Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

I think I sorted the tensioner issue today.
I fitted on the Peugeot XU engine tensioner with the funny stud system. It seems to work fine. And after fitting it I even think its more solid than the plain 8mm bolt.
Sorry for the poor picture quality had to resort to my phone again. And I know. Quantity does not make up for quality.












The crosmember is modified now. It now it needs a good powder coating and it can be installed. The engne mounts were removed so they would not be in the way. Their useless as the engine will mount to the chassis.
Also drilled the holes to take the adjustable TCA's. And welded washers on for extra strenght.

[david_white]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

Not far off now, the engine looks great so hopefully it will not be long before its in the car and running

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

Not far off now, the engine looks great so hopefully it will not be long before its in the car and running

Thanks David. I predict its in the car pretty soon. But to get it runnig. It might still take a while.
The goal is to get the car moving on its own by the end of the year tough.

David, could you tell me what were the benefits that convinced you to install the oil tank to the angine bay?
This is the first dry sump engine I'm dealing with and I'm trying to gather all the arguments and facts to make my decission.

[david_white]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

David, could you tell me what were the benefits that convinced you to install the oil tank to the angine bay?
This is the first dry sump engine I'm dealing with and I'm trying to gather all the arguments and facts to make my decission.

The main benefits to me were that the sierra has no firewalled off boot space like most escorts, meaning it wuld have to be in an ally container, the pipe runs are a lot shorter plus the tank is in the line of airflow in the front of the car.

Of course there are pros and cons either way you fit it, but a lot of race cars (not rally) here, including the very successful HT racing ones, have them in the engine bay

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

Have you experienced any oil draining back in to the engine/sump problems?
I take it this is a less of a problem when the tank is mounted to the bay. One can easily adjust the height of the tank to right level so the migration of the oil would me minimal or none.

This will be a problem for me if I'd put the tank to boot. I use single huge muffler that has raised the boot floor. On the other side and the other side is filled with the petrol tank. I'm afraid It'll be a pain to get the tank to the right level to prevent the oil migration back to the sump.

[Graham]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

i went out to a broken down tvr the other week, that was factory dry sumped with the tank in the front

Have you experienced any oil draining back in to the engine/sump problems?

mine doesnt and thats in the engine bay, dave usher runs a dry sumped 205 in dmn his tank is in theory way too high as it sits above the gearbox it doesnt cause him any iuusses other than you cant really check the oil level without running the engine first.

i was talking to a chap running a dry sumped s2000 in an escort, and asking him about draining back because his tank was also very high, the answer was it would drain back if left unused for a long long while, but it was no issue because he liked to drop the pump belt off and use a drill to spin the pump over to prime the engine anyway.

my own thoughts, so what it it does drain back? as long as theres enough oil in the tank to start the engine the scavenge will soon empty the sump and refill the tank anyway.

i always crank mine over with the ignition off until i see 20psi pressur before flicking the ignition on and firing the engine up.

also in my case running a front mounted tank means i dont need an oil cooler

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

It think the oil in the crank case is not an issue if the case does not get filled up entirelly? I do not know if thats even possible.

I was thinking of utilizing the "skip pulse"- action in my ECU. So basicly the engine needs to be cranked for X ammount of revolutions before it fires up. This would propably sort the drainig issues. I cant do the spinning by drilling thingy.

Pace products advise to install the oil tank as close to the oil pump as possible. This wouid second the installation to the bay.

But seeing as I allready have a firewall. And will install an oil cooler and oil thermostat. And the added weight is not an issue in this build. I'm very tempted to free some space from the engine bay and put the tank to the boot.
This would make the engine more serviceable. And easier to remove. And I predict this one will be removed quite often.

Is there something in particular I should look out for when intsalling the tank to the boot?

[Graham]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

I cant do the spinning by drilling thingy

i dont want to be pulling belts or pulleys off either, so i have an on/off switch for the ecu to isolate it, so all the rest of the cars electrics are live except the ecu, once pressure is up i dont even take my finger off the start button just use another finger to flick the ecu on and she fires up after a as soon as fuel pressure is up a second or two later ( the ecu controlls the fuel pumps)

[angliaant]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

this escort is a very cool project, i really like it cos it is different, gotta love the 1600 SE lump, just because it is is soo light ! very interested to watch this come together, if your car comes in too far under weight can you put ballast in it ? in which case is that not a good thing because you can put the weight exactly where you weant it instead of being governed by components

keep up the good work fella !

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

this escort is a very cool project, i really like it cos it is different, gotta love the 1600 SE lump, just because it is is soo light ! very interested to watch this come together, if your car comes in too far under weight can you put ballast in it ? in which case is that not a good thing because you can put the weight exactly where you weant it instead of being governed by components

keep up the good work fella !

Thanks! I'm keen on the Zetec SE myself too. Well obviously. It's not very popular conversion is it? It's very challenging to work with such a modern small engine after the Pinto and X-flow. Especially when its not at all recognised as a potential racing engine here in Finland. And I'm very tempted by the power figures some have achieved. I'm about to top them all of course
What happened to your engine plans?

And the weight of course is one main thing with this swap. 80kg lighter than pinto engined cars. And with far better weight distribution

It allready has 80kg of ballast weight. I don't think it'll be underweight after the swap . The regulations allow to lighten the car by 80kg's. I do not think the engine swap itself will loose 80kg's off the car. It could count for something around 60kg's in overall weight. I'll just loose the remaining weights from the ballast I carry.

[topfuel]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

good god man pull your finger out!!! we build 2500 sigma engines a day.. very nice project i'll let you know when we start building 1.6 turbo motors..

cheers terry

[angliaant]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

o.k cool, yeah defo help you loose a lot of weight, RE my engine, i got some silly wheels cheap and now have silly plans for the car, so the SE just wouldnt make the power needed to get me going quick enough (not in N/A form anyway) would be interested in the turbo version though if they do make them

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

good god man pull your finger out!!! we build 2500 sigma engines a day.. very nice project i'll let you know when we start building 1.6 turbo motors..

cheers terry

<- look, both of my fingers are showing.


I'm not so keen on the turbo bit itself. I'm an N/A man all the way. In racing series, on finnish tracks turbos are more or less useless.
I'm especially interrested in the crank of the turbo version.
I tried to interrogate some info out of you about the turbo version in the Zetec SE topic.

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

o.k cool, yeah defo help you loose a lot of weight, RE my engine, i got some silly wheels cheap and now have silly plans for the car, so the SE just wouldnt make the power needed to get me going quick enough (not in N/A form anyway) would be interested in the turbo version though if they do make them

Not quick enough? In an Anglia? Or is the Anglia project on hold too?
Be carefull there. Are you building an race or road going car?

[Roadsport]

Re: Race Escort Zetec SE (engine build)

Some items arrived today. And the xmember is finished now. Turned out great! I like the powder coating alot.