After having it painted locally (LY) I installed my ram air intake today - it took several hours, due to some issues that I could not avoid dealing with:

- Removing the stock letter slot is a b*tch. The engineer that spec'ed the studs that allow for manufacturing tolerances clearly never envisioned that anyone would want to remove the stock scoop. I strongly recommend that you use some WD-40 or other penetrant on the studs that hold the stock scoop in place, as, on my 4-month-old car, the nut was frozen on the bolt/stud, and the stud rotated loose from the inside of the scoop. I had to get a needlenose pliers on the bloody screw before I could get the nut off one of the screws. This wasted a 45 minutes of my life. On my `05, you also have to pop out the flat hole plugs at the leading edge of the bonnet to get at two of the screws - these are the rectangular holes that many have closed off with duct tape on earlier cars.

- The scoop fit in the bonnet well enough, but the screws on the M7 piece did not fit in the holes of my bonnet perfectly, as the m7 replacement uses larger bolts than stock. I had to ream the holes out by .030" or so to get the screws to go in. I used some touchup paint to avoid future rust.

- The stock black plastic piece blocks about half of the area of the larger scoop along the bottom. If you buy one of these scoops, plan on tossing the black plastic piece and fabricating a replacement, as the bottom edge of it is about 5/16" up into the new larger opening, and half of the air flow will go under the plastic internal piece and around the IC, instead of through it. Yes, it will "fit" with the stock black piece, i.e. can be installed with it, but it won't do anything useful if you leave the black piece there.

- The bottom edge of the M7 piece is also at least 3/8" further forward than the bottom edge of the stock scoop, which leaves a 3/4" gap to the front of the stock diverter. Any increased air flow will go out this gap, instead of through the IC. This badly needs a fix, such as my diverter mod that adds a flexible rubber piece going forward from the diverter to the bottom edge of the scoop. Without this mod, I seriously question whether the larger scoop will increase airflow through the IC at all.

- The black plastic piece under the bonnet also restricts the air flow to about 1/4" of space above the the IC diverter, and this has to restrict airflow to a great degree. You REALLY need to remove the plastic piece to get any benefit from the larger scoop. I replaced mine with a 1mm thick piece of "dynamat" and some hardware-store foam to block air around the back and sides of the IC to seal it to the diverter. This also had the side benefit of damping resonances in the bonnet, and reduced engine noise noticably. I'll post some pix of my mods to the diverter and my replacement for the black plastic piece tomorrow.

Bottom line is that this scoop is a nice piece of design - looks great, and CAN reduce intake air temps appreciably, but don't plan on a bolt-on installation - it will require significant fabrication to make it work better than stock.

 

What about ditching the OEM Scoop including the internal plastic diverter-ish thing and replacing with the M7 Ram Air Scoop and Alta IC Air Diverter? Would that make for a simple one-two mod combination and easier install?

Perhaps M7 should think seriously about fabricating their own IC Air Diverter and packaging it with the new Scoop for a more cohesive modification.

Cheers,
Jason.
www.coopersport.ca

 

On Page 2 of the Ram intake project thread. quote #28

I noticed the gap when i test fitted mine, still trying to find a way to fix problem. I was thinking of trying to keep the upper black trim and dremal(sp) the lip.. Looking forward to you photo's

 

Just noticed... why is this in the Cooper (non S) forum?

 

That it is "MODS" can you move this

 

Just a twitch of the mouse - should be in S forum...

A couple of earlier pix:

- First cut at air dam replacement for plastic piece:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...7&d=1139513148 Installed pix tomorrow.

- Earlier version of diverter mod:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...5&d=1139430272 This version is a do-over due to the increased gap of the M7 scoop. I've got it installed to test the required overhang for the rubber flange. Pix of current version tomorrow.

As far as I can see, the only function of the Alta diverter is to hold up the water nozzle. It has nearly as big a gap along the front edge as the stock diverter.

