Hi

The car is a 98 escort 1.8 gti estate

Came across an engine the same as the one that was in it (silvertop zetéc), wasn't going for a whole lot and I had some spare cash so bought it for a spare

Must have tempted fate because a few days after it arrived the timing on the existing engine slipped a few teeth and bent a valve or two, so we decided the best plan is to probably just put the spare engine in

(I don't know a whole lot about cars, last engines I fiddled around with were dirt bikes in the 1980s, but luckily I have a mechanic mate)


I've seen a 2.0 zetec head with cams etc going fairly cheap so I'm wondering if that could be used on the engine that's coming out of it so I'd still have a working spare

I did read somewhere that 2.0 zetec cams can go straight in a 1.8 zetec, but the 2.0 head I've seen came off a blacktop zetec whereas mine is a silvertop ... and I have no idea what differences there are between the black and silver ones!


Stupid idea and waste of money or not?

Would I be better off keeping my eye out for a 1.8 silvertop one or just buy new valves?

I imagine new valves would be pretty pricey


Any advice appreciated

Rune

 

I must've sent everyone to sleep or something :P

I've decided against the idea all by myself now anyway, found out today there's a decent sized garage coming up for rent right behind my house in about six weeks

I've secured that and decided that once it's mine, do some research, check out some breakers yards and have a go at rebuilding the engine that's come out of it myself ... it's already not a working engine so what harm can I do

 

i think the combustion chamber in the head is slightly too big to fit the 1.8 block ?

 

I have no idea mate, that's why I thought I'd ask on here if anyone knew of it being done

I might even be mistaken and it was just the 2 litre mondeo cams themselves fitting straight in that I read about, to be honest not only aren't I sure whether they will, but how well would it even work if they fit or how much benefit there would be

 

i've been told don't do it as its a waste of time, and won't do any improvements apparantly!! even though the cams and throttle body do?? bit odd that but ah well!!

if you want to i would invest your money into getting that head fully refurbed and ported and polished. that or just fully replace the head!

 

I'm a bit confused by that Sleeman

I said I wasn't sure whether the 2 litre cams would be of benefit

You said no but the cams and throttle bodies are

Either they are or they're not ... can't be both


Throttle bodies are something I plan on maybe looking at later

 

well the 2litre silvertop cams will fit and do benefit at top end, and adding the throttle body from the 2.0 silvertop will increase throttle response etc etc.

the blacktop parts will not fit at all on the silvertop engine! except from the rocker cover!!!

i thought you said you wanted to fit the cylinder head from the 2.0 onto the 1.8 block hence my statement above!

throttle bodies like jenvey ones are ace and sound awesome but for the money spent on getting the throttle bodies, wouldn't it be better to turbo the engine??

 

I wasn't really sure whether it was possible to put the 2.0 cam straight in the 1.8 or whether I'd have to change the head, valves etc, also we haven't checked properly yet but think there may be as dodgy valve or two on it

That's why we took it out and put the spare in to begin with

I probably wouldn't fork out crazy amounts of money on something like jenvey throttle bodies, but maybe if I do end up putting 2.0 zetec cams in it I'd also try the 2.0 zetec throttle bodies

As for a turbo I wouldn't know where to start doing that ... or even where to get one from that would fit

 

lol welcome to world of tuning dude! its a vast mystery of should i or shouldn't i questions etc!

by the way theres only one throttle body on a 2.0 zetec!

and people have put 2.0 cams in a 1.8 zetec, its does benefit for a while until you see you're petrol gauge going down quicker!

 

silver top and black top engine run different cam belt configurations and to do what you want would require mods to the cam belt pulleys etc , so not really worth the hassle, just buy a complete new engine of ebay for Ł700 , cheap for a 2.0 litre unused engine with all the inlets etc

paul

 

Ł700 for a 2.0 zetec is not cheap unless your getting it couriered from mars.

