Induction Kits

[Sam]

Hello everyone

Are induction kits available for the 1.6 Maestro? If so do they make a lot of difference in the overall performance of the car?

[D87 SMW]

Can I say the same for the 1.3? ;)

:cool:

[MGTurbo]

They don't have an off the shelf induction kit for the 1.6 or 1.3.

You'll have to make your own. I used a small ram air filter and some Efi induction hosing.

Gareth

[Mike Brock]

Presuming both 1.6/1.3 run on the SU carburettor - I would look around Mini websites. No doubt there will be a few after-market air filters for the Mini, they could be easily utilised to fit the Maestro I would of thought?

I don’t think the filter would make a lot of diffrance on it's own, it will sound better though!

Mike Brock...

[MGTurbo]

Mini/Metro's with HIF44 carb's do have K&N bolt on pancake type filter's available, they are very noisy, and would pick up hot air from the engine bay, more so the 1.6. An induction kit fitted to a 1.6 to behind the grille has a slightly louder growl and it does go better... but not much.

Gareth

[Sam]

I've enquired about buying one in a number of different places and found one place that said they have one with a big pipercross foam filter with a special backing plate to fit to the carb and it does away with the original filter assembly. I'm not really sure what this means and how different it would be from a standard K&N 57i kit. Where do you reckon it takes the air from??As I won't buy it if it takes it in too near the heat of the engine.
Could anyone help me on this one??
:confused:

[MGTurbo]

Originally posted by Sam
I've enquired about buying one in a number of different places and found one place that said they have one with a big pipercross foam filter with a special backing plate to fit to the carb and it does away with the original filter assembly. I'm not really sure what this means and how different it would be from a standard K&N 57i kit. Where do you reckon it takes the air from??As I won't buy it if it takes it in too near the heat of the engine.
Could anyone help me on this one??
:confused:

On a 1.6 a plenum chamber is bolted to the carb, then a hose goes to the air filter housing. It's sounds like they are not aware of this, and are supplying a kit which would provide an adaptor to fit straight on the carb. My induction kit retained the inlet plenum, used a reducer to fit the Efi trunking, air filter box removed, and then pipe routed to the gap between the rad and the side panel, perfect for cold air pick up. I do have some pictures somewhere, i fitted one to my mate's car.

[John S]

Motobuild's tuning information for 1.3......

[John S]

and 1.6

[Sam]

So from what I can make out I could use the pipercross kit with the backing plate, do away with the original filter box and replace the carb needle. This way I would have an induction kit....don't like the sound of replacing the carb needle, bit too mechanical for me!

[MaestroMatt]

Gareth, do you think your DIY option could be modified for the R series by running a hose from the gap between panel and radiator straight to the carb air inlet with one of those ram air filters inline? If so, do you think it would make a noticeable difference to the performance of an R series? I don't quite understand how the ram air filter fits into the system so would be grateful if you could elaborate.

Cheers, Matt.

[MGTurbo]

Originally posted by MaestroMatt
Gareth, do you think your DIY option could be modified for the R series by running a hose from the gap between panel and radiator straight to the carb air inlet with one of those ram air filters inline? If so, do you think it would make a noticeable difference to the performance of an R series? I don't quite understand how the ram air filter fits into the system so would be grateful if you could elaborate.

Cheers, Matt.

Matt, Ramair was the name of the air filter i used, there was no actual 'ram' air effect as part of the induction kit. To be honest Matt, on a car of your originality, i'd use an element in the filter casing and relocate the air feed from the slam panel to just below it, just behind the grille.

So from what I can make out I could use the pipercross kit with the backing plate, do away with the original filter box and replace the carb needle. This way I would have an induction kit....don't like the sound of replacing the carb needle, bit too mechanical for me!

Sam, this still leaves the problem of hot air pick up which will actually reduce performance. Also, it's a new carb needle should not be needed and minor changes can be compensated for without the need to replace the carb needle. Only when you have a better flowing exhaust system would i say you'd need a different needle.

If you want the performance option, then what i sugguested is fine, and a little bit more different. The O.E airbox is also fine if the air pick up is relocated, and a different element is fitted. This would be the quiet option, but what is it you want, noise, performance, or a bit of both?

