2 Litre Zetec Engine

Over the weekend I collected a 2 Litre Zetec engine I had won on eBay.

I will now strip this engine down and start to fit some of the 1.8 Zetec parts onto it, ready for it to be installed in the Mojo over the winter.

In the picture of the engine next to the Mojo, it does look a bit of a huge monster compared to the tiny Mojo! Rest assured, once its stripped down the engine is actually quite small!

Items to be stripped off include inlet manifold, exhaust manifold, alternator, starter motor, power steering pump, air conditioning pump, automatic gearbox, air filter box and all engine mounts. Quite a lot really!

Once these are all removed I will list them on eBay, with a view to recouping some of the cost. Not that it cost too much anyway, this 66,000 mile engine was only £82! Yet another bargain!

ESC engine management

When using a Zetec engine, unlike the CVH, it does not have a coil and distributor producing the spark in the correct order at the right time.

This ESC “Electronic Spark Control” box came off a late mk3 fiesta from scrapyard.

It uses a network of sensors to measure the crankshaft position, water temperature and the inlet manifold air pressure, complete with the correct plug to connect to the Zetec engine coil pack.

In plain English, this will be my ECU for the Zetec engine.

It might not produce the best possible results power wise, but a complete ECU for £20 is a bargain and gets me on the road with no hassle of setting up an aftermarket ECU. Top job!

Detling Kitcar show

Today was the Detling kitcar show at the Kent County showground.

I met up with Andy who has the Blue Mojo in the photos. He has fitted a larger nosecone to his car as it was overheating, and he also has the doors which I have ordered, after getting drenched in the rain a few weeks ago.

A nice start to the 2009 show season.

1.8 Zetec engine collected

Today I collected my £40 bargain 1.8 Zetec engine - the one that I will strip all the parts require off.

To my surprise and delight the engine even came with an alternator, one less thing again for me to buy. £40 is looking even better value by the minute!

The weather today was stunning, as the final photo shows! It was a joy to be outside working.

I will strip the engine over the next few weeks / months - there is no rush as the engine swap wont be done till the winter, when the Mojo is off the road.

Project Zetec is up and running!

2 Litre Zetec engine upgrade planned!

I am planning to install a 2 litre Zetec engine in the Mojo over the winter!

This will be the biggest job in the 2 years the car will have been on the road by then.

The 2 litre Zetec was only ever fitted to the Mondeo, but will not fit to the ford type BC gearbox (fitted to fiestas, escorts and orions, and hence, my Mojo) without some modifications.

The fiesta Zetec and escort Zetec engines were attached to the same type of gearbox I use, BUT - were only available in 1.6 and 1.8 litre versions. See where I'm heading with this???

I want a 2L engine in the Mojo but need to use some parts from the 1.8 or 1.6 to make it work and fit properly.

These parts are :

The Sump,

this is because the 2L Mondeo one has the wrong gearbox pattern on the end of it.

The oil pick up pipe,

The 2L one is too long for a 1.8 sump.

The Water pump,

The Mondeo's turns in the opposite direction to the 1.8 version, and would lead to a lot of overheating very quickly!

The oil pump.

A lot of confusion on the internet if the 1.8 version is actually required - I will take a look at the two myself and compare them.

The Flywheel.

The Mondeo's Flywheel is too large and deep to fit inside my gearbox, so the escort or fiesta 1.8 Flywheel is required.

As you can imagine, if I was to source all the parts individually, this would cost me a pretty penny or two!

Because of this I have just bought a complete 1.8 escort Zetec engine off ebay for £40! What a bargain!

I might actually be able to make more money than that back by selling the engine block, head, camshafts, inlet manifold etc... All parts that are not required by me whatsoever.

I can then source a 2L engine over the next few months in no rush at all, even visiting the engine whilst still installed in the Mondeo to hear it running.

The picture at the top is of the exact 1.8 escort engine I have bought. I will collect it on Saturday.

Bring on the fun!

Gearbox swapout

The whole of last year, the Mojo had a hairline crack in its gearbox, causing it to leak oil.

I managed to source a gearbox off ebay for 99p, so ran up to Birmingham to pick it up, then fitted it a few weekends ago.

It took *all* weekend to complete, but at least it doesn't drip oil everywhere now!

