Engine choice

[bmxdave]

Well, ive become a bit disheartened by the amount of money and work involved in fitting an XE to the mk1 cortina. So now im unsure of which engine to fit. Obviously i want the most fastest loudest and revvyest of them all, but obviously i want the easiest to fit and the cheapest. Either way its going on a 5 speed s i e r r a box. But what do you lot reckon i should do? I know ive already asked every question under then sun about the xe and ecotec engines, but everytime i look at a different engine im confused even more. Heres my ideas so far...

 

Tune the Crossflow already in the car and keep the 4 speed. I already have +60 1300 pistons, a pair of 40's and manifold and some rods, id just need to get the cam sorted then send it off for porting work. Although the easiest option, its the least powerfull.

 

Next up is the XE. A wonderfull engine, and the one giving some of the highest figures but itd be bloody expensive to fit, and a lot of hassle.

 

Onto the Zetec. I know little of this conversion, and i presume its not too big a job compared to the XE, but the numbers arent great until you start spending dough and thats something i dont want to do yet. But if its an easy enough engine to fit, id go for it because it gives me plenty of scope in the future.

 

Or a V6. The 24v cossie V6 gives out healthy numbers for little outlay. Is it a massive job to fit into a cortina engine bay? Only problem i see is if i plan to upgrade in the future, the costs would be very prohibitive. Also, would it make the car nose heavy at all?

 

Whats your opinions on these or do you have any suggestions? No im not going Pinto. Id go Essex but theyre expensive to tune and heavy.

[martymk1]

what about a rover

[Guest MK1gaz]

Pinto is best for performance on a budget . Fits cheaper than most and goes well even with light tunning

[Mr Sam]

crossflow/pinto or XE

[Toby]

Pre-crossflow (slightly biased) or Lotus (bit pricey but get a standard one for starters)

 

Pinto's got to be the cheepest power

 

Crossflow would probably be the next cheepest and possibly better for weight distribution than a pinto.

 

Yep - changed my mind - crossflow - you've got some bits already.

 

or sell those bits and do pre-CF

 

Oh I don't know...............

 

Sorry

[J Elvy]

yeh, pre crossflow or crossflow, the pinto is good but it will handle better with a smaller engine!! you can get a crossflow to go well with not a lot of cash, and you already have everything there to get you started

[X FLOW EDDY]

X FLOW all day long mate

[escort21]

Nice hot xflow

[H.P.E harry]

Think a well soughted crossflow would sit nice in your bay mate

[sambo]

Pinto. No doubt about it. If an XE conversion is too expensive, just chuck a pinto in there!

[Vista]

The 24Valve Cosworth engine fits neatly and nicely in a mk2 cortina so I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible to do much the same in a mk1.

 

Here's Hellblues fabulous mk2, I'm sure he could help you with a few pointers with what was involved in getting it in

 

 

 

As for my own choice, well old skool wise I prefer pinto's to X-flows as whilst they are heavier the difference is not as much as most people will tell you. Plus the torque they produce is much better and they don't need to rev to 9000rpm to get it. As far as modern engines go, well I've never had one in an OSF, but it's hard to argue with the numbers that the XE can produce with a bit of tweaking. I also suspect that as people have been fitting them longer than zetecs, you stand more chance of finding second hand conversion parts for them cheaply. There is of course also the Duratec engine?

 

But having looked again at Hellblues car, I'd say it has to be the V6

[H.P.E harry]

The 24Valve Cosworth engine fits neatly and nicely in a mk2 cortina so I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible to do much the same in a mk1.

 

Here's Hellblues fabulous mk2, I'm sure he could help you with a few pointers with what was involved in getting it in

 

 

 

As for my own choice, well old skool wise I prefer pinto's to X-flows as whilst they are heavier the difference is not as much as most people will tell you. Plus the torque they produce is much better and they don't need to rev to 9000rpm to get it. As far as modern engines go, well I've never had one in an OSF, but it's hard to argue with the numbers that the XE can produce with a bit of tweaking. I also suspect that as people have been fitting them longer than zetecs, you stand more chance of finding second hand conversion parts for them cheaply. There is of course also the Duratec engine?

