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Rebuilding options for SVT Focus?

3K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  pdavison9241 
#1 ·
Greetings fellow Focus Fanatics! This is my first post and it couldn't have come at a better time. The timing belt idler pulley on my '03 SVT Focus let go while I was sitting at a traffic light and smoked all of the valves in the head. The engine and car have 174k and because I have to take the engine apart and have machine work done anyways, I wanted to take as much advantage of the situation as I can. What would the community recommend I do to the block and head while I have this opportunity? I do not care about crazy mods and outrageous cams and setting it up for boost or anything like that, I just want to improve on it from the factory and wake it up a little while maintaining optimum driveability. I was considering doing a port/polish and angled valve job while keeping the block relatively stock (maybe balance the crank). Looking for about 160-170 to the wheels if I can get it with bolt-ons and tuning. The basic question is this: what machine work can I do and not compromise the car's driveability? Thank you for any insights and advice from the community. I'm counting on you guys!
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forums!

While there are gains to be had from what you have stated, getting 160-170 to the wheels will take full bolt-ons and a tune on top of the port/polish/balancing you mentioned. But from what it looks like, you prettymuch have a good plan laid out for some added power.
 
#3 ·
Hey brother, thanks for the quick response. This is my daily driver and so I need to get it back on the road ASAP. I've lurked on these forums long enough to know that the ST170 is pretty much tapped out from the factory n/a with a restrictive factory tune. I am not so much concerned, like I've said, about overall power as I am responsiveness and driveability. Are there any references with more information? I know that "Tom" is a big-wig in these here parts; what would he say? Thanks![headbang]
 
#4 ·
I'd like to be a little more detailed with the information that I am looking for; I gather that the bottom end doesn't need to be messed with short of balancing the crank (if necessary). Using a thinner head gasket (with proper tune) could probably yield some minor results. The real question that I have is when the machine shop works the head, what should I tell them to do? What would be the right amount of material to take off without compromising performance? Has anyone done any head/valve work like this? Other planned bolt-ons include c-f-m throttle body (anyone had fitting problems with stock airbox?), drop-in filter, ORP/HFC (which one? I want to keep the noise civil, but I'd like to gain as much as possible here), lower engine mount, possibly ignition wires, clutch/flywheel (recommendations?), tune. Any other ideas would be welcome.
 
#6 ·
Hey Tom, you're just the man I was hoping to run into. I've seen and heard good things about your work. As far as why I have to do a rebuild, the timing belt idler pulley failed and wrecked the valves. The engine has 174k on it with history of overheating with a previouse owner. Since I don't own any receipts and generally have no idea what the car has really been through, I figured tearing the whole thing down, measurements and a rebuild would insure another 100k of fun daily driving. Since I am on a budget and don't have huge power gains in mind, I want to make the most out of having to do machine work anyways. I don't have access to better fuel, so raising compression is out. What should I look out for and replace during my rebuild so I don't have another failure? Thanks for your help!
 
#10 ·
If I were in your shoes and you said you need to get it back on the road quickly, then just look for/source a motor from here on the forum or start searching the interwed. There are sites that 1000's of junkyards all across the US that upload all their parts to 1 website. When the tranny went on my SVT Contour I thought I was screwed bc you can't find the parts new to rebuild (or at least I couldn't). So I found a site with a SVTC tranny with 6K miles but it was in Alaska. I cleaned the guy up asking all sorts of questions, van the VIN from the car it was from & his story matched up. After some hardball negotiation I got it for $900 or $950 shipped. Dropped the old one out and installed the new one, after obviously cleaning it up and running several bottles of fluid through it to clean the inside. Just do some research, you might be surprised at the deal you could get.
 
#12 ·
Good information ukfan50. Fortunately I am a diagnostic technician at a Ford dealership, so I have access to a machine shop and other resources for parts. I would end up spending just as much on a used unit versus rebuilding mine and knowing exactly what's going on/in it. I'm not trying to rush this project, but I would like have a sense of urgency with it. Speaking of transmissions, who has a street lightened flywheel and clutch combination? How does it compare to the stock unit as far as comfort and driveability is concerned?
 
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