Hi all... just wondered if anyone could just verify something with me...

basically i just built my missus a car/me a winter hack and its an FRST rep based on a mk3 1.1 (with the ever beautiful HCS engine ) but its just being a pain in the ass!!
However, due to insurance/her driving, im reluctant to drop an 1800/2litre in there despite knowing how easy it is to do (did it on mine)... so i started thinking about 1.4/1.25 zetec SE engine from say a mk5 fiesta (more for reliability than performance) but i was just wondering whether this is feasable or not, i mean like electrical problems, fitment etc etc..what id bin and what to keep etc and any other issues you can think of that i should be aware of before committing my weekend to this fecking thing!!!

If someone could point me in the right direction that would be most appreciated

 

xr2i 16v donor car, swap the lot in.

1.25 isn't worth gettin the spanners out for. sorry mate.

1.4 could be done, and would be a bit more worthwhile, but again you'd need a donor car which would probably be worth more than the car you're doing up? also i suppose not a lot of people bother because of how easy it is to buy the shell youve got with more poke in the first place, so there wont be a lot of info out.

a 1.4 cvh from an si mk3 in good nick woud be more worthwhile and cheaper, but youd be better off swapping your rep bits onto that car as it's already built up, and less work, and insurance.....

the cost of insurance would be more or less the same anyway for either swap due to the "engine change, same make different model" way they list it. as long as you're not adding forced induction, nos etc then it all comes under 1 bracket.

 

ah right.. well its just that im after 16v/DHOC smooth, reliability... but im not really keen on letting "her" loose in something with 130 horses...in fact even 100 makes me shiver haha (yeah shes that bad ) ive been offered a 1.25 for about 300 with 40k ish on the clock and it comes with everything i need to stick it in including gearbox if i want, engine mounts, ECU etc... but the part i was worrying about was the whole interior loom/dash etc connecting to the rest of the car and what id need to change and whether it would be any similar to the 1800 conversion??

ive got looooaaads of questions but i guess it would be a rep with a difference huh? plus she wouldnt complain when her car/my subject of current winter abuse rattles so much

thanks again dude