Any Others To Use

[Guest big kev]

Hi guys and girls

 

Wel see loads of ford lumps under the bonnets but is there any other I hear there's a BMW engine and of vauxhall's

 

what's your ideas

[ibrooks]

The kit is designed around Ford Sierra mechanical bits so that's what people tend to use. Even when people move away from the original Sierra stuff it's far easier to stick with Ford as it tends to be an evolution of the Sierra stuff and relatively easily fits in the same hole because this is what Ford did (the engines didn't necessarily change only with the model of car so an early car of x-model might have one engine whereas a late model might have a totally different type of engine).

 

If you want to move away from a Ford engine you also have to bear in mind that it attaches to the gearbox so if you can find an engine that can be stuck on the end f the Ford box then you save a chunk of work altering gearbox mounts, prop-shaft, gear lever and possibly clutch mechanism.

 

The Vauxhall XE fits the bill relatively easily as there are conversion kits available to stick it on the end of a type-9 box. The same stuff should also mean a Vauxhall LET could be stuck in there along with a range of other Vauxhall lumps which like the Ford ones tended to be designed to go in the same holes in the cars.

 

Rover K-Series should also be pretty easily do-able as there are conversion kits available to mate them to Ford boxes. Whilst they have a bit of a bad reputation treated with the proper respect they are a cracking lump.

 

There are others that can be fitted to the Ford box from the sublime to the riciculous. There's a conversion to put a Ford type-9 on the end of an A-series so whilst it was intended to allow people with Morris Minors and MG Midgets to get 5 speeds pretty easily the same kit means it would be very easy to stick an 850cc engine in a Robin Hood if you feel the inclination (34 whole horsepower from memory). But then I also know of A-series lumps making well beyond 100bhp so maybe not quite such a ridiculous one as it originally appears.

 

If you are then prepared to start changing the gearbox too then the sky is almost the limit - OK your engineering or fabrication skills might start coming into play as a limit or possibly the depth of your pockets if you are paying for other people's engineering and fabrication skills. It's going to be easier to stick with RWD donors so BMW is a definite option - I've never seen one on a Hood but some of the other manufactorers have been very seriously considering them as a donor as the Sierra gets thin on the ground. There's an Omega (I think) V6 going into a Hood somewhere on here. We've members with Toyota lumps in Hoods. Mr President is running a Rover V8. Of course there was the famous RHE demonstrator with a Jag XJS V12 - what ever happened to that?

 

Engine management can become an issue with later engines though. Some can easily be converted to run on carbs of one sort or another but if it's too difficult then you are left with the choice of retaining the engine donor's management or going for an aftermarket ECU. The aftermarket ECU is more versatile but can push costs quite high whilst using the engine-donor's management can be impossible as many nowadays incorporate anti-theft devices which are either impossible to get around or if they can be tricked getting the info can be hard. I'm going for a Scorpio Cosworth engine and have a BOA version - the BOB would have been available for half the cost and due to different cams and variable length intake tract makes more power and torque but the later ECU that drives it has the Ford PATS system integrated and to keep that happy you need to use the original ignition barrel and key from the donor as they are coded to the ECU (so I'll settle for 200 gee gees).

 

Iain

[Guest Ian & Carole]

Heres our install, massive reconstruction of the engine bay, it is a 2b and not a Zero, really tiny engine though so would fit into yours.

 

 

Wasn't cheap though.

[megadodo]

Having got one sat in my garage I measured the BMW M10 four pot engine (130 bhp in standard trim) and gearbox and I am convinced that will fit in. The pedal box will have to be moved as the engine sits in the car slightly canted to the drivers side, but that's no great problem. In fact that was my post IVA plan until I was given a VW VR6 engine (170 bhp in standard trim). That will fit in the available space, according to the tape measure) but will need a lot of engineering to produce a suitable gearbox adaptor to make it rear wheel drive as ooposed to the transverse layout in the Vento it came out off. Of course that will hit my wallet harder than the BMW option.

[Bob Tucker]

The type 9 box should be OK up to 150 bhp.

I had a standard (but carbed) XE (174 BHP) attached to one & it started to play up after 4k miles.

Now got an upgraded box from BGH for 240 bhp/ 220 "torques" but t'werent cheap.

 

Dont undersetimate the cost of addons..new clutch plate, new brake pedal & cylinders, bellhousing, different length propshaft, ECU, carbs or throttle bodies, inlet & exhaust manifolds...

 

So long a SWMBO isnt looking, my XE install has cost a bit over 6k..including a completely rebuilt club rally spec XE 198 BHP, hand built exh manifold & silencer, BGH box & propshaft..

The initial cost to install a std engine & type 9 was about £2.5k. using all new parts & an ebay engine for £300.

Bob

[Guest Getting There]

Hi

 

GBS will make you the chassis to suit most engines that you want so long as they can have it to build from. They built mine for a Honda S2000 engine and box and there was no extra charge for doing this. The Ford diff has to be used but as you can get ones that are from XR4x4 and some Cosworths then the power/torque delivery should not be a problem.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[Guest smeghead]

hi im fitting a 16v 2.0xe into my zero. it has a carlton gearbox so no problem with clutches. it is on 40dcoe carbs with a 1400cc distributer ( only 2 wires to connect for the ignition). got a new propshaft made vauxhall to sierra diff for £110. cheeper than an alloy bellhousing.in all lighter and more power than a pinto.

[Guest old_timbo]

How big is the Carlton (Omega?) Gearbox? Presumaby bigger that a type 9. The Vauxhall Ecotech option could be a good one when moving on from a Pinto / Type 9 if there is enough room for the box.

[Guest smeghead]

i had no trouble fitting the gearbox into my zero. just make sure it is for the 16v not 8v. mine is from a 8v and had to alter the release bearing.