You don't need big HP to make a 10 second car. You just need many cameras to turn life at a '1/4 mile at a time' in 10 seconds to 2 minutes of 13 year old aspiration.
Back on track, you need to define Big HP. How much is 'big'? A blown mini will make a fun quick mini, but won't show much on a ricer dyno day. It's all relative. But basically, first off you would need an understanding of how a mini engine works and how to make it purrr (start off with 'How To Modify Your mini' written by David Vizard and move on from their.
Oh, and everyone has their opinions but for big HP from an A-series get yourself (if you don't already) a 1275, preferably a Cooper S, but when you start modifying any 1275 will do. Just that the S motors come with lots of fancy stuff standard.
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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T
