Which route would you go down and why? Im doing a zetec conversion and wanted to know thoughts.

 

full cvh of full zetec i just dont like the idea of bodging a cvh head onto the wrong block

 

1600 cvh = 90 ish bhp

St170 = 170 bhp

One engine design is 20 years older than the other. Would you buy a Sega Master System instead of a PS3?

 

Actually the 1.6 CVH made more power than the 1.6 Zetec! IIRC 110bhp?

 

Can't rememeber a cvh ever making 110bhp stock? A stock xr2 was 86 bhp!

....and that was only until the cam lobes disapeared and the followers bucketed out.

 

Or if you want to put it another way:

cvh = 56 bhp per litre
ST170 = 85 bhp per litre

Even the 2ltr silver to is 68 bhp per litre.

 

The 90 spec XR3i's were something like 105-110bhp!

 

I would say its how deep are you pockets, it probably cheaper in the long run to do a zetec.

 

mfi was 115bhp and the efi was 118 wasnt it??
zetec all the way

 

The early mk2 cvh xr2's with the dft webber carb were actually 96bhp from the factory and the later lean burn engine with the tldm webber was 90 bhp, so you are out with you figures chap!!!!

 

in standard form the escort rst was well over 110bhp or are we thinking along the na route?

 

I thought personally the last 1600 efi in the xr3i was 108bhp and apperantely a much more driveable/torquey motor compared to the older mfi variants.
still nowhere near as good as the ST170 for power per litre but the cvh is far from dead and buried as far as being turbo'd goes
i've got a few cvh spares so will probably stay cvh but if your starting a fresh imo Zetec is the way to go cus at least your cams will last more than 5mins for a start

 

the bhp figures for injectied cvhs was 105 for mfi 108 for efi IIRC

zetec is it 89 even the new ones are sub 100

my mate has a zvh and it performs very well

personally id have one or the other either full zetec or cvh but thats me personaly

think the main thing with the zvh is if you already had a stage 3 cvh head it was a easy way to increase displacement

 

I agree either full CVH or full Zetec.

 

im going for the efi cvh conversion on mine just because the zetec conversion is too expensive and i like the fact that an old engine like a cvh can still give alot of cars a run for there money

 

dont forget the rs1600i engine was 115bhp as standard

 

have to disagree with EFI being smoother and nicer,every 1 ive had has been horrible,MFI CVH all the way

 

rs1800 had 130bhp.

 

Rs1800 was a 1800 130spec zetec not a cvh like the RS1600i

 

and your point is??? i would have a zetec engine over any cvh.

 

really, good for you

 

pmsl, i like the idea of building a really strong but as we all know expensive full cvh as it is keeping with the whole rs turbo thing. I mean there are amazing figures coming from them, how does 280 bhp daily driver sound from a 1.6 turbo? yEAh

 

oh anyone know what sort of power the cvh and zetec can handle with standard internals? Im just interested in personal experience please

 

CVH stock internals (pistons, rods, crank) will be good for between 220bhp and 250bhp, the crank will take a lot more (300bhp), and the rods are the weakest link and have been known to go as low as 220bhp, from what i've been told!

 

thanks Karlos, i never new the crank would take so much, they reckon the max usable power a front wheel drive car can take is 235 to 250 anyways so I may start sourcing another rs turbo engine and start working some magic on it! Ill change my mind in 5 minutes and be researching a zetec turbo then 5 minutes later a fucking zvh, you know how it is

 

LOL yes mate i know how it is!
I've always been told it's about 300bhp is the limit for front wheel drive, but to be honest i think in a S2 anything over 200bhp is difficult to get the power down and has massive torque steer.......... but thats what makes them so fun to drive!

 

Can you try and make your mind up before you make arrangements to pick stuff up and then mess them about? Especially when said item is free!

 

i said i was sorry mate and i truly am!, its not a case of changing my mind, I would have had the engine off you either way, its just work has decided to fook me around till after christmas.

sorry!

 

If there is a free CVH up for grabs i'll come and take it..... depending where it is?

 

no mate it is a 1800 zetec bottom end and its in essex, speak to pa soj as he kindly offered it to me but unfortunately I cant take it...