While the gearbox was seperated from the engine, I put a new clutch in. Seemed like a good idea and I actually had one in the garage from when I bought the donor XR2 almost 3 years ago!

Brooklands Museum

Today I went to Brooklands Motor Museum in the Mojo. When I arrived their I found out it was a special Austin and Morris themed day - lots of interesting classic cars were in attendance.

I managed to park the Mojo opposite their Concorde!

Had a wonderful day out except on the way home I got caught in a monsoon! It rained and rained.

Even with the hood on I got drenched! Time to invest in a set of doors I think!

Bromley Classic Car Pageant 2008

Yesterday was the Bromley Classic Car Pageant. This is billed as the largest one day car show in the world!
Held on Bromley Common, every type of vehicle imaginable was there. Classic cars, Motorsport cars, Custom and Hot Rod cars, Fun Fair, Steam Engines, Trucks, Motorcycles and even Military tanks!

This year over 3000 vehicles attended, it was packed inside the showground!

Once again the weather was nice at the show, but we got caught in a few showers on the way home. Not a problem nowadays, as I have now fitted a full hood to the car - see pictures.

Also check out the bottom photo, look how far the show went on, lots of it was behind me too, it was just HUGE!

Complete Kitcar Magazine photoshoot

London to Brighton run 2008

Beale Park Classic Car & Boat Show 2008

Today was the Beale Park Classic Car and Boat Show, near Reading.
To complement the main boat show this year Beale Park had a car show attached. Around 30 classic and unusual cars attended this fine event on the banks of the River Thames.

This was a very relaxed occasion and it was nice to spend the day out in some glorious sunshine.

Woking Hospice Car Show

Yesterday, Sunday 1st June I attended the Woking Hospice Classic Car Show with the Mojo.

This event attracts around 300 cars of all ages and designs. I found the atmosphere to be very relaxed, and the show had the feel of village green fete about it.

As the McLaren F1 team are based in Woking too, they supplied a 2008 Lewis Hamilton car for the event. If you take a closer look at the picture you will see the best car in the world in all its glory, along with the McLaren in the foreground too! (Sorry, couldn't resist)

An excellent family orientated day out that I look forward to visiting again next year.

Stoneleigh 2008 - the National kitcar show

This weekend saw the yearly return of Stoneleigh - the National Kitcar Show. This is the largest kitcar show in the world, and attracts over 4000 kitcars. (This year it would be 4001!)

The show was on both Sunday and the bank holiday Monday. The weather for Sunday was changeable with rain forecast in the middle of the day, so we drove up in the normal everyday car as the Mojo has not yet got a hood for it. (It has been ordered now though, so at least we will be able to go out even if it's raining.)

On the Bank holiday Monday the forecast was for a bright, hot sunny day. This would be our day I thought!We set off quite late to avoid the overnight rain lingering around and arrived at the show for 1pm. After meeting some good friends we popped over to the Sylva club area. Whilst there, I parked my mojo next to another red mojo. We looked very, very similar! (See photo's - mine is in the foreground.)

This years show was excellent, I'm my opinion one of the best ever. It's certainly the biggest show I've ever been to, it takes all day just to look round all the trade stalls, let alone the rest of the show. The show guide said there were over 400 trade stalls selling every part you could ever need for a kitcar, and having walked round the show I can believe it! Once outside in the club area the kitcars just go on and on, for as far as you can see in every direction. If someone ever manufactured a kitcar, the chances are at least one example will be at Stoneleigh.
It's called the largest kitcar show on the planet for a good reason!

The whole weekend was thoroughly enjoyable and the mojo ran like a dream the whole way there and back.

Happy days…

Mojo now on the road!

The DVLA called me this morning saying the Mojo was now fully registered and road legal, and that I could pick my tax disk up from them. I popped straight over to their offices and headed straight back home, tax disk in hand.

The registration plate was a present from my girlfriend, Alison. You may recognise it from the Jester, it was being used by it too for a period just over two years ago. See here http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7515/1396/1600/100_2774.2.jpg

I bolted the plates on and put the tax in the window, only to be met with heavy rain. VERY heavy rain, that didn’t stop for hours. (Hence why the picture is taken of the car still in the garage.)

I managed to have a small ten minute local drive in it, then returned home as it started raining again.