 

To be honest with you Paul when I first saw that head for sale I didn't even realise it was a blacktop, once I did I guessed it would involve a certain amount of fooling round

I'm not looking to soup the thing up to hell'n back spending piles of money and loads of time to do it, but I do want to get the engine I've ended up with spare back together again ... after all, what's the point of a spare engine that doesn't run

But at the same time if I can give it a bit more power without massive trouble and expense then why the hell not, hence my interest being piqued when I spotted a post somewhere saying that the 2.0l cams will 'just fit'.

It's a car I bought cheap (Ł300) for trips to builders yards and the local tip as I'm renovating my house and wanted to stop messing up the family car doing that stuff, so I do tend to carry a fair bit of weight in it, sometimes for quite a distance and when you're doing that I figure any gains in power would be worthwhile

As for the Ł700 ebay engine ... the 1.8 I have in it now I got for Ł80 + Ł50 delivery off ebay!

I do find talk of fitting turbos interesting though, but more from wondering how it's done etc rather than actually wanting to do it

 

for turbo charging a zetec heres how

http://www.turbo.me.uk/

 

your best bet is to just take the 1800 out and strip it down to the bare block including taking the sump off then add all the bits to the 2litre bare block and put it back in- go to a tuner and get it setup so your fueling is good etc and you should have a decent 130/140bhp outta the box and alot more torque

 

We're talking about a spare engine not the one that's in the car

What 2 litre bare block?

I'm basically just asking whether the 2 litre zetec cams really do go straight in the 1.8 zetec, and is it worth doing

Building a monster worthy of the track isn't the goal and tbh I'm likely to throw more cash into getting the bodywork sorted and looking nice than in things like 'turbofying' it

 

2 litre cams will work in the 1.8 head mate - it's pretty much what the '130' spec 1.8 zetec is.

I've got a complete 130 spec engine sitting in the front garden waiting for me to decide whether or not to fit it !

 

AH

I saw some /130 spec' cams on ebay, did wonder what they were, might keep my open for some and try it

Thanks for that mate

 

didn't read the post right mate thought the replacement engine was a 2litre silvertop hence my post.
as above though silvertop 1800/2litre cams are interchangeable and will give the car bit more grunt- my last mk6 had it done and the 130/2litre cams i put in where a much nicer profile imo.

 

you'll also need a 2.0 ltr ecu if your going to swap over the cam's.. might be wise to do the maf & tb at the same time depending on your inlet

 

I'm gonna sound thick here .... what's a maf?

 

mass air flow sensor matey, its right next to your airbox can't miss it!! but to be honest i wouldn't put the 2.0 ecu and maf on a 1.8 unless you're changing the whole engine! i know for a fact about changing the maf's to a 2.0 when the engine size is less, and they make the engine stall and not idle correctly at all.

if you are going to put the 130 spec/2.0 cams in your 1.8 i would suggest getting your ecu chipped and remapped for the cams and for the whole engine to operate properly! or it could go so very wrong!

 

As Sleeman says. Alternatively you could just get an Ecu From a 130 spec escort / orion and use that ( just make sure it's none pats unless you take the locks / ignition too )

 

Erm

Righto Bortunoww

(What is it about the net that encourages cretins)


The 2 litre cams etc is just something I thought I'd play around with on the spare engine I have when I get some spare time ... and the current tenant's lease to run out on a garage I'm gonna rent

Main problem with the one that's in the car now is idling, done the usual suggestions - cleaning out the idle airflow control valve (two of them in fact) and resetting the ecu that come up as the most common fixes on websearches

I'm even thinking of taking the induction kit back off and trying it with the standard filter for a bit

I do have access to one of those engine diagnostics gizmos and software ... but can I find the dlc connector in the car for it?

Can I hell! Another thread to ask about that one I think

 

i no this is 1 of your old posts but do u need 2 change all the valve and springs when u add the 2.0ltr cams as i hav just brought 2.0ltr silvertop cams and pullys throttle body and maf plus wud i need 2 get it remaped after i fitted it all? cheers

 

oh by the way i have a 1998 escort gti forgot 2 say that

 

2 ltr head on 1800 or cams or what ever to make it quicker