Engine choices

As I said in my last post Nick and I decided that a turbo charged engine was the way forward. However where this engine would come from remained a bit of a question mark in our planning for the Zero.

The first thought was the engine from a Nissan 200SX, which is a 1.8L turbo with quite a lot of horse power. The other advantage to using this as the engine donor car is that it is a rear wheel drive car, so we could take both the engine and gearbox and just join it to the Sierra transmission at the drive shaft - relatively simple! However when looking to purchase an old 200SX with a decent engine we discovered a major issue, these cars are seriously in demand! Likely for people keen on the Drift scene, and car modding, as this is one of only a few small rear wheel drive sporty cars that can be had for reasonable money. Even a 20 year old 200SX with no MOT and not run for a year would command £600+ on ebay.

So we went back to the drawing board, and have come up with another option - a Saab 900. These have a 2.0L turbo, with more horse power than the Nissan, so that's a good start. The price was also very attractive, with a ~15 year old Saab with MOT and good working order around £400 on ebay. The bad news is that this is a front wheel drive car, so it will need turning round to work in a Zero. A bit of research by Nick turned up that you can buy adapter plates to mate the '94-onwards Saab engine onto a Sierra gearbox, which we would have from the other donor car. Obviously this is a more work and there are some additional costs involved in this compared to using a full engine and gearbox assembly. But as a Saab 900 is so cheap initially, it should still be cheaper than a 200sx in total, while also giving a more powerful engine, that is significantly younger and so should have more life in it!

So with that decision made, I bought a Saab 900 today! I have had my eye on it for a week or two now, its a 1996 2.0L turbo with an MOT, but the reverse gear is apparently very difficult to engage. But I don't plan to use the gearbox, so not a problem for me. So I've managed to pick it up for £300! Bargain! I'll be picking it up on Saturday!

Here is a pic of it from the internet, I'll post a better one when I get the car.