Specialised Engines Ltd
18-05-2005, 08:38 AM
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Specialised Engines Ltd
www.specialisedengines.co.uk
Anyone had dealings withthese in the past.
In particular for engine rebuilds or Staged heads.
Anyone had dealings withthese in the past.
In particular for engine rebuilds or Staged heads.
18-05-2005, 08:43 AM
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Wss gunna buy 1 of their 1.9 jobbies but went zetec in the end!
Seemed a very good company! were more than happy to talk to me about different options & setup's!
I believe a few ppl use their stage 3 1.9 engines on here!
I think Rudey had 1 in his s2 which i drove! was a very strong/quick car!
so if thats anythin to go on u shouldnt get a problem!
Seemed a very good company! were more than happy to talk to me about different options & setup's!
I believe a few ppl use their stage 3 1.9 engines on here!
I think Rudey had 1 in his s2 which i drove! was a very strong/quick car!
so if thats anythin to go on u shouldnt get a problem!
18-05-2005, 09:17 AM
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Got on in mine....bought it second hand [came with a receipt for £2.7k!!!] with 9000 miles on it. Dones about a further 15'000 miles without a problem {apart from a leaky crank seal]. It was recently RR's at 226BHP 
Deffo recommend them
Deffo recommend them
18-05-2005, 10:46 AM
#5
Im sorry to put a downer on things but i wouldnt go antwhere near the 1.9 engine that SE build!
If you ask them what Rods, Crank they use im sure you will be shocked to find out its the CVH 1800cc components which are shite at the best of times.
The Block and pistons are good. But every components around it is cheap and nasty IMO. If you ask for a decent set of rods and a decent Crank the engine has great expectations. Without them parts i wouldnt wanna know.
I have seen 3 or 4 of these engines throw rods
for no reason what so ever. Ant, a pal of mine had one (1900) in his S2 before we built his 1.6. It was good on power as it had great tourque but deffo not ment for them rods 
He is still going through courts and independant engineers had to give him a report that the engine component/s was not up to the job of Turbocharging and deffo not ment for the CR.
As for SE heads Ask for a decent head and you will get a STD head that has been polished to look good and has had no porting or shaping done.
They quote bronze guides and 3 angled seats etc.. The truth is you will only get bronze guides stuffed into the guide then chopped off at the bottom with no finness.
Also the heads are built by a Junior who in fact also left one of the bronze guides out of another pals head who is a user on this site (Philly) When we took the head back to show them that they forgot to put 1 guide insert in, his reaction was "you must of taken it out" Why would we do that? After waiting for around 2 hours he said its ready to take away, i asked for them to vac check it before we went to save us having to come back AGAIN!
Results were that every valve had different amount of leaks through the seats.
These types of problems have never stopped from the amount of people who KEEP telling us the same sort of things from this area.
Im sure that IF the engines were built to a good spec with a little time spent on the build with an experianced engine builder the end result would be so much better.
Think about the amount of money you spend for:-
1900 tall block - available from the states as little as £278
Pistons - a decent set of pistons will cost maximun £450 in England states is cheeeeep!
Crank - Worthless
Rods - Worthless
What esle is there apart from build parts like shite rings, Mains etc..
The cylinder heads come from a breakers in Southend, Canvey, Daganham etc.. cost next to nothing... for us poor hard working people to pay £500+ for a slight polish and poxy guide inserts.
IMO take your money to a private engine builder that has very little overheads, commited to building good engines, does not rush to make a turnover and most of all WILL warrenty what ever you do to the engine even if you run above 7psi, as SE will not warrenty anything!!!!!!!
Still..... the engine's from SE must be good, cos it costs so much money!!
Enough ill shut up.
If you ask them what Rods, Crank they use im sure you will be shocked to find out its the CVH 1800cc components which are shite at the best of times.
The Block and pistons are good. But every components around it is cheap and nasty IMO. If you ask for a decent set of rods and a decent Crank the engine has great expectations. Without them parts i wouldnt wanna know.
I have seen 3 or 4 of these engines throw rods
for no reason what so ever. Ant, a pal of mine had one (1900) in his S2 before we built his 1.6. It was good on power as it had great tourque but deffo not ment for them rods He is still going through courts and independant engineers had to give him a report that the engine component/s was not up to the job of Turbocharging and deffo not ment for the CR. As for SE heads
Ask for a decent head and you will get a STD head that has been polished to look good and has had no porting or shaping done.They quote bronze guides and 3 angled seats etc.. The truth is you will only get bronze guides stuffed into the guide then chopped off at the bottom with no finness.
Also the heads are built by a Junior who in fact also left one of the bronze guides out of another pals head who is a user on this site (Philly) When we took the head back to show them that they forgot to put 1 guide insert in, his reaction was "you must of taken it out"
Why would we do that? After waiting for around 2 hours he said its ready to take away, i asked for them to vac check it before we went to save us having to come back AGAIN! Results were that every valve had different amount of leaks through the seats.
These types of problems have never stopped from the amount of people who KEEP telling us the same sort of things from this area.
