I am building a velocity and wonder how much hp i should go for and which engine to use .
Thanks

you need to work out how much power you want, and how you want it to be delivered. do you want power, or torque? in my books it comes down to bike power (around 150bhp), or various car engines. of the car engines you must choose a number of cylinders, age of engine etc. popular choices of car engine are pinto (simple and cheap) zetec (modern and better, harder install) and rover v8s (nice sound, tighter squeeze).

you really need to work out what you want first.

I want acceleration and a nice noise
I have been told to put a duratec in and get about 170bhp .

quite expensive arent they? how much would you plan to spend on a duratec installation? surely there must be cheaper ways to get 170bhp?!

I am abit nieve when it comes to engines a prices . i was told i could get a duratec second hand for about 300 quid and spend a bit on it to get to 170 bhp . would a zetec be easier to get to 170 bhp and cheaper

Please tell me where you can get a Duratec (2.0) for £300.

to be quite honest, my choice would be a bike engine. you could get a zx9 for around £500, this is 130-150 bhp depending on who you believe/where you look, but you can lift the engine AND gearbox by hand, quite easily. plus the obvious sequential gearbox. thats where i would look for power.

Don't forget the Vauxhall XE which will happily give 170 on 45's and a decent exhaust.

I suspect you would get a zetec for £300, but install is going to be anything from a few hundred quid keeping as many donor parts as poss to £1500 ish to get 170bhp.

The vauxhall will yield more power for less money imho, though bear in mind the cost of an adapter bellhousing @ £100s/hand or £200 new. sump can me modded from an 8v steel one, run weber 45's on a decent engine will get you 175/180bhp, throttle bodies 200bhp and a set of cams on a standard internal engine upto 220bhp. you can use an old cav 1.6 dizzy with carbs for the ignition. research this against the cost of a zetec/duratec installation, i'd be interested to see the comparison..

Xe engines regularly go for £300 on ebay..

Ned.

2.0 Zetec is the way. Weber 40s and the DIS system from a low spec mk5 Escort and you are away. Not quite 170bhp but plenty of potential for when you are ready for the power hike!

Chris

theres only 1 good engine for these kits,
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