| Ford engines: |
| Engine name |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Typical Donor |
| "Contina" 1600/E (1600cc) |
strong, (5 bearing crank) and should be cheap if you can find
one |
spares - old - non cross flow/push rod engine based on the
"Anglia" 1 litre unit - tunable but otherwise no real advantage in
using this engine. It is the basis of the Lotus Cortina engine (see
below). |
MK1, MK2 Cortinas |
| Lotus
twin cam (1600cc) |
Basically
the Cortina engine above but with a Lotus twin cam head. Yes I'd really
like one of these but they are now rare, or donor cars are. Plenty of
tuning potential. |
old - spares may be a problem. |
MK1, MK2 Lotus Cortinas, Twin Cam Escort MK1. Some Lotus cars. |
| Kent
(1100, 1300, 1600) |
cheap,
still available, easily tunable, fits! |
Push rod engine. |
MK1, MK2 Escorts, MK2 Cortinas, MK1 Capri |
| Pinto
(1300, 1600, 2000) |
very
available and tunable. SOHC. Plenty of torque on 2000. |
Tall and heavy. Modifications are needed to get it under a
Locost bonnet and still be SVA "friendly". Some of these are available
with fuel injection/engine management. |
MK3/4 Cortinas, MK2/3 Capri, Sierras, RS 2000 Escort Mk2. |
| CVH
(1300, 1600, 1800) |
tunable,
reliable (engine management), available. SOHC (hemi head) |
Tallish. Used to be some doubt about the strength of the block |
Later Sierras. Also used in FWD cars. In tuned form in
XR2/3i, RS1600i, RSTurbos. |
| Zetec
(2000) |
DOHC,
16V - modern Ford |
Expensive parts. |
Sierra, Mondeos |
| BDA
(1600, 1800) |
dream
on! DOHC. |
Rare and expensive. |
MK2 Escorts |
| Cosworth
(2000) |
ditto.
Strong engine. |
Complicated ancilleries if used in turbo guise. Complete
rebuild/different tune strategy if used non turbo. |
Cosworth Sierras |
| V6
Cologne injection (2800) |
strong,
cheap, reliable power + torque. |
big and heavy (all iron), not so well known about as above
engines. Push rod valvegear. It may be difficult to find room for the
injection and engine management ancilleries. |
Capri, XR4i and 4x4 Sierras, Granadas |
| V6
Essex (3000) |
strong,
cheap, reliable power + torque |
big
and heavy (all iron), carburetted, push rod valvegear. |
Capri,
Granadas |
| V4 |
interesting,
smooth running engine |
Old
- not mainstream. |
Corsairs,
SAAB, Transits. |
| other engine options: |
| Rover
V8 (3500) |
Still
obtainable, alloy block. It's a V8! |
Cost
a lot to run |
Rover
saloons (SD1) and Land Rovers. Also used by TVR. |
| BMC
A-series |
Available
in many forms. Well understood, tunable. |
Only
up to 1300cc. Push rod, non crossflow engine. |
Minis
(in FWD form), MG Midgets, Minor 1000s, etc, etc. |
| BMC
B-series |
Strong,
well understood and tunable. Available in 5 bearing crank. Up to 1800cc. |
Push
rod, non crossflow engine. |
MGB
+ many others. |
| Triumph
(Dolomite) |
SOHC,
up to 2200cc |
Used
canted at 45 degrees. |
Dolomite,
TR7 |
| Toyota |
DOHC
2000cc |
|
|
| Fiat |
124
DOHC Unit. |
|
|
| Alfa |
Alfetta
1750, 2000cc used with transaxle |
|
Alfettas,
GTV, Spiders. |
| |
Alfa's
wonderful V6 |
|
GTV,
75, etc. |
| BMW |
Strong
SOHC to 1800cc |
|
3
series/5 series |
| |
straight
6 SOHC to 2500cc |
Too
long for a locost. |
3
series/5 series |
| |
M3
motor |
gold
dust! |
|
| Bike
engines |
various
light, air and water cooled, DOHC, 4 valve engines up to 1300cc. Up to
six speed sequential gearboxes.
Also
some engines designed for shaft drive. BMW R (boxers) and K (brick)
motors.
Also
2 strokes!
|
Drive
train problems (small clutch, no reverse gear!). Really needs a light
car. |
|
| American
V8s (~5/6LITRES) |
Several
big engines available with alloy blocks. |
Very
thirsty |
Mustangs,
Cameros, Firebirds, etc. |
| Please send e-mail feed back to: scorchie@dsl.pipex.com |