chris-1973

hi fellas,

This is my second car, i'm also the owner of this one: https://passionford.com/forum/restor...0-project.html

It was originally an xr3i which i bought years ago from an older guy who told me the car was from his mother (he could be my father by his age, so i really bought it from an old lady!!!)
i removed the 1.6 xr3i engine, and replaced it for an 1.9 cvh with 40dcoe weber carbs. four years later i removed them for rs turbo engine and complete drivetrain and managment. (i'll fill in the rest later............)

now..... 9 years later:

the engine started to lose coolant bit by bit, and after a while i find myself in a heap of trouble: overheated engine.

refilled the coolant and fixed the leaking hose (retour from turbo to radiator had its best time)

after a few days i found out the turbo itself was leaking, well at least, where the turbo joins the exhaust. (later it seems somebody in the past fixed something here with bigger thread ends than supposed to be, probably drilled to far in and after my heated engine a crack appeared and starts to leak via the tread of the tread ends.

few weeks later: lots of smoke, completely white fog.

1 liter coolant on 12 KM, so i started to take the engine out.



removed the head, and found this:


so there's the rest of the coolant (oil level went up indeed)

the head:


engine itself:



brought the head to an overhaul specialist for checking the head on cracks,
and yes, cracked! the crack is from a cooling channel to the 2nd exhaust-port, so the coolant went straight in the exhaust and with that i guess passing the valves to the pistons.

i was told on the dutch fora cilinder 1 and 4 should have a problem with its compression, and best replace the piston rings on these.

with this i started to think............

i've got an "old" 1.9 (probably hurricane) engine (original 1.6, but with bore and stroke, so NOT an USA CVH) with did before the RS turbo engine his job in this XR3i chassis.

the 1.9 is an non-turbo engine, with 82mm (or 82.5mm?) bore, and a stroke of 88,5mm. the pistons are in highest position (BDP in dutch, in english ???) the same height as the 1.6 rst (flat with the head gasket)



piston and rod of the 1.9:



but i guess to lower the compression of the 1.9 will cost me a great value of money, because i have to buy other pistons/rods, also piston rings from what car?? (pistons were 3 valves per cilinder) as you can see.

is it also possible to keep the engine as a non-turbo (compression as a xr3i for example) but with rst managment and turbo (on 0,2bar)???

and what bhp can i gain on this setting?

or can i better go for the overhaul of the 1.6 rst engine
(new piston rings, xr3i head with rst exhaust valves, crack and rod bearings) and new gaskets?