Fiesta XR2 Turbo Conversion - FAQ about the MK2 XR2 RS Turbo Engine conversion

How to Convert | Wiring it up | FAQ | My build diary

Here is a list of commonly asked questions from people trying to put the RS Turbo engine in their Fiesta XR2.

Conversion (also see Engine)
When using a fiesta turbo & down pipe, will it foul the front crossmember?
Do I have to cut the front crossmember when using the Escort RS Turbo engine?
What exhausts system is used or who does one off systems suitable?
What radiator and intercooler are used or are they custom made?
What fuel pump can be used? as the fiesta one is in the tank and I heard the Escort RS Turbo pump is to great a pressure.
Can you fit an RS Turbo Engine into a MK1 fiesta?
Do you have to relocate the battery?
How much will this sort of conversion cost me?
Suspension and Brakes
What's the best buy in suspension terms?
What brake upgrades are available for 13" wheels?
What brake upgrades are available for 15" wheels?
What is offset?
Engine
Are late CVH XR3i/earlyXR2i inlet manifold and injectors etc. the same as turbo ones?
Which dump valve shall I use, do they all do the same thing?
Charge Coolers, Intercoolers. What is the difference?
Bodywork
What is the best way of refitting an XR2 bodykit?
Oddities
What about the Turbo Technics kit you used to be able to buy?
Where can I buy all the RS Turbo bits I need?
Which way should I go Efi or Mfi?


Conversion

Q. When using a fiesta turbo & down pipe, will it foul the front crossmember?
A. No, You should be able to drop the fiesta Turbo Lump straight in a Mk2 to with no cutting of the front cross-member needed.
Q. Do I have to cut the front crossmember when using the Escort RS Turbo engine?
A. You can use a SAAB Manifold with the Escort RS Turbo to get away with not cutting the front crossmember. Otherwise you will have to cut a shallow section of the crossmember where the exhaust exits there is already a little inlet where it needs to be cut - remember to get it welded back up afterwards this is a structural part of the car.
Q. What exhausts system is used or who does one off systems suitable?
A. Big City Tyres in Nottingham make up stainless steel exhausts to suit, or you can chop and weld an (ESCORT)RS Turbo exhaust - I did on my first XRTurbo or you will Need A Fiesta Turbo complete system, this will pretty much fit, you may need to weld the rubber hangers in right places. I believe Power Flow will make you and exhaust, failing that Severn Valley Motor sport in Telford could make you one up (scorpion/Mongoose) but you're looking at around £250-£300. But Obviously you DO have to use a turbo exhaust.
Q. What radiator and intercooler are used or are they custom made?
A. you can use the escort RSTurbo radiator and intercooler .It's best to use this as it has twice the capacity as the xr2 i.e. thicker it also has mounts for the standard RS Turbo intercooler this makes it look a more standard factory fit
You will have to take the inner skin out of the top cross member to bring the radiator forward enough to clear the turbo also the is a bit of surplus metal that can be grinded from the turbo itself giving you extra clearance. The bottom of the radiator and intercooler sits nicely in the gutter in front of the bottom cross member, again you may have to chisel a bit away each side to allow room for the water hoses try and line every thing cut with rubber to stop chafing. The next thing is your fan this is where most people start hacking away at the front panel left right and centre yes that's the easy way and I've nothing against it but if you're careful you can still leave a strip going across in front of the fan as you can see on mine this I feel looks better, you could use a knowle fan these I believe are slimmer but will set you back another £100 or so I used the standard RST fan.
Q. What fuel pump can be used? as the fiesta one is in the tank and I heard the Escort RS Turbo pump is to great a pressure.
A. I don't believe you can have to great a pressure I use a cosworth one on my set up as long as you have a return to the tank then the fuel meter will return the unwanted back to the tank
You need a XR2 tank with a swirl pot fitted you can get these from the Fiesta Centre for £90 approx and then just connect an RS Turbo pump externally. It will be fine provided it is mounted correct at bottom level of tank, so it is gravity fed. you can have the Pressure set-up when fitted. I personally use a Cosworth fuel pump from the Sapphire it sits on a nice ready made cradle next to a fuel filter, oh don't forget to get hold of a fuel accumulator if going for the Escort lump as this will smooth out the pulses coming from the pump.
Q. Can you fit an RS Turbo Engine into a MK1 fiesta?
A. Yes you can although you will need a CVH engine and gearbox installation kit from the Fiesta centre or the gearbox will foul the inner wing, also you have less room at the front so using the RSTurbo radiator becomes a problem.
Q. Do you have to relocate the battery?
A. No you don't have to you can turn the battery tray sideward and place it there. I prefer to move it to the boot as it gives more space up front
Q. How much will this sort of conversion cost me?
A. Here is a breakdown of what mine cost you may be able to skip some but it give you something to look at

Block and Initial buy turbo blown & engine knackered	350
Up rated 2nd hand Head & Cam	£200
Stainless Exhaust and Tank with built in swirl pot	£100
Spark Distributor	£50
Turbo good working order	£100
Series 2 Gearbox with LSD	£180
Wiring sort out and labeled up	£50
Sapphire Cosworth Fuel Pump	£40
Cheap Clutch	£25
Fuel Distributor clean and set up	£67.68
Air, Water and Fuel Hoses	£40
Pipercross cone Air Filter	£50
Engine rebuild inc new pistons	£580
Jamex Suspension Kit	£232.45
up rated Bushes from Rally design	£71
Ball Joints, wheel bearings steering joints	£67
Stainless Braided Hoses	£26.30
Fuel filter	£12
Under seal for areas that have be cut	£13
Plug leads normal	£12
Standard ford Motorcraft plugs and distributor seal	£11
-31 up rated Actuator	£80
2nd hand Superchips Chip	£80
NOMAD Dump Valve	£50
Boost Gauge	£30
Petrol Hose	£15
Well lane set up and competition spark plugs	90
Tie bar bushes	£8
Dipstick and tube	£20
filler cap	£3
Gear box oil synthetic	£32
Dump valve noggin on intake	£20
Tarox discs and pads	£100
Recondition of radiator	£103
Starter motor	£10
Total £2918.43

