zetecs were designed to be a throw away item, rebuilding them is always a costly adventure.


bearings £100
Pistons £300-400ish
oil seals £80
Cambelt £50
water pump £35
full gasket set £100
then machining £100 ish

i ask why bother even after you have done all that you still have worn out cam gear rods etc etc.

spend £650 get one with everything all new.

there are two real options with zetecs

buy an old one for 50p and run it until it goes bang then get another one for 50p and do the same again

or buy a new one.

if you are totally confident that the head is good then you could just buy a new short block but it seems like a lot of bother for an old engine.

Don't know how it works going into the UK. In years of buying by mailorder and EBAY from the UK to the USA I have never been charged import duty or sales tax. (we don't have VAT). I think they have decided that the paperwork isn't worth the amount they would collect. When we register our cars in Illinois, we have to show receipts for the parts we used in the build. If the parts were bought outside the state, we have to pay sales tax on them to register and license the car. This is around 7%.


For me, getting VAT taken off the price of UK goods really helps take the sting out of the high shipping costs to the USA. I have had some items show up on my doorstep from the UK in less than a week. ( I never pay for speedy delivery)

They charge you, then they charge you for charging you and then they leavy a tax on that as the act of charging you and charging you for charging you has obviously added some value.

TT

I take on board all the comments lads. I wanted a pre 95 so I wouldn't have to bother with cat etc. I spent ages looking for one before this came up.

The deal for new zetecs thats often on the internet is amazing. Brand spanking new 2.0L with 140+ bhp for £700!!!

But then I would have to fork out for ignition and injection systems and a cat. And then have to face stricter emmision tests. Mind you I might get a 12 Plate;) Or a 13 plate if it keeps soaking money up like this.

Dunno what to do now.

my god where you buying stuff from? my full gasket kit with seals cost me £35 and waterpump £16 head bolts £6 timing belt £17 and full set of shells for less than £40.

if your going to go down diffrent engine route i might be after a set of 2.0 silvertop cams :D

Just use an old engine ie cvh for iva then change to a new zetec or a newer one from a scrappy without having to find an old pre 95 one to suit emmisions

This is what i did and found an st170 engine in the scrappy with only 33k on the clock, by the time i sold the inlet manifold, starter motor etc it only owes me £200 :D (im still quite chuffed with this fact!)

You couldnt rebuild an old zetec for that much

Not worth the expense, by the time you have added bearings and gaskets it will be close to GBS crate engine price.
I would buy another second hand one.

That's the trouble. They're ten a penny down south but I live oop North. Proper North that is. Not bloody brum or Nottingham.

Seeing the engine Borers tomorrow. I'll make a decision after that. It's not looking good for this engine though.

can i have the cams then ;)

I'm going to hang on to them Baz. Sorry.

The cheapest the engine guy can get pistons for is £75 each so that makes this engine scrap. I'm still going to hang on for a Zetec so I'll put the head and sump etc away until something turns up.