Oh wow, I'd forgotten about that thread! I spent the better part of a day reading throught that.
Oh wow, I'd forgotten about that thread! I spent the better part of a day reading throught that.
turboswede wrote: My buddy got his motorcycle ITBs running...
Nice!
Wow, what a day...
So my daugher and I headed out this morning on the 60+ mile trip to pick up the organ-donor Focus for the Europa.
Here are some shots of the victim:
The guy had bought it for his 16-year old daughter, who rolled it after just a few weeks. 160kmi, 5-speed, $400. I should have nearly a free engine once it's parted.
To be honest, I had a bad feeling about the trip. So I took time this morning to get a tail light problem on my truck sorted out, packed extra tools, and headed out 1/2 hour early. The trip down was fine until we got to Montezuma, IN, where I discovered that because I'd updated to iOS 6 yesterday, my maps now weren't loading. No problem, as I'd printed out directions - except most of the roads didn't seem to have signs.
As we were heading out of town around a curve, I saw our road & hit the brakes. The pedal went to the floor. I got to the shoulder just past our turn, and got out to find a geyser from the hard-line above the back axle. I bandaged it as best I could with a rubber-glove, shrink-wrap, and electrical tape; and since we were only a few miles from our destination, I decided to soldier on with only front brakes(no trailer brakes on this trailer).
The seller was a really nice guy, and at $400 for a running/driving but rolled Focus, I really can't beat the deal. We got loaded, chatted for a bit, and as I was closing up the truck the lift-gate slipped off it's prop-stick and gave me a nice bump/cut on my head.
A couple miles down the road, we had to cross highway-41 right as it curves. Visibility is a bit limited, the road has quite a bit of crown, and on the other side is a short but steep incline. I crossed as slowly as I could given the visibility, but as the truck nosed-up the other side the trailer bottomed out. Then I heard grinding. I pulled over to the shoulder and got out to find my hitch pointed down at a 45* angle, and the tongue of the truck dragging the ground. The force of impact had apparently busted the rear mounting bolts out of the(obviously rusty) frame.
I pulled the hitch pin, leaving the ball in the tongue as something of a hitch-lock. We stopped back in Montezuma for drinks & potty-break, and walking out I noticed a bit of a breeze...which is when I looked down to discover a 5" rip in the crotch of my pants.
I called my friend Shannon. He was free, so we drove the 60+ miles back home to his place where I left my truck for him to look at this week. We then hopped in his truck and headed back down to fetch the mess. The return trip was uneventful both directions, and we unloaded the car at his place, as he's going to pull the engine for me then we'll split the profit from scrapping the car.
My daughter couldn't understand why I was laughing about the whole event & not pissed. I told her 1- It's a nice day, and we don't have to deal with crappy weather. 2 - When the brakes went there was no one near us, and plenty of room to pull over, as there was when the hitch broke. And 3- The both didn't happen at the same time, in a location where we couldn't have avoided an accident. And in the end all it really cost was the extra gas for his truck, and I bought his dinner, so I could have been much worse!
Well, not much exciting to report. I did get a set of GSXR 750 throttle bodies, with injectors, fuel rail, TPS, etc.
They'll need to be spaced out to fit the width of the intake; and the manifold ports are 43mm, while the ID of the throttle bodies are 41.5mm, but I believe there is enough thickness in the walls to make a smooth transition.
We also started pulling apart the Focus. I found this interesting, it's the plug for the wiper motor.
A couple small updates: Thanks to a link by 44Dwarf over in the Sprockets forum, I was able to find some throttle body boots to adapt the Mikuni GSXR bike throttle bodies onto the Zetec Weber intake.
They still required a bit of massaging, as this is how they looked stock. The screw holes were off about 0.5mm on each side, and the diameter is about 2mm too large overall.
After spending some time with a couple rat-tail files, I was able to get the holes elongated enough. Initially I was trying to use regular bolts, but it became apparent that I would need to remove too much material to clear the flange around the head of the bolt.
I dug through the pile of bike parts, and robbed some allen-head bolts from a couple older BMX stems, and that gave me the clearance I needed!
It's hard to see above, but the mounting holes in the intake are sligtly offset from center. I filed out the holes to bring the boots closer to center, but I'll still be removing more aluminum from the top of the intake tract. The walls have enough thickness that this should not be a problem.
