Zetec install questions.

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I have a 1981 Marlin roadster that has a tired 2.0 litre pinto engine and cortina four speed box, The cam needs replacing and it has just blown the head gasket today.
I have been looking around for a pinto engine for some time now but have not managed to find one local.
My uncle has a engine and box he took out of his 1995 ford mondeo 1.8 LX. he put it in the back shed and left it there for 6 years, i just went around there and i can take the engine for free, He did take the ecu off the car when he scraped it but we looked every where for it and i fear it may have been thrown out by one of the family.
My question is this will the engine i describe fit in where the 2.0 pinto lives at the moment, and what will i need in the form of ecus factory wiring etc off another mondeo to get it working in my marlin. Is this install worth doing or have i just too much to find to get it running? Will it work out better to just buy a old mondeo and that way i get the engine and its ecu all in one.
Will other second hand ecus work on this car or are they dedicated to just the car they come on and need recoding for the car to recognize them, i have a peugeot 307 that needed a new ecu and it was not just a case of plugging it in, are fords of this age the same.
Finally my pinto has twin 40 DCOE webers fitted and they are good, can i get a manifold and use these on the 1.8LX or is this a retro step. Any hints on wiring it in to run would be usefull, i can follow a diagram and solder make good connections etc. But working anything out ecu like is not in my remit sorry. Help!

[Chris Cussen]

You will really need to get a new ECU (Weber Alpha or similar) which can be programmed to the 1.8 Zetec. These can be set up to run with the 40DCOE carbs you have got or the fuel injection already on the Mondeo engine.

Either way you should get about 130-140bhp

There is a wealth of info out on the internet about putting a zetec into a RWD car, but there are things you will have to buy (like a water rail to re-locate the thermostat), exhaust manifold, and other bits and pieces.



You may be able to obtain other items like engine mounts or manufacture them yourself.

You can mate the Zetc engine to a type9 or MT75 gearbox, but you are also going to need a new/modified prop shaft.

I would expect to send about £3k altogether.

[MadDogMoggy]

I think that 3K is a little steep.

I used to own a Tiger Supercat. These were originally designed for the Pinto, but we fitted a 2.0 Zetec out of a 1995 Mondeo when we (my dad and I) built it.

If you want lots of detail, find the Tiger forums, as it was a popular conversion. We did go the Webber Alpha route at the time which cost about £1500 but you can do it a lot less, using Omex or as some of the South Western Tiger Owners club did, they built their own mappable ecus at a quite reasonable cost (about £100 or so).

The Zetec is a little taller than the Pinto, especially if you use the induction, but you can replace this with carbs or throttle bodies. Again I think the SWTOC lot used to modify their own.

You'll need new engine mounts, and depending on your chassis youmay need to extend the mounting points for them, as they are slightly different position than the Pinto - this is a mod that Tiger started to do for its customers.

As was said previously, the type 9 box will mate directly to the zetec - you'll just need to make a thin ali plate to go between the bell housing and enging to fill the gaps down the sides - just trace round the bell housing on a sheet of ali. You'll also need a bearing for the end of the gearbox shaft. Fortunately this just presses into the engine block (it's almost as if Ford were intending to mount the engines longditudinally!) and are about £10

From a cosmetic side, the biggest problem could be the exhaust -it's on the opposite side to the Pinto so you would need to fill the hole on one side and make another on the oposite, unless your exhaust runs along the bottom. Of course you may well have to route it around the steering mechanism too!

Also an alternative alternator used to be used. A lucas 100 or 101 if I remember correctly. You may need to fabricate a bracket for this.

I can't remember where the thermostat was - whether it was in the block or mounted in a rail. I do remember some long pipe runs to the radiator.

The performance was much better than the pintos - those with high lift cams and other fancy bits were on par with my standard zetec which was perfectly drivable around town or on the track.

This site may help - the Toyne brothers built a car each, and were the first IIRC to put a zetec in a Tiger. One of them then went the Duratech route (and I bought their old zetec for my Supercat):

http://toyne.org.uk/kc-what.html

Hope this helps

[Steve Green]

A zetec will fit in a roadster. Its been done several times.I am sort of planning it but work and stuff have got in the way so far.
As has been said there is a wealth of info, zetecinside.com is a good source.

Mention has been made of potential exhaust issues as a Pinto is opposite handed but unless your chassis was factory altered for a Pinto I would guess that all the relevant holes and brackets for the B series are in place.

There are several issues with ancilleries but considereation must be made for the steering column that runs down the inlet plenum side of the engine.

Either carbs or injectors can be used given that some form of aftermarket ECU will be needed.
I have collated a bitof documentation that I could share if you could pm your email.

Good luck.