CVH Engines -
Dave Osborne
InstallationI decided to put an 1800 CVH in my 'Locost' because when I had driven Sierra's with this engine I liked the torque and drivability plus they are quite economical. When I originally enquired about this engine a few people said throw it away and get a 1600 cvh as there are more tuning parts available(which is true but read on!) .
The 1800 CVH is different in a number of places :-
1)It has rollers on the hydraulic tappets,(no adjustment should last forever!)
2)The ignition is triggered from the front of the crankshaft tdc sensor so there is no traditional distributor, and there is no adjustment as the ignition module takes readings from air intake temp, water temp, vacuum, engine speed to give the best ignition advance(again no maintenance and hopefully ideal ignition settings!)
3)Cylinder head casting different as water outlet is through the front of the inlet manifold, not bolt on union at back of head(this works out ideal for the 'Locost' as there is also an electric cooling fan switch already mounted in the inlet manifold ,and the outlet is conveniently placed for the top hose connection) Having said all that I believe 1600 CVH head would fit this means that you can have all the tuning accessories , webers , distributor, camshafts , but to get the right compression ratio you need to fit different pistons as well.
As for modifications to fit the 'Locost', I had to remount the alternator which is pretty standard, modify the sump and pick up level with bottom of bell housing again pretty standard , chop off top of camcover and plate it flat, and relocate oil filler to back where there is more height (picture of this on website www.groovy42.freeserve.co.uk ), I also took the front part of the wiring loom from the Sierra and carefully cut out the required portion for the engine, shortened it as necessary (it looked a frightening job but it worked out ok ).
I used the Sierra expansion bottle mounted on the bulkhead and plumbed it with a tee piece in the heater hose from the inlet manifold to the block water inlet,and used a standard Escort 2 radiator. The whole installation has worked without problems The car drives very nicely with this engine, flexible for touring but actually quite quick if you boot it, I've had a Dutton in the past with a tuned crossflow and this is comparable in performance if booted but much nicer to drive normally. Good economy and virtually maintenance free!
regards Dave Osborne