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!

Today I've been down to Blogg Brothers to get the carbs set up. I've been out on a few runs and noticed I wasn't getting very far before having to stop and fill it up again. Not knowing how much is left in the tank when the fuel gauge does down to the last bar on the screen I've been putting 20L in at a time and measuring the miles... I reckon its under 30mpg so hopefully today will see that improve.

Dave ran it up and checked the emissions to see how it was fueling. The mid range was so rich it ran the CO off the gauge! HC was very high as well all over. The idle was too weak as was the top end. We tried it with both the airbox on and off but found the biggest problem was the remote filter, it just couldn't flow enough air! So, the whole lot is off and until I get a Pipercross sausage filter on the carbs are running open, which was how Dave set it up.

With everything set up, basically changing the needle position and drilling the mains out, balancing the carbs and setting the air screw the CO dropped right off as did the HC and was stable right through the rev range. Finally a power run on the dyno saw 120bhp at the wheels. Doesn't sound much and I thought it would be a lot higher than that as it feels a lot more on the road. Hopefully the mpg will improve and I can rag it up to the red line! More power (ST170 engine?) is in order!

Nearly 600 miles on her now and so far so good, two minor problems with broken wing stays but, easily fixed. The roads are bloody awful, what do we pay our road fund for I ask???

Friday 18th I had all my forms ready to post but finishing early I decided to call in the DVLA office and hand them in. what a result, the girls at Stockton DVLA have been nothing but helpful and within 20 minutes of presenting the forms I was walking out with reg and tax in hand. It was probably made a bit simpler because I already had a reg on retention so that was signed as a cherished number with the car registered on an 08 number.

First blast out was Sunday as it rained all day Saturday and I met up with some other guys and had a run round the moors over Ripon. Superb day out, even a bit of rain didn't dampen the enjoyment of open top motoring again.

My immediate thoughts are an engine swap but not the turbo engine. That is a long term winter project. I'm thinking of a much newer 2L Zetec E for a few extra horsepower and its an in out swap. Shouldn't take more than a day to swap just need to find one cheap!

Its a PASS!!

4am start down to Beverley Tuesday 15th July and by mid day had the MAC in my mitt!!
Popped into DVLA Stockton on the way back for a cheeky inspection and they were very obliging, so, after arranging the insurance I'll be on the road for 1st August.

A enjoyable experience in all, the nice weather helped, me leaving me house keys hanging in the front door this morning didn't tho He hummed and harred over the bottom dash radius which was clearly no good to his gauge, but apart from that no dramas. Axle weights well balanced within 5kg of each other. I didn't ask any of the results though just the speed test, which was reading 2mph over. The brake and noise tests where simply OK.

I now have insurance courtesy of Footman James coming in with the cheapest quote. I just need to send all the forms and paperwork to DVLA once I have the cover note and I will be on the road!

So, keep tuned for the development of the car, I already have a 2L Rover Turbo engine an Supra gearbox so I'll be turning may attention to that.

I'll be keeping the blog updated with the progress as it happens.

Not much happing ATM. Just the usual last minute panic with SVA in 3 days time. Its a double edge sword with getting the trailer ready and finishing the car.
I have the car booked into the local MOT place on Monday for a brake and emissions test so both need to be ready for then, then off to Beverley Tuesday 5am for the final act, before DVLA that is!!
Had the car outside today in the sun and ran it up to temp until the fan kicked in, switch it off and did it again with no leaks or dramas. I changed the throttle cable yesterday for a slightly longer one and it has help the running on problem I had, it revs and settles down to its 850rpm idle OK now.

Long time since I posted so here goes. Been fiddling on with the car getting all the last minute jobs done. Still a few little things but nothing major I cant finish the weekend before the test.

In the meantime I've been thinking about the logistics of moving it around. Before the test I want to get it down to MNR for a check up so a tailer defo required there. 100 miles to the test centre. Thought about driving it there but I would be more happy trailering it to avoid any hassle. Then I need a trailer to get it to DVLA for the inspection. Cheapest I can get a trailer for is £50 a day so adding up the fact I need to leave at 5am for the test thats two days, if it fails thats another two days for the retest. MNR and back? Yep two days hire and I may just get away with one for the DVLA. I'm hoping I can call in on me way back from the test.

So searching ebay I come across a stripped out caravan fairly local and a bit of bidding frenzy later its mine. I had picked it up within an hour of the auction ending and towed it back. I now know why I never want to tow another caravan in me life. Awful! Anyway it was cheap, I have some steel lying around and I can always sell it later to recoop the cost.I picked it up Monday gone and by Friday it was down to the chassis. Yesterday rained all day so very little done but today I've cracked on making the top out of some box section and angle I had in the garage.

I've ordered some lights and rear props off ebay and I kept all the wiring, side markers and such off the van so I'll be cracking on with it this week. I'll be making all the rest out of wood for quickness and may upgrade to steel later. it will be living in the garage with the car on it as I have no where to leave it outside. It would soon disappear off my drive!

Rang the test centre to see what was going on and they said a letter was in the post with the 27th June as the date. Get in, same day I'm going to see Bon Jovi in London. Asked for an alternative date and they gave me the 15th July. So, some small jobs to do, tons to worry about and we may be on the road for autumn.

Bought some mdf to make adapter plate templates for the Rover conversion, but nothing else ATM!

Had a mail from Vosa today saying my application has been progressed and sent to Beverley TS. They will be in touch to arrange an inspection date.

WOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Still waiting for VOSA to give me an SVA date. I sent the Amateur Built Declaration form off on the 9th May and on Friday the 23rd another one arrived. I rang the up to ask whats going on and put the phone down more confused after someone telling me there was something missing from the form. That was after he said they had not received the first one. I pointed out it was signed for on the 13th and he found it in about 30 seconds! Anyway I have to phone back later this week as whoever I need to speak to is on holiday :-/

In the meantime I've picked up a Rover T16 engine that will be married to my Toyota W58 gearbox and installed in the car at a later date. It will be a challenge as the recognized route is using Sherpa van or SD1 gearboxes. Van boxes have rubbish ratio's and SD1 boxes are rare. Land Rover R380 boxes fit but they cost a fortune. I already have the Toyota box so thats whats going in. People put them behind big V8's and they come from Supra turbos so I know its well up to the job.

This is the box...

This is the engine, getting them together will be a challenge....

Making the box fit the engine is fairly straightforward if time consuming! I have two options, the first being a Maestro backing plate (I already have) that I can mark the Toyota bellhousing out on and redrill the mounting holes. Only problem here is the starter mounting is where the turbo is. Moving it to the other side isn't a drama as the Maestro plate is a 1/2 inch piece of steel plate. In a word, heavy!

Option 2 is using the original FWD bellhousing. Separating the FWD gearbox to expose the front part which is little more than a bellhousing. Grinding the diff carrier off makes it suitable. Then making an adapter plate to bolt the Toyota box to it. Nice over box clutch lever but the starter sits in the bellhousing and hangs over the top of the box. May cause a clearance issue. This way makes the install a lot lighter and it should be dead easy to line everything up. Again may need to move the starter!

I got this idea from a fellow Locostbuilder, Bill who is doing the same for his 7. Check it out here:

http://bills-locost.blogspot.com/