In reply to adam525i :
I put it at 5000 RPM’s and dumped the clutch and it takes off like the space shuttle with almost zero slip. Sadly, it won’t wheelie!
In reply to adam525i :
I put it at 5000 RPM’s and dumped the clutch and it takes off like the space shuttle with almost zero slip. Sadly, it won’t wheelie!
looks great. Makes my mini 1000 seem half baked!
Took it out for its first run on the track, did great, better than I’d hoped for. I was concerned it’d be fast but lose that mini turning. It’s fast and turns better......but I also have proper tires now too. Man I love this car. All the work has paid off. I have a fun car that makes people smile on the street and it is ridiculous on the track......now for me to become a better driver.
Such an awesome project. Glad it's putting smiles on faces.
Bit of of an update. In the uncommonly warm “spring” here the car is warm, no heat problems but warmer than I’d like so I’ve vented the bonnet and boot. Put a NACA duct in the rear fenders to get some air into the engine compartment to hopefully move the heat out the rear vents.
Had downforce issues at the track, as in I need a LOT more weight on the front at speed and to stop all the air going under the car so I have added a “trans-am” chin spoiler and I’m getting ready to add a big aluminum splitter to the bottom of the chin spoiler. Spoiler is in paint now.
I’ve also decided, after talking to the Mini-Tec guys, to add an M90 Eaton supercharger. Got the supercharger from the local pick and pull for $150, waiting on the intake manifold and throttle body adapter......then back to the tuner to get this beast to near 400HP to the wheels. The GA guys said they detuned theirs to 380 HP.....that oughta do.
Got my front spoiler painted and attached my splitter. 
Where did you find the hood vents? Mustang possibly?
And adding the super charger sounds like a great idea!
10 pounds of awesome in a 5 pound bag!
It seems that my supercharging project just got a little more complicated. This “low mile” JDM motor lasted 1000 miles and gave up the ghost. Started knocking like a midget band behind my head and then just quit. Too annoyed to break it down to figure out what exactly decided to not function anymore while I try and track down a replacement. Decided to go ahead and put a 3.5L J35A8 motor in for the next one as soon as I figure out which company will sell me another “low mile” motor from Japan. Oh well, knew this car would never be done.....just a new chapter. In a month or less it’ll be running strong with a healthy dose of supercharger whine. Missing the 31 May track night but I’ll make the 25 June event.
SLGGR said:It seems that my supercharging project just got a little more complicated. This “low mile” JDM motor lasted 1000 miles and gave up the ghost. Started knocking like a midget band behind my head and then just quit. Too annoyed to break it down to figure out what exactly decided to not function anymore while I try and track down a replacement. Decided to go ahead and put a 3.5L J35A8 motor in for the next one as soon as I figure out which company will sell me another “low mile” motor from Japan. Oh well, knew this car would never be done.....just a new chapter. In a month or less it’ll be running strong with a healthy dose of supercharger whine. Missing the 31 May track night but I’ll make the 25 June event.
That sucks. Glad you have a great attitude about, and, hey, the next motor will blow instead ;)
Found a verifiable 90K motor out of an '02 minivan and carfax shows good maintenance and the best part is it was in town and it's $500 with a warranty.....it's even clean and under the valve covers looks glorious. Old motor gave up a rod bearing.....annoying. Supercharger bits will be here soon. Appointment for tuning late next week so I've got some doing to do.
Damn. You didn't waste any time. Sucks about the engine. The supercharger will change it from crazy to ludicrous. I lost sleep for weeks after seeing a couple of these at the CMU Mini 56. I'm fighting the urge to start dreaming about a similar build.
In reply to T.J. :
stop fighting it, it's a losing battle and these things are just an absurd amount of fun. I haven't been able to drive this car for a while and it's affecting me so I have to get it going ASAP. Just realized there is a local autocross event coming up in a week(8/9 June) so I'm going to try to be ready for that......ambitious.
Glad to see you're going to supercharge it. I kept thinking how slow this thing must be 
Newer motor(J35A4) was found and it had a CARFAX that shows a well maintained 02 Honda Odyssey minivan, got the supercharger mounted and it started right up. Had a few vacuum leaks around the supercharger so I got all that redone and sealed up. Took it to Jesse Prather for a tune on the dyno and, as per usual, it turned into a basket case and I’m needing to hook up another MAP sensor. I completely overlooked that my factory map sensor location on the throttle body wouldn’t give a realistic reading and need to get a reading after the supercharger. Never messed with boost before. Supercharger sounds great, runs smooth and it’s making boost but the computer wasn’t adding any more fuel. This’ll be remedied today, have parts showing up any time and then it’s back to test Jesses patience on the dyno.
In reply to SLGGR :
I'd order a VCM defeat relay for that motor, it's hard on the cam's. You may not even have that issue with your ECU but just a thought. I do like those motors, the odyssey is a 5k lb car, and it can move out pretty well- can't imagine that thing, with a supercharger in a mini! I'm getting cold sweats just thinking about it.
In reply to grover :
Your response got me curious. I don’t believe my 2002 J35A4 is a VCM motor, I think that started with the j35a7 in ‘05- odyssey’s. I’m new to these motors but I think that’s how I understand it.
