I've been thinking about trying to find a used Formula Ford, but I don't know very much about them. Is the block different from the Pinto block? What exactly is it? And where can I find out more? Thanks, Matt
They use a 1600 pushrod motor,found in Cortinas and some early Pintos. These are different from the OHC 2000 or 2300. Not sure if Ford is reproducing these or not.
If it's that one, it is commonly referred to as a "Kent" Ford engine. It is a conventional pushrod design, I think once built with both cross and one sided flow heads. There are lots of books and a huge aftermarket speed industry focusing on thes things.
It is the Kent engine, made in England and the early Pinto 1600 are identical to the earliest pre-crossflow units. The lotus DOHC heads bolt right on. They're sturdy little engines all except for the first 1340cc designs which are three main bearing jobs and have weak cranks.
Here is a Pic of the Kent thats in my Mallock U2. It used to be a Formula Ford Engine, but now it has big valves and Webers. A race legal FF Engine is real close to the stock Ford Cortina GT Spec. FF started with the 1500 GT Pre X Flow, then pretty early they switched to the 1600 X Flow ( whitch is what I have ), and now they use the 2Litre Zetec I believe. The 1.6 X Flow is still used in Vintage FF, but parts are getting real expensive. The 1.6 is a raised deck version of the 1.5. The 1.5 Pre X flow has the Combustion Chambers in the Cylinder head, the 1.6 X flw has the Combustion Chamber in the Piston ( The Brits call that a Heron Head, and I think the 401 Chevy is pretty much the same...) A version of the 1.6 Kent was used in some very Early Pintos and the American Spec Ford Fiestas ( most European versions had a 1.1 or a 1.3 X Flow version of the Kent, which is a even lower deck version than the 1.5 ) But they are modified for smog reasons, and a lot of parts are worthless for Racing. The Block, Crank and Rods are worth snapping up if you see one though... A lotus Twincam Head will fit a 1.6, but you need a Adaptor and a longer Timing chain to make up for the taller block, and Pistons that are shaped right for the Hemi shaped Combustion Chambers. The Twincam Head came in 2 versions, the European version that had flanges for twin Webers, and the Smog version with flanges for twin Strombergs. The Weber Head is the one that Racers like to use.
I think you can still get a block or a short block ***y. from the Ford Motorsport catalog. Not 100% positive on that, though, and I can't find the stupid thing to check.
I build formula ford bodies for a couple of blokes down here. They run ford ****** blocks but litterally at the moment they are looking at upgrading to a twin cam fuel injected out of what we call a festiva
Yeah, that could be... For a while some parts would get available if a batch came in ( From Brazil, I believe...) All of a sudden there would be New Cranks, or Blocks, etc... I'm pretty sure the Formula Ford 2000 Engine is in the Motorsport catalog as well,. the 2000 has the same Bellhouse patern as the Kent ( I'm pretty sure the Zetec does too...), but other than that its a completely different Engine Places like Burton and Ripspeed in England probably still sell stuff for the Kent as well. And you can still buy Aftermarket Steel Cranks, Rods and all kinds of nice goodies for them. The Kent used to be Englands SBC. And even the legendary BDA was based on it. In its ultimate Zakspeed Turbo version that Engine produced something like 500 or 800 HP, which is impressive since that it all started with a little 997cc Anglia Engine
Thanks for all of the responses. Cool Mallock, metalshapes. Do you have some more pictures of rest of the car?
Thanks. Its a Mk6, the last type that had the split I Beam Front Suspension. Here are some more Pics. I also have some photographs of Arthur Mallock working on it, but my Scanner isn't working ( I would have posted those too...)
BTW... Some Mallock U2s were run as Formula Fords, so you can race one as a Vintage Formula Ford. Aerodynamicly they are a lot more efficient that they look, and the modified Ford Cortina Gearbox has a lot less drag in top gear than a Hewland. I have read that those 2 things together gives about a 6MPH higher topspeed then a typical Rear Engined Race Car on a Race legal FF Engine...
www.fordpowerproducts.com You can get new 1.6 Kents right from Ford. They are very reasonable. Go to industrial gasoline engines. The engine number is TSG-416
when I went to Bondurant's school (company paid!) part of the week long deal was formula fords, I am sure they would share parts sources and info.
I had a Lotus Super Seven with a 1340 motor in it for a number of years. It was an amazingly fast car (1000 lbs, 100+ HP), which I drove on the street and vintage raced. On my way to work one morning I picked up a drag race with a Porsche Turbo Carrera. I thought I was going to blow him off, but I was wrong, and I overrevved the Ford motor as the Porsche went away. The engine developed a harsh note, which became a distinct knock by the time I got home that night. Turned out that I had broken one of the center main cap bolts, and the force of the crank hammering on the cap with its one remaining bolt broke the center main bearing web out of the block. Ouch! The good news was that when I went to the parts counter at Villa Ford in Orange, CA (who supported all the racers using these motors), I was able to buy a new cylinder block for $80 retail!
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