Gareth

[Sam]

Well ideally I would like both the performance and the noise, but it sounds so much easier to keep the original assembly, change the filter element in the circular box and move the air inlet to a better place. Coz I could do all that for about £30.
Where is the best place to move the inlet to? Why is it that you don't get the nice sound this way?

cheers

[E_T_V]

The air intake on the maestro is actually in quite a good position as standard so I'd leave it where it is unless you are making other mods. The whole noise and power thing is usually a bit of a con as louder doesn't necessarily mean more power or vice-versa.

The trick to giving more oomph so to speak is to let the engine breathe more easily. This can mean using less effective filters (Bad for your engine), better designed filters, or my presonal favourite is just plain larger capacity filters, e.g., from a larger capacity engine. (this leads to less noise and more go at the same time).

Cold air is always better but so long as you are taking it from infront (cold side) of the radiator you'll be fine.

[MGTurbo]

On my car i still use an O.E airbox, with an extra feed. A K&N element is tried and tested so no problem there. T

he original pick up point uses a funnel which reduces in size, there is a small hole about 1 inch square in size where air can actually enter the slam panel. The first thing i do on any car that i work on is remove that funnel and relocate the feed. And the difference is apparant when you drive it.

The above is the performance option. The 'induction' kit which i showed gives a little extra noise and the same increase in cool air.

The key to power on any car be it Turbo or NASP is as much cool air as possible. The standard element works fine to a point, i even had my car rolling roaded at 200bhp with one, but a K&N does flow better with no loss of filtration, a proven fact.

Gareth

[MaestroMatt]

Originally posted by MGTurbo
The key to power on any car be it Turbo or NASP is as much cool air as possible.

If that is the case then why do our cars have a hot air box to warm the air going to the carb? Seems a bit stupid.

[H48HPE]

The hot air box is used for cold starting when warm air helps carburation, its controlled by a flap in the intake ducting which is itself controlled by engine vacuum which is switched on and off by the temperature sensor in the air filter housing

Andy

[e692wtt]

It's used to maintain a constant temperature for the air entering the carb, to minimise exhaust emissions, but also to ensure this constant temperature is reached as quickly as possible from a cold start.

Allegedly.


I suffer carb icing every winter from every cold start, when it's below about 3 deg C and is raining or foggy - the throttle jammed open one morning last week which at least made a change to the damn car grinding to a shuddering halt (as it normally does after 1 1/2 miles) at the first stop on my commute. Done it for the 7 years I've owned Monty...

And yes, the 'warm air system' works exactly as described in Haynes, it gets checked twice a year.


Also, on the run back from the Oxford Xmas Meal Meet, Monty ran better as the weather cooled off, down to -5 deg C at one point, which bears out comments we all agree with above that cooler air = better performance, to a point... and shows that the 'warm air system' ain't too effective at high speeds.

[Sam]

Originally posted by MGTurbo

he original pick up point uses a funnel which reduces in size, there is a small hole about 1 inch square in size where air can actually enter the slam panel. The first thing i do on any car that i work on is remove that funnel and relocate the feed. And the difference is apparant when you drive it.

Gareth

Gareth,Where have you relocated the air intake to? and have you replaced the thin funnel with something wider?

Cheers

[MGTurbo]

Originally posted by Sam
Gareth,Where have you relocated the air intake to? and have you replaced the thin funnel with something wider?

Cheers

Below where the funnel used to go and between the gap of the radiator and the side front bulkhead panel. There may be a blanking plate there. The end of the hose is left plain, you may need to extend it a little to sit behind the grille.

Gareth

[Sam]

Gareth,
Why is the plastic blanking plate there? Is it ok to cut into it so the airpipe can pass through it?

[Sam]

After repositioning the air intake so it is closer to the front grill it appears that the engine is reaching excessive temperatures when the car is stationary, when it's moving again the temperature goes back down. The inlet is infront of the radiator so I can't under stand why this is happening. What is the problem here and how can I solve it? :confused: :(

[SimonR]

Hi Sam,

Is your cooling fan working? I'm wondering if you've managed to jam it/disconnect it while you were fitting the air intake.

that would explain the excessive temperature while stationary.

SR.

[Sam]

Yeah the cooling fan seems to be working fine.
Really can't ge my head around this one. Maybe I should try putting the air intake back where it originally was...and see if it's still getting up to such a high temperature when stationary, but I can't see why this would make much difference. :confused: :confused:

[Andy]

found this on ebay air filter for maestro http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2469117979&category=36680