Ford Kent X-flow
David Rice
I have just got a Ford Escort Mk 11 1.3L and am thinking of doing
some emgine mods. Does anyone know of any good books on improving this
engine, or have any tips as what I should do first.
Thanks
Dave
Clive Backham
: I have just got a Ford Escort Mk 11 1.3L and am thinking of doing
: engine, or have any tips as what I should do first.
How deep are your pockets?
There's a whole raft of engine modifiers out there waiting to get
more horses out of your Xflow. Most notable are probably Vulcan,
Burton and Chamberlin (apologies to any other biggies I've forgotten).
Just buy a copy of something like Cars and Car Conversions and they
will probably all have adverts. Maximum power you might get out of
a 1.3 Xflow while retaining tractability for the road would be around
130 BHP, I'd guess. (My experience is with 1700 overbored ones, which
are good for up to about 145 BHP, or more if you want to go for race
tuning).
Clive Backham
McDonnell Information Systems, UK
email: cbac...@uk.mdis.com
Speed Freak
Tune a 1300 ? Forget it. It's far cheaper to buy a secondhand 1600 engine.
It will bolt straight in. Makes a much better starting point for further
gains.
Ian.
--
"We have no power to prevent ourselves being born; but we can rectify this
error - for it is sometimes an error." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
Ian Crocker i...@btcase.bt.co.uk
S.I.Le...@massey.ac.nz
pwer than the 1300! It should take less than a day to do.
The 1600GT motor is even better with twin choke carb and freeflow
You could fit the 2000/2300 to your trans but its a little more involved.
Besides the gear ratios in the box and rear need to be changed to suit the
new motor. as well as beefing the suspension.
There is one of these in Australia with hot 351C and 4-speed......
THE KIWI
N STEWART
> Tune a 1300 ? Forget it. It's far cheaper to buy a secondhand 1600 engine.
> It will bolt straight in. Makes a much better starting point for further
> gains.
> Ian.
> --
Ian, I wouldn't be too quick to condemn (sp?) the 1.3 XFlow for some
applications. I have a Sylva Striker (Lotus 7 copy) which only
weighs 500Kg and run a modified 1.3XFlow. A couple of friends have
similar cars with standardish 1.7XFlows giving similar performance
in the cars. The difference is that their cars are MUCH more
difficult to drive in the wet without sliding the rear end. With my
1.3 I have nothing to worry about, as long as I don't start
messing around. Everybody keeps telling me to go for a 1.6
or 1.7 XFlow for the torque, but as it is damp here in N.Ireland
so often I am happy enough with my 1.3. Of course this doesn't
really apply for a saloon.
Nial Stewart
BNR Europe
My views above etc..
Speed Freak
>> Ian.
>> --
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the engine. Especially in a light
weight car like yours. However with an Escort, especially if you are
not racing it in a 1300cc class a swap to a standard 1600GT engine will
give much better value for money than modding the smaller engine. I've
been there about 12 years ago!
Ian
P.S. Good choice of car. I have a Westfield SEiGHT and my brother has
a Westfield SE 1700 XFlow.
--
"Just pass the work I assign you along to somebody else and trust to luck.
We call that delegation of responsibility." -- Joseph Heller
Ian Crocker i...@btcase.bt.co.uk
Jake Buell
> I have just got a Ford Escort Mk 11 1.3L and am thinking of doing
> some emgine mods. Does anyone know of any good books on improving this
> engine, or have any tips as what I should do first.
Sell it and buy a Toyota or a Chevy
Thanks
Jake
David Rice
>From: fx...@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu (Jake Buell)
>Subject: Re: Ford Kent X-flow
>Date: 5 Dec 1994 20:10:55 GMT
A tuned Mk11 Escort would soon see off a thumping great
Chevy in a rally.
See You In My Mirror
Dave
Byron Lister
In article <amf07...@news.salford.ac.uk>, amf...@news.salford.ac.uk (David Rice) writes...
>>> I have just got a Ford Escort Mk 11 1.3L and am thinking of doing
>>> some emgine mods. Does anyone know of any good books on improving this
>>> engine, or have any tips as what I should do first.
Personally I'd rip the 1.3 out and buy a 2Litre OHC motor...
You'll need a motor,gearbox and a tailshaft and should be a relatively easy
and cheap swap....I had a friend do it to his 1.6L 1976 MKII escort without
much hassle.....He did it all himself....and he certainly isn't a mechanic...
The tuning potential of the 2 litre is huge and since you live in England
there is almost certainly someone who can help...Magazines live Fast Car and
Conversions list countless places who deal with escorts...
Good luck
Byron
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Byron Lister........Digital Equipment Corporation........tsg_bhl@enet.dec.com |
| '67 4.4L V8 turbo MGB Roadster "BITEME" |
| The quickest MGB in the world? |
| When Too Much HorsePower Is Barely Enough |
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Christer Jogenborn
I once got my hands on a CCC with an enclosure on 'engine tuning' where known
workshops in GB 'leaked' hints on: VW, GM/Opel, Vauxhall, Kent, Pinto, MG.
