Just signed on tonight and suitably impressed with the information available. I have a question for you. Is there an adaptor plate that will mate a 1.3 vx engine to a 5 speed Ford Sierra gearbox? My intention is to build a Locost for my daughter who has fallen in love with this type of vehicle. Many thanks, look forward to hearing from you, LNS.

WELCOME TO THE FUN...... QUESTION
Why not stick to all ford and save the hassel of adapter plates and bitsa clutches 1300 kents are a good choice.

You can buy a bellhousing to link the two, off the shelf from QED, SBD and many others (Westfield and Caterham)

There was a 1400 VX engine and Ford gearbox + bellhousing on ebay pretty cheap, it didn't sell so could be worth a try?

Thanks for the reply but was unable to find the adaptor plate on the Ebay site. Maybe looking in the wrong place. Is it a 5 minute or 10 minute job using the Vx engine to Ford gearbox? As I have a 1.3 & 1.8 at my disposal. Also have an old 1.3 Ford engine which I could use. I felt the 1.3 Vx engine would have been slightly more pokey and more economical/environmentally friendly than the Ford.
Many thanks, keep the thoughts coming.

I too would stick to the Ford engine. Remember there is a whole race series using that engine so loads of advice on getting the best from it can be found on this site.

my opinion, for what it's worth, is perhaps that for 1300cc, the ford crossflow might be the better bet (easier to get ridiculously cheap bits) but if you are going for a bigger engine (1.8 or 2.0) then go for the vauxhall, it is lighter than the Ford pinto, and seems to be tougher and certainly more tuneable more cheaply (and that's coming from a dedicated Ford fan!)

the vx 1300 will not be worth the hastle of he adapter bellhousing, also the 1800 you have will be a different block, so different bolt pattern, so different bellhousing again of you wanted to upgrade it later. for a 1300 go with a crossflow. but for 2ltrs, its a different story...

Ned.

Thanks all, will stay with 1300 ford for my daughter, but play with the engine for a little more poke'n grunt!
PS the grasstracker looks great love it, great fun as my boys have tried it
However, we are building something very special......