Ok, one quick offer on ebay and a drive down to pick it up today and I now have an phase 3 Zetec ST170 engine out of a 52 reg RSFocus that had been wrapped round a lamppost. It came with everything attached and was lifted into my Rover with a forklift. I spent an hour or so stripping all the pas and AC pumps, starter motor and exhaust etc, off so me and lad could lift it out!

A quick look and measure up show the sump is a little deeper than I have atm so that will have to be modified. Not a problem as its a steel pan unlike the alloy one on the 1.8. Also a huge lump of the alloy brace above the steel pan will have to come off to get the starter motor in. The water pump runs the wrong way on these blacktop engines (although this one is silver!) so that will be changed along with a new cam belt. One of the engine mount threads in the block is missing as well so I'll have to adapt the mount as well. no time to waste I see this as a fairly straight forward swap and will be using the carbs off the 1.8 until I get me head round some bike throttle bodies and engine management. Easy extra 50 odd bhp with much more to come as funds allow!