From what I recall the summary on the Kent X-flow where simple. Most HP for $:
'larger valves, cam and carb, balancing was recommended. beyond this, get in touch with a tuning w.shop for better selection of hardware to make it last and
get the last few hidden Hp's'
I still have a copy of the enclosure, but don't recall which issue during 92-93.
In comparison, I guess that the Pinto 2.0 OHC can provide huge HP and Torque,
Here, the rally escorts. MKII 2.0OHC, are still making life hard for 1600 turbo MAZDAs inspite its handling drawbacks on gravel.
Christer
VW GOLF 1600 GTI Rally Prep.
FIAT 131 1800 DOHC Rally Prep. (r.i.p)
Ford 2.0 OHC cam,carb,skimmed top.
Anthony Shaughnessy
>In article <amf07...@news.salford.ac.uk>, amf...@news.salford.ac.uk (David Rice) writes...
>>>> I have just got a Ford Escort Mk 11 1.3L and am thinking of doing
>>>> some emgine mods. Does anyone know of any good books on improving this
>>>> engine, or have any tips as what I should do first.
>
>Personally I'd rip the 1.3 out and buy a 2Litre OHC motor...
Well, it would probably be easier to rip out the 1.3 and install a 1.6 Kent
engine, but you are probably right that the tuning potential of the OHC 2.0
engine is greater. Also, getting back to the original subject, there is a
book on tuning the OHC engine, but I have never seen a book on tuning Kent
engines. This is strange, since the Kent is very widely used in kit cars and
the like.
Can the 1.3 engine be bored out to 1.6 (or 1.7)? Or did the 1.3 use a different
block to the 1.6 Kent engine?
Anthony Shaughnessy
to...@isltd.insignia.com
Kazuhiro IGETA
I saw below somewhere on the net.
"Tuning four Cylinder Fords" by Paul Davies.
SpeedSport Press, ISBN # 0-85113-076-3.
--
minilite aeroquip quaife weber ap lockeed kugelfischer vanderbell bosch sa
c Kazuhiro IGETA : NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Atsugi-shi Kanagawa c
osworth powermax burton sachs spax iskenderian cibie twr mitsuba kenlow lu
David Rice
>From: i...@btcase.bt.co.uk (Speed Freak)
>Subject: Re: Ford Kent X-flow
The problem with putting larger capacity engines in is the insurance.
I have not had any quotes for changing the engine for a 1.6 or even 2.
0 but as i am only 20 i suspect my premium would go through the roof.
I will have to find out wether it would be cheaper to tune the 1.3 or
fit a larger engine.
thanks for the suggestions
dave
David Rice
>From: to...@mellor.isltd.insignia.com (Anthony Shaughnessy)
>Subject: Re: Ford Kent X-flow
accomodate a longer stroke.I presume the 1.3 can only be bored out to
approximatly 1.4
Dave
Alan Wood
Having had a tuned 1.3 Escort a short(ish) while ago, I would say that
the first thing to do is ask for insurance quotes for a standard 1.6, and a
tuned 1.3, and then decide which you are most able to afford. If you
are feeling particularly well off, you could also try a tuned 1.6 ! 8^)
The point to remember is that if you are not too silly with mods to the
suspension and brakes, then you may find an insurance company willing to
take a 1.6 that handles well and stops well on a standard policy as
long as it is a standard 1.6 (all of which I believe came with a Weber
twin choke in the UK.) You will be best off changing the rear axle
ratio with a 1.6 if you want to do motorway driving.
As for the 2.0, the thing to remember is that you cannot tell the
insurers that it is a standard car (unless it was imported from
Australia !!!! or you want to tell them that it is a flat front RS2000,
not recommended !!!)
All of these engines do have a good tuning capability, and at a very
reasonable price. If you contact Burton (081 554 4828) they have a
tuning leaflet for all the Ford engines (based of course on their own
products !!!) Another place to ask for info would be the sporting
escort club (don't have any contact details here).
The general opinion that I have picked up is that in a full state of
tune, the amount of power available is not dependant on size with these
engines, just the amount of torque. I beleive that this is due to the
freer revving of the short stroke 1.3.
If you would like to talk to me about the spec of my car (1.3 mildly
tuned with good suspension = almost (!!!) no need for braking at
non blind corners as you are not going quick enough and don't have
enough power to upset the car !! Great fun.) then feel free to send Mail.
Alan Wood I have mastered the programming,
~~~~~~~~~~~ now to get the programs working.
(Al...@ABFL.Demon.Co.UK)
Alan Wood
Sporting Escort Owners Club
The Ad Says :
Send SAE for full details to
Peter RidgeWell,
30 Rowan Way,
Thurston,
Bury St Edmonds,
Suffolk
IP31 3PU
If you can't find someone to help you there, you probably never will !!