Thermostat/Ignition pack

I have a inlet manifold blank on order (£24 delivered) so can hopefully start looking at the inlet side shortly.

Last night spent an evening in the garage with Mr Bling measuring up for the water rail & thermostat housing. Eventual plan appears to bring the water round to the side of the head where I will then use the Pinto thermostat and housing, with the outlet facing forward to hook up to the existing hoses. Hopefully.

Also offered up the coil pack. Once removed from its original pressed steel mounting bracket, it will sit nicely on the side of the pedal box on the bulkhead, which keeps it out of the way of the water rail above and the oil filler point.

This weekend hope to make the alternator bracket and the water rail unit.

Engine in!!

Well went back out tonight to do battle with the stud which was causing my problems....

Thankfully with some nimble finger work I managed to remove it without removing the engine. So I started to try and bolt up the offside mount. But as I tried to pull the engine across, there was something causing resistance. If ou look at the top of the pic above there is a plug to a sensor, and it was butting up to the firewall. So I removed it and the mount bolted up.

I then moved on to the nearside, but that mount would not go in as easily, as it slots round the oil dipstick tube - need to put that mount in first when the engine has more swing movement. After a short battle I got it to fit, and I was able to remove the hoist.

A quick check underneath showed I have around 3.5" of ground clearance

Which in real terms is probably not enough.....but will do for getting things up and running.

I did some quick offering up of the Mondeo alternator and mounts, which I need to swap to the other side from original. I was hoping to use the original spring loaded adjuster, but it is too bulky, and so is the alternator mount, so I will be fabricating those next.

Engine in....almost...

Some good progress again over the weekend. Purchased some 6mm steel plate from a local fabricators for £12 + VAT to make mount adaptors. First event of the weekend was managing to set light to my overalls whilst cutting the plate up! Thought my leg was getting warm, then I noticed the flames....

Inlet side was quite straightforward, but I could of done with starting the holes a bit higher in the plate, as it would of covered the whole of where the mount attaches to the plate. But with some trimming of the top of the mount it looks like it will be fine.

The nearside mount was more of a challenge. Originally I was going to use two bolt holes in the engine and two in the sump, as there is a lump of metal that sticks out of the engine restricting using the two holes further forward. But on closer inspection I realised these were likely to mean the mount & plate would get in the way of the started motor, so I took the bull by the horns and cut the metal lump off, and cut a new piece of metal to fit the new bolt locations. The piece was cut off from just to the left of the two studded holes, just below where the dipstick goes into the crankcase

I also had to trim a little of the crankcase vent mount to allow the plate to sit flat, and it needs 8mm thick spacers to bring the front holes in line with the back two. Also the holes were quite badly rusted so I had to get the tap and die set out to clean them out.

Anyway....measured up the changes to the location of where the mount rests on the mounting rubber unit compared to the Pinto, and redrilled the holes in the chassis to suit - slightly forward and further out compared to the original holes. Whilst drilling I noticed the original holes set the engine slightly to the nearside of the car - I think this is to allow for a wider drivers footwell.

So all holes drilled, I lowered the engine into the engine bay, bolted it up to the gearbox, then discovered there was a stud left at the back of the head.....which rested against the chassis preventing the engine moving across onto its mounts. And the stud would only come out if I removed the engine..... So at that point I threw in the towel and decided to have another go another day!

Mounting trouble....

Mr Bling came round to assist tonight..... We removed the thermostat housing and the engine slotted up to the gearbox nicely, leaving about a 35mm gap to the chassis to put in some form of water rail.

We then started on the engine mounts. This is where old school Bling was trying to get me to just lob the engine in and see where it landed.....and I had my slide rule out. Once the dust had settled in that battle, it appears we can do the plan whereby an adaptor plate is made from 5mm steel to connect the Pinto mounts to the Zetec engine.

I will need to redrill the holes in the chassis for the rubber part of the mounts, but overall it should work fine. I have tomorrow off work so hopefully will get a chance to have a go at making the plates.

Serious progress at last....

Well I have really got stuck in over the weekend.

Old pinto engine out....

And offered up the Zetec in position..... OK, its still hanging from the hoist but fits the hole. In fact is 1.5" shorter in length than the Pinto so goes in quite easy.

Immediate problems....well my original idea of moving the gearbox (and therefore) engine forward to allow the original thermostat housing to fit is a no goer. I thought I could get away with moving it forward by just 15mm or so....it would need to move forward about 50mm, (the current gap between engine & gearbox with 'stat whacking the chassis) so I am going to have to replace the thermostat housing.

Sump appears to fit OK, but looks a little low, but I think it is all sitting low in the chassis at the moment, so hopefully I can lift it up on the mounts.

My initial idea with the mounts is to use 5 or 6mm plate to make adaptors from the Zetec engine to the original Sierra mounts. The rubber mounts on the chassis can be moved out so this is a possible goer and would make life a lot easier.

Have also brought a Megajolt ignition system (£180), as I will be running on carbs to start with.

Todays top safety tip....dont buy cheap spanners.....

Out with the old

Started stripping out the Pinto engine yesterday. Quickly became obvious running a tape measure over the Zetec that the orginal ford induction system ain't gonna fit.....well it might if I remove the steering column and move the pedals/bulkhead..... Probably going to have a phase 1 & 2 set up....start with Megajolt ignition and bike carbs, and phase two in the future move to throttle bodies injection.

Bonnet stored in roof...

Going to chip away at the pinto engine this week so can offer up the Zetec at the weekend.

Mondeo RIP

Just to let everyone know things are progressing, albeit slowly. The remains of the Mondeo were craned off to the great scrapyard and luckily went for free....apparantly the scrap price falls again in February so people will have to pay to have cars taken away again.

Internet research has solved most of the problem I have envisaged so far, but I am sure there are loads more lurking. Plan is to have the old Pinto engine out this weekend and the first test fit of the Zetec.