How hairy can a Zetec get and still be streetable?

The Focus ZX3 that's been in my family since it was new 13 years and 190k miles ago is now a spare car for me and the girlfriend, and I'm getting the urge to make it more fun. I'm thinking basically something a few steps on the sane side of stage rally prep, but still (barely) suitable to drive on the street on a semi-regular basis. Stripped, eventually caged, low end rally suspension (good enough, since it won't be getting pounded down single track on a daily basis), and a built motor.

So, what's the route for good power out of a 2.0 Zetec? If this were to happen, it would need to retain OBDII and pass emissions (which means no codes in MO). I like building motors, so I don't mind pulling it to do some fairly substantial work, unless that sort of thing has an unfavorable cost:power ratio with a Zetec. (I need to do a three-pedal swap any way, so you know, while I'm in there...) Alternatively, how do they take boost? If I can slap on a hair drier and keep the OBD system happy, I'm fine with that, too.

Pimp my Zetec, GRM.

I saw one earlier today on Craigslist that had a Jackson Racing supercharger on it. They must be able to take some boost because the car was listed as running and had high mileage.

They take to boost better than they take to normal methods of making power.

The EEC should be tunable to not throw codes for misfire. At least, the GM computers can, given the number of Corvettes and Camaros that idle like popcorn poppers.

When I was researching them, the hot ticket seemed to be build it for about ~225hp n/a, then ad boost. 8)

Long tube header, individual throttle bodies?

After seeing the exhaust manifold on a 2000 zetec, a turbo would be fun. Or maybe the SVT zetec for a quick 170 hp. Central Florida motorsports comes up on google when i was looking for zetec E36 M3. I think they had cam shafts for sale...

In reply to RossD:

That's where I bought the cams for mine, very helpful customer service too.

Now I just need to finish building it, and decide what it's getting put into.

CAI, TB, ported intake (Y2K is best), good valve job, SCT (or similar chip), SVT-Cosworth header will get you 160+/- horses at the crank. They love to be balanced and take to an aluminum flywheel in the 10# neighborhood very nicely.

Lots of folks in the UK take to ITB setups that look pretty racy. There are lots of cam choices as well.

Because of it being pretty undersquare (long stroke), the Zetec is more of a torque motor than a peak HP motor.

They are around 10:1 stock, so boost accordingly...they seem to do well, though I have no 1st hand experience with that. www.focaljet.com and www.focusfanatics.com have plenty of intel that you can sift through.

Ford Racing had a crate Zetec with ITB's , 170 HP. Not sure if they are still available.

RossD wrote: Long tube header, individual throttle bodies? After seeing the exhaust manifold on a 2000 zetec, a turbo would be fun. Or maybe the SVT zetec for a quick 170 hp. Central Florida motorsports comes up on google when i was looking for zetec E36 M3. I think they had cam shafts for sale...

Had an SVTF for a while - I want more power. And I'd like to do it with a non-interference head, since I don't want it to eat all the valves when the timing belt pulley grenades. Once bitten, twice shy, as they say.

petegossett wrote: When I was researching them, the hot ticket seemed to be build it for about ~225hp n/a, then ad boost. 8)

I like the sound of this. What's the recipe for the N/A build?

225 NA, I'm guessing, will need around 12.1-13.1 pistons, very aggressive cams, headwork and all the bolt-ons...Might need to knife-edge the crank too. ...Along with an aggressive tune and maybe ITBs. Certainly need a short runner intake of some sort.

Non interference and this output are mutually exclusive. 225 would be huge for this motor NA--I'm thinking more like 200-215 honestly.

<--- 223WHP 187LB/FT TQ.

List of modifications is in Readers Rides.

No internal work was done to the motor. The cams and gears were in before I put the supercharger on so I left them. With the stock cams the PowerWorks supercharger was rated at 200/200. There are now forced induction specific cams available.

An SVT header would probably increase the output slightly but I had the shorty header and high flow cat on before the supercharger also.

I chose the PowerWorks supercharger setup for two reasons. It is 50 emissions legal and it is also air-water intercooled. The Jackson Racing supercharger is smaller (M45 vs. M62) and not intercooled. The lack of intercooling has given us some heat soak problems on the track in a friends car. Another friend with a PowerWorks on a fully built-up engine has dynoed at 254WHP.

If you want to go with a turbo I would choose an FSWerks Turbo Kit. They have been doing them since the Focus came out and are well regarded. I I jhave several friends using their kits and they have been very satisfied.

EDIT: Based on your location you might check with Massive Speed Systems . They have been working on the Zetec for a good while and are based in Springfield, IL.