Got off the dyno today and I’m making 250HP and nearly 270lb/ft which is a far cry from advertised 380 HP. Not sure if this is realistic or something’s off but I’m looking into it. It’s fast, wicked fast and feels VERY different with the increase torque numbers over my previous motor(50l/ft increase). Looks like I’m right at 6HP/lb which I’m good with but was hoping to be in the high 3’s/low 4’s. The supercharger is dang sure adding a new element to driving this thing, power comes on like a freight train but I still don’t have a bit of wheel slip with my R888’s. Redoing my firewall for the increased height of the supercharger and I’ve changed the side quarter glass to lexan and am installing dual NACA ducts in each window. Making a cold air box and will insulate it and it will be fed directly from the left side(passenger side) naca duct in the window. The supercharger definitely adds heat so I’m going all in on ventilation.
Side note/question.....anyone have the foggiest idea how to make an autometer tach work with an AEM series 2 EMS? I’ve figured out how to make the car run poorly by messing with those settings but I’ve not come close to making the tach read accurate
In reply to SLGGR :
I somehow read 2012 and not 2002 :/
those numbers do seem low, almost like the supercharger didn't do anything at all. Wasn't that motor about 240 HP from the factory? The Torque numbers went up quite a bit, but only a 10hp gain? odd.
It's strange. My J32 was rated at 280 from the factory and I got 230 tuned at the wheel. Factory 240 I think is a typical factory number, maybe 240 at the flywheel but I'll bet it was 160-180 at the wheel
Picture of the supercharger adapter and install?
In reply to bigben :
The kit replaces the intake plenum and riser on the J35A4, then it adapts a J32 throttle body and the black piece is for the tensioner beneath the supercharger pulley. Pic of the motor isn't my motor but dang sure illustrates it all better than a pic while wedged into my car.
OK, the 250 HP to the wheels instead of the advertised detuned 400HP to the wheels issue is driving me crazy. I am installing a wide band 02 sensor to better fine tune but everything else just isnt adding up. I have the exact same setup as the guy I got the kit from but I'm 150 HP off. Anybody have any idea what I could be missing? I am not a tuner and rely on tuners to help me work my way through the computer nonsense. I have a lot of unburnt fuel when decellerating so I hope to get that addressed on my next dyno trip after I get the wide band installed. I'm to the point that I am going to pull the supercharger to verify I haven't gone full stupid on something. It's fast and fun but not 400HP fast and fun yet and I will figure this out. I'm going to look into the VTEC functionality with all the fun variables that keep it from working right. My oil pressure is HIGH upon start up and stays up...pegs my 100psi guage, had this looked at to verify if my guage was wrong and they say everything is good to go. Can anybody think of anything I am haven't thought of? It just runs so smooth and strong I just can't help but think this is it and that the advertised numbers might be "advertised".
Side note: I've had the car to two track nights at heartland park in topeka since my last post and can verify I suck at driving on tracks but am getting a wee bit better. Put two wheels off a couple times this last track night and somehow broke a CV joint so I'm tracking down those parts. I've concluded that suspension tuning is the automotive equivalent of voodoo. Why one adjustment works great one day and makes the car schizophrenic the next session makes my head hurt......but again, I'm a bad driver.
Side note to a side note: THis car is fun but I've since taken on another project. I'm working on building up a '76 International Scout II Terra with a Four Wheel Pop Up camper. Nice old rig that needs some cancer addressed but has a strong running 345v8 and a t-19 four speed. Going to do a 4" suspension spring lift or may go down a looney route and do 4 link suspension front and rear with coil overs. 35" tall skinnies, lockers and 4.10's or 4.56's ought to make it work as my elk hunting rig.
I've also started looking for an early 60's suicide lincoln hard top that I want to swap a 5.9L cummins/6 speed into.
Very nice build. I was just curious did you use the original j32 wire harness, or use a 3rd party one? Did you ever get the AEM ECU to work?
I have the AEM EMS/ECU working fine and I used a modified J32 harness as I've heard/read they're the same on the J35.
I've just been reading through this whole thing and I'd like to say that your car is really awesome. I have long been obsessed with old Minis and one day hope to have one.
Some input on your power output, for what its worth... 400hp(or even 380) to the wheels is a complete other universe from what you can expect to make with a stock Honda V6 and a junkyard M90 making 6 psi. Those numbers, if they genuinely claimed them from a stock engine and a stock blower making that little boost, must have been either the wild imaginings of someone's butt dyno or just a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. A general "rule of thumb" (by no means gospel) is about 10hp/psi from a "properly sized" turbocharger, and I would expect less from a supercharger due to the additional power loss of driving the system and the additional heat created by the pulsation of the pressure in the screws. An M90 is also a very small supercharger. There is no world where that blower at 6psi will ever add 220whp to anything.
That's not to say you can't make the kind of power you're after with that engine, but you'll want to explore other means of boost delivery to achieve it. Even if you got the numbers you want from that M90 I doubt it would be thrilled about spinning that fast for very long and the heat generated would be crazy. Honda engines move a lot of air at high rpms and you need the blower to move considerably more to make that kind of power.
You should definitely try for those numbers though. That car would be absolutely insane with 400whp.
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