FocusCanada Forums

Ok so its almost 4:30am, I woke up randomly to some stupid noise and had an odd thought.

I don't really have much experience with cars as of yet, my pool of knowledge is growing though and being mechanically inclined helps drastically. I just bought my 2001 black zx3 a month ago. The engine in there now has about 159,000km on it. Still runs really well for a 7, almost 8 year old car though.

I'm currently looking for someone that owns a shop and loves working on cars to help spread some knowledge. I'm going through university, don't really have money for tools and if I would ever like to put a dime into upgrading the car, definitely need somewhere to work on it.

Once that is all taken care of, instead of bolt-ons and different upgrades. My dream has always been and if possible, my plan, is instead of rebuilding the engine I currently have, taking away a car to drive for a bit, would be to slowly save up every dime and penny I can and build myself a new engine. So I'm talking from ground up, so either finding a used zetec 2.0L from somewhere and getting maybe the displacement up, increase the flow or building one from the ground up. Forged internals would be a must because when my car would be complete, turbo or supercharged is definitely in the plans. When it comes to something like this, I would rather be a little tighter on money and a car that can take the stress then going cheap on parts that can ruin the whole point after it all.

Is this something that slowly could be afforded, given that I slowly buy stuff as I can afford such? I realize this maybe completely out of the question and would at the very least love to discuss pros/cons and the whole process for even education purposes at the very least.

I just feel it would be pointless to put money into upgrades for an engine that's getting older and older and maybe a brand new engine may be long-term the better route to go. My thinking is the more upgrades I slap on the car without attending to the motor, the older the motor gets, the more stress its going to have to put up with and well, I can't have it dying on me anytime soon.

At some point in its life, its going to see a track, maybe not next summer but maybe after that for sure.

Would love some input from you everyone here because if you don't ask, you'll never know.

Welcome to the site :)

Me personally would just slap a turbo onto that engine. Engines for these cars are cheap. I think doing a complete built motor in these cars is going to set you back at least 7g's to do it right.

On a stock motor you can run 200whp ad not have an issue until your deep into the 200k's on the engine. And after that(or before), a used engine is only $250-400.

Thats just my 2 cents.

hardk0re,Nov 10 2008, 06:08 AM Wrote:Welcome to the site :)

Me personally would just slap a turbo onto that engine.  Engines for these cars are cheap.  I think doing a complete built motor in these cars is going to set you back at least 7g's to do it right.

On a stock motor you can run 200whp ad not have an issue until your deep into the 200k's on the engine.  And after that(or before), a used engine is only $250-400.

Thats just my 2 cents.
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Take this man's words to heart.

Once you go boost, you don't want to go back.

shadowzx3,Nov 10 2008, 05:35 AM Wrote:Ok so its almost 4:30am, I woke up randomly to some stupid noise and had an odd thought.

I don't really have much experience with cars as of yet, my pool of knowledge is growing though and being mechanically inclined helps drastically. I just bought my 2001 black zx3 a month ago. The engine in there now has about 159,000km on it. Still runs really well for a 7, almost 8 year old car though.

I'm currently looking for someone that owns a shop and loves working on cars to help spread some knowledge. I'm going through university, don't really have money for tools and if I would ever like to put a dime into upgrading the car, definitely need somewhere to work on it.

Once that is all taken care of, instead of bolt-ons and different upgrades. My dream has always been and if possible, my plan, is instead of rebuilding the engine I currently have, taking away a car to drive for a bit, would be to slowly save up every dime and penny I can and build myself a new engine. So I'm talking from ground up, so either finding a used zetec 2.0L from somewhere and getting maybe the displacement up, increase the flow or building one from the ground up. Forged internals would be a must because when my car would be complete, turbo or supercharged is definitely in the plans. When it comes to something like this, I would rather be a little tighter on money and a car that can take the stress then going cheap on parts that can ruin the whole point after it all.

Is this something that slowly could be afforded, given that I slowly buy stuff as I can afford such? I realize this maybe completely out of the question and would at the very least love to discuss pros/cons and the whole process for even education purposes at the very least.

I just feel it would be pointless to put money into upgrades for an engine that's getting older and older and maybe a brand new engine may be long-term the better route to go. My thinking is the more upgrades I slap on the car without attending to the motor, the older the motor gets, the more stress its going to have to put up with and well, I can't have it dying on me anytime soon.

At some point in its life, its going to see a track, maybe not next summer but maybe after that for sure.

Would love some input from you everyone here because if you don't ask, you'll never know.
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Two things you can do almost right away (while saving pennies for the FI) is upgrade the brakes and suspension ... relatively inexpensive and typically DIY and you get immediate enjoyment every day of the year ... not to mention that these are sigifnicant wear items that need to be replaced regularly anyway.

Better yet, build an entire motor for boost and then boost it. You'll see upwards of 300WHP with the right internals and turbo/intercooler combo and with a LSD and a brake upgrade it will be a killer ride.

So, in the meantime a good upgrade parts set is an upgraded suspension, lightweight rims, good sticky rubber, a big brake kit, maybe some HIDs, sport seats, an X-Cal2 or 3 and then buy the new shortblock and get to it.

http://www.focussport.com has one of the best all-inclusive setups for any Focus out there as far as forced induction goes.

EDIT - don't forget your winter tires if you're driving during the span between November and April :P

If you want a built motor I'll let mine go for $3500 Completly Evrything upgraded except for the valve springs which are fine with reving up to 7000 let me know if your interested in the details. and hardcore is right you will spend upwards of $7000 for everything.

yeah save up and buy ZX3_2NV's engine.....his is bulletproof

to bad I can't say the same for the tranny.

NikiterZTS,Nov 10 2008, 02:23 PM Wrote:yeah save up and buy ZX3_2NV's engine.....his is bulletproof
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+1 to that. and get a lentech tranny! lol

ZX3_2NV,Nov 10 2008, 12:42 PM Wrote:If you want a built motor I'll let mine go for $3500 Completly Evrything upgraded except for the valve springs which are fine with reving up to 7000 let me know if your interested in the details. and hardcore is right you will spend upwards of $7000 for everything.
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entire motor with turbo kit and all for 3500? :o

Who said anything about the turbo kit, you want that your looking at atleast another $3500. Or just buy the car as is for $8000

haha thats obviously all WAYYYYY out of my budget right now.

I've got quite a few things that need to be done before looking into bolt-ons. Just little things but I feel sway bars would be a nice addition to it. After that, who knows, one thing at a time is what i've been told :P

ill be taking off my KYB AGX' struts & KW springs....get these along with swaybars and you'll be on rails like no other

Get a complete/matched suspension, rims and tires, and go and embarass much more expensive cars on twisty roads, or highspeed corners on the highways. You'll do this all day long, even with a relatively mild suspension...