Just thought I'd post this information on here as there are quite a few ST owners that would benefit from the above information.

There is pages of stuff on the STOC on this as whenever block mods are mentioned it only takes a little bit of fuel to start one massive fire so there are pages and pages of info.

Long and short of it is:

1) The Jamsport "Block Mod" (unofficially as they will never admit it but they have more or less been outed) is a shim that goes in between liners. Post from Don @ Kalmar Union:

I can offer this exact same procedure. You will need to book your car into an associate of mine who works in Coalville in Leicestershire. He is not VAT registered and you would need to pay by cheque or cash, otherwise you can pay me by credit card but I do have to charge VAT.

He has done many of these procedures already on these and similar Volvo engines over several years and they are all holding up well, he has also used the procedure to effect a repair on an already cracked block although it is unlikely that is a very long term fix for such damage.

As a preventive procedure it holds up well.

It simply involves fixing a slip(s) of metal into the area behind the weak liner/block, the cost is mostly in the labour of removing the head, the lesser cost is the gaskets and consumables required in re-assembly, the actual pieces of carefully formed metal used is pennies.

You are welcome to watch the entire procedure....but you might need to polish your tea making skills and provide a packet or two of jaffacakes as that is the preferred diet of the chap...and you need to be up for being ribbed unmercifully as he is inclined to take the pxxx even on first acquaintance, a very knowledgeable and capable fellow though.

Regards, Don.

It is exactly the modification offered by others.... you will be able to watch the whole proceedure, that is if you have the time and the price includes all new gaskets, seals, O rings etc.

Tim Williams is your man, he is in Coalville as I previously mentioned and the total cost is £615. He is not VAT registered and he has no credit card facility but he can frog march you to his nearest ATM and you can get cash to pay him. If that is a real ball ache then you can pay me by credit card but I have to charge VAT.

Regards, Don.

2) Pumabuild & Dreamscience are also offering the above block mod. Pumabuild also have released a lot of info on the ST blocks (pre and facelift) outlining their differences and development and research they've done. Like their facebook page to view all in detail and with pictures.

Post by Pumabuild:

Here is a bit of info about the I5 engine

Early engine blocks from an ST (pre face lift) Have different blocks to the face lift ST and RS.

Early blocks have a slot between the pistons ST engine (pre facelift)

Gap width 0.50mm
Depth 14.5mm

Later blocks also have a slot but it is not as deep.
Gap width 0.94mm
Depth 5mm



EARLY BLOCK

You can see the £20 note is deeper down the slit.



LATER BLOCK

You can see the £20 note is not as deep.

The slit is there to allow water to pass through in doing this the engine is kept at its desired temperature , if you give you car some stick the turbo builds up pressure and forces i...t to the engine.

This air becomes very hot as it is compressed by a big turbo. (Remember when you pumped up your bike tyre and the pump got hot?). This is what happens when you compress air.

The water in the engine has to take away this heat as fast as possible. In the little slit where the £20 note is the gap is very thin and the water has to pass through here to remove heat form the engine the problem here is when water gets hot and boils air bubbles form (look at the water in your kettle when it boils and you will see bubbles). When the water in this slit gets really hot bubbles form and this is bad as there is a heat build up and the water is no longer able to take the heat away from the engine and POP you are left with a great big dirty crack.

The RS engine has a lower compression ratio and this is why it does not crack. If you want to stop your block from cracking then simple fit lower comp pistons fitting shim blocks or deck plates is expensive and you have to remover the head. You would be far better off fitting lower comp pistons.

This I5 engine is also known as the narrow chassis engine as it had to fit between the chassis legs of the focus and Volvo cars. It was squashed together to allow this.

Just thought we would share this info with you alll

Alan Farmer

Pumabuild Ltd

Long and short of it is, block mod is a thin metal strip in between liner and block.

THE END!

 

Top info could save a lot of people from getting mugged

 

as soon as i saw the name of the person who posted this i was a bit "...................."

but, in hindsight, i think i'll forgive him now it's been several years

 

Apparently the story goes that Jamsport asked Tim to have a look and make sure they were doing it correctly as he's done loads of them over on the Volvo side:

 

That's very true.

If anyone is in his neck of the woods, he is very well respected by the Volvo guys and is the originator of this mod.

 

After reading the waterless coolant thread, maybe someone should try that in one.

