brumster

Yeah still got them... happy to go £200 but that's about the best it gets, otherwise I'm going to keep them and use one of them for a gaming sim chair! Will have one for sale then

To be honest, I feel like September is typically a more consistent month than July, but... yeah, willing to take a chance on that one

Mine's repackable and didn't fail the IVA

Forgive the thread necro, but I was up ay Llyn Brenig today and I did the run up the A543 from Pentrefoelas again and... as was mooted back in 2018... the average speed cameras are now installed ;). Still a lovely road to drive and at a 60mph average limit you can still enjoy it enough.

That's great news to see Newark back again (although it might be a different venue I guess but, all the same, good news)...

The bottom mounts through the floor will be relatively easy but you'll need to make sure you put some big spreader plates underneath so that there is no chance of them pulling through in an accident. Myself, I'd go for some 4mm steel plate, of good square area, say 100x100mm *minimum*. The IVA guide has lots of information on anchorages (minimum bolt grades, distances apart, etc) so have a good read of it. On the rear, you'll need to come over the brace bar that runs across the car and go down into the boot floor, again with suitable spreader plates. Don't use the leading edge of the rear of the boot - it's way too flimsy. I'd also consider making the brace bar a bit more permanent, maybe welding it in on brackets. The "roll-over hoop" (purely cosmetic on the Exmo) I wouldn't rely on too much if it's attached via exhaust clamps through the body... but, having said that, just putting some 4mm sheet onto the boot floor underneath them and welding that in place would help stop it punching through the floor in the worst case. Depends if you have one and if you're using the 3-point safety belt mounts on it or not

It's clinging on by the edge of it's synchros

Some non-essential "like to do's" but I doubt realistically I'll get time : Pull front suspension off and get the wishbones ceramic coated Install the 3J diff Pull the gearbox and rebuild it

Aye, best o'luck

My honest answer is I don't think they go to that level of detail, since the car "is what it is" there's not really much you can do about it anyway. Obviously there's an inference that the car design is 'right' or the manufacturer has done lots of crash testing to mitigate failure to meet the design suggestion but... yeah, like that's happened :). I was always told "make sure you fit a collapsable column from the Sierra donor" and that was it; requirements met. I'm not saying that's the hard-line truth as far as the IVA guidelines go, but from a practical perspective, I doubt there's really much else you can do about it. I suspect the testers just see a car that's done to a common design, check that the builder hasn't gone and done something away-from-the-norm in terms of the steering column (ie. it's as GBS intended), includes the collapsable section from the Sierra and that's it - they're most likely happy.

Maybe. Probably all revs-related. If you're happy to keep the limit sensible, assuming you don't need the revs to chase the numbers. I should probably clarify, I'm only talking naturally aspirated here - you turbo nutters, I know what you're like

That is odd, a contact I once had in the engine rebuilding business said they were relatively bullet-proof bottom ends. Maybe it was only the 2.3 or 2.5 that had the better bottom end and I am confused/mixed up...? Either that or a lot of the rally guys are not letting on to the fact they've done more work on their engines than they care to admit which, to be honest, could very well be the truth!! edit: you got me googling. Now I know people spout some *bleep* on the internet so you have to take everything with a pinch of salt, but SBD I do respect, and they suggest 240 should be about the limit on stock internals : http://www.sbdev.co.uk/History_files/History_DuratecTuning.htm Most people I've spoken to in rally circles do pistons and rods to those sort of numbers (as per my post above), so this surprises me a little, I don't think I'd risk 240 on standard rods. But the crank and design of the crank support I was told was very good for a production car engine.

Yours doesn't look significantly different to mine, to be honest, but not entirely sure what they'd be looking for short of the fact that it's safe and structurally sound

Not really. FWIW all he did with mine was check it wasn't fouling anything. No talk about angles, lengths or anything like that

The Duratecs will make 180-200 just by dropping bodies on. A bit of cam work and pocketed pistons will see you north of 200 (say 220), and with rods/pistons there are rally boys using them up to 250ish bhp on standard bottom ends (although some swear by keying the cranks and doing something with the timing chain) - but essentially I understand the bottom ends are pretty strong up to 250. After that you're spending the big money, though. Most of them use the 2.3 or 2.5 spec lumps anyway; "go big or go home" but then they have money to burn! In the grand scheme of Ford engines, even Duratec is approaching end-of-life now, which tells you something about the way things are going. It's all going Ecoboost now. Kit manufacturers are scrabbing up what Duratec engines they can now because Zetec is almost dried up and Pinto is effectively gone, and Duratec won't be much longer (I think new crate engines are probably all US-spec where they're still using them, maybe UK/EU it's now discontinued?)... 2.5 Millington anyone ?! Bargain at £25-30k....

The Zetec isn't a *straight* swap, no. One major difference is that the inlet/exhausts are on opposite sides of the engine between Zetec and Duratec. I'm fairly sure the bellhousing won't be a straight swap either.

I was referring more to the engine code names, rather than how Ford brand them. So by "Zetec" I mean the 1800 or 2000cc I believe, in cast iron block/alu head, exhaust ports on LHS (for a longitudinal config). From my limited understanding the VVT variants are seldom worth the effort for the top-end head/power, although they have slightly better bottom ends, so I'd read your more cost effective going for a non-VVT engine and just working the head accordingly with new cams. Or I guess if you have a VVT engine, drop the variable timing aspect of it as you swap the cams, if that's possible. You specifically only mentioned those two lumps but, as Longboarder said, if I was going for a simple 200bhp lump I would just go Duratec anyway. Far superior engine.

If 200bhp is your only concern, drop the Sigma lump, go Zetec. It is the common sense way forward, easier in every way. If you want to be different, prefer the character of the Sigma lump and want a little screamer, stick with the original plan. I speak as the weirdo who put a 1600 K-Series in a Zero WTF would anyone do that?!

The only possible reason for this that I can think of, assuming it's manual, is that by lifting it up at the front you cause oil in the transmission to run to the back of the gearbox and reduce the lubrication on the layshaft. If the gearbox was low on oil I guess this is possible but if it's got the appropriate amount of oil in it, I doubt you'll be lifting it to sufficient an angle to really cause that much of an issue, to be honest...!? Unless someone knows for definite otherwise?

Lots of info on here. This post in my build thread might help...

If you don't need the flexibility, NHF (well, Racing Lines, which are a subcompany out of the same unit) will do braided teflon lines as well as R9 rubber hose. I use it on the competition car. BFG-copy fittings. The other source I used to use was Think Auto for genuine BFG stuff. Not sure braided line front to back is really justified on a road car but, hey, whatever people want to use

Nuneaton hose & fitting can also supply genuine (I pressed them on the exact same matter when I bought it!) http://www.nhfsupplies.co.uk/

Unlikely, unfortunately. If it went through the IVA with a cat, then the emissions requirements will be relatively stringent and it would be impossible to get it through them without one fitted. Ultimately it depends what the requirements are on the V5...

Bloody hell, you don't mess around do you !! Nice one, irrespective of the issue you had, they are great little bits of kit for what they do so it's a nice addition to have... glad the suggestion worked

Could do - sticky valve? Mind you the pinto is a fairly simply beast in terms of valvetrain isn't it, so there's no hydraulic followers to blame