So its been a bit of a false start for the Mojo, but check back over the next few days as I take some nice photo’s of it out and about. (And don’t forget the National Kitcar show at Stoneleigh this Bank holiday weekend). Talk about good timing!

DVLA inspection completed

The DVLA inspected the Mojo this morning, and are quite happy as to the identity of the Vehicle, and where all the donor parts have been sourced from. (This was backed up by me having already sent them what seemed like hundreds of receipts for absolutely everything on the car.) The DVLA informed me that the paperwork should be processed within the next few days, and the tax disk will be posted out to me. (I am going to try and pick the tax disk up directly from the DVLA, so it can’t get delayed in the post).

As it’s the National Kitcar show this weekend coming, I really need the DVLA to get this processed ASAP.

The car will then be "fully registered and on the road."

Unlike the SVA test, the road traffic act does not allow you to drive an unregistered car to or from a DVLA inspection. So I had to hire the lorry pictured to take me there and back. The inspection took place at VOSA’s depot in Newbury.

I am pleased to report that we only got caught in one short shower on the way home, but the interior of the car remained completely dry.


It’s within touching distance now!

Weekend Changes

This weekend I have bolted my alloys back onto the Mojo. I had a puncture in one of them, so used an old set of steel wheels for the SVA test. I have also attached my small sports steering wheel, it looks a million times better than the old large ford item I was using!

I am now all set for the DVLA's inspection on Tuesday, the weather forecast says it's going to be heavy rain all day - bugger.

Check back here Tuesday evening for more pics and info. It's getting exciting now, not long to go!

DVLA Inspection date - 29/04/08

All kitcars in the UK must be inspected by the DVLA before being issued with a registration number and tax disk.

My local DVLA office in Reading have given me a date for the inspection, Tuesday 29th April, three weeks today.

Within a few days of that date, it will be fully road legal, hopefully in time for Stoneleigh in early May, the national kitcar show. Over 4000 kitcars attend this bank holiday weekend show, and I should be one of them!

SVA test passed

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days but the Mojo has now passed its SVA test. All kitcars once through the safety related SVA test must then be inspected by the DVLA before being issued with a registration number and taxdisk, making them fully road legal.

The current waiting time in the Reading area is around 3 weeks for the inspection. As soon as I have a date I will post it up here.

On the way to the retest I popped into London’s Ace Café, where 5th Gear is filmed It’s on the North circular too, the same road as the SVA testing station in Edmonton. I was running very early and it was nice to see all the memorabilia they have on display there too.
There were 3 traffic police cars parked up there, they were all very interested in the Mojo, asking questions and chatting, they knew of the SVA rules about driving to and from the test, so didn’t ask why it didn’t have any reg plates or a tax disk!


By some margin, the largest hurdle has now been cleared, I'm on the home straight now!

SVA Test

Today was the mojo's SVA test.

The car behaved excellently and never missed a beat the whole day. The weather was cold but dry on the way over and cold and wet on the way home! It rained and rained!

Unfortunately the car failed its SVA on 2 items, ironically both had nothing to do with me!

The first was the beam pattern was not upto spec in ONE of the headlights. These were bought brand new and must have had something wrong with the beam shaping’s inside the glass of the lens. NOT MY FAULT!

The second was the nearside rear brake caliper had a very slight leak from the handbrake lever mechanism that pivots into it. These were also bought brand new and had a slight manufacturer fault in them. (Undetectable until the car had been used in anger, and the car had never been driven till today.) NOT MY FAULT AGAIN! (I foolishly assumed NEW calipers might actually work!)
That’s it. Nothing else.
Good hey?

Retest booked for 13 days time, Wed 2nd April at 1pm.

New headlight being sent to me for free from company who supplied it and I’m sourcing rear calipers at the mo.

Wish me luck! (Again!)


Trevor.


PS - I will post more info after the bank holiday weekend.

Another picture update

Recent Progress

Recently I've been completing lots of the jobs needed for the SVA test, not much progress to look at, but lots under the skin so to speak.

SVA should be done by mid may, fingers crossed!

Update - Sunny day!

Latest picture update

New Darker Red Colour

I have very slightly changed the colour red I am using, from RAL3001 Signal red to RAL3002 Carmine red – a slightly deeper red, more scarlet looking. I’m seriously pleased with the results!

