Ok so bought myself my first mini on the 16th. Had a 998 in it and got it running.

BUT... I want the max amount of power possible without spending numerous thousands of $$ and keeping the engine stable... So I need some advice. It will mainly be a weekend drive and I might eventually start going to some races for some fun.

Going to buy and rebuild a 1275.

Tempted to bore it to a 1330 or 1360.. but I still want the engine to be strong and stable, is there that much difference in strength from a 1330 to 1360? What do you guys/gals recommend I should get? What components woud I need to change in a standard 1275 to ensure it's running best...

What else do you guys recommend I get.... webber/extractors etc...

I'm also considering supercharging it depending on costs involved... is it possible to have my bored out 1275 runnning nicely and then possibility slap a supercharger on it at a later date? If yes, what components would the 1275 have to have if no then what would I need to replace?

Supercharger would need lower compression than a normal 1275 donk. You could use a decompression plate to get the desired compression but it would be better to do it right the 1st time and avoid using a decompression plate. My 2c...

Depending on the age of your mini, i.e. pre 1975 you could buy a 1275 A+ motor from a number of importers either in Melbourne or in Adelaide. Best bang for your buck then would be to remove the EFI and pollution crap and put on a carb, and it would still be road legal.

At this point I would strongly recommend disc brakes if you don't already have them. Dependend on your budget, you could look at a 1/2 cut and get air con in the bargain as well as all the above, although this would use a couple of valuable horses.

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1970 Mini Deluxe - 1275, Weber, Clive 346 cam, MS 4-pot slotted discs, Megajolt ignition Now with new improved Mambas... almost on the road
1966 Van with Traveller rear seat conversion
2008 Prado GXL
All in various states of repair...

thanks for you're input Dave.

Well I'm going to be getting disc brakes sometime before completion date.
It's either a 1960 or 1961.

Do you know of a good importer in Melb where I could source a 1275 A+ and what price I should be looking to pay? I assume somewhere between $1000-$1500 mark?

Not interested in getting aircon - just going for pure basics on this.

You are very lucky down south for A+ motors, Josh miniimports on here gets motors and he has the cheapest price on new disc brake setups as well, send him a PM on here or have a look in the mini experience, he has a add with his phone numbers

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van

Hey Kampf,

Lets talk numbers. If you are on the "below" $5000" budget then stay away from Supercharge, turbo charge or anything fancy like forced induction. It will cost you a mint in custom made intake and exhaust manifold to make it work unless you are looking for bog std factory supercharged setup. It's very easy to throw $7000 into an engine if you are not too careful...

Many topics to talk about, so much so that I suggest you do some searching on this forum. There have been many topics raised on this exact issue. It completely defends on if you want a full decked out fast road engine or just a 1275 with something extra.

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Thanks for that Feralsprint I'll get in touch with Josh asap.

Lillee - well most likely I'm going to just do a '1275 with something extra' to start with, but I can see that I'll get way too excited and want more power again lol , so I just want to make sure I do as much as I can now so that If I ever decide to throw more $$ into the engine then I won't have to change so much around.

I've read a few dicussions on it both on this forum and a few others. Just gets a bit confusing when Im someone who knows almost nothing about cars and bought a mini to start and let the learning curve begin.

There is no such thing as cheap power..and to rebuild a motor STOCK would cost you around $4500. Then add your go faster bits on top.

What is your budget? then we can tell you how to best spend your money for the most power.

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

The rebuilding of the motor I'll be doing myself with the help of some family members who race minis lol. So basically all labour work will be done by myself and them.

Looking to spend somewhere between $5000-$7000ish..

includes getting disc brakes/1275engine and whatever else I'd need with it.

for that kind of money and without labour costs i would rebuild the 998 you already have, throw in a 1100 crank and put a turbo on it.

The 1100 guys here are making big usable power that way. 100+HP

No need for an A+ motor especially if your going to rebuild it. Parts for the rebuild should set you back no more than $2500-3000

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Starlet Conversion:
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Would I get a helluva lot more power if i went 1275 bored to 1330/1360 then turbo it?

not only would you be asking for more trouble, you would be pushing the boundaries of your budget but hey it's your money.

1098 bored out can make up to 130+HP - it remains to be seen how reliable.

1360 Turbos have seen 140-180 even 200+ if you have 20-30k to throw at it.

IMO a 1275/1360 Turbo is out of your budget and reliability needs.

You have to rebuild the motor for the turbo, therefore it needs to be low compression, the head needs to be modified for it and the cam needs to suit. You wont have a nice NA motor to start with, it'll be a dog until you turbo it.

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

Well then if you back out the $2000 for the disc brakes; $600-1000 for the motor, then your budget is back to $2400-4000ish. As people have said, that barely covers parts and machining on a rebuild without doing anything else too fancy. $400-500 for extractors, exhaust and secondhand weber & manifold or whatever you choose, and you start to get an idea of the moneypit you've opened up. Whilst it's apart, it's probably a good idea to add a new clutch, not sure if Josh included that in his estimate.

Colin Dodds once did a good summary on what to do to rebuild for an engine rebuild and approximate costs - can anyone remember it/have a copy? It might have been on the old MCCNSW chat forum rather than ausmini?
KB

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i reckon a low km 1275 and 8.4" disc brakes from a jap frontcut

work the head, put some LCB extractors, a weber
and slide a fast road cam in

What's a frontcut worth these days? 4k? plus cam $150 headwork $500 and anything else...

For the same money without labour he could rebuild his small bore with more power and it wouldn't be second hand.

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

it would still be second hand lol..

and it would still be a smallblock

a smallblock would need a boost to develop the same power at an increased stress level.