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Yeah I understand what you mean, friend of mine said the same thing, its just without seeing one, my creative juices cannot picture the completed item lol
I’m sure the parts I used were Escort, I just spaced the tensioner bracket away from the block so it lined up with the alternator better
Only used the block bracket and the alternator tensioner
Last edited by slammedorion; 02-01-2018 at 07:38 PM.
hi newbi here<div style="text-align:left;"></div><div style="text-align:left;">I'm just about to start a turbo conversion on my st170</div><div style="text-align:left;"></div><div style="text-align:left;">Can anyone shed any light on which is the best headgasket to use?</div><div style="text-align:left;"></div><div style="text-align:left;">Any advice/info is much appreciated </div>
Are you planning on keeping the St head ? The St head will offer no advantage with a budget turbo but there are disadvantages. Sure it has bigger valves and flows more but a Zetec head will flow more than the pistons and rods can take so it’s not the limiting factor.
With the St head The inlet ports are higher so most manifolds need work.
If your going the thicker head gasket route then you want the thickest you can lay your hands on.
Are you planning on keeping the St head ? The St head will offer no advantage with a budget turbo but there are disadvantages. Sure it has bigger valves and flows more but a Zetec head will flow more than the pistons and rods can take so its not the limiting factor.
With the St head The inlet ports are higher so most manifolds need work.
If your going the thicker head gasket route then you want the thickest you can lay your hands on.
So from what your research, what are the upper limits of the blacktop head and when is a good time to swap over to the ST170 head?
Interesting point about the inlet ports though...will need to check my inlet up against a ST170 head!
Did I also read somewhere that ST170 were more prone to warping than conventional black top heads? Is there any hard evidence on this?
I think you would need a serious build to need the flow of the st head but then you have the vvt to sort and will the cams suit the turbo ? The thicker gasket won’t drop the cr as much as with the Blacktop head.
the black top head on the mk1 Rs often does 350~400. There is no vvt to play with, the ports line up to more manifolds and this is more than the st/bt combo above is reported to be good for.
The Rs does have sodium filled exhaust valves.
It’s the combo of the St pistons and rods with the gasket and bt head that make it more robust than just a Blacktop. The rods have a bigger gudgeon pin and bigger big end bolts.
Mines only being built for 260 ish any more and I would just forge a new crate Blacktop.
Cheers wasa, but I'm talking about outright performance...say you have an ECU capable of retaining VVT (or deleting it), and say the bottom end is fully forged...
I have heard the door will close on the blacktop head at around 550hp (after speaking to Ric Woods at CNC heads)...does this mean that's when its time to switch over to the ST170 head?...or even at lower boost pressures, will the ST170 head always flow more (hence more power) at the same boost pressure at a blacktop head
500 horse is well out of my know how. That’s a full race engine. I am more a budget man as it keeps the grey matter turning.
No expert but not a keyboard warrior either having built a few zetecs.
My point is on a budget decompression plate ( thicker head gasket ) turbo Zetec the st head is more hassle than gain.
This is my 1st zetec build so probably gonna be on here a lot for a while, I've decided I'm going with a black top head, sounds a lot easier to do as it's my 1st time, no messing about with vvt and CR easier to sort
another question, what is the best engine management to go with? I'm aiming for around 280-300bhp
it will be running
fmic kit
rs turbo exhaust manifold
garret t3 turbo (unsure what) it's pretty big tho and brand new so want to use it 😉
Siemens deka injectors
arp rod and head bolts
blacktop intake manifold
other parts I have,
oil feed line and return pipe / sump fitting
frs head gasket / new timing belt and water pump
oil catch can / t pieces and unions for turbo water cooling
boost pipework, breather blank,
will be getting a blacktop engine next weekend
can any any one tell me if I've missed anything, I'm wanting to gather everything I need before I start it,
also regarding electrics, are the st and bt plugs/connectors the same on the harness? Or sensors inter-changeable? Can I even retain the st engine loom? How do I go about this? Custom loom
500 horse is well out of my know how. That’s a full race engine. I am more a budget man as it keeps the grey matter turning.
No expert but not a keyboard warrior either having built a few zetecs.
My point is on a budget decompression plate ( thicker head gasket ) turbo Zetec the st head is more hassle than gain.
TBH I don't think any of us are 'experts' in the field...its all trial and error, but will be good to get this information out there...
