ZE-TEC knowledgy

[billjackson54]

Do you like the fancy title? My various attempts to promote a forum discussion on appropriate engine upgrades have come to this. I have a good 1800 cc Zetec to drop into my Cabrio in the Autumn. I want to prepare it (while enjoying the car as is through this Summer) so it's ready for the Autumn when I garage-up for next Winter. Exactly what parts do I need? Do I need to replace the sump? What about clutches...being 1800, it's already got the 1800 flywheel and a clutch mechanism....can I expect it to just bolt up? Currently I'm running a Carb i4 DOHC 2 litre with an MT 75 g/box.
Bill

[listerjp2]

Hiya

Sorry can't help as I run a 45 year old 1.3 marina mk2 roadster (old school)

I'm sure someone on here will pitch in.

Good luck.

Adrian

[jon_cox]

Probably not much help, but if it were me (and I have spent hours investigating engine options), I would sell the zetec and put the money into a mk2.5 MX5 engine and gearbox. 143 bhp as standard. 6 speed box available if you want it and no need for expensive after market electronics and induction.
This is a plug and play solution as designed for RWD, parts are easy to get, engine and gearbox are bullet proof and all in for around £500.

[andyf]

Have you considered a mazda 6 speed box, there are solutions for mating them to Ztec engines. A good source of information is the turbosport forum.

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=143&s=d9b392e312c9b4b229a440e58b1b86b6

[A_Hogg]

I'm with Jon on this one and it will also look good with its twin cam covers. Not Alfa Romeo of course, but not bad

[Ye Ol Ripper]

Hi Bill. Don't forget in addition to whichever engine you choose, don't forget thete will also be the extra cost of the ecu with matching key for the imobiliser and wiring harness that will need to be adapted to your car. In addition to the Mazda engine, there is also the option of the 1.7 Puma zetec se engine. It is a brilliant engine developed by Yamaha. It has excellent low down torque similar to a diesel, so you never need to rev it high when driving. Out of the box its 123BHP. Importantly the block is Aluminium, so its a lighter engine than the 1.8 Zetec.
Fuel economy in a Puma on a run is 43-48 mpg. Be aware there were 3 different ecu's for this engine. The first was for the analogue dash, the later 2 for the Digital dash. 140 -150 bhp is achievable whilst on standard Cams. 240 bhp with a turbo. I think 140bhp with loads of low end torque would be a good choice.

[billjackson54]

Thank you all for your responses. I have given very serious thought to them all... My local Mazda experts talked about "future proofing" as a good reason to choose Mazda, but in my view, the only "safe" way would involve the careful acquisition of a complete car to drive around for a while to check its viability before stripping it for bits in the hope of recouping some of the expense. The same would apply to the Zetec SE as well...and the worry is that Sports Cars and Coupes are driven hard, often abused, and any car up for sale is being sold for a reason...usually because the owner has given up on it ....so one has to ask why? Either an MX5 or a Puma is likely to be rusty and high-ish mileage if for sale at a reasonable price, so the sale-able unused parts once stripped could well be few and difficult both to store while waiting to sell on. Whichever new engine route one chooses, there is a considerable amount of work to be done whether using new or used parts...and "new" are at least clean, completely functional and can be obtained in stages!
So I've obtained my "new" 1800 Black top Zetec....slightly less power than a 2 litre, but cheaper to buy and nicer to drive as it's said to be free-er revving. Currently I'm compiling a list of the additional bits I'll need and obviously I'll write it all up as I go along.