basically,are they interchangeable?
i have got a silvertop 1.6 focus with a blown engine and there seem to be more blacktops around than silvertops. would it just be plug and play regarding manifolds,injectors etc?

 

i think the water pumps turn the wroung way from what i have heard on the black tops

 

i take it you are refering to the zetec se (the earlier silver top type in the focus just says zetec s on it).

if so one of the guys has swaped from one complete engine to the other in his mk1 focus with no problems. iirc he's richst170. can't remember if he swapped the ancilliaries over but certainly the bare engine is interchangable.

 

yes there the same

 

I didnt think the focus came with the silver top?? They were the earlier engine. Thought all focus's came with a blacktop

 

Focus's also came with silver top.

and yeah you can drop one straight in.

 

the zetec SE 1.6 are mostly the same and have nothing in common with the older Zetec E/R engines with silvertop/blacktop designation.

The zetec SE was available on the focus from first release to the current day with several revisions on the way.

In terms of the Zetec E/R engine, 1998 was the cross over year for silvertop/blacktop so in theory it is possible for some of the earliest 1.8/2.0 focus to have a silvertop. Wether ford let this happen or not, I do not know, but on date alone it is theoretically possible.