im currently under taking a ka zetec conversion , the car is a 1998 ka basemodel with no powersteering, air con etc , the engine is a ford escort xr3i 130 ps 1.8 16v zetec

i started off removing the front bumper and standard engine from the car





this is the rear gear box mount (with 3 t55 bolts holding it to the box)



gearbox front mount (3 bolts i think there 13mm)



and drivers side engine mount was 4 13mm bolts ,this is a pic of the standard ka mount removed showing the bolt holes used for the custom mount



when the engine arrived i took a picture of the fan belt showing origional set up



since this the alternator and bracket has been removed aswell as the idler wheel and fan belt tensioner and the powersteering pump and bracket , leaving the water pump and crank pullys.

im currently on the look out for a mk 2 fiesta xr2 alternator mount and adjustment bracket to be able to refit the alternator to the engine (this needs to be done because the standard alternator bracket makes the alt sticks out to far and will foul the front crossmember.

in the mean time ive removed the exhaust manifold and head sheild cleaned them up and painted them in heat resisitant silver



ive also started cleaning up the ka gear box as it was plastered in oil from the standard ka engine (whichh was really really sick when i bought it)



and ive also started cleaning up the inlet manifold



i then bought an rs turbo rubber mount and backing cup



the cup has to be modified to fit the engine i will post a picture of this shortly

this is the picture of the custom engine mount bracket that is needed , in this picture it is bolted the the rs turbo rubber mount



and again bolted into the car (still needs to come off and be painted as its only in primer at the min



ive also puchased an ecu just need an rs1800 /xr2i 16v wiring harness
aswell as the mk 2 xr2 alternator bracket and adjustment arm

next to do is remove rocker cover and prep and paint it and refit with new rocker gasket ,change the cam belt and once the alternator is fitted measure and fit new fan belt

so more to come

 

Like the detail in this may help others who'd like to carry out the conversion keep it up matey

 

Boo!

 

Sorry chaps, as you can see I'm a newbie, I was following this on another forum, but there's more detail here!

 

Very cool little project.I would like to do something like this one day.

 

Nice build, like the detail. I'v had the itch for another ka for a long time, would love a st170 lump in one.

 

cheers folks ive only gone for the 1.8 16v engine because this is the first conversion im doing myself and its the easiest todo , my aim is to do this thread with as much info as possible so any one who is interested in doin this can follow what ive done and get the confidence to do it for there selves.

good to see you here surferdude

 

small up date

collected new rocker cover gasket , exhaust gasket and cam belt



ive also took a picture of the mounting cup bolted to the engine (you can see what had to be modified to make it fit if you compare it to the other picture)



ive also removed the rocker cover and old gasket ready to be cleaned up and repainted

also looked at the wiring and not sure on what ive got to do yet so any heads up would be great

more to follow

 

cool project, ive got a zvh turbo ka and its loads of fun. You will need to swap the zetec oil filter for a smaller cvh one because of space. Good luck with the build.

 

i bet thats fun to drive

and yea i no about the oil filter , a standard ka filter also fits the housing


update again

ive cleaned and painted the rocker cover and started to take off the cam belt plastic cover , not totally sure how to remove the crank pully its just an engine on a pallet with no gear box connected any ideas??

had to stop after that because i slipped with the drill with a wire brush attachment on and it got tangled in my glove and has destroyed the skin on my thumb right down to my wrist ... doh!

pictures to follow

 

pics of the thumb? lol sounds fucking sore.

 

sorry mate no pics ,its calmed down a bit now though just felt like just after youve had a tattoo lol

 

finally managed to remove the crank pulley ,had to put engine on to my engine jack and rachet strap it down and on the back of the fly wheel there was a hole big enough to get a bar in and locked it up.

ive since cleaned up the crank pulley and water pump pulley back to metal and painted them in gloss black , and ive also removed the custom mount and painted that in gloss black .

sit rep

need a crank and cam locking kit to change the cam belt
1. remove cambelt, tensioner and water pump
2 fit new cambelt , tensioner and water pump
3. refit cam belt covers
4. refit crank pulley and water pump pulley
5. fit a cvh alternator bracket and refit alternator
6. fit new fan belt
7. refit rocker cover with new gasket
8. change oil and fit a ka oil filter(to clear bulkhead)
9. bolt gear box to engine (already fitted new clutch)
10. modify slam panel to fit engine

and then hopefully drop the engine in , hoping to have the engine bolted in the car in around 2 weeks if i can find the spare time to sort everything out

will post some pics up of stuff from the last session on it shortly

 

update with pics (crap i no but was taken on my phone)

collected new water pump and a 1.6 cvh oil filter( just for peace of mind the cam belt, tensioner and water pump were only changed 3 k ago but i dnt want to take the risk so im changing them)



ecu i purchased which is from a 130 ps xr3i 16v



rocker cover painted in gloss black



custon mount , crank pulley and water pump pulley all painted up in gloss black



cambelt positioning picture just for reference



random picture of the engine with out rocker cover but has the inlet loosly bolted up



and a picture of the standard oil filter which is located at the back of the engine if this is left on it may foul the bulk head or may not be able to be removed with out droping engine off mount hence the reason of the cvh oil filter



hoping to get engine ready to go in by the end of this weekend

also i have sorted a wiring harness just waiting for it to arrive

 

Nice project i will be watching with great interest

 

cheers bud !

update

rs1800 wiring harness arrived today
as did the cam and crank locking kit

so ive removed old cambelt and water pump ,fitted new water pump fitted new cam belt ,fitted new rocker cover gasket ,fitted the freshly painted rocker cover ,fitted the cam covers ,refitted freshly painted crank pulley , refitted freshly painted water pump pulley , refitted inlet manifold and refitted new clutch - not bad for 2 hours work lol

tomorrow night consists of fitting the ka gear box to engine and bolting up starter motor. might even turn the engine over without using my hand for once lol

whats left ??
refit exhaust manifold with new gasket
fit new thermostat
sort the alternator mounting issue
new fan belt
trim slam panel

FIT ENGINE (i hope)

will get some pictures on a proper camera as my phone sucks lol

 

Good progress.Keep the pics coming.