Picture Update

Just a quick picture teaser update tonight. The panels are not completely finished yet, but I placed them up to the chassis to give an idea what the finished article will look like - not bad!

New paint system

I have been painting my Mojo using a new fibreglass paint system, where the paint is applied with a roller!

The quality of the finish is excellent, with a real deep shine to it.

I will post more pics over the next few weeks, just done the nose cone so far.

More info over at my paint system website at www.paintsystem.blogspot.com

Picture update

Complete Kitcar Mag Feature

I am in the current issue of Complete Kitcar (formally Which Kit Car? Magazine, re-launched this month.)
Cover date May 2007. (Out now.)

The Mag has a bi monthly feature called running reports following the builds of reader’s cars, and my Sylva Mojo is one of the cars!


Next instalment of the build in the cover dated issue of July 2007. (Two months time)

Engine and Gearbox installed

Just a quick update tonight, last weekend I fitted the engine and gearbox. All went to plan and in under 3 hours all was installed.

Been ill this week hence the lack of updates or progress on the car. Looking forward to getting stuck back in again now!

Engine prep

The brake, hydraulic clutch and fuel lines have now all been completed around the whole car.

My next little project is giving the engine a major service, including changing the cam belt, plugs and leads, oil and filter, distributor cap, rotary arm etc…. I have got the cam belt cover off the engine, the old belt looks in OK condition, but for £11 its got to be worth changing it and not taking any chances! (See photo for old belt.)

Once this is completed I will continue giving the engine a thorough clean, then go over it with a coat of something nice so it looks presentable before being installed into the Mojo.

Rolling Chassis - Wheels on!

Sorry I haven’t updated the website recently, but things have been ticking over nicely.

The Mojo is now sat on its wheels, (as of the weekend,) and the brake lines, fuel lines and hydraulic clutch line have now been run through the car and are all clamped in place.

Front hubs

Only managed a few hours of work today, but got both front hubs fully assembled.

This involved replacing both sets of brake disks and calipers with new items, and re fitting the steering arms, (sticking out lower left of photo.)

Pedals Fitted

Today I fitted all the pedals, along with the brake and clutch master cylinders.

The pedals came with all the mounting brackets pre welded and drilled. The attention to detail is amazing, on photo four, you can see the way the brake pedal has been bent around where the steering column will sit. (Through where the hole in the panel is now.) Another example is on photo 1, you can see where the bracket has already been welded on to the brake pedal to accept the brake master cylinder arm. (Second item in with a nut and bolt through it)

Everything so far has fitted millimetre perfect, making for a thoroughly enjoyable build.

Rear hubs test fitted

Today I test fitted the two front hubs from the XR2 that are used on the rear of the Mojo.

The hub is turned upside down and attached to the lower wishbone bolt with a pair of strengthening spacer brackets. (Shown in pics 2, 3 and at the bottom of 4.)
The lower ball joint, (now at the top as the hub is inverted,) is secured onto the upper wishbone with two nuts and bolts. (Top of photo 4.)
Photo 4 also shows that the steering arm would have got in the way if not grinded off.

Everything will come back off again for a clean up, but this was a very successful test fitting of both rear hubs.

XR2 Hubs Modified

The XR2 hubs and driveshafts are used at the rear of the Mojo, and as such need slightly modifying. The steering arm is not used as the hubs are "locked off" into facing forwards only, and the steering arms get in the way of the suspension. To eliminate this problem they are removed, in my case, with a cutting disk in an angle grinder. I had not used an angle grinder until today - what a frightening experience! Sparks flew just about everywhere in the shed, nothing caught fire - but I did have a bucket of water ready just in case!

I had managed to inadvertently damage the longer driveshaft cv joint whilst removing the engine and gearbox from the XR2, I now have a complete replacement ready, that’s the reason in the second photo why it has been removed.

All wishbones fitted

Today I got the floor pan fully bonded and riveted on, then attached all the wishbones on the car.

Im really pleased with the F1 style inboard suspension, it looks even better than I thought it would! Once finished the inboard set up should give pin sharp handling.

The picture of the rear wishbones will be more self explanatory when the car is on its wheels and out of the garage – space is a bit limited in there to take good photos!

