http://www.motoringunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21358

@mini rich: This is the part number for the kit I have, which includes an unchanged OEM standard cam.

@greg: This can be repositioned from the perspective that realistically, the MC is more than adequate for 99% of MINI buyers and comes without the MCS premium. The MC scoots its tires around corners every bit as hard has the MCS.

@Mk1: Acutally, I believe MINIUSA imported the kits and MINISpeed acted as a reseller. Mine came from the US supply, supposedly the last instock. Now, MINISpeed/Dealerships import from Europe, which as of this writing, there are 5 left in the world.

@MiniGB06: Not similar, the same used in JCC back in the day.

@Keith: Thats interesting; I’ve heard the same about aftermarket offerings being down in comparison to the JCW and even stock.

Sidebar: I suggest those interested in upgrading the head read a quality engine building book and understand diminishing returns in relation to the powerband and how building for need is more important than posting numbers.

@Chris Tuveson: See sidebar above.

@Keith: I’ll look into the ‘Franks’ thread.

@James: Cams and entire valvetrain is as stock. Compression Ratio I didn’t know about. Any leads on where I could land one of those early brochures for collection?

As stated, the head is machined but I believe the cam is stock. However, the brochure says they adjusted the compression ratio.

There was some detailed discussion of the R50 JCW Tuning Kit in both the original 132 hp and later 126 hp versions on MINI2 (http://www.mini2.co.uk).

If you’d like to contact me, Gabe can give you my email address.

For the “official” word on a non-stock camshaft, MOTORN provided the link in the second comment post. Tony Franks was there from the beginning and he’s very generous with JCM/JCW information.

The kit uses the stock cam and was tuned for it. I wouldn’t expect you to find any official recommendation about alternative cams.

If you want to get the most out of the kit, I suggest getting a custom ECU tune. I have the Sound Kit which came with its own tune, but my RMW custom tune is far superior.

http://www.minspeed.net/

I seem to remember them having some pretty detailed spec’s and installation instructions on the R50 kits – may still have them on file.

The JCW R50 cylinder head was essentially the same as what they put on the JCC cars– I don’t think there were any changes to the stock cam or timing. I’m currently having my cylinder head ported and I’m planning on having a tune done by either Mynes or RMW to replicate the HP gains from that kit. I feel like if I know that JCW took the car that far and kept it in good working order then I can push it in a similar direction and be safe as well.

And hence, that is the reason why MINI never sold the R50 Cooper JCW kit in the United States.

MINI.com – Accessories & Collection – John Cooper Works

Unfortunately the site only seems to have the R50 Sound Kit, not the R50 Tuning Kit.

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php