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[jereboam]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

My neighbour's kit car is (theoretically) based on a Sierra - mainly the back axle.  He tried to build one using more bits - engine, gearbox and other bits, but it was a disaster - he gave up and bought a different kit which uses a motor cycle engine and gearbox - no reverse.  

There's loads of old Peugeots round here - my son's got a J-reg 205 Diesel - I've spent a lot of money on it, and it goes brilliantly (not counting the crappy gear-change - the last one was rubbish as well).  There's also loads of original Minis and MGBs about, too.  And I saw a Capri a couple of days ago.  But no Sierras.

[pete.h]

I reckon we've MOT'd about 4 in the last year , most recent was a J reg 2.0  4x4 , failed on rot on the sills/ floor . Don't think it's been back yet so maybe he scrapped it , or he's a slow welder . If I remember rightly the others failed on welding too , but they were repaired so must be around still I should think.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

The rather engines wern't.....really underperforming smokey noisey, ratlly things.

[rikki_essex]

but with the average age of a sierra owner being 98 i dont think to many of them will be able to switch a computer on let alone log into an owners club

[Kevin Wood]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

The rather engines wern't.....really underperforming smokey noisey, ratlly things.

Engines weren't the jellymould's strong point, I must admit. The Pinto was decades past its' sell by date when the Sierra was even launched, yet soldiered on for ages. The CVH probably wasn't as bad as everyone thinks but tragically couldn't survive the level of neglect that Ford customers were accustomed to dealing out to their vehicles, and wasn't overly powerful for a large car. The DOHC was better in that respect and reasonably durable but no ball of fire and the V6s felt woefully asthmatic.

The only option if you wanted reasonable performance was the Cosworth IMHO. Although other engines didn't offer bad performance on paper, for the time, they always felt gutless because they were torquey, low-revving engines.

Kevin

[Martin_1962]

Granadas - bigger jellymould

A few years ago another worker here had a Granada - within a year of age of mine, we were both doing silly mileage and so had our cars converted to company vehicles.

My car at the time was a Carlton 2.0GLi and it was interesting to compare.

The Carlton had the SOHC engine, but was a nicer engine. Rear brakes were less hassle.

Surbjit had compression issues with his DOHC engine, and he resorted to gunge to boost compression, we both took our cars back after 18 months, Surbjit for a different job and me to PX for my first Omega.

[Martin_1962]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

The rather engines wern't.....really underperforming smokey noisey, ratlly things.

Engines weren't the jellymould's strong point, I must admit. The Pinto was decades past its' sell by date when the Sierra was even launched, yet soldiered on for ages. The CVH probably wasn't as bad as everyone thinks but tragically couldn't survive the level of neglect that Ford customers were accustomed to dealing out to their vehicles, and wasn't overly powerful for a large car. The DOHC was better in that respect and reasonably durable but no ball of fire and the V6s felt woefully asthmatic.

The only option if you wanted reasonable performance was the Cosworth IMHO. Although other engines didn't offer bad performance on paper, for the time, they always felt gutless because they were torquey, low-revving engines.

Kevin

reminds me of the Cavalier advert for the 1.3 same power as 1.6 Sierra

[Kevin Wood]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

The rather engines wern't.....really underperforming smokey noisey, ratlly things.

Engines weren't the jellymould's strong point, I must admit. The Pinto was decades past its' sell by date when the Sierra was even launched, yet soldiered on for ages. The CVH probably wasn't as bad as everyone thinks but tragically couldn't survive the level of neglect that Ford customers were accustomed to dealing out to their vehicles, and wasn't overly powerful for a large car. The DOHC was better in that respect and reasonably durable but no ball of fire and the V6s felt woefully asthmatic.

The only option if you wanted reasonable performance was the Cosworth IMHO. Although other engines didn't offer bad performance on paper, for the time, they always felt gutless because they were torquey, low-revving engines.

Kevin

reminds me of the Cavalier advert for the 1.3 same power as 1.6 Sierra

.. and to think they sold the Sierra with a 1.3 Pinto. Power to weight ratio of the engine alone would have been miserable, let alone when you add the rest of the car.

