black top or silvertop ?

pros and cons to both peeps ,


discuss

beef

 

if you find a st170 engine then thats the one to use, head is 1000% better than others and the rods and pistons are also a lot stronger or should i say the pistons are forged if you drop new lower comp pistons in it put it all back together with some nice arp bits right turbo and management you'll have a comfy 300 horses or 350 if you fancy it only problem is a gearbox that will take prolonged punishment with all the torque you'll have

 

if i went st 170 , id stick with the 6 speeder that comes with it , uprated clutch ,

dont answer my post though , but thanks fella

beef

 

Silver top head has a problem if revvedover 8k where it does not ahve a secondry pulley tensioner to wrap the cambelt around the exhasut cam pulley further.

The black top head does have this.

The black top engine/bottom end runs a two piece sump set up.

I would go for a balck top engine or the st170 ideally but the silver top is by no means not an option, unless your wanting a seriuosly high revving race engine.


With the Black top engine now being more common in cars found in scrap yards, this is more desirable, a silver top engine typically will be seeing in 150K + mileage. so pretty old now

 

so the black tops the one to go for ?

not looking for high revving just good power .

internals will be changed anyway

is the blacktop a poorer flowing head than the silvertop

or will both work well with porting and big valves ?

 

I thought you were doing a ZVH?

The primary difference is the black top has a better rod/stroke ratio.

 

and the black top head is far better and come with solid lifters as standard

 

just lloking at all my options rick

heard good and bad bout zvh and its still a viable option, ( even got a pre 86 cast head )

just alot of my mates are going zvh ,

and well ill like to be different from them lol

hence why i wont be painting the s1 white lol

any more inputs rick /anyone ?

got the chance to but a blactop motor cheep

any issues with the blacktop over the silvertop

if the heads better then great

hows the longer strok ect affect its power ? will it ?

beef

 

still need a definaive answer peeps ?


anyone


is the blacktop looking more favourable ?

 

Apparently instalation of a blacktop into an RST isnt so straight forward, I cant say I had to worry about it as I had mine installed for me.
I know Alex(chaterbox) has been unable to fit his Blacktop though!
Well worth pointing out and considering from the outset!

 

any idea why andy ?

ive seen a few fitted and cant c what issue they would be ,

you running a blacktop then ?

what power /spec ect ?

 

Just give younge a ring beef, my zt is pretty much ready to put together now

 

Id go ZVH.

 

why ??

 

cos he builds monsters thats why

i got the pre 86 head like u said si

sat in me kitchen till i decide what to do lol

 

but if you want a monster then buld a zetec

 

Hi, its all do with the pulleys apparently, fouling the inner wing... I dunno best letting Allex comment.
Yeah mine is a blacktop its built installed and running. Pauter Con Rods, JE Pistons running on Independant Throttle Boddies tubular manifold etc etc.

Its running .8bar at the moment while I run the engine in. Power hmmmm??? It will be capped at around 300bhp at the wheels, for now anyway.
There's plenty scope for more power at a later date, should I decide I want more.

Pic of the Engine bay
RS500 intercooler

 

any idea on the bottom end yet and why it dont fit strait in? i heard somthing about the water pump is different to the silvertop

 

have read somewhere that apparently the blacktop has a longer block and the width of the mains is smaller than the silver top....

 

the rear engine mounts are differant to the siver top as well, the water pump is on the outside of the block if you know what i mean,

ive built a zvh before & seen how easy it is to build a cheep zetec turbo & for the work involved i would go for a zetec with a wider scope for power

 

is the black top easy enough to convert tho, or not. any help
thanks juff

 

I believe that the blacktop main caps are a weak point - not a problem with the silver top engines.

To be honest, it doesn't sound like you need to bother with a black top, for the hassle it could be why not just stick with the more common silvertop approach? at least you know where you're up to. It's not like you won't get the power out of the silvertop, how many have you seen well in excess of 300 horse?

I certainly wouldn't bother with the blacktop, why complicate things? Sure it has small advantages, in some areas like the rod/piston ratio - but you'll probably swap them for aftermarket ones anyway, and if you didn't you can swap the pistons and rods into a silvertop block.

 

Beefy just go zvh mate, you no what power and torque you can get out of them!!! there torque monsters.... and cheap, you dont wont to go to mad due to getting the power to the ground. SIMPLE.

 

well im going zvh so its only the bottom end i need really . are the pullys the same as the silveretop engine and is it the same process to convert.

 

decisions decisions lol

ill make a decision soon enough lol

 

also IIRC rat8oys uber engine for his s2 has been built from a ultra high mileage silvertop....