Where do we stand on Ford 1.0 Ecoboost swaps?

The lightest 100hp engine thread reminded me....

A decade or so ago, Ford started selling three-cylinder, 1.0 liter turbocharged engines. They're crazy tiny, and make decent power for the size and weight.

When they were new, they were considered poor swap candidates because of the "complicated" direct injection that couldn't possibly be controlled by the aftermarket. But times have changed, and we're playing with direct injected motors all the time now (there are three in my garage right now, including one in the NA Miata.)

Some quick googling tells me this company claims to sell a harness and standalone that can control everything for 1750 pounds. Not cheap, but certainly not the insurmountable problem it was a decade ago. I haven't found much other info, though.

https://www.scs-delta.co.uk/product-page/ford-1-0-ecoboost-management-kit

So, what's the verdict? Should I buy a wrecked Fiesta and finally fix my Spitfire's reliability issues once and for all? Or are these a dead end nobody ever bothered to figure out?

Watched this not too long ago. Just tossing it out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yx1-50iqnA&t=1591s

Fair.... I do have a friend with a 1.0-powered Ecosport that exploded a few weeks ago. But now that they're fixing the oil pumps under recall, I'm assuming it won't be hard to bulletproof whatever used engine you can find. 

So that controller won't be available in the US, and the engine isn't really popular enough to get support from HP tuners and such. 
 

So I'd wager the PFI Buick 1.4 would be a more likely swap. 
 

Then again, loose cannon got support for his DP car somehow. 

One other thing- is the 1.0 really small enough to fit?  It's got a much bigger head than a pushrod English engine. 

Is this the motor with the wet belt timing belt submerged in engine oil? Also no keyway on the crank pulley?

In reply to Tom Suddard :

My Datsun A15 (1500cc engine) made 99.96hp at the rear wheels and it weighed 183lbs complete. When I say complete that is with with starter, clutch and oil.

The 60 series 5 speed transmission weighs 54lbs.

That's 100hp in a 237lb package for motor and transmission which from memory is 50-60lbs lighter than the Spitfire motor and trans.

Also note the A15 in the 100hp trim is very streetable. It would cost about $3000 to build this set up.

Another plus of this set up is it would be more in period.

Is that a built race motor, or a torquey street motor, though? And what fuel injection are you running? 😉

Tom Suddard said:

Is that a built race motor, or a torquey street motor, though? And what fuel injection are you running? 😉

I would call it a rally motor. It's happiest above 3000 rpm  but you can still lug it.

I run flat slide Keihin carbs. There is a company in South Africa that makes a fuel injection kit for the motors.

They are the only engine on the planet that I rank below the GM 1.4T.

Scrap iron.  Stupid, fragile, horribly expensive to repair. 

Garbage.  Not even heavy enough to use as a boat anchor.

I'd buy a 2012 4 cylinder Hyundai before a 1.0 ecoboost

I know Link has direct injection support at some level at this point. The pertinent bit being that you may not be beholden to whoever has a complete harness for that motor as long as the pertinent specs are, uh, in spec? I assume it's only a matter of time before all the major standalones can support DI.

It's certainly something I'd be interested in reading about, if the question is at least partly about editorial viability... I'm under the vague impression that while we're certainly not hurting for swap options with port injected engines, the ability to use DI engines in swaps would open up some interesting options.

As a second-tier opening of that doorway, exploring what it takes to run one of the more modern engines that left the factory DI or DI/port hybrid and convert it to fully port injection would be interesting.

HPTuners does support the 1.0 Ecoboost, as well as the 1.5 three.  But, I don't know if HPT would help you disable the antitheft.  I know it can be done with the 2.0/2.3 Ecoboost by burning a Motorsport swap computer's program.  (Do we say burning, or flashing, or uploading, or nuke-and-pave, or...?)

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the 1.0.  Every one that I've seen over 60k miles was heaving oil from the head gasket.  That's a pretty lame metric to use but I don't like those odds.  I'd buy a 1.0-engined Ford mainly because it got you a planetary automatic instead of the PowerShift, but I wouldn't seek one out.  Or spend all the effort to swap it in to another chassis.

