Metro turbo ..... now I think the Metro is a majorily under rated chassis (when modded it can cut it with the bets hot hatches as anybody whos watched them race will tell you) but the turbo lump, in stock form, is a bit of a dog and in modded form needs lots of TLC to keep the transmission in one piece!
Chris, I build all my own motors and do all my own machining other than crank grinding and the balancing.
The key to getting god economy out of an A series is all in the mapped ignition and induction system, LOTS of work to the carb and inlet. The 1380 was built with drivability and torque in mind so was relatively mild (97bhp) compared to what she has now (122bhp) so was easy enough to drive smoothly and on cruise very good on fuel.
My current engine build will not be ...... 1380cc, BMW K1200 head, custom cams to my own profile, Gt28rs turbo (the last two combine to give a reasonable power band of between 3000 and 8250 on paper) and 10.2:1 CR. Theoretically it should be 300bhp plus and others with similar specs are achieving that ..... and dead clutches!!!
Check out
www.specialist-components.co.uk to see what can be done, I use a lot of John's components .... which may explain why I am so skint .... .LOL
All I need now is to finish the shell to put it in!