phild21 Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I,m looking at a little gentle tunning on my std 105 bhp 1600 x-flow but am unsure of my starting point. What cam/ head mods does the std 7 engine have over a cooking ford x-flow? Would a BCF 2 cam and stage 2 head be worthwhile? Any advice gratefully recieved phild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Sewell Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Although there are many things you can do to a 1600 xflow, you do start hitting the laws of diminishing returns fairly early. Bearing in mind that you need to remove the engine to replace the camshaft, I would suggest that at that stage a conversion to 1700 Supersprint may be more economic in the long run. For example, and I have no knowledge of this company except a few references on this site, Vulcan Engineering do an exchange engine for £929 plus VAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger King Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 If you are after a mild increase, I'd recommend gasflowing the head, with unleaded conversion at the same time, plus 3D mapped ignition. The ignition will give a considerable mid range and part throttle improvement and if you have a Caterham 'unleaded' distributor at the moment you will also see top end improvements. The flowed head will also improve the power figs. These mods will significantly increase the engine's efficiency, so you should see increased performance, better fuel consumption and improved driveability. Although not in a spectacular state of tune, such an engine would be very pleasant to live with. As Graham says, it is an engine out job to change the camshaft and the above suggestions would be recommended first anyway. If the engine is coming out, you can go up to 170bhp for road use if budget allows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMorris Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Phil, think seriously about how much you want (are able, are willing) to spend on increasing power of the engine. The 170bhp mentioned above by Roger does NOT come cheap. I looked at 3D mapped ignition etc and I think that I'd be into 4 figures to do that conversion. From memory getting Caterham to convert the engine to S/Sprint spec comes in at around £1200 (or did a few years ago). I looked at my 1600, 100bhp x-flow and asked myself how I was going to get more power cheaply - and came to the conclusion that it ain't that simple. Can't really help you more than that - I'm not technical really and I haven't been thru the process. If you gave people an idea of your budget or power aspirations then I'm sure that Peter T or Oliver will come along soon and fill you in on all sorts of options. Good luck, whatever you do, Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Phil, I have a similar spec.engine. I fitted Weber 3D ignition and found, as Roger says, that the improvements were very impressive. The car was set up on a rolling road after fitment of the kit. I have a competition exhaust and will have the head flowed / unleaded later this year. It's not the most powerful engine, but the car is still quick and very reliable. Gavin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casbar Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 The good thing about the xflow is its a simple engine, so you can do most of the mods yourself, there are plenty of books on how to tune a xflow. Myself and a mate, moved my xflow on from 1600 to 1700 with forged pistons and a 244 cam etc for around £1300 which included all machining and parts. Of course we used our own labour. So its not that expensive with a little help from your friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xflow7 Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Sorry, mild thread pinch here. Any particular books (or other resources) you might recommend about tuning the xflow? I'm pretty interested in this as well. I am aware of the Haynes book "Rebuilding and Tuning Ford's Kent Engine" or some such. Is it a worthwhile read? I've seen some comments to the effect that it doesn't really have much valuable other than very very mild tuning, but is it worthwhile as a general engine reference anyway? Any others to recommend? Thanks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casbar Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 The books are for strip down and rebuild reference only. The rest is pretty simple, ie bore the block out, fit forged pistons new cam etc. There is plenty of info around this subject, do a search through the archives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I found the Haynes manual on the Kent engine invaluable when I rebuild my old Xflow. It gives plenty of hints, tips and advice for tuning and upgrading. While it is aimed at the fast road/occasional trackday user, much of what is said can point you towards greater upgrades if you want to head that way. On a slight O/T - I have some Xflow bits which will shortly be available - 234 cam, duplex timing chain & sprockets, high pressure oil pump, plus the rest o fthe engine in fairly standard form (flat pistons, chambered head with unleaded inserts). The block will NOT be available. If interested, let me know. Dave H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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