I also started dismantling the '73 today. I don't have enough room in the garage to start building a car, as I've already stuffed 3-cars into my 2-car garage(although it will still be months before I get to the point of beginning assembly). So the plan is to pull the '73 completely apart, keeping any parts I think I might use(either upon assembly, or in the future), sell off parts I know I won't use(stock suspension, anything related to the Twin Cam engine or ancillaries), and I'm thinking about hanging the body on the wall in our antique store - I have 13' ceilings, and a rail along the ceiling from an old ladder-track that I'm sure would support the ~170lbs of bare fiberglass shell. 
Not much progress yet, but did get the front trunk lid, and both bumpers off. I tried to get the seats out, but the tracks seem rusted solid, so that will fun, I'm sure...
Thanks for the update. Keep up the good work!
A minor update: I started assembling the ITBs the other night. I picked up some all-thread and washers to mount them together, but before I do that I need to extend the actuator tabs between each TB. I've read through several other similar setups, and the common solution seems to be riveting a small piece of aluminum onto the flat part of one butterfly shaft, which then actuates its neighbor.
So the next step will require a trip to the garage for a bit of digging through the scrap pile. I believe I have the proper size rivets, then I just need to decide on how I want to go about drilling the holes - a hand drill would probably work, but I'm tempted to do a bit of disassembly to remove the actuator tabs and then use the drill press. We'll see...
Oh, and I've decided that even if the car never moves, I'll keep these to hang on the wall as decoration.
A couple more mini-updates:
I picked up some all-thread and got the throttle bodies all mounted together, bent the linkages so they contacted each other again, and fine-tuned the engagement points.
I still need velocity stacks, and unfortunately the ones I've found online for the GSXR 750 ITBs must be CNC'd from billet unicorn horn, because they're $250-$300 a set! 
So I took a gamble on a complete CBR 900 air box assembly on eBay for $20-shipped. Yeah, that's not going to work so well...
I found it very difficult to locate velocity stacks by size, but after a bit of searching I ordered some Weber 48mm ones last night for $48 for the set. The GSXR ITBs are tapered, so I'll need to do some work to make them fit, but I seemed like the most cost-effective solution that was likely to work.
I picked up an engine stand and hoist on a long-term loan from a friend(I think he was glad to free up a bit of garage space), which allowed me to get the Zetec out of the back of my truck after a whole week(it was enclosed). So it's in my workshop now, and the basic plan is new gaskets & seals(at least the ones that are easy/make sense to replace, a set of Crane stage-1 cams, some type of header, and an aluminum flywheel.
I also stopped by to see the guy I'd bought the cars from. We've been in contact a couple times, and he'd found a few Lotus items for me. In the top row are a couple patches, and a magnet in the center. The second row is one of the badges from the car, and of course the plate on bottom - should I put it on my beater-Hyundai???
I spent about 20-minutes in the garage this morning working on disassembling the '73. I've been hitting the seat mount bolts with Freeze-Off every few days, and I managed to get the front-2 bolts on the passenger's side out! Unfortunately, I still can't slide either seat forward to get to the back-2 bolts. 
Well, I decided to get ambitious tonight. I pulled a bunch of parts off the Zetec...
...and did a test-fit of the intake.
The only real problem was this sensor(I'm not 100% sure which one this is?) That will require a bit of clearancing on the manifold.
Is/was the Focus an automatic or manual? I think the crank position sensor that reads the flywheel is mounted slightly different depending on the transmission. If you plan on using the Europa's flywheel (which would probably make things easier), then you don't have to worry about it.
Here is a slightly off topic link but has a lot of good zetec info: http://www.jimhearne.co.uk/zvh.htm
Thanks Ross, I'll check out that link!
The Focus was a 5-speed, so I have the correct sensor(which I need for Megasquirt). The Twin Cam flywheel doesn't quite line up(bolt pattern is slightly off), but the plans are to install an aluminum Zetec flywheel, then I need a hybrid clutch disk using the Lotus center section and Zetec friction material.
I'm surprised to hear the Twink's flywheel doesn't bolt up... One of the six bolt holes should be askew...
Honestly, I haven't tried, but I've read that same info on a couple completed swaps. I have both flywheels next to each other on the workbench in the garage. I'll take a look next time I'm over there.
I see you've found how expensive Gixxer stacks are. I have no idea why this is, but it's pretty much cemented the fact that i won't be testing different lengths.
The next hurdle is going to be the oil pan. Since the engine was designed to sit at a backwards angle when mounted longitudinally, the sump is at an angle as well.