I for one (currently) am in the same boat as yourself...peanut budget zetec turbo project in the works...but I have another engine on the side I'm building which will be all singing all dancing so to speak hence also digging around for information
Are you planning on keeping the St head ? The St head will offer no advantage with a budget turbo but there are disadvantages. Sure it has bigger valves and flows more but a Zetec head will flow more than the pistons and rods can take so its not the limiting factor.
With the St head The inlet ports are higher so most manifolds need work.
If your going the thicker head gasket route then you want the thickest you can lay your hands on.
I've decided I'm going blacktop, as it's my 1st go at this, easier to sort CR and no vvt!I bought a pretty decent st170 especially to,do this conversion, What's the best engine management to,go with? Mega squirt? I'm aiming for around 280-300bhp, can any one tell me what I'm going to need to get this other then a turbo? What injectors are best to use?Again, this is my 1st crack at this, got most of the parts I'm gonna need, rst manifold, turbo, oil feed,oil return, t piece, sump fitting, intercooler, boost pipes,oil catch can, breather blank , am I missing anything?will be picking at 2.0 blacktop and rs gasket up over the weekend
I've decided I'm going blacktop, as it's my 1st go at this, easier to sort CR and no vvt!I bought a pretty decent st170 especially to,do this conversion, What's the best engine management to,go with? Mega squirt? I'm aiming for around 280-300bhp, can any one tell me what I'm going to need to get this other then a turbo? What injectors are best to use?Again, this is my 1st crack at this, got most of the parts I'm gonna need, rst manifold, turbo, oil feed,oil return, t piece, sump fitting, intercooler, boost pipes,oil catch can, breather blank , am I missing anything?will be picking at 2.0 blacktop and rs gasket up over the weekend
Hiya pal,Ill be using the bottom end for my own build, however I wont be using the cylinder head and cams tho, but I will be taking the valve springs from the head,Just let me know if your interested in the headCheers
Does anyone know where I can get the 1.8mm head gasket from I've checked at ford and it's no longer available. They checked the ford uk network for me and no other dealer is showing 1!!! Is they any other companies that supply 1 close to 1.8mm?
cheers
Does anyone know where I can get the 1.8mm head gasket from I've checked at ford and it's no longer available. They checked the ford uk network for me and no other dealer is showing 1!!! Is they any other companies that supply 1 close to 1.8mm?
cheers
Sorry to hijack thread buy currently doing this conversation and wandered which hose goes to the top and bottom matrix connectors. Top to stat housing or does it not matter. Cheers
Sorry to hijack thread buy currently doing this conversation and wandered which hose goes to the top and bottom matrix connectors. Top to stat housing or does it not matter. Cheers
On mine the bottom matrix hose goes to the stat housing.
Hi there just about to do this conversion and have a few questions I'm sure havnt been asked before.
Is it the 1.8mm gasket or the zetec head that lowers the compression?
Can you use a silver top head instead of Black top as I already have 1.
I'm going to use the st 6spd box as well after seeing Gary fitting one but what clutch do I use as hoping for 300bhp.
And last question I have an Escort Efi loom fitted and have an OFAB ecu can I just chip this
or am I best with Boostmonkey ECU?
Thanks
Silvertop head doesn't fit without work as far as I know.
The 1.8mm gasket in combination with the blacktop head and ST170 bottom end gives the compression ratio.
Clutch I have no idea, pretty sure you will need a custom flywheel to go with the ST170 6 Speed box, I have seen a good few people say the ratios in that box aint the best for a turbo car, also it is a lot of money to put a LSD into it.
Management would better if it could be programmed, unless you go to MSD for a chip for the current ecu.
Silvertop head doesn't fit without work as far as I know.
The 1.8mm gasket in combination with the blacktop head and ST170 bottom end gives the compression ratio.
Clutch I have no idea, pretty sure you will need a custom flywheel to go with the ST170 6 Speed box, I have seen a good few people say the ratios in that box aint the best for a turbo car, also it is a lot of money to put a LSD into it.
Management would better if it could be programmed, unless you go to MSD for a chip for the current ecu.
Thanks For your answers
You could be right with the box as they fitted it to the st to make it feel slower compared to the MK1 RS. Gary did a gearbox swop using a zetec flywheel so cant see that being an issue.
On the other hand people Turbo St's so I'm prob best asking them.
02-01-2018, 02:17 PM