Floor pan prep

Today I drilled all the holes to attach the floor pan in the underside of the chassis, (car placed upside down,) and attached the two water tubes inside the tunnel.

As the Mojo is a rear engined car, two water tubes run along the inside of the tunnel, from the engine to the radiator at the front. By heating one of the tubes up with a mini blow torch, I was able to bend it upwards, so that the flexible tube run to the top of the radiator is made easier.

With every hole now drilled in the underside of the chassis, tomorrow I will bond and rivet the floor on, then the exciting bits of the build start – bolting parts onto the car!

Paneling up

Today I fitted some of the ali panels to the Mojo.

The top picture shows where I have marked the chassis onto the panel, then drilled through it. This panel was then deburred, placed back up to the chassis, and I drilled through the existing holes into the chassis – a scary moment! The second photo shows the chassis with the holes drilled in it.
The panel then had its protective film removed, and was bonded using a polyurethane sealant and riveted into place.
The easiest way of doing this was to put out some carpet down to protect the chassis, then turn it onto its side.

It was a good day all in all as I have now fitted the driver and passenger forward outer panels, the passenger foot well end panel and the two smaller panels that go under and to the left of the driver foot well area.

I have also drilled all the holes into the chassis to take the two tunnel side panels, but have not fitted them yet, as access is needed into the tunnel to fit brake lines, fuel pipes, water pipes……

The next job is to drill through the seat back panels into the chassis to mark out all the mounting holes. They will also not be fitted yet, as this makes access to installing the engine easier. Then I can fit the floor pan, a mini milestone!

Work begins!

This weekend I finally managed to start work on the Mojo, after a frustrating couple of months where I either haven't had the time or the weather has been cold and miserable!

The weekend mainly consisted of cutting out the major aluminum panels that clad the chassis. These include the floor pan, tunnel sides, seat back panels etc....

Once the panels were the correct shape, they are placed up against the chassis where they will be fitted, and the outline of the chassis is marked onto them, as per the last photo. This allows me to drill through the panel off the car, debur and clean up the holes, then place the panel back up to the chassis, clamp it on and drill through all the holes into the chassis. This way the holes must line up with the centre of the chassis bars, a much more exact science than guessing and doing it by eye.

This process was repeated for most of the panels, so the next step is to drill them all accurately off the car.

Mojo kit overview

In a quiet moment this afternoon, I took the opportunity to cast my eye over the finer points of the Mojo kit. The mojo is a rear engined two seater sports car, which uses an F1 style inboard front suspension set up with rocker arms.

To make life more comfortable I will be using a hydraulic clutch specially made for the mojo, (as per the last photo,) which comes with the master cylinder and slave cylinder for the gearbox end, a new gearbox release arm for use with this kit and a special plate for the slave cylinder to mount onto, that bolts straight onto the gearbox.

The chassis has been made with a narrower tunnel to allow more width inside the passengers and drivers area, and has been powder coated too.

I also have bought a fuel tank and a full exhaust system too, both designed for the mojo.

On the bodyshell side, I have asked for the older style smaller nose cone version for my kit, just personal preference.
In the top two photos’ you can see the main chassis tub and the nose cone, other GRP pieces include the two rear wings, two front wings and the rear engine cover.
Note the GRP is uncoloured, I will get it sprayed, but haven't decieded what colour looks best yet!

The third and fourth photos show the old Capri uprights compared to them after they had been modified and powder coated, what a difference! (The spindle is cover in thick tape so no powder coating got on it.) Most of the components are now gone, most notably the HUGE shock absorber and spring section. That now houses a ball joint for connection to the rocker arm later. A nice little feature of this, is the factory have welded the wing stays directly onto the upright, what an excellent and simple idea!

Mojo Kit collected!

Today I collected the Mojo kit from Sylva Autokits, who are based in Ripley, Derbyshire.

Once there, I was met by Matt, who had all my parts ready for me to load up into the van.

I got Matt to explain where each of the components, (especially the suspension and engine mount ones) goes, then photographed them placed up to the chassis one by one - this way there should be no confusion throughout the build, that’s the idea anyway!

The unit where they are based looks great, today they had two mojo’s fully built, (on the left in the third photo,) and the car on the ramp to the upper right is a Riot, a track based car that can go on the road too. They also had three other chassis onsite, in varying degrees of build.