Im sure that IF the engines were built to a good spec with a little time spent on the build with an experianced engine builder the end result would be so much better.
Think about the amount of money you spend for:-
1900 tall block - available from the states as little as £278
Pistons - a decent set of pistons will cost maximun £450 in England states is cheeeeep!
Crank - Worthless
Rods - Worthless
What esle is there apart from build parts like shite rings, Mains etc..
The cylinder heads come from a breakers in Southend, Canvey, Daganham etc.. cost next to nothing... for us poor hard working people to pay £500+ for a slight polish and poxy guide inserts.
IMO take your money to a private engine builder that has very little overheads, commited to building good engines, does not rush to make a turnover and most of all WILL warrenty what ever you do to the engine even if you run above 7psi, as SE will not warrenty anything!!!!!!!
Still..... the engine's from SE must be good, cos it costs so much money!!
Enough ill shut up.
18-05-2005, 10:52 AM
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A good friend of mine had a Stage 3 1.9 built and installed by SE. The first day the 2 little bolts that hold the cam retainer in came loose.
He then sold the car to another good friend who discovered a lot of problems with it and had to rebuild the engine.
Head work was very shoddy and all the guides were loose.
After being rebuilt and a lot more care and attention being put into the build the engine is great.
Matt.
He then sold the car to another good friend who discovered a lot of problems with it and had to rebuild the engine.
Head work was very shoddy and all the guides were loose.
After being rebuilt and a lot more care and attention being put into the build the engine is great.
Matt.
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18-05-2005, 10:56 AM
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I posted similar and was thrown to a company called Euroengines. Forgot who suggested them. Same sort of thing just the service was in a different league.
If all else their is a post in Escort RS Turbo sections showing an engine build from Stu@MSDevelopments.
For piece of mind I know where I would go for another engine if the time comes.
APT also have some very good pricing on engine builds.
Stay away from the mass produced. The detail then goes.
If all else their is a post in Escort RS Turbo sections showing an engine build from Stu@MSDevelopments.
For piece of mind I know where I would go for another engine if the time comes.
APT also have some very good pricing on engine builds.
Stay away from the mass produced. The detail then goes.
18-05-2005, 10:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Jano_OddKidd
Originally Posted by zvhturbo
After being rebuilt and a lot more care and attention being put into the build the engine is great.
Not fair at all !!
18-05-2005, 11:00 AM
#11
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dang!!!!! mine loved the limiter couldnt break it i tryd trust me as said aboout the rods i looked into upping power and what it would cost for rods pistons ect wasnt worth the gains sumat like 40 bhp for another 2-3k so nah i loved the torqe the unit puts out wasnt anything i remeber haveing me off the lights, even done a few bikes they seem to run outta breath up top or maybe it was just my set up dunno ive gone 16v now cant wait to try n break that
as said aboout the rods i looked into upping power and what it would cost for rods pistons ect wasnt worth the gains sumat like 40 bhp for another 2-3k so nah i loved the torqe the unit puts out wasnt anything i remeber haveing me off the lights, even done a few bikes they seem to run outta breath up top or maybe it was just my set up dunno ive gone 16v now cant wait to try n break that
18-05-2005, 11:02 AM
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A good friend of mine had a Stage 3 1.9 built and installed by SE. The first day the 2 little bolts that hold the cam retainer in came loose.
i blew a cam running in smashed lobe sent a replacement out next day i also bent all 8 big valves at pod fook me they pricey 300 a set
i blew a cam running in smashed lobe sent a replacement out next day i also bent all 8 big valves at pod fook me they pricey 300 a set
18-05-2005, 11:05 AM
#16
Originally Posted by * Rudey *
mine loved the limiter couldnt break it i tryd trust me :
:See the thing is i have also seen VERY good results from the engine. But would you want to chance it again??????
Im glad you didnt break yours but alot of users have! I spose its a chance thing of the componets used, not forgeting that some of them are second hand!
Just one of those things "in SE words"
those "things" better not happen to any of my engines or the world would know and i would NEVER live it down. Its strange how big companys get away with it!!!!
18-05-2005, 11:13 AM
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knowing what i know and have owned 1 i wouldnt buy another but its more down to movein on for me as it just doesnt offer the level of adrenaline bigger power can thats what its about for me that rush when on the edge gwaaaaaahn 
will chat some other time mate
will chat some other time mate
18-05-2005, 07:45 PM
#26
Think there ok at standard rebuilds,but wouldnt touch any modified stuff from them
Ex had a replacement engine for her xr2i from them a few years ago and its been thrashed to bits,never been any trouble
Didnt put bolts through engine mount though
Ex had a replacement engine for her xr2i from them a few years ago and its been thrashed to bits,never been any trouble
Didnt put bolts through engine mount though
18-05-2005, 10:55 PM
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i had a cvh guru mate come inspect mine when it let go and his description of the stage 3 head was "nothing short of shite" totally with jano on the you will get a STD head that has been polished to look good and has had no porting or shaping done"
nothing like "specialised" imo
totally with jano on the you will get a STD head that has been polished to look good and has had no porting or shaping done"nothing like "specialised" imo
18-05-2005, 11:23 PM
#31
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My mate and myself have Spoken to Stu @ MSD about engine builders for a 2.8 and he recommended them as they have made some of the better engines he has worked on, which, in my book means they are pretty solid.
