swapping the engines over in Fiesta Mk4s

Hi,

I've decided that my Fiesta Ghia 1998 1.25 Zetec is burning too much oil (250 miles from the top mark on the dipstick to the bottom one). The car is otherwise fine and well maintained. A replacement engine from Ford would be £2.5k which is more than the car is worth so I'm considering buying a similar car with low mileage and a service history and swapping the engines over (as my car is otherwise fine and it is a Ghia model with all the useful bells and whistles).

There is one on ebay at the moment (item no 200071425603) which appears to fit the bill. I think it is a 1.25 Zetec despite the description as

1299 cc.

Do people think doing a straight engine swapover would be feasible and/or legal? I could then resell the other car with my old engine in it (declaring the oil consumption and mileage of the engine of course). I think I have to tell the DVLA that the engines are swapped. Is that right?

Or is this just a silly idea? The problem with just buying an engine is that I can't seem to find any with a service history and I don't want another one with knackered oil control rings!

Thanks,

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett
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It's legal as long as you tell the DVLA. Feasible, sane and economical, possibly not. You'll spend £6-800 on a ratty 1.25 with FSH and then a weekend pulling engines in and out of the cramped engine bay. And then you'll have a car with no engine and a car that's worth maybe a grand. TBH I'd look for a smashed car in a scrapper and pull the engine out of that, or rebuild the engine you've got.

Reply to
Doki

And it is a 1299. So there.

Reply to
Doki

Have a look in the back of Autotrader at the scrap/salvage section.... Loads of rear-ended/banannad cars for a few hundred quid.

Reply to
Tom Burton

Thanks - good tip. I will.

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

I don't get who you're replying to, and what point you're trying to make.

Reply to
Sandy Nuts

To be honest, it's not really worth doing at all, given the market value of that shape Fiesta.

Reply to
SteveH

That the 1.3 Endura E pushrod POS is bang on 1299cc. So it's probably not the 1.25 Zetec...

Reply to
Doki

If it was a base model I would agree but the Ghia does have rather more value. And this one has had quite a lot of bodywork done after the other half had a little argument with a crash barrier on the autobahn last summer...

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

You're right, the seller has now confirmed this. But the principle is the same. I of course would not change a zetec block for the Endura one.

Cheers,

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

So it's worth even less than I originally thought (damaged / repaired) and more likely to rot than one that's never been pranged, too.

Flog it on ebay and buy another.

Reply to
SteveH

Which will be my point, then.

Reply to
Sandy Nuts

You have no idea of how the repair has been done. It's not a cheap backyard job and it was only a front wing and some cosmetic repair to the bumpers.

I am considering this.

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

Tony Brett ( snipped-for-privacy@oucs.ox.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It's still damaged/repaired.

Lovely, an' all...

Was the shelf primer stripped off the new panels before properly priming and painting them to the same standard as the originals? Including any stone chip protection around the arch? How about any protective coating on the back? Were the seams sealed to the same standard as the original? Any mud shields inside the wing properly refitted?

Reply to
Adrian

Yes - all done to Ford spec. There was only one new panel. Mud shiedls are definitely fixed back in - I checked all that before accepting the repair. It was done by a large repairer that works 24 hours per day and has proper facilites. B&T panels, Thame, Oxon.

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

Tony Brett ( snipped-for-privacy@oucs.ox.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I doubt it.

Reply to
Adrian

As you wish. Difference is I have the car to see with my own eyes. You don't.

Tony

Reply to
Tony Brett

Tony Brett ( snipped-for-privacy@oucs.ox.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You've had the paint off, then, since it came back?

Reply to
Adrian

You saw it go on?

Reply to
Tony Brett

Tony Brett ( snipped-for-privacy@oucs.ox.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Did you? Because, if you didn't, you don't know it's been done to Ford standards - and I very much doubt any insurance repair-by-numbers bodyshop would.

Reply to
Adrian

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