ok am thinking of going 2.1 ZVH just want to see the good and bad sides of it? thanks

 

ive just switched to zvh and love it, so much more torquey and im only running a bar at the mo but pulls all the way to the rev limit so dont understand why some peeps say they dont rev, im running stage 3 head etc and i was only looking for 220bhp, and zvh seemed the best route for this power keeping reliabilty as i aint running silly boost.

Downside for me was the fact that i had to switch silly bits to s2 as the alternator bracket on the s1 bolts direct to the block so a s2 item was needed and the s1 manifold hit the block so had to change that to s2, done a 1000 miles so far and am well happy with how it drives, so much more punchy and less laggy than the cvh all depends on what youre after mate

 

Do a search mate lots of threads arguing over if they are good or bad! lol

My 2 pence worth...........
Great for torque and will take more BHP than a CVH bottom end, but needs at least a Stage 3 big valve head, high lift cam, and big turbo to make any power after 5500rpm.
Also IMO only.... it's too expensive to get the most out of it so may as well have gone zetec turbo, and doing this MFI is a waste of time.

 

why mate if you dont wont to run mega boost and youre mfi is in good nick it will still make good power, im running stage 3 head etc and mines fine on mfi, why change what has worked on the car for the last twelve years, and it aint broke down once in that time, done several trackdays again with no issues mfi is fine if in good nick and you dont want to run mega boost.

few pics of the bay anyway, but its changed again since these were took the day thhe install was finished

 

As I said mate it's just my opinion, if you dont want mega boost or power then the whole conversion is a unnecessary as your original CVH lump will make 200bhp for far less money, and if you just want an extra 20bhp on top of that all it means is buying a Stage 3 T3 instead of a Stage 2 (might be able to do it on a Stage 2 but not guaranteed), easy!
This also requires your metering unit to be in good condition of course but so does the ZVH conversion!

 

its all swings and roundabouts mate but imo the zvh is much better to drive, so much more torquey and feels less laggy, and anyway its got to be worth it to get rid of the dreaded cvh sump gasket woes

Plus i wouldnt have done the conversion if my bottom end wasnt tired, i had to make a decision i already had most of the right bits, stace 3 head high lift cam, front mount, stage 2 hybrid etc so i decided to go zvh and im happy with the results, if i wanted 300 bhp i would have gone the full zetec plus managment and certainly wouldnt be pissing around struggling to make it with a cvh

 

Also id say the bad side is the torque kills the box, mines got a lovely whine already

 

good side- Zetec bottom end
bad side- cvh head, simples

 

i've had my 1.8zvh for just over a year and a half, 11 months sat in garage lol!
from my few months driving it, it's all good.
bit of pissing around with oil returns and mounts, then you're off, more torque and bhp off less boost.
basically i had 15 psi of boost and the clutch slipped a little, when i fitted a zvh on a ported head with bigger valves and standard cam, i had to turn the boost down to 10.5psi to reduce clutch slip and it did it a bit then too.
so a comparisson of power there for you.
i'm now on efi and using a 4wd cossie turbo as this is the biggest before a t34 or gt series turbos on a 0.48 housing, basically a stage3t3 without the 360 bearing so should be fine for decent power.
also blocks are everywhere and so are cheap and not old abused units like rs blocks which are getting on now with fatigue etc.
all these people chasing big power on a 1600, sounds daft to me, up the displacement and you're so much better of from the start, cossies are 2.0 to start with, as are focus rs(mk1).
i've heard stories of 2.1 zvh's making 300bhp on 12-13psi in some cases

 

totally with you mate, no need to run silly boost on the zvh

 

my 300hp fez would make a low boost 300hp zvh look stupid. zetec all the way.

 

ZVH only worth it it you have all the good bits to the CVH already like high lift cam, stage 3 head, hybrid turbo etc

My ZVH 300 bhp @ 12 psi but its far from anything you can buy off the self its all custom

 

That was gonna be my 2p, been thorugh too many boxes on the ZVH's I've had

 

Go for a drive in both a Zetec Turbo and a ZVH Turbo then make your mind up - both give completely different driving experiences.

 

ZVH doesnt make any more power than a cvh from what ive seen. The most powerful and fastest rs turbos ive ever seen i.e the nms cars and christian majors are all still cvh engines. Cant see the point in spending so much money for a little bit more low down torque personally

 

do a search on here i remmember a massive thread of tuners battling it out over the cvh/zvh engine.

 

agree with you mate but i already had a stage 3 head high lift cam etc, so just stuck the zetec bottom end in, if i was after 300bhp i would go the full zetec route plus managment

 

Totally agree mate and i had all these bits already so zvh was ideal for me