1.8 k series engine dimensions

GeX

GeX

GeX

Soldato
Joined
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Location
Manchester
hi all. does anyone know, or know where i can find the dimensions and some decent photos of a 1.8 k out of an engine bay.

also what kind of money do they normally go for. the fiat engine in my car has popped its hg again and seeing as though its running megasquirt if i can get any engine to physically fit then getting it to run shouldn't be too tricky.
 
Is this the Cinq? The K series is compact, but I reckon a fair bit larger than the Fire engine, and the PG1 gearbox used with the 1.8 is quite a big lump as well. The smaller engines use a more compact peugeot gearbox which is reknown for eating bearings, though shouldn't be an issue in such a light car.

The 1.8's are obviously more sought after than the 1.4 and 1.6 engines, so tend to fetch more money, maybe up to £500. 1.4's can be picked up quite cheaply (e.g. here) and still offer a decent amount of power (~104bhp for the later ones). Might be worth getting hold of a scrap one just to see if it's going to be a viable conversion?
 
It was for the cinq i was thinking yeah. Didn't realise it used the pg1 box - thats a monster of a box. There is fiat superfire which is a 1.4 with around 10 bhp and will drop straight onto the existing mounts, so id get one of them before a 1.4 k. Just trying to find out how compact the 1.8 actually is!
 
The K series in the Metros and some other cars up to the 1.6 litre uses a different box - called an r65 I think, I'm not sure on how large it is compared to a pg1 though.

HTH
 
penski said:
1.6 Zetec-SE from a Fiesta. Lighter, more powerful and better designed than a K.

*n
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As far as iam aware the most powerful 1.6 zetec is 98bhp while the 1.8k's are around 160

I would also be surprised if the zetec lump was lighter then the 1.8k as the k-series are silly light lumps. I would also not rate the zetec lump that highly in terms of design they suffer from many issues although in fairness most of them are niggly things like fanbelts tensioners made from paper-mache
 
dalin80 said:
I would also not rate the zetec lump that highly in terms of design they suffer from many issues although in fairness most of them are niggly things like fanbelts tensioners made from paper-mache
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And thats worse than the K Series ridiculous appetite for head gaskets?
 
[TW]Fox;12349538 said:
And thats worse than the K Series ridiculous appetite for head gaskets?
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repaired properly* a K will only use HG replacement in its life, and that is the k-series only issue, from the top of my head i simply cannot remember repairing any other engine mechanical fault on a k-series. Even the freelander liner problems seems to have vanished in the last couple of years

Its like saying BMW's have a ridiculous appetite for water pumps if you keep replacing the plastic units with yet another cheap plastic unit.

The zetecs suffer far more with broken cambelts, failed water pumps, failed ignition coils, HT lead breakdown, worn compression rings, valve burnout, failed IAC valves, cracked inlet manifolds, electric thottlebody failure, conrod failure, seizing oil control ring issues and that's not even mentioning that even the zetecs are not unknown to the world of HGF.

*But people don't bother, they get the cheapest job possible as a mate down the pub says its a 2 hour job, then wonder why it keeps failing, people who suffer multiple HGF's only have themselves to blame.

/rant.
 
My GF's parents bought a 400 new in 1998. The head gasket failed in 2006. It was repaired for just under £1000.

It failed agin last month. Another £900...
 
I'm talking about the all-alloy Zetec-SE, designed by Yamaha and capable of flowing 200bhp on stock valve sizes. Not the iron POS designed by Ford.

82Kg including all ancilliaries.

*n
 
Budget about £300 for a 1.8 VVC from a BRM/VVC coupe, these are 143bhp.

For more you can get a 160 engine from a ZR160, MGTF Trophy.

They use the PG1 box which is about 38kg One advantage is you can fit a TorSen differential from a 620ti, coupe turbo or (rare) from a BRM to the box which will be nice.

K series, yeah the head gasket can go, but with the uprated and later parts i cant see it being a problem. Plenty of them do go for various reasons (mainly ragging from cold imo) but ive had no issue with mine and neither has anyone i personally know.

Quoting from Rovertech sticky, the differences between the 143 and 160 engines.

The differences between the 143 and 160 are..

1 52mm TB
2 Machining of the head around the inlet and exhaust valves both in the valve throats and combustion chamber to improve low lift flow
3 new/ recalibrated ECU
4 changed exhaust manifold
5 revised pistons with marginally higher compression and expanded ring belt to strengthen ring lands, indentifiable by '160' engraved on the crown

There are some detailed diferences due to the change from EU2 to EU3 (smaller injectors, plug top coils, integral IAT/MAP sensor PWM idle valve rather than stepper motor).
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For more power people seem to swap to solid cam and blank the VVC mechanism off.....
 
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penski said:
I'm talking about the all-alloy Zetec-SE, designed by Yamaha and capable of flowing 200bhp on stock valve sizes. Not the iron POS designed by Ford.
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I'm pretty sure dalin80 was too. In stock form the Zetec SE is not particularly special, and if you include tuning the K series can be pushed to over 280bhp if you have the inclination and money.

[TW]Fox;12349655 said:
My GF's parents bought a 400 new in 1998. The head gasket failed in 2006. It was repaired for just under £1000.

It failed agin last month. Another £900...
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This proves at least two things:

1) Paying ridiculous quantities of money to a garage does not guarantee the quality of the work.
2) Your gf's parents, having been ripped off with style once haven't learnt from their experience and have been ripped off again. I hope the gf is better endowed in the common sense department...
 
Dogbreath said:
2) Your gf's parents, having been ripped off with style once haven't learnt from their experience and have been ripped off again. I hope the gf is better endowed in the common sense department...
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Me too. Lets just say its a good job I don't take family car decisions into account when selecting a partner :p
 
Gex I've got a few pictures of my 1.8 k series without any ancilleries fitted like this:
<snip - edited to include some bigger pics>

Also have a tape measure if you want me to measure anything (although it's in the car now).

EDIT: Might as well post them anyway, if you want bigger ones my email is paul@(my nick).com
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1689643485_7f175dd052_b.jpg
 
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ShakenNstirred said:
i thought the 1.6 Zetec kicks out about 103bhp
the 1.4 k series is 105bhp and the older engine without the cat is 110bhp
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Thought it was 115ish? They're very susceptible to primary length and the stock exhaust is on the restrictive side (for noise/emissions reasons) and I've seen a few make good with a tuned length manifold.

The main difference between the two is that the K is released in quite a high state of standard tune so it is big dorrah to tune.

The OP mentions already having MS kit...So bike TBs, decent manifold, DIY head port and bobs yer mam's bro.

*n
 
Have you ever actually done any of this stuff penski or do you just talk about it on the internet? :p You seem to be a mine of cool tuning knowledge yet until recently didnt even drive :confused:
 
A combination of a lot of reading and old-fashioned Making aquaintances with people who do it for a living and asking them loads of questions. How else are you supposed to advance your own knowledge when you (like 99 percent of others) lack the time/space/funds/whatever?

Maybe I'm just weird but if there is a subject I'm interested in, I like to know as much as possible about it. Sometimes obsessively.

*n
 
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