Alloy Blocks & Unicorns

[Hipwell]

25 blocks now on the go without a working prototype?

Are those aluminium rods? I’m guessing billet pistons are next, lovely engineering but I feel they are getting ahead of themselves.

[Alex]

The 25 extras rather surprised me too !!
Destructive testing is inevitable, and essential to make the end product bullet proof, but to fire off another 25 unproven blocks when there will almost certainly be detail changes required seems to be rather jumping the gun. The beauty of the billet and CAD is that evolutions and changes can be made in one session of machine run time without having to remake casting boxes.
Me, I'd want to see at least two on the test bed before committing to making a pile of expensive scrap...

On the other hand, maybe they are already being tested - we've never seen a pic of the five completed blocks next to each other.

[Hipwell]

These are going to be massive money, might take a while to find 25 customers. Is it BMW head only? Have we seen a crank?

Edit: there is a crank in one pic, no mention of it or other pics.

[Exminiman]

Its a fascinating project, but with a BMW head, you have no A Series left at all for inline and just a gearbox left for transverse.
Just interested to know who the intended market is, maybe they are hoping it will create its own market ?

[mk1]

This has always been my concern about this project.

I just can't see a market for a non A series, BMW headed 5 bearing engine that fits on a Mini box. I can't think of any motorsport that it would be eligible in & there are surely not that many people who want to spend £15,000 on a fancy road engine for a Mini????

As has been discussed in the other thread about 7 port heads, there is a tiny market for non original engines for the Mini at all.

I genuinely wish them luck, but spending £25 to forge fivers probably makes more economic sense than this particular new engine.

[Exminiman]

In many ways you can already achieve the same, bit more complicated, but block and crank are tried and tested.
Potentially a Cossie type conversion is more period, especially on an old mini or inline...
just an excuse to post the picture really

037EDEB2-28C0-47C2-9911-5EAC2EC55173.jpeg

[mk1]

And a VERY NICE picture it is too!

[Tupers]

This has always been my concern about this project.

I just can't see a market for a non A series, BMW headed 5 bearing engine that fits on a Mini box. I can't think of any motorsport that it would be eligible in & there are surely not that many people who want to spend £15,000 on a fancy road engine for a Mini????

As has been discussed in the other thread about 7 port heads, there is a tiny market for non original engines for the Mini at all.

I genuinely wish them luck, but spending £25 to forge fivers probably makes more economic sense than this particular new engine.

I think the core Mini fraternity is still very out of touch with with the wider classic car restomod scene. We seem to have grown a strange snobbery towards people spending large amounts of cash of none standard/traditional cars.

Say what you like about them but David Brown Automotive just posted an image of 3 £100k Minis underway in their workshop. I have no doubt that they could buy up a defunct tuning name, slap on one of their cars and sell a 200bhp Mini for £150k.

50389831-9126-4F2B-B4B8-65590DB642A0.jpeg

[mk1]

Hum, we will see.

[OzOAP]

I have no doubt that they could buy up a defunct tuning name, slap on one of their cars and sell a 200bhp Mini for £150k

....and claim back a famous number plate, make up a history and sell it for double that