While I might get by like this putting around the neighborhood, I have a feeling the g-loads imparted by 245-series autocross tires might be a bit much.
Of course, there are options available from the Caterham/Westfield crowd - Dry sump kits: overkill and twice as much money as I'll have tied up in the rest of the engine. Plus all the ones I've seen have the pump attached to the pan and located toward the front, so I don't think I'll have the clearance. Or I've also seen a couple cast replacement wet-sumps offered....for over $500!
So I might be looking at custom-fabbing an oil pan. Not sure yet what material or method to use. Modifying an existing steel pan seems like it would be the easiest and cheapest method. Doing a custom one-off cast aluminum piece is within the realm of possibility though too. Or there's always some type of plastic/composite - which I really know nothing about, other than some OE pans are non-metallic.
I considered two different concepts (In no particular order):
Thanks for that info Ross. CHV would be the same as a Pinto, Turbo Coupe, etc.?
CVH would be the 1.6-1.9 liter SOHC in the escorts (but not the 1.8 DOHC mazda engine). The Lima (i.e. 2.3 liter SOHC that US Ford used in the 'stang/pinto/ranger/tbird...) tends to be different...it's the redheaded stepchild in the old Ford 4 cylinder group. The Pinto (1.6-2.0 liter SOHC) is the evolution of the Kent engines. The CVH is the evolution of the Pinto. Zetec from the CVH... and the SPI is the update of CVH... (The duratec is all new, if I understand things correctly, and as such, I will not discuss it! 
)
I think that's how it goes...
Europe had a bunch of different engine sizes and never really got the Lima so there tends to be some confusion between things like the Lima/Pinto nomenclature. Even with the Zetec name there is some confusion with versions.
As for the oil pan, I don't know if the CVH/Zetec pattern is shared with the Lima. Might have to go to the parts store and line up some gaskets...
RossD wrote: CVH would be the 1.6-1.9 liter SOHC in the escorts (but not the 1.8 DOHC mazda engine). The Lima (i.e. 2.3 liter SOHC that US Ford used in the 'stang/pinto/ranger/tbird...) tends to be different...it's the redheaded stepchild in the old Ford 4 cylinder group. The Pinto (1.6-2.0 liter SOHC) is the evolution of the Kent engines. The CVH is the evolution of the Pinto. Zetec from the CVH... and the SPI is the update of CVH... (The duratec is all new, if I understand things correctly, and as such, I will not discuss it!
I'm pretty sure the Zetec has no lineage to the CVH. It's the Zeta engine family that was used in Europe in lots of things, and came in much smaller displacements—down to 1.6, I think. The 2-liter US engine is the largest Zetec ever produced. But I could be wrong.
Unrelated: For the longest time, I thought the Lima engine was pronounced like the bean, because it was in the Pinto. Pinto beans, lima beans, you get it. Come to find out, it was named after the city in which the engine was manufactured: Lima, Ohio.
In reply to Alan Cesar:
That is part of the problem with the Zetec name, there are too many engines that are called Zetec-xx. The smaller Zetec you're referring to is the Zetec-SE (Sigma), which, like you say, is not related to the CVH. The Zetec that came in the USDM Focus is the Zetec (Zeta).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Zeta_engine
I believe this wiki page has it correctly...(I hope 
)
This website shows a lot of similarites between the Zetec (Zeta) and the CVH. So much so they mount the CVH head to a Zetec block: http://www.jimhearne.co.uk/zvh.htm
I gave the block a good scrubbing tonight on the intake side. I'm a cheap bastard though, so rather than go all out on engine degreaser, I just stopped by the dollar store for a can of oven cleaner.
Before
After
Ok, so not a drastic change, but it wasn't completely filthy to begin with.
One question - do I paint the block or not? Does engine paint really hold up?? Especially on a block that hasn't been hot-tanked???
personally, i use castrol superclean, a wire brush or seven. screwdrivers, etc. cleap the ever living crap out of it after taping/blocking off EVERY hole in it, threadedand not.
get it squeaky clean.
i then use the POR15 engine paint kit per the directions with a 2 inch and 1 inch brush, along with a chip brush for the hard to reach areas. works great, and oesnt even come off in a hot tank.
ive had very mixed success with rattle cans.
michael
Thanks! I hadn't heard POR-15 has engine kit, that sounds worth looking into.
it most definately is. more work than a rattle can, but after a decade of daily driving and twi trips through the hot tank, my block was still chrysler blue.
can you guess what i use religiously on all my engines now?
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