Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has some advice on this, I had a 2001 supersprint with a VX 1.6l 8 valve at the moment but looking to move to a 1.8 or 2L zetec then convert to FI at a later stage. If there is a better engine out there and how to go about this? How difficult is it?


Another question on the Emerald K6 can you put it into closed loop for a 'cruise control' over a long motorway run?

Hi - I swapped from a Vegantune twincam a while back to a 2L Blacktop Zetec, from Raceline.

I've been very impressed with the results
Good power, torque, and excellent reliability.

You can see some info here: http://freespace.virgin.net/shaw.clan/index.html

But what's an 'FI'?

There are a fair few Zetec users on this forum, so I guess others will be along soon...

Sorry I shortened Fuel Injected to FI.

LOL - I should have worked that out for myself!



I run on 45 Webers, and have 210 BHP - sounds great too!!!

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost?

I have a budget of about £2.5k for the engine is that is doable or not. Obviously the cheaper it is the better as the cash can be spent on other areas like replacing the Ital axle.

I used the Raceline Zeter-R Focus engine.
That's not the cheapest method.
A good second hand engine would probably be a fair bit cheaper!

• 2000cc Ford Zetec Service Engine - Complete 1 Yes
• Inlet manifold gasket 1 Yes
• Inlet manifold 1 Yes
• Inlet manifold fitting kit 1 Yes
• Block to bellhousing dowels 2 Yes
• Raceline water rail 1 Yes
• Raceline water rail fitting kit 1 Yes
• Thermostat housing kit 1 Yes
• Water rail 'Focus' mounting strap 1 Yes
• Blanking plug - water rail 1 Yes
• Idler pulley kit 1 Yes
• Spigot bearing 1 Yes
• Wet sump pan kit inc new generation baffle tray kit 1 Yes
• Sump gasket 1 Yes
• Dipstick 1 Yes
• Dipstick tube 1 Yes
• Inlet manifold mounting kit (studs/nylocs) 1 Yes
• Alternator mounting kit 1 Yes
• Throttle potentiometer and fitting kit 1 Yes
• ECU module (3D ignition only) 1 Yes
• Wiring loom (3D ignition only) 1 Yes
• Racceline modified cyclinder head 1 Yes
• RL200M Camshaft kit 1 Yes
• Heavy duty connecting rod bolt set 1 Yes
• £2,995.00
• Labour to build engine to spec 1 £500.00
• Lighten standard flywheel 1 £120.00
• Release bearing to suit type 9 1 £25.00
• Starter motor 1 £85.00
• Alternator 1 £135.00
• Installation parts
• Water hose kit - Blue silicon 1 £150.00
• 4 into 1 stainless steel exhaust primary set and collector 1 £440.00
• Engine mount kit 1 £140.00
• Engine mount bolt 3"x1/2 unf 2 £1.30
• Alloy Bell Housing £195.00
• TOTAL £4,786.30
• (VAT) £717.95

But I still have the Ital axle, with LSD and improved drive shafts.

It's a great package overall!

When I originally fitted my 2 litre Zetec back in 2001 the costs (from memory) were as follows. I used the alternator, starter, silencer (already a big diameter) and Webers45's/filters off the x-flow, I originally intended to use the Weber Alpha I had on the x-flow but it was cheaper to buy a new one instead of getting the old one modified to wasted spark, remapped and a new loom.

2 litre Zetec Silvertop £150
Shortened sump (Dunnell) £250
ECU and Loom (Weber Alpha) £350
Engine mounts (James Whiting) £150
Cooling Pipes (James Whiting) £200
Steel Flywheel (James Whiting) £200
Clutch (James Whiting) £100
Inlet Manifold (James Whiting) £100
Custom exhaust headers (local chap) £400
Sundry bits and bobs £100
Rolling road set up for Webers £60

Total cost adds up before you realise, £2060 doing all the work myself but I have never regretted it.

Later fitted a pair of Kent FZ2002 cams and new followers, made engine a bit more powerful but in retrospect not needed for road use. Built another Silvertop eventually with a stage 2 head, 2.1 overbore and used the Kent cams in it, made approx. 208 bhp, a real flyer but again a bit unnecessary for just road use.

The Silvertop was later injected, the Jenvey's, ECU/Loom, injectors etc came to approx. £1400 from Scholar Engines who I discovered after fitting the Zetec do some cracking stuff at prices that are lower than the better known competition. Used the old filters and modified the ram pipes and throttle linkage to save some money but still had to fit a swirl pot, HP fuel pump and additional fuel lines which probably cost another £400. Basically it cost as almost as much to inject it as it did to fit the engine but I have to say it did make it a much nicer drive, £1800 nicer, probably not but it did improve the fuel consumption from the mid 20's to just over 30 mpg. That means in the 9 years its been on injection and the 15,000 miles I have covered I must have saved about 100 gallons of fuel, not quite paid for itself yet.

