Snapperpaul

If your going to buy a Type9 to modify start with a V6 version as they have better ratios to start with. you will only need to change first gear to a 2.7. input shaft is longer but if your rebuilding you can replace the long input shaft with a standard length one or use a 40mm bell-housing spacer, the bell housing will need to be swapped for an in-line one as engine bolt patterns are different. there are 2 variations of V6 Type 9, the one with the larger lay shaft bearing carrier which sticks out at the front is the one to go for.

Duratec sufferers from similar issues as a Pinto bottom end, the crank is just fine for almost any power, the rods and pistons are near their limits at above 200bhp i know many run above 200 but not many dare to go above 220 on stock internals what has not been discussed is the rather scary cam chain crank pulley which is only held in place by 2 friction washers and the crank pulley bolt. If the rods don’t give up the chain pulley could slip. OUCH My next engine project is a Fiesta ST150 engine in a Fisher Fury, I have and continue to research the Duratec engine much the way I absorbed all I know about Pinto’s Burton Performance catalog describes the issue of marginal rods and cast pistons and other sites talk about having keyways cut into the Duratec crank and chain drive pulley. Revs usually kill rods and detonation and cylinder pressure kill pistons. im looking at a supercharger for my Duratec and will keyway the crank in preparation

No but why would you when there was a 2.8 Sierra with a LSD simple typo I think

The plate you talk about blanks off the RS2000 bellhousing left side starter position option, it has a hole in it for clutch cable and may well work with your current gearbox setup. so try it first before you hack a bit of an expensive sump off.

It could be that the pickup pipe head is to close to the floor of the sump. once you start reving, the oil pump speeds up and if the pickup is to close to the sump floor your restriction will be there. peen the bottom of the sump or fit a thicket sump gasket, you may be able to bend the pickup pipe bracket to eek out a few mm 8mm is considered optimal, 5mm good enough

The solution is pinned, I’m surprised this thread has gone so long without someone pointing you to the correct thread. the dip stick is for the oil level and had no relation to oil capacity. you should not exceed the max level or the oil will be foamed by the crank. if you have shortened the sump you need to add capacity. the RS2000 sump is safe even if it hangs a few mm below the gearbox, I use them on 2 of my Pinto’s

In my opinion if it ain’t broke don’t fix it if you want unleaded the best mod would be an injection head as they have unleaded inserts but check it has the identifying mark on top left corner exhaust manifold face the injection Head is also worth 5 to 10bhp just doing this will cost £300 injection head £250 head gasket (Rheinz) £20 this is thinner than standard at 1.3mm (extra compression) inlet, exhaust and valve cover gaskets £30 oil, filter, plugs, leads clean it, paint it if the bottom end has good oil pressure leave it alone you could check compression on each cylinder. If you go for a refurbished bottom end then where do you stop? big ends, mains, high pressure oil pump, water pump, a rebore requires pistons and rings if you doing all this work then it makes sense to use good products and future proof the engine with ARP bolts for rods, mains, head and flywheel This is the rabbit hole I’ve been down to many times the minimum cost is £1000 if you then go with new cam kit and all the associated bits and pieces £2000

Tell me more about the 275bhp Pinto

The Essex Kit car club was formed out of the dying embers of Essex RHOCaR you are most welcome to join us for our Sunday breakfast meets last Sunday of the month. We have 40+ members and a huge variety of different kits and a very active events calendar. we could discuss some form of affiliation if Essex RHOCaR takes off but in the past not more than 5 turned up and we have 3 of them in the Essex Kit Car club. you can find us on Facebook or go through me as I am a founding committee member Paul

Cold is good for power, not so good for emissions. id be happy with that as it gives some headroom for spirited driving.

I followed Niduncan and used the original rear springs on Gaz shocks and 125lb on the front i took the wishbones off and drilled the top mount hole for the new metric bolt and also had to drill the bottom holes in the chassis. on the front I have only 3 clicks from minimum and get good suspension movement

Do you use the Mazda diff mounts? If so it could be the rubber mounts gone soft, replacing with new would reduce movements or polybush would reduce movement to very little

I have a friend/member of Essex Kit car club wanting to sell his S3a message me with contact details and I’ll pass them on

I and several others submitted their views and I got a reply...eventually, saying that the proposals had been dropped and that the U.K. government valued its creative small car builders meaning no real change for IVA. i am not aware of what happened about the resto mod proposals but assume the whole paper was dropped. im still fuming about the general lack of interest and the endless prevarication, one Facebook club site owner even said he did not care as his car had past IVA and was on the road. “I’m all right jack” syndrome. For me it was about the preservation of kit cars and specialist vehicles, manufacturers, suppliers and sheer joy of building and driving your own individual behicle.