves are sealing properly, and sit perfectly, and not too spongy, it was all cleaned up and set up by a professional.

Its not because of the head, because once i torqued it up cold, i did it again after it was running warm! And before you ask, i threw the big end bearing not even 3km after the head had been put back on.

And YES it smokes under load, which mean its the rings! And YES its blue smoke, which is oil passing thru the rings!

i know these things for a fact, because i used to drive it everyday!

Nat, this is what u need to do. Pull it apart, get the block bored and honed with new sized pistons, and rings.

End of story.

_________________

Did you run your mini in properly? Cause it doesnt sound like you did.
Running in a motor includes almost an erratic style of driving as well as normal driving to wear the rings in, also you should re-torque you head after 100km for a few times, so you can also rule out ur headgasket. Also getting your rings to wear in, can take a long long time to do.

You might wanna consider checking you valves to make sure yours aint burning, cause if they dont seal properly everytime they close, they burn, and are one of the main causes of cracked heads, next to blown head gaskets! It only takes a non-professional to set up you valve stems to later find out that there not working properly. Probably why your mini smokes on start up, let alone tearing the sh!t out of it at 7k. I hope you use the right and best performance parts to handle a beating like that, otherwise it wouldnt suprise me if you werent using things like eg $800+ for tipped rocker gear.

_________________

How's the smoking habit?