Zetec how torquey? Injection on a cut down loom?

[dodgerover]

One of the local hot rod drivers has suggested rather than bother buggering about trying to extract more power from my pinto it would be easier to stick a black top zetec in.

Obviously dragging potentially near 6 tons of van, load and trailer about has different requirements to going round the oval very quickly, so what are they like as standard torque wise? What rpms do they like to run at on the motorway? I'm pulling about 3300ish at somewhere near 60 and occasionally I need to do that for hours on end.

Ignition I can sort with the existing megajolt I've got to put on the pinto or apparently they'll run on the ECS? Unit and a cut down loom with carbs? What's the chances of keeping it running injection using a cut down loom? Doable or too many sensor and input problems.

Am I right that the zetec bolt pattern is the same as the pinto so it should bolt straight up, then can I / would I be able to get the pinto flywheel re drilled to suit the zetec crank? I know the usual practise is to use the zetec flywheel drilled to suit the pinto but I'm after torque not revs and I'm guessing the transit flywheel clutch assembly is beefier

Anybody know how they react to lpg long term? And what are suitable donor cars? Thanks

[welshpug]

with 6 ton to shift I'd be looking at a diesel, something like a turbo banana or an iveco turbodaily.

[waveman1500]

With a 6 ton combination on LPG, surely you would just put a V8 in it!
If you're pulling that much load anyway, then I can't imagine the fuel consumption would be much worse.

[theheap]

I have a tow truck with the 2.4 duratec petrol engine. With an Audi A6 on the back it's not the best thing out there. That Zyrtec won't pull your weight. Also as for rpm at 70mph it's kind of down to the box/diff

[dodgerover]

Can't be diesel as I work inside the M25 London Emision Zone so they are prohibitively expensive to make compliant - got to be petrol or gas
V8s don't fit without bulkhead mods which I would like to avoid - there's no Holden V6s here either.
6 ton as absolutely maxed out and slightly over GTW, normally 99% of the time I'm about 3 ton running about.

[dodgerover]

Can't be diesel as I work inside the M25 London Emision Zone so they are prohibitively expensive to make compliant - got to be petrol or gas
V8s don't fit without bulkhead mods which I would like to avoid - there's no Holden V6s here either.
6 ton is absolutely maxed out and slightly over GTW, obviously that's on private roads, normally 99.9% of the time I'm about 3 ton running about which the 2.0 pinto manages but hills are steady and fuel consumption is around v8 levels anyway.

I mentioned revs as I didn't want to find they didn't like pulling that rpm for sustained periods

[waveman1500]

The Holden V6 is nothing to write home about. Any other V6 would do just as well.

Ford Australia put the 250ci inline six in those Transits, so you should have plenty of length! I'm not sure to what extent the firewall/floor was different though.

[welshpug]

an ls is pretty compact

wont a BOA go in easy? they had essex v6's.

donor a granny (that sounds wrong)

[welshpug]

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-granada-scorpio-/262643832003?hash=item3d26cad4c3:g:d1oAAOSwLnBX6QoY

[bortaf]

I didn't think zetecs were sutable for LPG without a flashlube kit ?
generaly speaking 8V engines will make the torque lower in the rev range than a 16V although a 16V will make more?
Personly i would fit a 2.9 cologne if it's a transit ?

[dodgerover]

@waveman the 250 cross flow and the later alloy head variants all needed bulkhead mods to get them under the bonnet, that's the petrol engine we should have had though, coupled with a special highway diff. Nothing mass market came with them fitted to the Uk.

@boraf Cologne is sensible but a bit involved unless I can find a complete svo van to rob it from, ford used a strange set up to adapt it to the mt75 box. Mega thick adaptor plate and an odd flywheel, I think they used an odd exhaust manifold on one side that was specific to the transit. You're right about flashlube - thinking back I can remember issues with early Mondeos and factory lpg.

Main problem is if the vans off the road I can't earn anything. So I need a relatively simple solution with as little fab work as possible.

[ChasR]

Sept 28, 2016 18:26:03 GMT bortaf said:

I didn't think zetecs were sutable for LPG without a flashlube kit ?
generaly speaking 8V engines will make the torque lower in the rev range than a 16V although a 16V will make more?
Personly i would fit a 2.9 cologne if it's a transit ?

IME Zetecs and Duratecs seem to be a gamble.

I can only speak for Duratec HEs but here the examples:


-2001 Ford Mondeo 2.0 : Did 380k (LPG fitted at 95k) without the valve clearances being checked once (I was told by the garage "not to bother" so I didn't then). It still had superb compression when the engine was sold
-2003 2.0: Worked well with LPG fitted at 120k. It overheated at 140k due to a coolant leak at by 170k the valves had burned out. New engine
-2004 2.5 V6 : Unwittingly bought a car full of K-Seal at 110k. At 130k it overheated big time due to a hidden leak becoming a massive one without warning. The head was considered scrap due to the valve seats being pulled further in the head.
-2005 3.0 V6 : LPG'd at 120k, scrapped at 262k after an accident. The engine had no issues on LPG and FlashLube. It was however a very well maintained car previously ; I have never bought a car with such a spotless engine internally.
-2007 1.8 Duratec HE : Bought at 133k with a full service history and converted at 150k. At 209k the valves burned out badly to the extent all 16 had to be replaced due to many of them being pitted; it had always been run on FlashLube and it never ever come close to being overheated ; it had lived a hard life however as a company car. This time I just changed the head, and it has been great since, now at 325k and still running well and strongly. If I am honest, it pulls better now/post head change than it did at 133k.