tr7triumph.com

I'm picking up my new car tomorrow ( Friday)
A tr7 FHC.
No sun roof.
The car is going to be a project.
It was advertised on E- bay without an engine or interior.
That's no problem as I'm intending to make it into a replica rally car.
Now this is where I'm going down a slightly different route.
The V8 would be nice but expensive to run.
The dolly sprint engine appeals but not that many left & getting hard to find.
I do have another solution to hand.
A ford puma millennium.
Low mileage engine, the cars a bit ruff.
Not to worry I'm interested in using the 1.7 engine connected to a ford MT 75 gearbox that I have sitting under the bench in the garage.
So the question is has anyone on here done a zetec engine conversion on a 7?
And if yes have they any tips or experanced any problems I'm going to run into?

No experience with the Zetec, though I played with the idea of fitting a Duratec ...



... but I decided to stick with the Sprint engine as it can produce enough power for a 1000 kg car

It wouldn't be so much of a replica rally car as a kit car(not that there's anything wrong with that). I don't know about rallying but if you are racing it does rally rules have classifications for those kinds of cars or do they have to stick to stricter guide lines.

I did consider a ST170 (Zetec badged Duratec) engine plus MT75 gearbox at one point but went with a Lexus V8 for the TR and the ST went into my Westfield. The TR engine bay is cavernous enough to fit just about anything you can think of engine wise. The only problem I foresaw was getting the engine low enough in the chassis with the forward mounted (Mondeo) sump I had on my ST motor, but I am sure rear mounted sumps are available if the Puma sump looks unsuitable?

Your right rallying has stict rules about originality ect.
However, track day cars don't, so I'm more inclined to go down that route.

Classic looks and modern engineering a winning combo. Ford Zetec engines are easy to source and easy to tune.

So you can chuck it about on track and then drive it daily on the road.

It would be interesting to see how a Puma engine would perform in a TR7. I'm sure that there are a few companies one who advertise on a certain auction site in UK who do conversions on Classic Fords and sell the bits .
I'm not sure why the K series maybe a 1.8 VVC or 135 engine or even a KV6 would not be a worthwhile option to consider though.
Good luck
Dave

I agree the K series is a very good choice.
I just happen to have a puma that I want to break.
I bought it for my son and now his finished Uni his talking about buying something else.
The ford engine is easy to get bits for and I'm lucky I've got a mt75 gearbox from a Serria under the bench.
Think I'll put everything together and drop it all in to see where I'm at.

If you want to stay 4cylinder then a k series would get my vote.

Very light weight, well supported with aftermarket parts for caterhams etc.

Bellhousings to fit anything ford type9 fitting.

Tunable to 250hp fairly easily.

For the 1700 puma engine, have a look on locostbuilders, quite a few guys use them in westfields and other 7's.

Hi,

K series would be a great choice, espically in turbo form as fitted to the Rover 75, very light weights and a lot of issues have now been sorted, plus unlike anything with a Ford badge on it they are reasonably cheap.

When I moved house a few years ago now, I threw away 4 complete VVC cylinder heads, they were changed under warranty when the VVC set up first came out and they were having noise ' issues ' one even had aluminium VVC units, something that should have left the factory as never officially made it into production !!! I remember thinking they are no use to anyone, now they remove the VVC and run as normal head as they flow the best DOH

Cheers John