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Simple Turbocharged Zetec: Build Diary


Stu

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So i'm feeling a bit fruity, and have decided to create this thread to talk interested people through one of my previous engine builds. A ~310bhp turbocharged 2L zetec.

 

I built this engine back in 2004'ish based on a specification created by Ahmed Bayjoo. I had a few months off work and built it at Grove Garage in Essex. I had it mapped by Ahmed on SCS's engine dyno in Peterbourgh.

 

I will try and cover as much of the background, the process, hints & tips and all those 'secrets' which others waffle on about..... I am open to all comments and queries!

 

I aim to post one update per day with photos, so watch this space!

 

:)

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Seeing as no one is really asking anything :)

 

What internals did it have ? Also what needed to be strengthened inside the engine?

 

Patience, young grasshoppers! All will be revealed as I document the build... :)

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Right, let's get going..

 

So this engine started out life as a 2 litre 'silver top' Zetec from Mondeo. I can't remember what year it was, but i'd assume it had done probably 90k miles or so.

 

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Here you can see it up on an engine stand (it's a good idea to have one of these). All the ancillaries have been removed as you can see and also the inlet and exhaust manifold.

 

So to start the engine tear-down, you need to remove the cam cover and cam shafts. Here you can see these removed. The hydraulic followers have also been removed, although this isn't required at this stage:

 

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This next photo shows what not to do. What I normally do, and what I recommend you do, is to create a cardboard template so you can identify which follower and which cam cap goes where, and it's orientation.

 

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Fortunately the cam caps are stamped with numbers (well, dots) to identify where they came from. Same can't be said for the followers, but as I was replacing them with brand new OEM ones, it wasn't an issue.

 

Keep all of these components in a safe place.

 

 

Now you can 'crack the head off'. Always an interesting task the first time you do it. Make sure you use the right (female) torx bit to do this with a decent size breaker bar. I've never had a head bolt snap whilst stripping down a Zetec, but anything is possible.

 

You may need to use a small hammer/mallet to separate the head from the head gasket/block. I recommend using a plastic mallet, or at worst a copper one. I tend to tap around the front of the engine (where the cam pulleys sit) as there's some protruding meat of the head to get some purchase on.

 

You'll be left with something like this:

 

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As you can see, this engine has done quite a few miles. There are heavy carbon deposit build-up on the piston crowns and you can see noticeable wear in the bores (where the top ring stops in the bore you can see the difference in colour). In inspecting this with a finger you will feel a ridge towards the top of the bore. Bottom line is, if you can feel ANY ridge with your finger, then the bore is excessively worn.

 

In this photo you can also see the front crankcase breather has been removed (it's a baffle type unit) and also the crank position sensor (CPS) just to the right of it. There are also two dowels protruding from the block deck for aligning the cylinder head in place. These have to be carefully removed before you get the block machined, but your machine shop may do this for you. Be careful trying to remove them with pliers or similar as you can deform the shape and due to the soft material used, any bends or pick-up in the material can make it tricky to get the head back on in the future.

 

 

Here is the cylinder head once removed:

 

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Again you can see the heavy carbon build-up. I would say this is not typical for an engine of this kind of mileage. It wouldn't surprise me if this particular vehicle had a running problem and was over-fuelling for a substantial part of its life. Usually on a good running engine you have nice light brown coloured exhaust valves, which on this engine you can barely see through the soot.

 

A quick inspection of the head didn't show any signs of cracks or head gasket issues around the combustion chambers.

 

 

At this point, KEEP EVERYTHING you remove from the engine, even if you know you're going to replace it later.

 

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A couple of plastic containers are a good choice whilst rebuilding an engine.

 

 

This next photo shows the engine upside-down on the stand with the sump, windage tray and oil pickup pipe removed:

 

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You can see that some dodgy garage/DIY'er has used excessive amounts of silicone on the sump gasket sometime in the past. This is the not the recommended way to seal a sump on a Zetec. The OEM gasket is silicone and only require six very small blobs of silicone at certain places. I will explain this later on the build phase.

 

You will also notice the rotating assembly which you can see is heavily varnished.. you'll see why in a bit

 

 

Rotating assembly out (crank, rods and pistons), main caps put back into place (just hand tight for now), ready to go to the machine shop

 

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Here are the OEM pistons and rods.. neither will be used for the new build.. again notice the varnishing under the pistons.. this is a sign of heavy use of mineral or semi-synthetic oil.. this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but fully synthetic oils are superior..

 

zz_012.jpg

 

 

... until next time!

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