 

Looks good, keep us informed

 

Scott,
Come over tomorrow with scoop and camera in hand. Lets install your scoop and shoot some photos of the installation. Maybe we can stop all of this complaining of fitting the modified scoop.
Joel

 

First i have to get out of bed (feeling lazy) and get the phone # for the paint shop and see if it is done.... Its cold out there

 

After working with Scott's scoop yesterday i found that it was a very well made part and was happy that it was only need a bit of tender love and care to make it perfect ( for the people that have to have it just right). the gaps looked good and it really didn't need much work if any. i am sure each one is a bit different and i hope when mine gets here, it looks the same. The OE Scoop came out rather well (05') and the new scoop fit the holes first time and it fit down and in with no problems. we where about to take it to the paint shop and i thought, "Lets test fit it before we have it in color...". once in, the hood shut well and i looked to see what it was going to take to make some of the gaps better. from day one, this scoop was designed to flow better with bigger intercooler, and it will. it also works with the stock intercooler, but some mods are required. i had the idea while looking at it to use some thin alum. to make a ramp to the bottom of the stock unit. it could rivet to the inside of the hood (the metal structure you see when the scoop is out) that will be hidden with the hood liner. then make a soft tab or seal on the end that hits the intercooler, problem solved. then you just seal around the back and sides with a thick stick on foam that seals to the hood. here are some photo's..... (oh no! i am out of space, i'll get them up soon.....)

 

Don't overlook engine motion, re. sealing off the front under the scoop.

Unless you have urethane engine bushings at least in the torque mount under the engine, the MCS engine will rock fore and aft around 1" under acceleration and engine braking.

I completely agree that the scoop is a well-designed and manufactured piece, but it is only one of three bits required to make it work.

 

A couple of pix of my solutions to the issues created by removing the black bonnet piece and filling the gap between scoop and diverter:

- My bonnet piece is designed to seal off the back and sides of the diverter, while intruding only 1mm into the space above the IC. The black part is generic "dynamat" from McMaster-Carr. The grey foam is open-cell urethane 1-1/4" x 1-1/4", with silicone rubber masking off the 1/2" toward the bonnet.
This didn't quite contact the diverter all around, so I added a couple of layers of 3/16" x 1-1/4" closed-cell foam to build up the height.
As can be seen, it formed itself nicely to the diverter.

- The rubber piece between diverter and scoop is now about 2" wide, to fill the larger gap. The diverter shown is a do-over, now that I have the dimensions needed. The next version will be removable instead of glued on, and will be much tidier.
The rubber is garage-door weatherstrip - currrently about 5 pieces glued together as I went from the stock scoop to the M7.
An issue with this piece is that most MCS motors will rock fore and aft about an inch under load. Mine does not move nearly as much because I have a Mini-Madness urethane bushing in the lower "torque mount" in back of the engine, a mod that I highly recommend.

- The final picture is looking into the scoop - it's a BIG s-hole...

 

Honestly folks, the Ram Air Scoop is designed off of a stock scoop. Yes there are some changes from stock; the hole is higher and wider. The extra width is what is causing some problems to those of you who are saying you are having troubles using a stock (or GRS ) air diverter. The problem should be very easy to solve. You can cut off the stock oval donut shape on the air diverter and then cut away some of the diverter's front mounting tabs, toward the inside, to allow clearance for the widened scoop. (open my gallery and look at the photo with the modified diverter) If this is not clear to anyone fitting a scoop, PM me and I will try to walk you thru the proceedure in this posting.
I edited my post as I just spoke to Chad at Detroit Tune who is fitting one now.
Scott, Chad or myself will post after this install is complete, with photos, to help others who are doing it yourself.

 

You answered my question perfectly that i asked on the ram air intake thread! I now know what is involved to do to my diy ic diverter if I decide to get this item. Should not be an issue at all! Thanks for posting and providing us with this info.

