I am about to start the bulid of a 2.0 silvertop autocross engine and would appreciate some advice on which head gaskets to use.
The spec is; Newman phase 4 cams, gas flowed head 11.5:1 compresion (target), throttle bodies and MS2.
What is the consensus regarding the standard fibre head gaskets...are they up to the job?
I would love to hear from people actualy having used the regular gaskets with a similar spec motor.
This is very much a low buget exercise and I cant afford to spend cash unnessecarily.
I'm having my engine rebuilt now, at significant cost. I've gone for a Payen gasket set; used them before on other engines and never had
any problems whatsoever.
Mine's a 1.8l silvertop with 2.0l cams, adjustable vernier pullies, ported & polished / gas flowed head, head planed, new forged pistons and
rings, new conrods, ARP conrod bolts, new shells and big end bearings. I probably could've gone for an expensive Cometic mulit-layered gasket,
but as I'm not touching the C/R I didn't see the point (the head plane was only to ensure it was flat). I'm even using standard head
bolts as opposed to uprated items. Cometic are not the cheapest at £80-100 a go; I got a whole top and bottom end gasket set from Payen for less than
that!
Just remember, the weakest part of the Zetec engine in the conrod and bolts; head gasket failure wasn't a common problem.
Go to the Ford dealers part desk and ask for a 4 cylinder Focus RS head gasket...
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Go to the Ford dealers part desk and ask for a 4 cylinder Focus RS head gasket...
I used a company called gaskets for classics
Great service
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Go to the Ford dealers part desk and ask for a 4 cylinder Focus RS head gasket...
quote:
Originally posted by Charlie_Zetec
I'm having my engine rebuilt now, at significant cost. I've gone for a Payen gasket set; used them before on other engines and never had any problems whatsoever.
Mine's a 1.8l silvertop with 2.0l cams, adjustable vernier pullies, ported & polished / gas flowed head, head planed, new forged pistons and rings, new conrods, ARP conrod bolts, new shells and big end bearings. I probably could've gone for an expensive Cometic mulit-layered gasket, but as I'm not touching the C/R I didn't see the point (the head plane was only to ensure it was flat). I'm even using standard head bolts as opposed to uprated items. Cometic are not the cheapest at £80-100 a go; I got a whole top and bottom end gasket set from Payen for less than that!
Just remember, the weakest part of the Zetec engine in the conrod and bolts; head gasket failure wasn't a common problem.
I went for an 1800 instead of a 2l for a couple of reasons; one, the insurance (albeit minimal amounts) is slightly less. Secondly, the difference in
power outputs between the two items is quote negligable. By the time you've put a set of carbs or TB's on the engine, set of cams, a good
un-restrictive exhaust and made sure it's in good condition and running nicely, realisticly what are you going to see power-wise?
I'm hoping for circa 165-170bhp from my car once done - that's with 2l cams, ported & polished head, rebuilt bottom end (with uprated
bits) with standard bore. It'll be running on a set of ZX9 carbs and an exhaust that is much less restrictive than the standard item.
With essentially 130bhp in standard guise, what did the 2.0l output? And how much would you gain from similar setup with an extra 200cc? Not much, i
don't think.
And as for the conrod bolts, these were only designed in a family hatchback car.... I doubt they would like regularly screaming up to 7,000rpm or
were designed for that (lets be honest, that what they're going to be doing in a 7 if you're driving it right) - especially as most will not
be running the standard ECU and raised the rev limit. Just ask any perfomance Ford tuner, they'll tell you the same thing. It could all be a
vicious rumour by ARP to sell more items.... but I had four different people/organisations tell me the same thing, so we'll never really know!
quote:
Originally posted by Charlie_Zetec
I went for an 1800 instead of a 2l for a couple of reasons; one, the insurance (albeit minimal amounts) is slightly less. Secondly, the difference in power outputs between the two items is quote negligable. By the time you've put a set of carbs or TB's on the engine, set of cams, a good un-restrictive exhaust and made sure it's in good condition and running nicely, realisticly what are you going to see power-wise?
I'm hoping for circa 165-170bhp from my car once done - that's with 2l cams, ported & polished head, rebuilt bottom end (with uprated bits) with standard bore. It'll be running on a set of ZX9 carbs and an exhaust that is much less restrictive than the standard item.
With essentially 130bhp in standard guise, what did the 2.0l output? And how much would you gain from similar setup with an extra 200cc? Not much, i don't think.
And as for the conrod bolts, these were only designed in a family hatchback car.... I doubt they would like regularly screaming up to 7,000rpm or were designed for that (lets be honest, that what they're going to be doing in a 7 if you're driving it right) - especially as most will not be running the standard ECU and raised the rev limit. Just ask any perfomance Ford tuner, they'll tell you the same thing. It could all be a vicious rumour by ARP to sell more items.... but I had four different people/organisations tell me the same thing, so we'll never really know!