 

i suggest you call Tim and ask him mate !

as your way off.

only reason we've been in contact with him is over a engine we wanted to buy.

please feel free to confirm this with him too

 

Dreamscience are about to release a block mod of there own that is going to be available for DIY and it would seem in preparation everyone currently offering any form of block mod is dropping there prices

I have spoken to Carl at DS and he has told me exactly what there kit is going to be so its no secret at all and is/has been tested on several high powered ST's abroad

 

Good call mate

 

"Tim visited the aforementioned company some time ago to deliver something that they had bought from him. He was shown exactly what they did as they were interested in his opinion: and he reassured them that his experience with the very same modification on other Volvo engines had stood the test of time.

Don."

So you bought the engine from him which he delivered then asked him to check your block mod?

 

we bought a Engine from ebay which we was told was the same as a RS block.

i personally went to collect it, and on return it wasn't and nor was it a ST block.

completely different, a few days later he came and collected it back from us.

there was talk of what we do etc, but we knew what we do works.

so as much as your hoping he told us about the modifiation, i'm affraid your wrong, we'd already been doing it for a year.

hope this clears this up.

 

Just been speaking to don and tim and they both said what you put in your opening post Tim is a very clever boy an almost takes the opiss as much as i do

 

if what i gather from reading various forums etc, the facelift blocks are more prone to failure. Is this because of the shallower slits in the block, thus not being able to flow as much water, hence more heat?

 

Rich from what I understand it happens to both pre and face lift cars and there's only been a very small percentage that have actually split liners . I think it's more to the fact of bad tuning running to much pressure combined with a lean afr . I stripped a focus rs mk2 engine for a mate the only difference between the st and rs from what I found is the most important compression is 8.5.1 on the rs ,st is 9.0.1 and the inlet cam on the rs is 0.8 mm more lift , now obviously the rs has the less gap iirc 5.6 mm rather that the early block of 14.5 mm but that is the only difference

 

I've always thought it in the hands of the user, allowing warmup and sensible cool down following hard driving.

 

Have recently spoken to Tim or should I say exchanged text's and he is now charging £550 for the block shimming and going by the amount of positive comments on his work from the Volvo boys mines going up to him next month to have it done and have the RS internals fitted at the same time which should be more than adequate for the RS turbo.

He must be good as he is fully booked till then or it would have gone up sooner so he can't be too bad at what he does

 

hi guys new to the forum have an focus st and looking to get this mod done could anyone let me have tim williams contact details please as i live very near coalville

 

Give Don at Kalmar Union a shout, nice enough fella.

 

I have just repaired my split liner for my v70r p2 (2006) and all is well.

Previously it used to empty the header tank in 40 miles.

I shimmed up the crack (been done several times before) and it's cured the problem.

I had my local Indy Volvo specialist replace the head for me as it variable valve and I'm only used to replacing t5 850 heads, plus they skimmed it etc.

The shimming is very easy to do ones self.

Just a note the local Indy said they would replace the ruined liner (x1) and then shim to make the engine perfect.

Just thought I'd say as maybe some people out there have split liner and would rather have a repair of the original engine then have it shimmed.

 

Just for info as it seems that this thread is the reason why people believe facelift blocks are stronger, the first post in this thread is incorrect.

There is no difference between the pre-facelift and facelift blocks on the Focus ST225. The picture shown with the shallow slot is out of a Focus RS Mk2. The RS block is different to the ST block in the way described in the first post.

 

Can anybody out there please help me trying desperately trying to get contact details for Tim Williams phone number would be great much appreciated
Thank you

 

if you havet found him, then he is very active in the t5d5 forums

 

Also after Tims number.

 

How much power are you guys looking for?

 

At least 9aillon +

 

Tim's number (if he hasn't changed it): 07977 454465

 

Thanks Rowe, does he have a website address or Facebook page.

 

not that I'm aware of. Im not sure if he is active much on the t5d5 forum as much as he used to be either.

If ypu cant get hold of him, your best bet would be to post in the focus ST owners page. There's loads of places doing it now

 

Had car sniff tested loosing coolant with no other symptoms... Sniff tested and have gasses in coolant..... Anyone have a number for Tim williams as I live local interested in block mod upon rebuild.. Hopefully its gasket and nothing sinister... Brought 35 days ago with 30 days warranty

 

Fast forward a few years and be advised this guy (Tim) is now
in the habit of taking dosh in return for some very questionable work. Diddled three Volvo guys I know with poor builds including one of the best known mappers in the Volvo scene. Sad to see this stuff still happening tbh.

 

This was sorted in the end it had a blocked coolant passage top end was not fixable . The garage swapped for a audi a5 I don't think I will ever buy a focus again after hearing all the horror stories. Thanks for all your replys