Fisher Fury CVH To Blacktop Zetec Conversion

[IAN51]

Hi Folks is been a while since ive been on here but i thought i would put this up in case there is anybody who is thinking of the Conversion. Its a very worthwhile thing to do especially when you consider my full race 1600 cvh made 148 bhp where as my Zetec ST170 Engine makes 189 Bhp.

For a bit of background on me and the car have a shufty here https://jpsc.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1423

Parts you will need

Shortened Sump : there are many ways to do this you can shorten the two part Blacktop zetec (there is loads about this on Locostbuilders so im not going to cover old ground i shortened my blacktop sump but as my car is used in competition i chickened out and bought a Raceline one. If you can afford to i recommend this as the way forward as the Raceline is a quality bit of kit very well thought out and worth every penny. I also tried Dunnel and Scholar having used a Dunnel sump in a previous Zetec powered Kit car i built but both companys were struggling for the Old style Cast alloy Silvertop sumps that they make theirs from.

My shortened sump compared to a standard blacktop one (the tube i added on the side is an oil return from my cars breather tank.

One thing to bear in mind that if you shorten your own Sump be aware of the warping off the welder and be prepared to have to try various starter motors or shave down the cast alloy windage tray as there is not a lot of room.



And the baffles i made in side these are not a million miles away from the baffling you get in a Dunnel Sump



O/S Engine mount is different but one hole is in the same place so you can use this as a Datum point when making the revised mount. The rest of the Holes are about half a hole out ive heard of people opening them out but it looks messy so imade a new plate. I simply cut two pieces of ply about 30cm square joined them using a piece of angle iron so the formed an L Shape. I then mounted the CVH engine mount to the board and marked up on the the hole that aligned with the Zetec mounting hole i also marked up the half holes again as reference points . I made the engine mount plate by using a piece of thick card and a plastic faced mallet. I cut the card to the shape that i wanted and placed it over the mounting holes that i was using on the Zetec block and gently tapped the card around the bolt holes giving the bolt hole impression into the card. I cut the holes out and used the card as a template to mark up a piece of 5mm plate i had lying around. drilled the holes and i had engine mounting plate. I lined up the Zetec Mounting with Datum points i had marked on the board and bolted it up. I then chopped the end off the CVH mount and offered the leg og the nount to the Zetec Plate. Tacked it up and then seam welded the two bits together,

Sorry if it sounds long winded or confusing but here is the finished mount hope it helps.



And Again supporting the engine



As this post is picture heavy i will break it into smaller posts.

[IAN51]

Flywheel and Clutch: As ive used these in the past i got hold of a Retro ford 1800 Zetec solid flywheel that had been Re-drilled for a 215mm Pinto Clutch Cover i also used the Pinto 215mm Plate and thrust bearing. I elected for LUK items and so far so good in about 3 hours of racing and a few hundred miles of road use. The only complaint i have is that the pedal action is quite heavy,

Spigot Bearing: No need with an ST170 motor as they are fitted as standard. All other Zetecs will require one again available from Ebay, Burtons,Retro Ford to name a few

Gearbox : Type 9 as used with the CVH No mods required for the Conversion.

Clutch cable : Again as used with the CVH No mods required.

I should add that the CVH AND Zetec Blocks are roughly the same size although the Zetec is slightly longer at the Front. Because of this there was no need to alter gearbox position or mountings.

The car with the CVH Fitted not great photos but will give you an idea

[IAN51]

Now with the Zetec Fitted.






Exhaust Manifold : Whilst the Zetec and CVH ports are very Similair they do not line up they have different heights and spacings, You can buy bolt on adaptors which do the job and allow you to use the CVH Exhaust manifold, The lad who bought my old engine for his Striker gave me Zetec exhaust manifold flange. So i chopped of the flange for the CVH manifold and welded on the Zetec flange. Again there is a fair bit of misalignment and if im honest the primaries on the CVH manifold are to small what i had to do was fill the areas with a lot of weld which allowed me to shape the weld to a funnel so the exhaust gas had the best possible flow into the small primary not ideal but for a few hours work with the Die Grinder it did the job.

[IAN51]

You may have noticed that the engine has changed in the picture above from a standard 2.0 Blacktop to an St170 VVT Zetec this is because the Blacktop i originally fitted turned out to be knackared and the only engine i could find at the right price with warranty was the St170 motor.

Induction : If going with a 1800 Blacktop im told that the 40s that were fitted to my CVH were more than adequate. As i was going 2.0 i opted to go for a set of 45s. Again adaptor plates are available to fit the CVH Inlet manifold to the Zetec but this was not a route i took so cant comment on them. I elected for a new Mangoletsi Zetec inlet manifold from Burtons that had been hand ported. As i changed from Weber to Dellorto i had to change my throttle linkages but the Air filters swapped over with nothing more than ovaling the mounting Holes slightly and enlarging the choke holes in the airfilter mounting plate.





Cooling system. Again i retained the Zetec thermostat housing and added a proper expansion tank with a bleed off again there is loads on the internet about plumbing in a Zetecs and mine is apparently done the wrong way ( but i have yet do have any problems time will tell) You can get an idea of how i did mine from the exhaust picture.

[IAN51]

Ignition System : There are various Distributorless ignition systems but i elected to go with the Motorsport Electronics Nodiz. The major advantage for me was less components than the Megajolt system that i have used previously. So far so good it does what it says on the packet and was very very easy to install.

VVT Control. Again i went with a System from Motorsport Electronics called the VVT Pro its fully mappable but im currently running on the map it came with. The power with the VVT controller is very Linear im told that having the VVT solenoid on a switch does not really work again i haven't tried that myself so i cant comment.

Alternator : On my car it was mounted on the N/S but for the Zetec i needed it to be on the O/S as my car uses a basic Lucas alternator LRA all i had to do was remove the three bolts that pass through the alternator casing and turn the alternator mounting point through 180 degrees then refit the bolts. I used an Alternator pulley from Tiger Sports cars for no other reason than i had one lying around.

Water Pump: On the Blacktop and ST170 Motor.The Direction of turn must stay as it was in the donor car.Im told that you buy an impeller with reversed Blades on the back.This would allow you to run a triangulated belt set up as i had on the CVH. The problem being that the water pump housing has been machined to "flow" the water in a certain way which does not work well with the reversed impeller. Again i have no experience so cant comment. I elected to keep the water pump spinning in the right direction which meant i needed a set up with an idler wheel.There are various DIY ways of doing this but i had a Race entry Looming large on the calender so decided to go with the Retro Ford Kit wasn't to expensive and is well made and thought out.



Im bound to have missed something so i will re read in the next couple of days to see if there is anything to add.