The car now has a 2 litre Blacktop in it. Cost me £700 from Raceline but I sold all the bits I did not need on E-Bay for £200 bringing the cost down to £500. Fitting it in place of the Silvertop was pretty straitforward but the simple fact was a rebuild of the Silvertop (doing all the labour myself) was going to cost way more than £500 in parts and machining etc. One advantage of the Blacktop is it is slightly more powerful than a standard Silvertop, some say 5 bhp, some say 10 bhp, whatever it is more is better.

For me its just about the perfect engine in a Seven but the simple truth is even with all that power I cannot get from A to B as quick in the car as I could in my first Seven 25 years ago and that only had 130 bhp, but there were no speed cameras and less traffic.

Depends how much work you want to to do yourself.
When I changed from webered Xfow to injected zetec 10 years ago I did all the work myself including making various bits & bobs - engine mounts, rear exit exhaust, Alternator bracket, inlet manifold, etc etc.
my costs are below though I'm sure many of thse have come down in price since I converted mine.
Used guaranteed Engine £250 - now they're about £100 from local breaker - so I have 2 spares just in case!
TB's Lotus Esprit £50 [NEW from Lotus parts fair], some of my mates use bike TB's they're £100-200 a set maybe less if you're lucky on Ebay.
Emerald Ecu £520 And rolling road set up at emerald £250
Sump £150 [Retro frod]
Flywheel £20 I machined & modded it myself
4 branch Ex Man'f - [Westfield] £250
Clutch £70 [Sierra DOHC]
Crank Spigot bush £10
Remote oil filter housing and blanking plate £60ish [Burtons]
Waterail £180 [Retro Ford]
Water Hoses £10 I bought a job lot at autojumble and made up what I needed.
Fuel rail and injectors - Standard K series fit straight on£10 from local breakers
HP Fuel pump [Sierra in tank] £10 from autojumble
Starter motor [Sierra] from car I was breaking
Because my car originally had a Dynamo I converted it to alternator [Sierra]
Various senders - Throttle position, Flywheel, lambda etc I got from a Sierra that I was breaking at the time
It really does transform the car, mines a standard engine and gives ~160BHP and always 30+MPG, with smooth running easy starting and gutsy performance, Oh almost forgot I don't leak oil either so I can now paint the garage floor, which the wife likes
I prefer the silvertop cam cover - Looks very similar to Lotus TC cover.
I bought a pipercross airfilter but have never bothered fitting it the Rampipes make the TB's look like the webers used to
Hope this helps
Of course you can sell all the bits you replace, eg. my webered X flow would now make £1K plus on ebay were I to sell it, so you can recover a lot of costs if feel inclined, Me because my cars a Lotus7 I kept all my original bits So I can return the car to original L7 spec If I ever wanted to.

Crazy doing that. Even "expertly" modified flywheels can explode and since your feet are next to them it can get painful. I once saw a clubmans car have an exploding flywheel on the start line at a hillclimb, the driver was severely injured, the blood loss was life threatening. A proper designed for the job steel flywheel is way cheaper than a new pair of feet.


So do I, that is why my Blacktop has a Silvertop cam cover fitted. Direct replacement, not mods needed.

Caterham Z
Crazy Huh! - Well my Zetec flywheel has lasted 10 years, previously I've modified/lightened, mini, xflows, Ford TC's, BDA's, & Sierra Dohc flywheels - never had a prob, it's how well you do it
OOI if I were using the car in competitions, where I revved it to 8K+ I'd probably, make myself a steel flywheel to suit. Not difficult at all with the correct machinery, which I regularly have access to

You don't have to be revving to 8k+ to have an issue, there is a lot of energy in a flywheel doing 5k.

But they are your feet and legs, problem is you don't get spares. £200 for a properly designed, fully balanced steel flywheel fitted with ring gear and the timing holes is cheap compared to life in a wheel chair.

CatZ
Cool - For me Kit cars are all about DIY whenever poss, it's part of the fun from the hobby Were I posting on the Westfield/locost/Dutton/Robin Hood or general KC forums Plenty of people would be asking How I did it, do I have drawings so they to can do something similar etc. not here though, coz most posters are Cat owners, who simply buy what they want whatever the cost - nothing wrong with that though, it's just a different mindset

I have to say, with access to the correct machinery I'd happily make such components.

No real difference between that, and someone else making the components for you with the same machinery

Having access to the machinery is one thing, know where its safe to remove metal from is another. Even "experts" with years of experience get it wrong sometimes when faults in the original casting cause problems.

Considering a proper steel flywheel cost me only a few pounds extra over a lightened it was a no brainer for me. And because its designed from scratch and made from a higher grade material it is lighter as well.

Have to agree a steel flywheel is actually a relatively cheap option...

But, I used to love to do as much as possible myself - however, those days are well over