Maurice, While it is true that one cannot pick up the phone and order a "new" Kent FF crate motor, if a proposal advanced by the FF Ad Hoc Committee goes through, you will. And it will be cheap, too. One of their proposals is to permit the 1st generation Mazda Miata 1600 engine in essentially Showroom Stock condition, i.e., bone stock, which one can buy brand new from Mazda for a bit over $1800.
You can even run it wet sump. And before anyone laughs, bear two things in mind. First, they do just great turning to 7000+ RPM in Miatas, where blown engines are quite rare, and two, that the Renault F-1600 runs its engine bone stock, wet sump and all. Arne Loyning has the contract (from Renault Sport and Taatus) to rebuild those engines, and in 4 years he has never rebuilt one for oiling related problems - just from guys over-revving them with the sequential shifter. The Miata may not "save" FF, but I think it's an idea worth serious consideration. Also, the Zetec is legal in FC with an intake restrictor and the SCCA-specified ECU map. The pro F-2000 teams run those engines 10,000-12,000 miles at 170 hp, versus 1200-1500 miles for a Pinto motor, so just think of what FC guys are going to get out of a Zetec at 142 hp... Of course, that doesn't help F500 any! Regards, Stan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dave, I agree that it's gotten better since I was running FF1600, particularly with the advent of some of the new parts you mention. This will certainly extend the life of the cars already out there, and has helped keep rebuild costs from going through the roof. However, unless I've missed something significant, there still is no ready source for new blocks, right? How much does a new crate engine for a FF cost, and whom do you call to order it? Frankly, one of the strengths of F500 that I think we should be loudly trumpeting is that you can still buy a brand-new, complete crate engine from the manufacturer (if Tony Murphy gets a big enough order) for somewhere in the $3-4K range. I don't think you can do that today with FV, FF, or FC (Zetecs are in FA for now). Thanks, Marshall Mauney ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
