hi folks,i'm sorry to be a pain but,i am so confused, could someone please tell me which engine and therefore which model,year, estate or saloon,sierra? mondeo? cos apparently dohc is no good,zetec is better,but then would i need sierra for running gear....??????????? all i want is a sporty car to enjoy on a fair budget.HELP!!!!!!!!

BEC

sorry, had to be first :p

Almost all locosts rely on sierra running gear. A bike engined car like an MK Indy R1 will need a sierra propshaft, differential, driveshafts, brakes (can get aftermarket ones though), steering assembly and front uprights. When I bought my kit, MK did a donor pack with all the right parts, but I don't know if they still do.

It all depends on what you want to spend, but I went for an MK with a Yamaha R1 engine, they can be picked up relatively cheaply nowadays. Brilliant performance but you would need to have a method of reverse (legs no longer allowed soon!)

James

[Edited on 9/2/09 by james h]

Ever considered fitting a bike engine?...........

Phil

A-ha... you've just opened the proverbial can of worms Master Cobbler! Can't help you out with the Ford engine choices, but I've no doubt help will be along soon!

PS - Just don't let anyone convince you that you need to stick a bike-engine into your car!

Bugger.. too slow (again!).

hmmmm maybe a bike engine?

Not trying to teach you how to suck eggs Master C (I don't know how much you know about the Locost scene), but as you're probably gathering from the posts so far, the current fad is for bike-engines over the traditional approach of car engines.

Honest.. someone WILL be on soon to talk about Zetecs, etc!

Escort 1.8L zetec engine is cheep and comes with more usable bits. say 94 on

Bolt a type 9 upto it.

The 2.0L needs bits changing over for rwd use.



[Edited on 9/2/09 by big_wasa]

quote:

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Originally posted by scootz
the current fad is for bike-engines over the traditional approach of car engines.

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try being me, vauxhall engine (not even the common one with all the bits available ha ha) sierra gearbox, and modified capri axle. bedford front uprights, mk2 escort steering rack.
mines a right mongrel

sierra running gear with a mondeo zetec sounds easy now

If you are going to build an MK / MNR / MAC1 or Haynes Roadster you are going to be reliant on Sierra running gear, from which you will need (as a minimum):-

Front hubs, steering rack, steering column, steering wheel (for SVA), front brakes, brake master cylinder, handbrake, rear diff, propshaft, rear drive shafts and rear hubs / brakes.

Then add your choice of engine / gearbox. If you are going Sierra as donor for both then your choices are:-

Find a Sierra Cosworth with the Turbo Cosworth Engine £££££££££ but fast.
2 litre DOHC, which is OK, but there are apparently not a lot of tuning parts for them.
2 litre / 1.6 litre Pinto engines, for which there are loads of tuning parts.
1.8 CVH engines, which can be made pretty fast (didn't someone turbo one?).

If you are going car engined, then stick with the box that came with the engine, either a Type 9 or an MT75.

If you are going for a different engine to the donor vehicle, the world is your lobster. From xflow to a Duratec in the Ford range alone. People have fitted everything from rotary RX7 engines, to Volvo Turbos.

TBH go simple first. Fit the engine, gearbox, carbs and loom from the donor car and get it on the road cheap. If you make the project more ambitious it will get exponentially more expensive and take infinitely longer.

HTH

Mike

P.S. If I was building again, I'd be seriously tempted by the Westfield / MX5 based kit. Single donor vehicle, sorted kit, decent running gear that shouldn't be rusted solid.

Try here

Apparently the type 9 fits... That's the way I'm going anyway and I'm gonna try and wangle some sort of M3 box to it, just to be awkward

You're all wrong If your starting from scratch go for Mazda MX5 the complete donor vehicle.
Lightweight hubs front and rear
inline engine and gearbox
no faffing about with bitsathis an bitsathat.
You can also run the original ecu and injection system if you get an early NA type.

Just get the Sierra with a 2L pinto, it will be fine for a while. When you want a bit more power fit a better cam and a twin choke downdraught weber.

It's all you need at this stage, and will be well quick. After that the law of diminishing returns will apply, and extra power will get progressively more expensive/difficult.

John

thanks guys i appreciate you all taking the time,i will keep looking
regards john

quote:

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Originally posted by mastercobbler
thanks guys i appreciate you all taking the time,i will keep looking
regards john

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If you want a modern ford engine - zetec fits to type 9 box, plenty around, cheap, duratec is 18kg lighter, supposedly will fit to mx5 box/diff (choice of LSDs) and more powerful out of the box, and can supposedly take more power before you have to start going for stuff like strengthened bolts/cranks etc - see burtonpower.com

Regards
Hugh

quote:

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Originally posted by mastercobbler
all i want is a sporty car to enjoy on a fair budget.HELP!!!!!!!!

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I agree with John here, from your first post I suspect this is really just a "getting the ball rolling" thread. The most straightforward way to create a kit car is to basically just convert a single donor - you have all the bits as soon as you start (almost) and most kits are basically designed around this premise so you wont have to worry about chassis modifications etc etc.

The problem with starting this thread is that everybody whos building a a se7en comes here...and pretty much every engine thats worth fitting to one has been at some point

I'm fitting a C20XE - vauxhall redtop in mine.

I suppose the quick answer to "Which engine?" is whichever engine you want, but the sierra lot will be easiest

May I? Do what is easiest. You will regret it otherwise. Easiest also means the most people can help at any given stage.