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Bad news on the BDA..

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TypeRboy

TypeRboy

Jedi Warrior
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I guess I didn't fix my oil problem after all.. While it was idling in the driveway and I was getting some water from the house to top up the rad the pressure flow stopped.. I came out just in time to hear it come to an abrupt stop.

The intake cam siezed, causing the timing belt to strip and who knows how many bent valves. The valves I can handle, but the cams run in the cam carrier without a bearing, so I suppose the carrier is toast, as well as the cam. There's 7 grand worth of lump in my Cortina now.

A new carrier is 650 pounds from Burtons..Cams run about 90 pounds.

Now I have to decide if it's worth it to me to fix it. A Ford Duratec is looking better and better... Sure sounded sweet when it was running though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
I'm really sorry to hear this. It'll ruin your day for sure. I'd wait a few days to calm down and then do a post mortem to see what happened. Then I'd probably go with the newer engine, much as I'd want to stay traditional.
 
That is terrible news. Hopefully something is savable or not as bad as you think. The Duratec is supposed to be a nice, little motor (I believe the latest Ranger/B2300 trucks even use this in rwd form).
 
Ouch, sorry to hear that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

It'll be painful but I wouldn't decide what to do next until after the autopsy. A Cossie is a terrible thing to waste.


PC.
 
Sorry to hear about your motor. That's gotta be painful. If it's any consolation, cams and cam carriers come up on ebay occasionally, and end up being quite reasonable. Too bad, I just sold intakes, a cam carrier and two virgin cam blanks not too long ago.

Dan
 
Rats!
I read your post about getting the oil pump working and figured you were out of the woods.
A pal of mine has a 1600 pushrod 'Tina and I get to race it about once a year....great fun! He also owns a pretty ratty Lotus Cortina, but with a dead Kent motor. I was suggesting to him to find a 2.0 Focus Zetec motor and put it in LC (Focus motors are excellent and are plentiful and fairly pretty cheap around here). I'm not sure how the Cortina trans could be adapted to the Focus engine, however. Isn't the Duratec four pretty heavy? (or am I wrong).
 
The bolt pattern on the Zetec is standard per Ford/Lotus/BDA. The 2.0 & 2.3l Duratecs have a different bolt pattern, but are about 20-30 lbs. lighter than the Zetec and ~60 lbs. lighter than a Lotus TC. Probably close that difference for the BDA and crossflow motors as well. Adapters are available from https://www.quad4rods.com for the Duratecs as well as intake manifolds.

Dan
 
I always miss parts I need by just a few days.. I have the cam carrier off and the intake cam is stuck fast. I contemplated beating on it, but instead I will take it to a trusted machine shop and see if they can press it out. They can also advise me on the repairability of the carrier once the cam is out.

A few of the valves are lower in the head than others so I am guessing they are bent. The head is coming apart anyway..

I have visited the hotrods site, I like the idea of the crank trigger ignition and webers for the Duratec.. I don't like the rear sump.. That means I will have to run a dry sump. At this point the Cossie may be cheaper in the long run, but not as powerful of course ( I never really cared how powerful it was.)

I should have some news in a few days.. Thanks everyone..
 
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