as above, has anyone on here done it? i know a easy way would be to fit an rs engine, but was thinking about turbocharging my st170 and wanted to know how much it would cost.

cheers Liam

 

Someone on here has done it, lot of work though, may as well just sell up and buy an RS as they can be had for about 7k these days.

By the time you've done all the work to your ST170 it would work out more expensive IMO!

 

^ bollocks

Nothing diff about it. The bottom end is good for 300+bhp in standard form.

 

So what about things like compression ratios etc? Or do these magically change when adding a turbo?

I can guarantee, with the cost of an st170, add on the engine work, parts, ecu and mapping, it will be more expensive than 7k....

 

^ still bollocks

Lowering the comp ratio with suitable gaskets, engine management, OFAB, magasquirt, not expensive.

The st170 engine is a great one to turbo. Positives over the RS include 6 speed box being strong, VVT etc...

And you can get ST170's for Ł2500-Ł3000 nowadays, so thats Ł4000 to turbo it.....easy

 

There's only one turbocharged ST170 as far as I'm aware and that's pushing 400bhp now. They can be great turbocharged but it isn't cheap, same as any other zetec really, the cost largely depends on the spec and the amount you can DIY.

You're looking at a minimum Ł4k.

BTW, I wouldn't touch a Ł7k RS with a barge pole, most of the cheap ones are cat C and D write-offs.

 

my zetec turbo cost me about 6k all in, with the ecu + mapping , fuel system, gearbox with lsd, plus labour ect ect ect.

the engine it's self is no bother just pistons, rods and bearings oh vavle springs, it's everything else that adds up, injectors, fuel pump, swirl pot, intercooler + piping,

just loads of stuff, you thinkyour there then you need to buy something else then something else. lol


spent over about year it's no bother.

 

i suppose your in the thinking you want a bit of a sleeper/RS botherer?

yea do it, many out there want the performance but not the 'LOOK AT ME, I'M A PERFORMANCE CAR'.

many a time i have worried the hatch brigade when i ripped the shit out of them in my very understated audi 80 coupe. i could see them throwing their Mcdonald chips as well as their toys out of the window trailing my fumes.

 

I am in the middle of building my Turbo charged ST170 Engine, my spec should see 450bhp+ it is a very expensive thing to do and im building it myself and doing the mapping. If you want to do it properly you will need at least 4K for the parts alone depending how you spec it.
Pistons and rods Ł700-Ł1000
Clutch Ł500-Ł1000
Turbo Ł900
intercooling and pipework etc Ł600
Afrtermarket ECU and mapping Ł1500+
Inlet Manifold Ł200-Ł600
Exhaust Manifold Ł300-Ł600
The ST170 bottom end is only ok for 320ish bhp so if your aiming higher then the pistons and rods need changing. The only difference between a standard zetec and ST170 bottom end is the pistons and rods so you may as well pick up a cheap 2.0L bottom end and build your engine from this and then fit the ST170 head to it. I managed to source a focus T230 engine which already had the high pressure oil supply tapped into the block for the turbo and the drain back into the sump. So thats another job that does not need doing.

 

Thats the expensive route.

For cheap reliable power, the st170 standard bottom end is great. 300+ bhp without spending rakes on pistons and rods. Ok uprated bolts, lower comp gaskets, OFAB ecu+loom, (megasquirt, gotech) FRST inlet, T3 manifold/Focus rs manifold.

thats 300bhp on a relatively low budget.

 

I heard alot of people talking about using the RS bottom end for this conversion and keeping the VVT...

I'm interested to know about this conversion as i'll be picking up my ST170 next week

 

thanks for all the input guys. i dont want as RS i want to use my 5dr st170 as the base, prefer the standardish look of the st170 over the "look at me" rs .

dont really want loads of power, maybe around the 250bhp mark, just enough to put a few noses out of joint

so was planning on keeping the bottom end as it is, head gasket to sort out the comp' ratio, new exhaust and inlet man', already have a turbo not sure what the exact model it is as its down my mates house, but its off a r34 gts skyline. so might use that if i can, if not probs get one off a frs.

not to bad getting parts round here as there is a ford breakers near me.

 

250bhp will be easy on a standard engine. you can supercharge the standard black top with full system and get 245bhp no problem, seen it done. st170 has better head and vvt so if you make use of that aswell should easily cope with 250bhp.

perhaps if trying to nudge over 250bhp it might be worth using a thicker head gasket to lower the compression ratio a touch. your best off speaking to some tuners who've done it or have tuned the st170 engine before.

 

not really sure if there is any decent ford tuners around here, been using jap and German cars for a while now, so im sort of lost when it comes to ford tuners. the last tuned ford i had was s2 rst, about 8 or 9 years ago.

