Watermotor diesel

[silverseal]

I have just bought a boat with a Sea Panther, diesel engine which seems to run fine. I know that the Petrol engines were based on the Ford 105E, 113 engines, but what were the diesel engines based on?

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[Strathglass]

Would you believe it Ford 1600 diesel. as fi9tted to many escorts and orions.

Iain

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[BarryH]

I'll think your find that it was actually based on the 'kent' petrol lump as used in many cortina's in it original petrol guise. Originally a development between Watermota and ford, exeter university was also mixed up in there as well.

Its an old engine. If its running well, it aint broke, so don't fix it. Watermota are still about in one form or another. Have a dig about and I'm sure your'll dig something up.

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[BarryH]

Done a bit of digging about for you. Have a look here<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stephensonmarine.i12.com/wmsp.htm>http://www.stephensonmarine.i12.com/wmsp.htm</A> Quiet a good site, well it would be seeing as its Watermota! Theres also expolded line drawings of the lupm itself. Could come in handy. If they're on the net you should be able to get a set.

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[Jcorstorphine]

The old Watermota Sea Panther was a 1600 cortina engine converted to diesel by fitting a modified head and different pistons to obtain the compression ratio. It was an overhead valve and not an overhead cam engine as was the later Ford XLD1.6. Ford did not bring out the XLD until some years later after the Watermota.

The engine produced about 30 Hp at 3000 rpm.

John C

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[Strathglass]

I stand corrected. and should have remembered.
Especially as I have, a long time ago owned Ford cars with both the 1500 and 1600 engines (with twin 40s) and spent lots of time keeping them (mk1/2 lotus cortina and 1600E) running.

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[BarryH]

Ooh Lotus 'tina. Got a BDA lump knocking about around tha garage. Was going to put it in my old Sunbeam Stilletto, never got round to it though.

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[silverseal]

My thanks for your reply. There is no reason to suppose that there is any problem with the lump as its stands. I had a marinised Ford 113 petrol engine which worked for years, and started first time unlike the *** Cortina that I once had which only started in Saturday so my wife could go shopping. As far as I know the petrol engine is still going, and had only 500 hrs on it when I sold it some 5 years ago. This lump has no engine hour meter, so we can only guess. Compression is still OK, and it has been in the same family since 1977 and well looked after. Cheers

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[Strathglass]

Yes

Had one of them as well. A la Jim Clark, a Mk 2 BDA Escort with all the trimmings.
Good fun but you can't drive them properly (150miles without motorways in 1.5 hours) on the roads those days.

The imp sport was nice but the engine was not very reliable.

Iain



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[ccscott49]

BDA lumpo eh! complete? Wanna sell it?

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[BarryH]

Imps, had many of them. The sport engine proper was the 998cc coventry climax design. It was actually a good engine if you new how to treat it. The one I had I done away witht the head gasket.Instead I had O rings fitted with the head machines to locate them and a water jacket gasket.

The head blowing on the earlier engines was down to ham fisted spanner twiddler's who didn't know how to torque them down properly. Never had a head go on any of mine. Still got a Hartwell engine out of one of them in a Ginetta. Running Dellorto sidedraghts, a really hairy cam and massively oversized valves. Balanced bottom end. Pulls like a train and revs out and wails link an Banshee. Most fun I've had wiv me clothes on.

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[BarryH]

Unfortunatly not. Its missing the the crank and flywheel. My brother has earmarked it for a kit car he's building, well more than a kit.

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[ccscott49]

Superb little engine! Had lots of fun tuning those, the wills ring conversion, really made a difference to the head warping problems.

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[ccscott49]

Pity about that, the crank is going to be a little expensive, I think they were nitrided!

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[BarryH]

Yep, they were/are. Its had a rebore, new pistons/rings, valves and valve seats changed and a couple of other things. He, my brother, wants it and has ordered a crank and fly wheel....ouch!.

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[ccscott49]

Thing is, a more modern engine, say a zetec, will be more powerful and more reliable and cheaper than the crank alone, new! or a vauxhall 16 valve two litre, ah, well never mind. Good luck to him and his project, what ever it is, ity'll fly with a BDA in it.

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[BarryH]

I said that from the begining, but hey, what do I know. Its a sort of cross between a Healey and an AC. Sort of old looking. Wants all period stuff on it. I even found him some wires and vitesse axles suspension with knock ons.



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[ccscott49]

Vitesse axles, god, does he know what the old vitesse was like for roadholding? Bloody awful, with wheel tuck under, even the spitfire/gt6 was a dog.

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