timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 07:28 PM |
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bedford cf2, what would you do?
Hello, I'm brand new here, but Google threw up an interesting post about an engine swap in a cf2 so I thought I'd join up. Here's my
situation...
I own an 86 Bedford cf2 panel van. Rough looking old beast that I love more than life itself. Last autumn I began talks with a company called retro
engines ltd in somerset about giving my van a bit more power. The man at retro engines recommended fitting an Essex v6. We talked it through in great
detail over a few weeks and eventually I took my van down to him, with an Essex and gearbox from a Scimitar in the back, and handed over a deposit.
To cut a long story short... I was lucky to get my van back. The significant number of victims that have surfaced since the owner of that business
went into hiding in novembwer last year have lost a lot more than me. Not just thousands of pounds but engines and vehicles too. I learned a valuable
lesson, experienced getting ripped off for the first time in my life, but lived to tell the tale, with my van, minus a chunk of cash that I can afford
to lose, an engine and gearbox.
So here's my problem... All in all I lost too much money to be able to afford a v6 or v8 conversion, but my van is weak and under powered. I can
live with it, it keeps up with traffic, but I would like to explore 'second best' options now of trying squeeze just a tiny bit more power
out of the 2.0cih low comp petrol engine.
It currently has a 34ich carb on it. I am contemplating putting a new 32 36 weber on, a different cam, a better exhaust... Maybe having an engine
rebuild before all that... Anything to increase the power of the existing engine a modest amount now that I no longer have enough funds for an engine
swap.
The only other thought is to switch for an Opel manta GTE engine and ancilliaries as that would, I presume, slot in nicely without engine bay
modifications.
I was wondering if anyone could offer any thoughts, insights, tips etc about what I should do before I start spending the remainder of my funds on
carbs and cams and exhausts. I'm not looking to build a drag strip monster, just have a bit more power.
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jacko
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 07:54 PM |
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Hi sorry to read about the problems you have / had .
You say a manta engine will fit so i would think a ford zetec 2l would go in and a type9 gear box .
If you do a serch on here you will find no end of info on zetec combination's
jacko
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:05 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jacko
Hi sorry to read about the problems you have / had .
You say a manta engine will fit so i would think a ford zetec 2l would go in and a type9 gear box .
If you do a serch on here you will find no end of info on zetec combination's
jacko
This
Probably a tdci would be an improvement too
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Slimy38
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Probably a tdci would be an improvement too
This would be my logical thinking when it comes to van powerplants, but that's only because I drove one petrol powered transit and hated every
second whereas all diesels have been decent to drive (well, as much as a transit can!).
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blakep82
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:12 PM |
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i'd be looking at a ford diesel myself these days i think. rwd transit should hold everything you need?
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:18 PM |
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Thanks for the reply Jacko. Its worth considering that.
I suppose i'm drawn to the manta lump for the simple (and possibly naive) reason that the Bedford engine is the same engine block as the manta
GTE... So it would possibly be a more straightforward switch. I arrived here because Nat from Retro power posted in February advertising a cf2
beavertail for sale, which they had implanted a manta engine, running gear and ancilliaries into. I've emailed retropower just now to enquire if
that is still for sale. I'll wait and see what they say.
Ironically, right at the beginning, when I first purchased the van, I made a couple of inquiries at retro power, but ultimately decided on retro
engines two years later when I was ready. I deeply regret that costly decision now, which made on the basis that the retro engines man claimed he
could do it right away. Its possible to promise anything when you aren't intending to actually do it I guess!
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blakep82
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:21 PM |
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Nat's on here btw, nsdev is his name.
i think you may struggle to find a manta GTE engine for decent money these days, but what about an ecotec? way cheaper, tuning parts are available
from SBD, and still the same block! Omega gearbox will fit straight up too
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:29 PM |
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TDCIs have been dropped into beddies in the past. The general consensus amongst beddieheads is that they are INSANELY noisey, and don't offer
any real power improvement over the 2.0cih engine. My van is surprisingly fleet of foot on pull away, up to about 40mph... After that acceleration
becomes modest andleisurely, and the top speed is about 80mph. Any long uphill stretch will take that back to about 60mph.
I'd rather stick with petrol than diesel also... For entirely irrational reasons of still believing petrol engines to be better.
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big_wasa
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:31 PM |
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I love a zetec, cheap and easy. Use tha standard efi and have an easy reliable 150bhp.
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
Nat's on here btw, nsdev is his name.
Yes... I'm hoping he might still have the beavertail for sale with the manta engine in. I would be interested in buying and I'm also
hoping he might be able to quote me for swapping out the manta gear from the beaver tail into my panel van!!!!
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:36 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by big_wasazetec, cheap and easy....reliable 150bhp.
Sounds great but I would imagine there's one hell of a lot of fettling required to get that into an 86 Bedford.
