Saturday 14 November 2015

Power up

As it's such a big decision,  I'm devoting a post to engine choice (lucky you,  hey?).

Not which engine but where to get it from. You can buy any number of knackered old Zetec's with 100k+ miles on them for £150 or so. But my engineering skills are not up to engine stripping to make sure bores are smooth and big ends aren't on the way out,  so a 'new' Zetec is what I want.

I say 'new' but it's actually about 10 years old - Ford built too many and they have a warehouse of them sitting there,  to which several companies have access. So they're not exactly new but they haven't been used,  so it's close enough.

I've spent ages searching for someone selling these a bit cheaper than GBS but it's like a cartel - they all seem to have agreed the same price. GBS are currently offering free delivery on their engine,  so I will have to just pay the money and move on. There is a seller on eBay at the moment offering a new one that he bought but never got round to using. It's on for £100 less than GBS but the guy inconsiderately lives in deepest Cornwall - it will cost me £100 in petrol to go get it. Maybe a sneaky low offer might work?

There are several other major bits needed for the engine - I'm hoping GBS will deliver them for free with the engine...

The gearbox is another major item - I think I'll be getting that from a company called FirstMotion,  as they were recommended by another builder and I recall their MT75 being  good deal cheaper than GBS. I'll call them on Monday.

Finally today is the raised sump. GBS only offer the Raceline sump at £500 or so. There are a couple of other companies who do them a bit less than that but best of all is Tiger racing. They offer a sump for £275 which is a tasty saving. They do advise that it is not recommended for regular track use but that's fine for me - I hope to do the odd track day but that's all.  So I've ordered that today...

Once I buy the engine,  I'll have broken the £10k barrier on my build so far. My spreadsheet is currently forecasting a £14k total spend but there are still a few bits not on there yet - hopefully no more than £15k by the time I'm done.

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