Installing a Duratec 2.0 HE in a “7” style kit car.

Introduction

The Duratec I4 2.0 HE engine is a Mazda/Ford engine, using a all aluminium head and block design. The engine produces 145 BHP in standard Ford Mondeo specification and installed in a kit car will weigh around 95 kg’s. You can expect power outputs of 170-275 BHP when installed in a kit car.

The engine was used in all 2.0 litre petrol Mk3 Ford Mondeo’s from 2001 on. You should expect to pay around £500-£650 pounds in scrap yards for an engine of less than 50,000 miles. New engine are available for around £1500.

Installation

The Duratec is not a Ford designed engine and this means that unlike all other Ford engines you cannot bolt either the Type 9 gearbox or the MT75 gearbox to it directly. You need a bell housing to adapt the engine to the Type 9 gearbox. Given the power levels of the Duratec a later heavy duty Type 9 gearbox is the best bet.

Our bell housing uses a Mondeo hydraulic slave cylinder (V6 version) to operate the clutch. You can use the original clutch and flywheel if you want. However it’s better to take the opportunity to fit our lightweight flywheel, bolts, and heavy duty clutch to handle the increased power output. You’ll need to adapt your car to have a clutch master cylinder to operate the slave cylinder.

You’ll also need to replace the sump with a low line version, that is baffled to suit the installation. In the Mondeo the engine is transversely mounted and baffled as such. You will need a properly baffled sump, the LSIS type cars produce far more lateral acceleration than the Mondeo and to avoid the very expensive condition of oil surge you are best to invest in a proper sump arrangement.

In a properly designed sump you’ll find a windage tray arrangement which you can assume will give you 5% more horsepower, due to reducing losses associated with churning the crank shaft through the oil mist in the bottom end.

Engine mount plate can be provided, and engine mounts fabricated from them, using the triangular arrangement of three M10 holes on the inlet side and the four M10 holes on the exhaust side. You will need to isolate the engine and the chassis using rubber type engine mounts.


The original ECU could possibly be used, but, is very likely to be more hassle than its worth. The ECU requires lots of inputs from the car and alternator etc, all things that we can’t provide on a kit car. We recommend and provide the Omex 600 ECU, with a Duratec wiring loom that makes fitting it to the engine easy. You will need to use a normal style alternator however as the Ford item needs major electronic trickery to make it function without the Ford ECU. We provide a very small 55 amp alternator and mounts for the engine. This saves weight and makes the installation package smaller, making it easier to fit in tight engine bays. The position of the alternator is dependent on whether the car is LHD or RHD and whether it has an external dry sump pump fitted or not.

You can use various inlet systems. For our entry level kit we have designed a plenum chamber style, which retains the original Ford single throttle body. With the Omex ECU arrangement this generates 175 BHP, a 30 BHP increase over the standard Ford Mondeo. The power increase is achieved with out needing to modify the internals of the engine at all, thus saving very expensive specialist labour costs. If your engine bay is big enough to accept it, it is possible to retain the original Ford inlet plenum, although certain features would need to be blanked off. You will also need a blanking plate to blank off the EGR valve system.

For approximately 200 + BHP the use of multiple direct to hear throttle bodies is required. More than 200 BHP requires new cams, valve springs, pocketed pistons and heavy duty big end bolts.

We have used a modified standard exhaust header before, but, these are not suitable for more than 175 BHP or RHD cars. Therefore you will need to manufacture a 4-2-1 style exhaust manifold, with about 30” long primaries, and short collector and 6” diameter x 24” long silencer. Off the shelf systems exist for the Panther, Caterham and Westfield. The Panther system should also fit MK Indy’s, Luego Velocities, MNR Vortex, Locost and Stuart Taylor cars.

If you require a Catalytic converter for the SVA, then you will also need a Lambda probe fitting in either number 4 cylinder header, or in the collecter. Cat’s are commonly fitted within the silencer, although you will need to make sure the cat is very hot prior to any test.

The water system is fairly straight forward. It has an electronic thermostat that’s controlled by the ecu in the Mondeo, and us such this needs to be disabled and a manual thermostat system needs to be put in the water system somewhere. There is a water rail kit available that makes life very simple. It features a mechanical thermostat in a cast aluminium housing, that replaces the Ford water connector and makes the installation a fair bit smaller and neater.

In 7 type vehicles you may find you have a bonnet height clearance problem, and to help overcome this there is a cast aluminium low line cam cover available also. For the Panther GTS model we have opted for a very slight bonnet bulge for the Duratec to save the expense of a replacement cam cover. The Panther GTS bodywork however is a taller than commonly used, therefore the bonnet bulge required in other makes of car may be less discreet.