 

But having looked again at Hellblues car, I'd say it has to be the V6

 

I think the difference in weight between a pushrod and pinto is about 10 kg's. Not as much as some people make out. Plus that cortina looks the nuts

[bomber1]

if ur running a x-flow 1600 i pressume take it out and for the conversion cost of getting a xe/zetec/duratec under the bonnet get the x-flow built. theres plenty of engine builders that could do the buisnees with what u have and taking it to the next level or3 oh in this months cf theres a V8 powerd anglia so i think this that engine is to heavy for that car is imo do what u want as its ur car but if u want power its going to cost. what do u use the car for round town or long distance? a screaming x will be great round town but the v6 will eat long distances quickly and quitly (or as quitly as u want it to be)

[pauln]

I voted XE even though i'm a zetec user (mine did,nt cost £2000+ to do). If you already have the XE to fit you should stick with it as it's a great conversion when finished. Next time I do an engine conversion I want to do a Duratec (4 or v6).

[surfingturnip]

bda, crossflow or for something a bit different a honda s2000 engine? good and revvy, plenty of performance parts and reliable

[Toby]

Hellblues fabulous mk2! Lovely.

 

How much work do you want though!! This car must have 100's of hours spent on it, if you want a quick, pokey smoke it's got to be the CF.

 

Do you like rev's or torque? Have a mate with an XE Mk1 and it makes some lovely noises and goes like a rocket - reliably!

[bmxdave]

Cheers for your opinions!

 

My main issue with the crossflow is that once ive upgraded it to about 130bhp, it starts getting far too expensive needing steel bottom ends and that. Id rather spend the money on something with more potential. Although if i cant decide ill just go and build the crossflow up instead. Theyre a great little engine.

 

To be honest, i dont like pintos. Im not too bothered about the weight issue but for some reason ive never liked them, and never will. Sorry all you pinto lovers out there, theyre just not that great.

 

Are the Duratecs better then the Zetecs? And what are the V6 duratecs like? I doubt they can be tuned much, or cheaply but itd be pretty cool. And some bike out there like Triumphs have 3 throttle bodies so surely that wouldnt be too big a job to make up a manifold?

 

Ive always been a big fan of the 24v cossie engine. Ive seen a driver in work with one so i might ask if hes getting rid soon so i can rape it of parts.

 

I like the F20 idea, S2000 or Civic but theres the issue of the engine spinning the wrong way, so i guess itd have to be S2000 all through, which would be expensive im sure.

 

Ill see what pops up. I might not be getting an XE i was promised first dibs on, and theres alsorts of stuff popping up on ebay, so if something takes my fancy ill have it.

 

Im definately interested to know a bit more about the Duratec V6's.

[bmxdave]

Hellblues fabulous mk2! Lovely.

 

How much work do you want though!! This car must have 100's of hours spent on it, if you want a quick, pokey smoke it's got to be the CF.

 

Do you like rev's or torque? Have a mate with an XE Mk1 and it makes some lovely noises and goes like a rocket - reliably!

 

I like both!

 

I love the cacaphony of 8000 revs but the burble of a 6 is sexy as it goes through the tourque band and makes that almost growling like noise.. ok ill stop now.

 

Tourque is great, but the ability to just open the taps and bounce off the limiter is just as good. The car will be an everydayer but im not arsed. If its rough as F@@k ill just deal with it. If it only does 3 to the gallon ill put more petty in, simple as. Im willing to compromise, although handling is very important to me.

[Toby]

"Im definately interested to know a bit more about the Duratec V6's."

 

They have 6 cylinders arranged in a V formation.

 

That's ok!

[John boy]

I'd go with a rover v8 had one in a mk11 cortina weight is about the same as a pinto plenty of power as standard and with a well setup carb it will cost about the same to run as a pinto on 45's . If you really want lots of lazy power try a small block chevy cheaper to buy and get bits for tham the rover and its actually smaller. You can't beat the sound of a v8!!

[pauln]

Cheers for your opinions!

 

 

Im definately interested to know a bit more about the Duratec V6's.

 

Yeah i'm still looking for info (turbosport have a section). I was considering looking for a 2.5 and using a non pats 6cyl ecu (there is'nt one all post 94). There's also the bellhousing to consider but I have heard it's the mazda bolt pattern same as the 4cyl. Then there has to be a bloody good reason why nobody else has had a go (only one I know of is a mk5 escort converted to rwd with a v6 duratec). Shame cos it looks like a compact and reasonably lightweight lump. Did also wonder about vauxhalls V6 (that comes rwd from the omega all the way up to 3.2l)

[bmxdave]

Will a type 9 5speed from a capri/sierra fit a 24v cossie? And would a Mazda MX5 5speed fit the Duratec?

 

I could get either of these engines very soon and make a start on the work.

 

What are the MX5 1.8 engines like? Would be a bit different i guess. What are they like to tune?

[puddy]

Cossie yb turbo,all the power you will ever need

 

puddy

 

Ps. on a serious note, xe on a budget for sure