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My Mk1 uses a 1330 A+ . Was a Med kit I built up , nothing radical using AE pistons , standard crank/rods/rockers , adjustable duplex kit , a modified Med head and there HT camshaft .
It sat unused and is in bits now for new rings etc .

My question is regarding the camshaft , it needs replacing due to wear on lobes . The Med HT I have is a Piper based reground factory cam .
According to Med website it pulls from 1000 to 6000rpm .

Using 10 inch wheels and a 3.1 diff it went well and when you put foot down at 70mph on motorway it would still pull. So ...........good all round .

The cam needs replacing and I would like a bit more torque .
Realise it will not be a really powerful motor but as I need a cam thought it worth asking you guys .

Any recommendations .

Graham at CCK classics regularly uses and recommends a Piper 285 , ok even on my spec.
There is the SW5 but I read a lot of stories on how mild it is , so will it be a upgrade on my Med HT .
Med RS works between 1250 and 6500 , is it in the same league as the SW5 ?
Keith Calvers Piper produced RE130T , similar to Kent 286/Piper 285 but more torque than both.
Swiftune SW8 and SW10 . No real info from the buying public on the SW8 around at the moment .

Cost is a factor . Going for a billet kit due to the wear encountered on the reground Med one . All MED ones are now billet having said that .
This current A+ engine will get used in another car of mine when it gets replaced by a high spec 1300GT based one next spring .So although I need a cam I do not know whether a billet kit @ £285 plus vat (according to Piper website)is that necessary .
Swiftune kits include a oil pump as well as cam , springs and followers and are £258 with vat .
Calvers kit less a pump is £190 . This is looking a promising proposition .

Any thoughts appreciated.

David.

Hi David
I'll start by saying I'm far from an expert in this area but thought I would chip in anyway.
I have an MED 1380 engine and it has their HT cam in it, I cant find the cam specs online but it is a very mild cam with loads of low down torque. I think its in the region of an SW5 and would have thought it hard to beat in terms of low down power.
If your interested my engine is one of their RC units with RC head, 1.5 rockers, single HIF44, aldon dizzy, S/GT ratio gears etc. It made 94bhp at around 5400rpm (stopped due to valve bounce/worn out springs) on a conservative rolling road after 16 thousand miles. The operator has done loads of 1380's and said it was a very respectable output. He said mini sports 1380's tend to make around 80bhp on their rollers, metro turbo's late 80's-early 90'sBHP. The highest he had ever seen at the time (about 10 years ago) was one of Mike Parrys race 1380's and that made 128bhp.
When I get round to rebuilding mine (also sat dormant) I was thinking about talking to swiftune about their new SW8 as I fancy a little bit more top end power.
I also have an Avonbar 1380 from the 90's, its very tired. It has a piper 285 (I think) and a longman GT7 head. Its not a good example as its smokey, although I never had it on a rolling road it was lumpy and not as quick as the MED with HT cam.
The MED 1380 I have is by far the best mini engine I have ever driven, loads of power, smooth tick over and would do at least 40MPG if driven slowly. It gave my mini very respectable performance, comparable to the decent hot hatch type cars my friends were driving at the time.
Hopefully someone else can give a bit more info on the MED HT cam.
Ollie

Russell Engineering cams are all the rage, even endorsed by Keith Calver who used to be a Swiftune afficionado. RE13, maybe.

LarryLebel wrote:Russell Engineering cams are all the rage, even endorsed by Keith Calver who used to be a Swiftune afficionado. RE13, maybe.

These cams are all 4000 RPM+, they are fairly lifeless below that. Piper's BP 255 for street use is considered a better choice over an RE13, as it produces considerably better power from around 1300 RPM up to 4000 RPM than the RE13, above which the the RE13 is only slightly better.

Thank you for the replies so far .
I have looked into things a bit more and agree there is no point in a cam that works better at higher rpm . This engine needs a new cam but will be pulled out next winter and eventually go in another car of mine in favour of a tuned ex 1300GT one . As I intend to tune that to a higher spec something like a Calver or 285 would be more suited .

So we are looking at a 255 , 266 ? , SW5 or the next one up from my current Med cam which worked well in my engine and that is the Med RS.
I will give Med a call and ask questions if I get time at lunch .

Any further views welcomed .

David.

I used the kent MD266 a couple of times with good results. Slightly lumpy in a 998, not sure if theres a lot of point quoting figures but seeing as it was from the same rolling road as the other numbers I mentioned... it made 55BHP with a very substandard head, ported by myself when I was about 20. I also had a 266 in a 1275GT with 1.5s and an average fast road head, stage 3 type I guess and that went really well with a fairly smooth idle.
Its impossible to compare with the 1380's I've owned not only for obvious displacement differences but I put these engines together myself and I didn't (and still don't) really know what I'm doing when it comes to engine building, just spent too long reading the yellow bible.

Just another one to throw into the pot. I've used the MiniSpares Evolution001 cam in the last few engines I've had built, a overbored 998 and 1100. Both produced bags of low down torque for such a small displacement. I will probably be using one in a 1330 I have in mind for my GTM. Make sure you use matching valve springs.

http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... o%20search

This is the dyno sheet for what its worth, I think he did another run after this just to fine tune...



1100 +80, inch and quarters, Evo Cam, Calver modified 295 head.

Thank you all for advice .

Had contact with Swiftune and others about cams . Spoke to Med owner Steve Whitton yesterday and I have gone for his RS cam .
It has similar characteristics to the Med HT I have been using and I know works well in my opinion with the spec of engine I have and how the car is used . A gain in torque and horsepower with a slightly lumpy idle expected . Further gains would come with the fitting of 1.5 rockers , may consider buying a set , fit them for now whilst using this engine and transfer them over to the higher spec engine when that is built.
You could say I played it safe really but as I have mentioned earlier there will be a higher spec engine on its way and that I think will be a more complicated choice for a cam .

David

Think you should go with the piper billet, it'll be interesting to see if they can make them last, from a billet.

Just what I have done .
Billet Piper/Med RS kit , less the springs as I already have them .