2.3 I4 Engine Conversion

[matt_jagger]

Hi Everyone, not long since joined and this is my first post, and a tough one.

I'm currently in the process of restoring my e bay 99 quid MK3 fiesta with my brother, it's going really well. I was in the scrap yard today and saw a galaxy tucked away, after popping the bonnet, a shiny 2.3 I4 was staring back at me. 80k on the clock, and the starting bid was £250. I walked away with it all in for £125

Now I love a challenge, and my brothers an engineer so we figured the fabrication aspect of putting itno a MK3 would be no problem for us.

However, just to ask you guys as there is a wealth of knowlege on here, what else do we need!

I figured

Fiesta RS Turbo Fuel tank lines etc
ECU of course
Wiring
1 x custom mount
Cosworth brake set up

Will the IB5 gearbox bolt straight on??
Any ideas on a front suspension choice??
Wiring diagrams??
Anything else I might have missed??
Is it worth it?? Ha.

Any advice will be really greatfully received. As soon as the engine is in the garage I will be posting pics and posting the progress.

Cheers

Matt

[dangerousdave]

An xr2i tank should be usable i would have thought and cheaper than an rs one! As for the ib5 it will fit but they are pretty weak the rs2k escorts came with the mtx75 box instead but that will need you to change the shafts and hubs i think maybe even need custom shafts made?

Look out for an rs2k head, fit that and i think your almost at 200bhp stock

[matt_jagger]

Hi

Thanks for the advice.

I would ideally like to keep the gearbox we have. it cost's nothing because we already have it ha, and custom shafts and the like for the MTX 75 would be on the cards only until the existing box blew up, we're the types who will run 14psi boost on stock compression till she pops ha ha.

I read that the MTX75 has a 1" X 23 spline input shaft. So I'm guessing the engines going to cater for this from the crank.

The IB5 has a 20mm X 17 spline, but i'm sure i have seen even the BC gearbox fitted to the I4, so I'm totally confused now, unless there is some way of changing over the output splines or something??

[dangerousdave]

Thats a good way to look at it, you can get it in the car very cheaply in that case, just dont be suprised if it pops the box on the first run An rst box may be a better bet but even they are known to be quite weak!

As for the splines, im guessing you mean on the input shaft? Its all irrelevant since you will just need to change the clutch plate to suit whichever box you use and the rest will fall into place as the bellhousings are the same bolt pattern