 

TOTD are the guys you need to speak to, they know the ST170 inside out but are london based, there is Jam sport northampton or try Will Pedley Motorsport up north. All these could build you the motor you want. Not sure if Area Six is still running? Ian is the king of the Zetec engine

 

thanks Sp3no, will have a look at those places tomorrow, well later on today lol.

like i say, i dont want loads of power, just a few more. i have a spare st170 engine and head, although the block and crank may be totally shagged as the bottom end went last month, i didnt have the time or money to rebuild it, so i fitted a newer engine (46k) out of a 54 reg st170 into my 52 reg st170. so if the engine is shagged its getting turned into a table lol.

i can get another st170 engine for Ł500 from my local ford breakers if needs be, but was hoping to get all the parts i needed and do it all at once. the most expensive thing is going to be the ECU and remap.

 

Unusual for a Zetec bottom end to go, they are quite reliable in standard form. Worth having a look to see if there is any damage. If you do need new rods, pistons and a regrind of the crank you may as well fit forged pistons and steel rods.
It might be worth speaking to SCT in the states, as it is possible to run a turbo on the standard ECU and sensors, i only found this out recently and im going to map my engine this way. You do need specific specs for your engine so SCT can write you a map though.

 

why sum rich bastard is a millionaire off hpi checks.
bit harsh to tar them all with the same brush, im sure everyone isnt .

 

You can get a diy powerworks supercharger kit for about Ł2000 that supplies everything you need and gives you 250 bhp is it not worth just fitting that????

 

I said most, not all.

I'd never buy any car without an HPI check, let alone a hot hatch.

 

They're not available any more and you're going to need management on top of that even if you can find one.

 

Mine is a Silvertop block with an ST170 head.

 

I saw one in a old fast ford mag and thought about it for mine thats all. Why they stopped making them? Im sure it said it came with everything needed to fit and use

 

It was a limited run of production and just came to the end of the run.

IIRC as it was American made and they supplied an 'ECU re-flash chip' for the American models - that wouldn't have worked on the U.K models so you needed management, preferably standalone management.

 

This is dragging up and older post, but why the hell would you fit a FRST inlet manifold to an ST170 engine when it has a perfectly reasonable manifold from the factory? Or use the standard Focus 1.8/2.0 manifold if you prefer.

When factory Zetec inlets will work perfectly well, I can't understand why anyone would bodge on a manifold designed for a completely different engine, and yet people still seem to endlessly do it.

 

You can't use the standard ST170 inlet manifold for turbo charging, and the ports don't line up with a standard Zetec head, so no off the shelf inlet can fit/work properly

The FRST manifolds are used regularly as they solve issues with fuel rails basically as a custom fuel rail is needed to run top fed injectors on a Zetec inlet, which people don't want to go through the hassle of

 

Holly shit man , how do you know this stuff? if you dont mind me asking are you a mechanic by trade...

some complex work going on there

Also would you recommend a st170 as a project car ?? looking to build a track capable car ?

any help appreciated

 

It depends on how you aim to tune the engine. A track car is usually stripped out inside so you will be binning the ST170 extras which will leave you with a standard 2.0l zetec with a trick head 6 speed box and bigger brakes most of which you will change. I would start with a 2.0l zetec and work from there.

 

Are you doing any head work to get that power?

 

Why not use a standard Focus 1.8/2.0 inlet? They have end fed injectors?

The port spacing can't be far off, as I've seen people use the ST170 lower inlet as the basis for a ITB conversion on a silver top engine with standard head? Exhaust manifold from ST170 can also be fitted to other Zetec lumps, so port spacing can't be a million miles out for either manifold?

Just seems a funny way to go, pissing about with adaptor plates, and an inlet that is even less related to the engine, when surely a normal Zetec one can do the job.

What did Simon who used to work on PF use when his ST170 was turbocharged?

 

Depends on what model but Fiestas and the such don't have the room for the plastic manifolds that use end fed injectors, they bend down too much and hit the bulkhead.

The port spacing isn't miles off no, and as the ports are bigger on an ST170 manifold they tend to OK to use on normal Zetecs. However it causes problems for Zetec manifolds on ST170 heads.

Exhaust ports line up fine; it's only the inlet.

Re: The CVH inlet, yes it's true it's messing around and I wouldn't do it, but the ports line up surprisingly well and they flow quite well, but it's mainly done for the fuel rail/injector set up.

Simon used a custom inlet as not much else worked/fitted, like I did

 

I wont use TOTD, they dont know as much as people think.

The St170 engine is used alot on kit cars, I'v had a few bits done by these guys. They know there stuff and its not too expensive for mapping and ecu's etc.

http://www.mtechautomotive.co.uk/engine-management/

they had a focus st which the guy had spent 3K with TOTD and it was running pants. These guys did the work to correct it and make it run better.

 

Can anyone shed some more light on the high pressure oil supply?

Im also on the hunt for a suitable turbo inlet for a ST170 head.

Would an RS one be the easiest, without modifying others?

 

I have been in contact with a few companies in the USA that do turbo kits for the Focus SVT etc.. but most haven't even responded, and the one that did (top speed parts) stopped responding when I mentioned that I was in the U.K ?