 

do you have to replace the water pump with a different pump or is that standard

 

standard pump mate just thought it best to replace everything as i dont no much about the engine , was told it had only covered 68k miles before the car it was in was written off.

cheers for the coments folks

 

quick picture up date

new water pump fitted to the engine (only 1 i have taken when puting it bk together)



slam panel has been cut ready to fit engine




had a go at lining up the gear box cant use the 1.8 shim plate as its totally different



the ka shim had to be modified slightly to fit engine heres before and after





gear box then bolted up perfectly with no issues what so ever.


PROBLEM ka gear box the starter is on the back of the engine (rs1800 on front) when i tryed to bolt the starter in place theres part of the cast of the engine in the way and will not fit (pictures below)

this 1 shows the ka shim plate fitted and u can see the bit of the engine casting thats in the way



and this is with the shim removed



any one have any ideas as what to do ?? can i just cut the cast to make it fit??

 

hi mate i had a 130 engine fitted to my escort and was on a ib5 box not the mtx the 130 comes with, so the block was chopped to allow the starter to fit. So it will do it no harm to chop it out. only other option would be a 1.3 duratec box they have the front starter.

 

cheers for that info bud bet u aint got any pictures of how it was cut do you??

i thought about the duratec box but would rather keep what ive got ,just need to no its ok to do it

 

no mate was about a year ago i had it just chop out the required space theres loads of metal there mate

 

sound stuff ill get the grinder out to play tomorrow then cheers mate

 

Just use the shim as a guide of how much to chop it then it be reet now chop chop get that box on :P

 

update

at the end of play today ive got the gearbox back on and the starter issue resolved and had the engine turning over using the starter so a pritty good day.

i had to chop out abit of the engine cast to allow the ib5 box starter to fit the zetec engine i dont have a picture but i have nocked this up for all that is interested

in red shows the area that needs removing, the fly wheel and clutch need to be removed to do it so obviously you dont cut through you flywheel or clutch see below also please note (this does not have to be done on all conversions just turned out it did on this engine - 1.8 16v 130ps zetec escort xr3i mk5)



this is a picture of the ib5 box starter now bolted up in place



and the ib5 gearbox now fully bolted to the zetec engine (battery was there to test that it engaged with the flywheel - which it did thank fook lol)





even had time to remove the bonnet



so again panic over (for now ) and everythings back on track
going to invest in a new camera shortly as i no the pictures suck but so does my phone lol

 

ive wanted to do this for a while as i think they look cool std with just 15" gti rims

 

nice one i would love to do this too a real sleeper.Will be watching this....

 

Good work matey I have bought a 02 endura engined ka today and I have a zetec in the garage.. Anyway glad you sorted the block issue, keep up the work.

 

I always wished I never broke my ka, it only needed the engine in and it would of been a complete track tool

 

cheers for the comments guys!!

its going to be a total sleeper when finished , black bumpers , standard interior but i might upgrade it to leather in later life ,and change the wheel to a zetec s leather jobbie ,the only mods that are happening is a stainless steel custom exhaust ,escort gti or any 15 inch ford alloys that i can get my hands on basically because puma 1.7 brake set up wont fit under 13 inch steel wheels , a rev counter and lower it 40mm on a full suspension kit

so to the untrained eye it will just look like a bog standard ka on alloys and a stainless back box ( like most of the ''chaved up'' cars round here)

maybe some one might pick up on the puma brakes behind the wheels and listen to the engine purrr it wont sound like an old rattlebox lol

bring on the fun!!

 

if any one is clued up on the wiring please get in touch via pm as ive read so much shit on this and im even more confused than i was !!

ive read to run 2 ecus 1 for the engine and 1 for the car but removing the the standard ka engine wiring from the ka harness . but ive just read this is a total bodgy job and not the right way to do it.

or

use the standard ka engine wiring and just plug the rs1800 ecu into it , but then this means that the 60 quid i just paid for the rs1800 wiring loom is waisted ??

some one please help me lol

 

There is a YouTube vid of a red ka with a zetec title says 1st start or something maybe you could sign upto YouTube and ask the guy who posted the vid about it

 

Zetec kas are fun. Can't help with the management side because I had an aftermarket ecu. You might want to cut the slam panel a little more too.

 

looks like a very good project!

 

cheers folks!!

new themostat is fitted
exhaust manifold is now fitted with new gasket

fan belt is now fitted - ive solid mounted the alternator on an old cvh mount i had nocking about i measured up a 980mm 6 ribbed belt ,i droped alternator off engine fitted new belt round the pulleys and then bolted the alternator back up which gives it the desired tension on the belt only trouble is when the belt needs changing ive got to take the alternator off but this is the easiest way round the problem and it suits me because no one else will ever work on this car other than me

ive also cleaned and painted the modified rs turbo cup mount .

next couple of nights involve finishing preping the car for fitment at the weekend (hopefully)

better quality photos to follow

 

just an alternator earth to do and were ready to fit the lump in the car !!

will take some pictures but will be over the weekend so big update shortly !!

 

Use this as a guide to wire the new loom in



http://xrtwo.speedcentral.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=45590

 

Please buy a camera so you can take good pictures

 

t5 rick - cheers mate very helpfull

vinge87 - sorted now lol , will get some pictures up at the end of play tomorrow