Kevin

[Martin_1962]

Well, a bit of Sierra lives on in my kit car. Gearbox and diff (actually, the diff was from a Granada Cosworth 24v). Oh, and the rear brake calipers.

It's odd because the mechanicals were totally bomb proof, IME. Just not the kind of car that gets cherished, I guess. Neither is the mondeo TBH. Most K series Rovers will have HGF'd by now, and that's the final nail in the coffin if you're not handy with the spanners. I had a '91 214 that I had from less than 20K and, despite being pretty well pampered, it was a wreck by the time I sold it with just over 100k.

What surprises me is that there are so many Mark III, IV and V Escorts still running around. Always thought they were the least inspiring cars in existence.

Kevin

The rather engines wern't.....really underperforming smokey noisey, ratlly things.

Engines weren't the jellymould's strong point, I must admit. The Pinto was decades past its' sell by date when the Sierra was even launched, yet soldiered on for ages. The CVH probably wasn't as bad as everyone thinks but tragically couldn't survive the level of neglect that Ford customers were accustomed to dealing out to their vehicles, and wasn't overly powerful for a large car. The DOHC was better in that respect and reasonably durable but no ball of fire and the V6s felt woefully asthmatic.

The only option if you wanted reasonable performance was the Cosworth IMHO. Although other engines didn't offer bad performance on paper, for the time, they always felt gutless because they were torquey, low-revving engines.

Kevin

reminds me of the Cavalier advert for the 1.3 same power as 1.6 Sierra

.. and to think they sold the Sierra with a 1.3 Pinto. Power to weight ratio of the engine alone would have been miserable, let alone when you add the rest of the car.

Kevin

I knew someone with one - flat out everywhere - ended up with a 1.6 whe the 1.3 blew

[yatesDELTA]

i had a sierra
ran really well but i killed it (didnt tighten oil filter properly after a change)
than a mondeo. had that for 8 years. And it was bomb proof. i did 120k in it, serviced twice. I no its awful but hey....   although the last MOT i had on it cost 600 quid. paid that then the engine went kaput. another 600 quid on a 12 year old car was silly

I had a mk2 cav as a first car. Loved that, was a 1.6 IIRC and powerfull. killed that aswell... HGF i think

funnily my omega cost 800 quid to MOT a week after i got it. Yeah mine was a bit of a dud and is a shed but i love it

[Dave-C]

Saw a nice Cossie today

[JueV6]

My step daughter had a mk 2 Fiesta 950 Popular Plus. but wanted something a little quicker. Everyone does the xr2 1600 cvh and i wanted something a bit different.
XR2 Suspension in Panhard rod
XR2 Brakes with drilled
1800 CVH hmmmm same block ....NOT
1600 BV Head
single 45 DCOE
2" bore Pipe
XR2 5 speed box

wasn't an easy conversion but it did fly.
sump bolts to block were spaces differently
Oil pump was different and oil pickupwouldn't fit the pump i had to use
Rear Crank Seal retainer was bolted in a differet place so had to re drill the Xr2 1 for the sump gasket seal.

A lot of work and a lot of Fun afterwards
100mph in 5th, drop a cog and watch the front lift.
very light at 130mph

[philhoward]

The 1800 CVH is crap in Sierra form, but is a good basis for an engine upgrade.  It'd work with a later 1.6 head, but the early/EFI heads make for a low compression, if well breathing engine.  It's one of those that i've built as a turbo engine...C/R drops to about 8.2:1

1.8 i-CVH (to give it its proper name) was basically the American 1.9 block, just not bored out so much - hence quite different from the UK CVH engine of the time.  There are a few quirks to that block to say the least - water pump being one of them - plus it uses a different profile cambelt.  It's a half-zetec; same 88mm stroke, block height, sump bolt spacing, etc...as you found out, JueV6!

[Kevin Wood]

I know a few people who have started out with the 1.8 CVH and then wished they had the 1.6 come tuning time. Those extra 200 CC are a  royal PITA.  

Might as well use a 2.0 Zetec. same amount of trouble for a lot more grunt.

Kevin

[philhoward]

The block is good - its just the head which is terrible, hence swap to a lean burn 1.6 head...