Suspension and Brakes

Q. What's the best buy in suspension terms?
A. I recommend the Jamex sportsline kit works a treat loads of speed bumps round here and bad roads too. Alternatively if you have the money go for a nice set of Leda, in my opinion the best suspension that (sensible) money can buy (most of the Hot hatch racers use them). (SVM used Penski suspension on there 550bhp KA that cost £1500 a corner!) drop bout 35mm, that should be perfect all round set-up.
Q. What brake upgrades are available for 13" wheels?
A. There isn't much available if you want to go bigger. I personally use a tarox disc/Ferodo pad set up works fine for me - just make sure you brake calipers are working well
Q. What brake upgrades are available for 15" wheels?
A. You have many choices but within most budgets there are two main options one is go for drill, grooved or both something like the Tarox. With grooved and drilled discs the only thing you'll gain is less fade you won't increase your stopping power, the only thing to bare in mind you generally get what you pay for I've had cheaper discs in the past and they warped pretty quickly I swear by Tarox 6 grooves
If you have 15" rims you may want to consider the big disc kit from Rally design this will set you back £150 + VAT and in return you get 280mm discs and everything you need to mount your calipers to them. As the discs are bigger so is the leverage, your calipers will now have more control and stopping power. Also with the large disc you'll have more surface area for cooling where as if you were to use larger calipers ie rst items you are in fact covering up more disc = more heat.

**Interesting fact did you know that if you sit at a set of lights with your foot on the brake peddle you are more likely to warp you discs especially after hard braking.**
Q. What is offset?
A. If you imagine the wheel in front of you as if you were about to roll it along the ground now the centre of the wheel would be zero offset and either way would be plus or minus in mm offset click the picture below to see the diagram in full. You will hear the term offset used when buying a set of wheels as different car makes and models require different offsets due to how far their hubs stick out.


Engine

Q. Are late CVH XR3i/earlyXR2i inlet manifold and injectors etc. the same as turbo ones?
A. The EFI Inlet is same but I believe the Injectors will probably be heavier spray.
Q. Which dump valve shall I use, do they all do the same thing?
A. Yes all dump valves do the same thing they release air. but and a big but is not all allow for smooth idling as far as I'm aware the best ones I think, (as painstaking I have tried them all) are the Bailey’s piston type that is specially for the Escort RST this is around £70 and a heavy duty sprung piston type from NOMAD racing around £60 I'm currently using the NOMAD version as this can be rebuilt if cleaning is required.

For mounting, the t-piece cut into the top hose is okay but for efficiency the closer to the inlet manifold the better I have had a noggin welded to the charge carrier plus I would n't want to be cutting a set of Samco hoses eek.
Q. Charge Coolers, Intercoolers. What is the difference?
A. An intercooler uses passing air to cool the fins where as a charge cooler uses water, the water has it's own radiator and pump for cooling the charge cooler is more efficient especially if space is an issue but you can use both if you wish.

Bodywork

Q. What is the best way of refitting an XR2 bodykit?
A. For the side skirts you can still buy the plastic recepticals from ford @ 15p ea +vat , I suggest you go to a breakers yard and get the orginal double threaded lugs from another side skirt, as, using too corse a thread will result in an annoying gap between skirt and bodywork, you may also want to consider getting some black draft excluder to place between skirt and bodywork again this will make the final article much more factory looking. The underside will need rivoting.
As for the arches a short but corse screw with a washer (pref plastic) from the inside will do the job nicley.

Oddities

Q. What about the Turbo Technics kit you used to be able to buy?
A. If you can get hold of it it's worth considering I knew someone who bought one for 50quid! Just the down pipe and air filter were missing. The manifold is designed to reduce lag, it uses a hybrid turbo (T2 housing/T3 compressor wheel). It uses a modified *standard* carb with a special plenum top, it's intercooled, and the standard boost was *6* psi [similar to an RS]. TT supply modified pistons with the kit to reduce the compression and stop detonation.
The figures are 7.4 seconds 0-60mph, and 125mph
You can use your existing cylinder head, camshaft, exhaust etc.
Apparently the car is quite a handfull [due to torque steer] and TT fitted TCA polybushes to try to help out.
80-120 was supposed to take about 5 seconds
A TT xr2 in fast ford shootout with a bleed valve and Magnex zorst running 14psi, it was knocking out 175bhp!! A year later it appeared in Revs with no mention of a rebuild!

Turbo Technics documentation can be found in the Media section of RetroFiesta.co.uk.
Q. Where can I buy all the RS Turbo bits I need?
Ebay is probably the best bet these days. Although you can’t beat getting hold of an RS Turbo that is breaking. That way you can ensure you have all the parts needed and you can check the engine is running.
Q. Which way should I go Efi or Mfi?
A.The main point that sticks in peoples minds is the removing of the little bit out the crossmember, I would say the main argument is really down to how much money you are willing to spend and how much power you want from the word go. For power to pound I would suggest the MFi setup. Although for simplicity ie no cutting I would suggest the Efi although the simplicity of it is arguable. This said the Electronic fuel injection does lend itself to be more controllable at higher stages of tune.

As for the battery either way you're better relocating if you want things looking neat under your bonnet.

How to Convert | Wiring it up | FAQ | My build diary