The morning spent there was a joy, nothing was too much trouble for Matt. It made for a very relaxing kit collection, and I'm pleased to report that everything made it back to mine with no damage or breakages.

I can’t wait to start building now, but ironically I am busy for next few weekends upto Christmas, then I fully expect the weather to get cold and nasty for January and February. Keep checking back here for updates anyway, because when any work gets done, it will be reported here.

The day that “Project Mojo” really got started…………

Bring on the warmer weather and lighter evenings!

XR2 Stripped

Today I removed the engine, gearbox, driveshaft’s and hubs from the XR2.
On fiesta’s, the engine always comes out from under the car, not the conventional “lift it out” approach. This is because the brake master cylinder gets in the way above the engine.

Needless to say, once I had started the work, it chucked it down with rain! Luckily, this only lasted for about half an hour, but it was enough to get soaked to the bone! (You can see standing water on the ground in the first photo.)

Once everything connected to the engine was undone, it was placed onto a trolley, then the car was lifted up around it, and the engine wheeled away, easy really.

The engine and gearbox will be steam cleaned at some point, at the moment it’s covered in rain and oil, not a nice look!

The removal of all the parts only took three and a half hours from start to finish, not too bad considering the weather this afternoon.

The remains of the XR2 are being collected by my local scrapyard tomorrow.

Exeter Kitcar show

Today was the Great Western Kit & Car Builder Show at Exeter.

I managed to buy lots of goodies for the Mojo, including such delights as copper fuel pipe, front indicators, full rear lighting, two interior heaters, and a pair of full seat harnesses, to name just a few bits!

Kitcar shows are a great place to buy all these specialist parts from, most are quite cheap too, with show offers in abundance.

Whilst there, I spotted a Mojo in the Kitcar parking area, and have included a photo of it here.

All of this has left me feeling very excited about collecting the Kit, I feel like a child waiting for Christmas day!

Sylva visit

Today I went to see Jeremy Phillips, the owner and MD of Sylva.

The reason for the trip was to give him my Capri struts and Vauxhall gear linkage to be modified by him ready for my collection date, Friday 8th Dec.

While there today, my exact chassis was on a jig being made, mostly completed, needing only the pedal box area to be welded up.
It was nice to be able to view all the little mods I had asked to be included into the chassis, while it is still on the production line.

The next time I see the chassis, it will be powder coated and at the main Sylva site in Ripley, when I collect it, along with the rest of the kit. (Getting really excited now!)

Capri struts stripped

This afternoon I stripped down the Capri struts.
In the photo's you can see what was taken off one strut next to the two bare struts.
The hubs and calipers are used on the mojo, the backing plate is not, so that's being binned.
Once these struts are at Sylva, they will cut the top part off both, where the large springs are. (Again, these are not used on the Mojo.)
The part I will be left with is a modified lower section where the spindle comes away at 90 degrees.

XR2 collected

The Mojo uses the engine, gearbox, front driveshafts and hubs off a MK2 fiesta XR2, all of which is removed, and goes straight into the rear of the Mojo.

The XR2 was found on eBay, and after a test drive mid week, was collected today and driven home on a special 1 day insurance policy. (It even had tax and the MOT is valid for 5 months!)

Almost seems too nice to strip and then scrap!

Capri Parts

The Mojo uses Capri front uprights (Hubs), calipers and strut units, which are cut down by the factory to then go onto the car.

After much searching I found someone stripping a 2L laser Capri, with the standard single brake disk setup required. These were collected today, he even removed them off the car for me!

These will now be sent to Sylva for modification and will be ready for my collection date.

Totalkitcar Live (Brands Hatch)

Today I went to Totalkitcar live at Brands Hatch. It is an event where most of the industries Kitcar manufacturers get together, and offer passengers flying laps around the circuit in their cars.

As some of you may already know, I own a Sylva Jester Kitcar, and have always wanted a Sylva Mojo, the grown up brother of the Jester. (Think of it as an upgrade!)

After myself and the better half had 5 flying laps each around Brands, we were completely sold on the Mojo.

A deposit was placed there and then, with a collection date of 8th Dec. (Longer than the actual league time, but my choice as most convenient.)