The wet belt/keyless drive doesn't scare me much, a lot of engines are keyless nowadays.

Given that the 1.0 Ecoboost feels so similar to the 2.0l Duratec that one can't tell what's under the hood in a Focus until you open it, I'd just swap in the four cylinder.

In reply to mblommel :

yep, that's the one! 
 
i was super interested in them until I learned of the wet belt design. The YouTube channel I Do Cars has an episode where they tear one apart, and I am cured of my desire for one. If it didn't have the wet belt, I'd be down. 

Woah, okay, I expected some attempts to talk me out of it, but not like this.... Point taken.

I too love the idea of the 1.0 but have heard absolutely nothing good about them.   

My current 3cyl of desire is the Mitsubishi 3A92 out of a Mirage.

1.2L, all aluminum, no idea what it weighs but..  port injection.   Just normal old fuel injection.

10.5:1 compression only 78hp stock.  

nocones said:

I too love the idea of the 1.0 but have heard absolutely nothing good about them.   

 

I wanted a stick 1.0 Fiesta as a commuter to beat up but even for that purpose they didn't seem robust enough. I seemed to remember they had issues with overheating too from an insufficient cooling system.. 

Well this is a disappointing thread, I've always thought those were super cool little motors from a packaging and power density standpoint. 

Didn't a formula ford have one in it?

accordionfolder said:

Well this is a disappointing thread, I've always thought those were super cool little motors from a packaging and power density standpoint. 

 

Didn't a formula ford have one in it?

That was the hype. But it didn't live up to the long term, apparently. 
 

I remember the bragging of a prototype AL block that someone carried on a plane. 

nocones said:

I too love the idea of the 1.0 but have heard absolutely nothing good about them.   

My current 3cyl of desire is the Mitsubishi 3A92 out of a Mirage.

1.2L, all aluminum, no idea what it weighs but..  port injection.   Just normal old fuel injection.

10.5:1 compression only 78hp stock.  

i thought about that 3cyl ecoboost for my locost project.. now thats its off the list, the 2nd ont is that exact mirage engine.. anyone know something about them? i complete car for 1500$ ( local) is nice to built from.
or any modern light and efficient engine to talk about? beside those suzuki g13 from the 90's.. 

also i read abouth the bmw morotcycle r1200 engine they put in 2cv.. not fit to a spitfire though.. honda fit engine maybe?

Honda Fit engines are actually an allowed engine for Formula Ford, no?

I forget if it's the earlier port injected single cam engine or the direct injected DOHC engine.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Yes fit engines are an alternate motor for FF.

CyberEric said:

In reply to mblommel :

yep, that's the one! 
 
i was super interested in them until I learned of the wet belt design. The YouTube channel I Do Cars has an episode where they tear one apart, and I am cured of my desire for one. If it didn't have the wet belt, I'd be down. 

I watched the same video. It looks like a maintenance nightmare. 

In reply to mblommel :

Maintenance isn't too bad, if you have the thousand dollar tool set for timing, and getting the 700lb/ft on the crank bolt.

Repair, though. The labour comes when you have to pull the exhaust etc to get the oil pan off so you can dig the belt teeth out of the oil pump pickup.

Lots of hours, and parts were expensive.  I'm embarrassed how high the bill was, and I fabricated my own crank holding tools, and bought a torque multiplier.  It can get amortised over a bunch of jobs, but still.  I also may be the only guy in the city who can do it.  I know a guy at the Ford store, and they didn't have the tool kit...

The one I did ended up being horribly expensive, and then it burned an exhaust valve six months later.  Edit: No, it scuffed or burned a piston now that I think.  Tons of blowby.

Streetwiseguy said:

They are the only engine on the planet that I rank below the GM 1.4T.

I assume you're talking about the first gen 1.4T, but other than the PCV setup that has 100% failure rate, and the fact that they're not very smooth, what else is wrong with them?

I do recall how much you like the Cruze