Hello all - I've lurked around this forum on and off for a while now and have finally joined.
I took delivery of a Cabrio kit in April '92 and got the car on the road in January '94. I stuck with the 1600 Pinto from the donor Sierra but always hankered after something more powerful. The car was everyday transport for 4 years but has been garaged since early '98. Time flies, hairlines recede...
I started a complete rebuild last year and the intention was to replace the Pinto with a 2.0 silvertop Zetec that I kept from a Mondeo I scrapped a couple of years ago, RWD conversion and mating to a Ford Type 9 gearbox being a straightforward enough process.
I'm now considering using a BMW engine instead and that's where I would appreciate some advice. I can see from cabrio_simon's wonderful Flickr site that an M20-powered Cabrio is possible but I'm not sure what engine to go for myself.
There's lots of useful information around but I've seen conflicting advice - some say stick with pre-M52 to avoid immobiliser problems while others say the problems don't exist providing you've got all the right bits for the later engine.
Can anyone give me any info on physical engine dimensions? I haven't been able to find any. How do M20, M50->M54 compare in length, width and height?
Let's assume an M54 would physically fit. What problems might I face just getting the engine running in my Cabrio (taking as read that I've got work on the fuel delivery side to sort whether I go Zetec or BMW)? How much of the donor car does the engine management system expect to be present? E.g. (and I'm guessing wildly here...) would it expect:
- bits of the instrument cluster?
- to be fitted to an exhaust system containing a cat with various associated sensors?
(Given the age of my Cabrio I believe I won't need one and will just be subject to a visual smoke test for MOT.)
ke test for MOT.)
Comments and advice gratefully received!
Engine options for a Cabrio rebuild
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