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Modification Modification
Car: Ford | Fiesta | CX (Mk3) | XR2i | Hatchback
Engine: Zetec-E | 1988 | Inline 4 | (Series 3) | N/A | Petrol

2.0 16v Zetec-E series 3 conversion

Cental mounting

The installation of the series 3 requires a little more thought than that of the earlier engine. Firstly the engine uses none of the original mounts, but instead is fixed on the side of the block negating the need for two mounts. The central mount reduces NVH and allows the engine to pivot on a central point instead of 'fighting' to twist mounts at opposite ends (right). This circular mount fouls the Fiesta inner wing and so part has to be trimmed back slightly. Around 30mm was removed from just in front of the suspension turret, and I welded a narrow strip to reinforce the new edge.

All mk3/3.5 Fiestas have a bracket welded to the inner wing at the rear of the bay, just in front of the header tank. This had to be ground out to clear the rear mounted alternator. A small section also had to be cut from the wishbone carrier mounting leg. Although only 2cm or so was removed I welded in a square section to retain structural integrity.

Once enough clearance was gained, I fabricated a new steel bracket to mount to the bottom of the Focus engine mount.

The starter on my iB5 gearbox is on the rear, there are quiet a few advantages of having the starter, and also the alternator, at the rear of an engine:

As I am fitting a B5/iB5 gearbox to this engine, a little bit of work is required due to the slightly different bellhousing pattern on this engine. There are two holes each side of the base of the Focus sump, however the B5/iB5 series gearboxes have a third in the centre. This hole was marked out and drilled in the aluminium sump.

This part of the Focus sump obstructs the iB5 CV joint

The next modification to carry out is on the Focus sump. The photo on the right shows the rear of the engine and the hole for the O/S driveshaft CV joint.

The Fiesta CV cup catches on the sump flange circled in yellow in the photo. The solution is to cut this back so the CV cup can be fitted.

The Focus inlet manifold

As you can see from the photo (right) I have retained the Focus injection system. The injectors are of the top feed variety which is good news for my upcoming turbo conversion, as top feed pintle type injectors are commercially available with many different flow rates. The injectors used in the Focus are less audible then the Zetec-E versions also.

Electrical

As all the sensors are in different places on the new manifold I had to make up a new loom to connect the following sensors: Throttle Position Sensor, Intake Air Temp Sensor (or Ambient Temp Sensor), Idle Speed Control Valve, Crankshaft Position Sensor, Water Temperature Sensor, Water temp gauge sender, Oil Pressure Sensor, Cam Phase Sensor and the injectors.

I wanted the whole installation to look 'stock' so I used the Focus wiring loom supports and trunking. I modified the Fiesta loom, extending/shortening where necessary to fit the new manifold and sensors. The ATS, ISCV and OPS use the latest type of electrical connectors (I'm not sure what the name for them is) and their relevant connectors were used from the focus loom.

Finally the blue wire from the alternator was extended to the front of the engine bay (charge/battery indication light on dashboard).

One of the biggest changes I made was to modify the gearbox mounts so I could tilt the engine back in the bay, to aid weight distribution. This caused problems with cooling hoses etc. There was a lot more work involved than stated above, cooling system, power steering feed routes, fuel lines, gearbox mounts etc.

Here is the complete engine/gearbox:

© Mark Stewart, Friday 15th June 2001
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