Will look into it though, cheers.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:49 PM |
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Buy a Transit --- I knew the CF's back in their heyday a very inferior van to the early Transits, even when new they were horrible
soggy things to drive terrible bump steer
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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Volvorsport
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:51 PM |
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volvo 740/940 turbo ...........
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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big_wasa
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 08:54 PM |
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The ford Mt75 is very similar to the Manta Getrag and bolts on to a zetec no bother.
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 09:17 PM |
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Britishtrident, an irrational love of bedfords prevents me from considering a transit. Its a labour of love. I love the mk1 and mk2 trannies, but the
few remaining examples change hand as for insane amounts of money. PS George Grosz 's 1928 artwork... Interesting and distinct choice of avatar
image!
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 09:18 PM |
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MT75.... That's what I had, and lost, along with the Essex V6.
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 09:31 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by timbedford
MT75.... That's what I had, and lost, along with the Essex V6.
Is it the Chinese or the Japanese that apparently have the same word for "chrisis" and "opportunity"?
If it all went well you'd be driving it with a great heavy lump in there, now you can have a Zetec or something else much better!
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 09:54 PM |
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So... It seems so far that the recommendation is to stick with an engine swap rather than noodling about with my engine to try and eke out a bit more
power.
Seems like I need to start looking into options then. The missus is going to love it when I buy another engine (or possibly an entire donor car)!
Thanks for feedback and advice thus far!
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austin man
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 09:58 PM |
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you could alway pic up a cheap diesel granada or sierra and use the engine and box
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 10:10 PM |
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Vauxhall Omega v6 should fit, I've fitted a Rover lump in an old CF so should have thought the V6 would fit
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 10:10 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by austin man
you could alway pic up a cheap diesel granada or sierra and use the engine and box
You can still get them?
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timbedford
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| posted on 27/4/13 at 10:34 PM |
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Hello Rusty nuts,
The V6 requires a lot of engine bay and bulkhead reworking, and then it would require a new interior engine cowl, single passenger seat, moving the
gear stick or going automatic so new pedal box, plus I never got far enough to know if the steering rack would be okay and all that stuff... It starts
to add up to a lot of stuff.
Since getting ripped off, I just can't afford to go down that road any more ... I can't do the work myself... So I now need to consider
options that are more 'plug and play'.
My thinking was 'make the best of what you have, throw a few toys at it and see if you can squeeze a bit more enthusiasm out of the existing
engine'. This would be the least complicated way forward. 250 quid on a carb, 200 on a piper cam (they actually supply a cam kit for this engine
believe it or not), get a better exhaust (better as in better not 'halfords rocketship funnel' , the usual boy racer bits and bobs, but
without expecting miracles... Just trying to tease a wee bit more juice out of the old girl.
That would be the less obtrusive option, but I'd be throwing a lot of money at a lacklustre dinosaur engine and possibly seeing very little
improvement.
If I can slot in an ecotec, or a zetec, without having to carve out the engine bay, that may be the best option.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 28/4/13 at 08:00 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by timbedford
TDCIs have been dropped into beddies in the past. The general consensus amongst beddieheads is that they are INSANELY noisey, and don't offer
any real power improvement over the 2.0cih engine. My van is surprisingly fleet of foot on pull away, up to about 40mph... After that acceleration
becomes modest andleisurely, and the top speed is about 80mph. Any long uphill stretch will take that back to about 60mph.
I'd rather stick with petrol than diesel also... For entirely irrational reasons of still believing petrol engines to be better.
Just out of interest, why are they noisy? I don't remember the Focus or Mondeo being that noisy? Although I suspect there may be a large amount
of noise reducing foam involved there. And thinking about it Transits are noisier than the car applications.
I have to respect the petrol preference though, after all you could never describe a car enthusiast as a dieselhead!
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Simon
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| posted on 28/4/13 at 08:22 AM |
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Agree with op re transits, bedford cf has a fab shape. A friend had one all muralled with rover v8. We reckon it did about 10 mpg
I'm gonna suggest diesel, but 330 bmw and if the bulkhead needs modifying, so be it Lots of torques and economy, youll just need to change
the f/d to something more appropriate.
ATB
Simon
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scudderfish
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| posted on 28/4/13 at 08:44 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by timbedford
My thinking was 'make the best of what you have, throw a few toys at it and see if you can squeeze a bit more enthusiasm out of the existing
engine'. This would be the least complicated way forward. 250 quid on a carb, 200 on a piper cam (they actually supply a cam kit for this engine
believe it or not), get a better exhaust (better as in better not 'halfords rocketship funnel', the usual boy racer bits and bobs, but
without expecting miracles... Just trying to tease a wee bit more juice out of the old girl.
So you've already mentally allocated a budget of at least £450. You must be able to get a decent Ford engine, gearbox and fit it for that.
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