And to be fair, look at the people who are giving negative info, people all with other garages in their sigs, so forgive me if I think that info is slightly biased.
And to be fair, look at the people who are giving negative info, people all with other garages in their sigs, so forgive me if I think that info is slightly biased.
18-05-2005, 11:27 PM
#32
Intresting how many people have had genuine problems and still these engines are selling like hot cakes...
This is a perfect example to why i dont EVER quote "Stage this or Stage that!"
WHO looks at all the engine's, turbo's etc to say they ARE a Stage as advertised.
For example if i sell a part and brand it stage 4 it might be the same as the next compaines stage 6. So which is it???????
What i want...... is to be told exactly what is going to be done. I.e
Port the inlet ports by X amount, Fit sodium filled X amount oversize valves, etc etc and to be given a quote.
NOT TO BE TOLD
"here you go this is a stage 5 head, X amount of money" cos i wont belive you
In other words peeps, when buying any components.
Make sure YOU know exactly what YOU want, and make sure YOU get what YOU want!!!! Even better tell the person who is selling you the part what YOU want.
If you have been told it is ported, check the fooking size of the port and make sure it has, or valves, guides etc... Even with Turbo's....whos to say you get what you pay for are you going to take it apart and look?
Anyways im waffeling again
This is a perfect example to why i dont EVER quote "Stage this or Stage that!"
WHO looks at all the engine's, turbo's etc to say they ARE a Stage as advertised.
For example if i sell a part and brand it stage 4 it might be the same as the next compaines stage 6. So which is it???????
What i want...... is to be told exactly what is going to be done. I.e
Port the inlet ports by X amount, Fit sodium filled X amount oversize valves, etc etc and to be given a quote.
NOT TO BE TOLD
"here you go this is a stage 5 head, X amount of money" cos i wont belive you
In other words peeps, when buying any components.
Make sure YOU know exactly what YOU want, and make sure YOU get what YOU want!!!! Even better tell the person who is selling you the part what YOU want.
If you have been told it is ported, check the fooking size of the port and make sure it has, or valves, guides etc... Even with Turbo's....whos to say you get what you pay for
are you going to take it apart and look? Anyways im waffeling again
18-05-2005, 11:45 PM
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to be fair, look at the people who are giving negative info, people all with other garages in their sigs, so forgive me if I think that info is slightly biased.
and also explain. that was 4 years ago (before i knew which people knew what they were on about with cvh's) and my sig has changed since then 
19-05-2005, 11:05 AM
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I took a head of my mates back there, for a zetec, the fat bloke (and he really is fat)... was extremely helpful, until I mentioned... REFUND, cas the head was the biggest bag of shit ever, I stripped it to have a look, after loadsa problems removing refitting heads cams etc, to try and cure a noise which only appeared with the SE head, the noiose went when I put back on the original head.. spent hours £cuking about with it...when I stripped it I found it did have 3 angle valve seats, but they were just that valve seats with 3 angles, but they were doing sweet bugger all ... the valves hadnt been "lapped" in either so werent seating spot on and there were still pitting marks on the seats... And IIRC it didnt have bronze guides... anyway I was told to Fcuk Off and physically threatened when I refused to leave the premises after being refused a refund, when I told him it was a bag of shit... his response was, see you in court then if you wanna try and get your money back...
Would NEVER EVER let anyone buy from them... thier website talks the talk.... but other than that....
And they can try to sue me as much as they like for what I have said.........
Though it has all been stated "without prejudice"
... the valves hadnt been "lapped" in either so werent seating spot on and there were still pitting marks on the seats... And IIRC it didnt have bronze guides... anyway I was told to Fcuk Off and physically threatened when I refused to leave the premises after being refused a refund, when I told him it was a bag of shit... his response was, see you in court then if you wanna try and get your money back...Would NEVER EVER let anyone buy from them... thier website talks the talk.... but other than that....
And they can try to sue me as much as they like for what I have said.........
Though it has all been stated "without prejudice"
19-05-2005, 12:49 PM
#37
Originally Posted by John Laverick
Got on in mine....bought it second hand [came with a receipt for £2.7k!!!] with 9000 miles on it. Dones about a further 15'000 miles without a problem {apart from a leaky crank seal]. It was recently RR's at 226BHP
Deffo recommend them
Deffo recommend them
19-05-2005, 01:10 PM
#40
Mines been good as gold, never skipped a beat at the Beds Track Day and pissed on the black Ferrari that was out on track.
The bottom end is standard but the head was not ported by Specialised Engines and I'm glad by some of the above comments
When it was running a stage 3 T3 it made 256 bhp and 263 lb ft torque at 18 psi
The bottom end is standard but the head was not ported by Specialised Engines and I'm glad by some of the above comments
When it was running a stage 3 T3 it made 256 bhp and 263 lb ft torque at 18 psi