Garrett

 

it was not really all that hard. i cut the front of the stock air seal, and bolted it back on. everything seals well and looks good. yeah there is a bit of a a hole between the scoop and intercooler, but it's not too bad. i tried to fit the stock part on the back of the scoop and it would only extend about another 3/4 inch or so. the path the air will take, looks like everything should be o.k. if you look at early 02 cars till about may 03, the cars all came with a rubber flap that hooked onto the end of that scoop seal. it laid on top of the intercooler so that there was no hole. every car from may 03 on has not had that flap. so MINI has even found it is not needed. i am sure Scott will post some of the photos of the final outcome. it looks really good on his car.

 

Thanks to Chad with helping me with the install

The First photo is of the Mod' Upper diverter

Chad pretty much ended up cutting a straight line. With double sided trim tape to hold the U/Div to the bonnet.

Next is a close up full frontal of "Ram Air Intake Scoop" produced by M7


Next Side view


Next 3/4 view


Next Full frontal distant (with Orciari Cowl Scoops)



As I have JCW my I/C cover is silver

 

IMHO, any gap between the front of the IC and the bottom of the scoop will spill any ram-air effect around the IC, and render the larger scoop fairly useless, aside from bling-effect.

Mini quit sealing off the bottom-front of the scoop for lower cost, not because it works as well.

 

I'm Sorry the gap from the Stock scoop(bottom) to the top of the of the I/C cover is the same as the gap using the new M7 scoop.
With that said, the distance from the back of the M7 scoop to the side of the I/c cover.
That has increased to about 2in from a gap of about 3/4in. With that being said when you look at the scoop head on yes you will see a lot of the I/C cover..


This is a low angle shot, this is the same angle that the air will be flowing of the bottom surface of the scoop.
The height is less than half when looking straight on. If any of the of the R/A flowing down the gap could possibly help the cooling from underneath

 

all I want to say is Thank You for posting this thread, the pics & notes. This will help when my scoop comes in.................................

 

The rubber piece that I had bridging the gap from diverter to bottom edge of the stock black piece opening into the stock scoop fell almost 1/2" short of touching the bottom of the M7 scoop, after the black piece is tossed on the scrap heap where it belongs.

I have no idea why one would want to retain the stock black bonnet piece, as, a) it restricts the airflow to about 1/4" of space above the IC, and b) it is narrower than the M7 scoop. Throw the bloody thing away, and forget about it - it is worse than useless.

I quote MSFITOY, designer of the M7 scoop:
Anyone who does not remove the black bonnet piece will get little, if any, benefit from the larger scoop. I suggest that the scoop needs to be installed as designed, or you are wasting money for no benefit.

The design that I show puts the foam airdam on the underside of the bonnet, where it belongs, rather than attached to the IC diverter, where it would eventually rub off the paint on the underside of the bonnet when it gets dirty.

Ha. Ha. Ha. I sincerely hope that you are joking, and that you didn't pay anyone to install it that way...

 

Maybe if you took the time to look at this photo

Beside, I have not finished with the upper diverter
It's none of you blooming business weather I paid someone to help me!!!!

Yes Misfitoy designed it but JS made the prototype M7 produced it
JS(Joel) was there during the last part of the install. So if Joel is happy with what we had done to the Upper diverter (he has done the same thing look at his gallery.. )

Each to their own..... Happy Motoring.

 

Congradulations guys on the great writeup I'm kinda jealous that you guys are so happy

 

....

 

so if the larger amount of air coming in has no place to go it just pushes back out? no it keeps going. and if the space is 1/4 less then it speeds up in the small area. making for a better cooling. this idea worked great and is thte same way the scoop designer is doing his.

 

Less restriction will be more effective than more velocity, particularly if much of the increased flow spills out through the slot at the front of the diverter.

In any case, if you feel a need to use the stock upper diverter, I'd suggest cutting away everything except the rectangular rim part that supports the foam airdam, to leave space for airflow.