Oh yes, its friday night, and I have some more CVH questions.

I would like to use this engine (1600 CFi Sierra 1992) as it is in good nick and has some potential. Like most of us I dont want to spend much cash though.

This picture shows the flywheel end of the head. Judging by the position of the 3 blanking plugs and associated tapped holes, this is a modular casting that would take a convential distributor and thermostat housing.

Two questions, are these blanking plugs a press fit - can I drive them out once I remove the camshaft,

[Edited on 31/3/06 by Mansfield]
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and how the bl**dy ell do I remove the camshaft.

This is as far as it comes. I have wiggled, pulled and even swore at it. It seems to be stuck around the point at which it would enter the bearing journal between 1 & 2. Stuck as in it feels as if it is coming up against some sort of shoulder.

There are no big burrs on the camshaft - am I missing something? I have the Haynes, no mention of an extra retaining plate.
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Yes I believe the plugs will come out in much the same way the ones in the block can. And with the cam it comes out the other end, ie the blanked end. (unless the sierra one is different to an escort cvh)

Hope this helps.

Oh and if you need anymore help on the CVH engine don't hesitate to drop me a pm mate

To back up broadsides advice, the cam does come out the other end. I used to work at one of the CVH machining plants and the camshaft bearing diameters are slightly smaller along the whole length ( in effect a tapered cam bore)This allows the speedy removal of the boring bar during manufacture, prevents scoring of the bores on removal, and also prevents any bore in the head picking up if it is at the bottom of the machining tolerance allowed

ah a reason behind the madness is revealed to me, I just remember trying to get it out from the timing gear end once and was bermused as to why it wouldn't come out, now I know why. Seems a bit stupid though, in an escort it is ok as a cam change, usually to uprated can be done with the engine in situ, but with the sierra it seems a bit of a ball ache.

I was trying to take it out to see if it had the distributor drive on the end. It looks like the cheapest way of getting a spark.

I suspect it does have the drive. The mechanical fuel pump drive hole is capped, but the camshaft appears to have provision to dive the fuel pump push rod.

I cant get the camshaft out though, it feels like a solid abutment rather than a tight fit in a journal. I have used precision plug gauges throughout my working life and I know when something feels tight.

I sit just (my) poor alignment?

Yes it does feel like its properly jammed if you try to take it out the wrong way, thats why it confused me when I tried to do it once years ago. I always thought it was something to do with the pump lobe (as it is at the dissy end and thus would come out first) myself but if clanger used to machine them then I would of thought he was right, or maybe its a combination of both?

All makes sense now.

What the hell are Ford doing making an engine like this?

Never in million years would I have guessed this.

How do I remove the blanking plug? Self tappers and a slide hammer?

Thanks Haynes

No worries matey

If you have a slide hammer don't you have the fitment with the threaded tip on it or is it just a basic one? Never had to remove one myself but I presume that is a sensible way of doing it? I'd check with an engine reconditioner though as I only build them once the parts are reconditioned/uprated to my required spec.

I dont have a slide hammer, but I can soon make one. Maybe even weld it to the plug to avoid swarf ingress.

I have just reread the manual to make sense of it all. Old style Sierra manual is wrong - even advises bolting the top pulley back on to assist camshaft withrawal. Big hammer required to push that through the head as well! Very old Haynes Escort manual says withdraw through flywheel side.

Like I said, never would have guessed this - although something was obviously wrong.

I realise this engine will never set the world on fire, but if I can get it going cheap enough - it is ideal to me.

Thanks for your help, and your offer of U2U advice, expect more questions, and soon!

David.

Yeah just drop us a line when ever you need some advice, I've built quite a few, mainly rs turbo, but alot of the stuff is the same when it comes to upgrading, a few cheats too

On most engines that are SOHC without a seperate cam carrier the camshafts come out from the rear. I remember Merc 280 that came in on a tow rope on which the the owners freind a "taxi mechanic" had smashed the cam bearing pedestals off the head try to get the cam out from the front.

The plug on the back of the cam will reveal the cam slots you're hoping for. I did precisely the same on mine the other day. Basically because I was getting a bit bored cleaning it and wanted a look inside. The centre of the plug is rubber and a screwdriver can be pushed in and the plug levered out. Just make sure you don't lever directly on the head as you'll probably dent it.
Mr Broadside, any general advise on what to do to an 1800 cvh? It has a 1600 head on it and I'm hoping to run twin 40 dell'ortos. Which dizzy/ignition system is best on a tight bugdet?
PSGot any sports cams going free?

A standard 1.6 cvh dizzy should fit fine, rip one off an xr3/2 and all the wiring to go with it and it should be fine, you can get them re weighted and recalibrated but thats old news when you can get mappable ignition systems now so no one really does it any more.

As for cams I ran a std mfi cam in my 1.6 on twin 40s, and that produced 135hp/140lb-ft

I can get cams done quite cheap anyway so if you find a spec u want, ie kentcvh35 or piper285 (think they are the turbo variety just off the top of my head) then i can ask how much to make a set of the same spec