Back in the infancy of the project, we had decided that the car would be powered by Ford 2.0 ltr Zetec Engine. You need to have decided (Ford Zetec, Pinto or Vauxhall) at the time of ordering the chassis kit, so that the engine mounts can be welded in place Now we had got to the stage of building the chassis where we needed an engine. We set about locating suitable example, firstly using "Exchange and Mart" and our local "Auto Trader" This gave us an insight into prices and availability. Our first attempt at locating an engine via "First Choice" parts finder and the Internet drew a blank. Not daunted, we tried again about 2 weeks later. Within 10 to 15 minutes, Chris at "Borough Salvage" contacted us saying he had one with just 1000 miles on the clock and at a very reasonable price. It seemed too good to be true, I got Chris to hold, whilst I contacted Andrew.

It really was a done deal, but I wanted to run it past Andrew, before committing ourselves. I quickly got back to Chris with the credit card burning a hole in my pocket and completed the transaction. I had just put the phone down and was feeling pleased with myself, when another company in Bristol contacted me, this time with an engine with 21,000 miles on the clock. This engine was slightly cheaper but the low mileage of the engine we had purchased more than made up the difference.

Ford Mondeo 2.0 Zetec engine as delivered from Borough Salvage, Birkenhead.

Engine was complete with Alternator, Air Conditioning Pump, Power Steering Pump, Inlet Manifold with Fuel Injectors, Exhaust Manifold, sundry pipes and cables.

Reportedly "R " registered with only 1000 miles use. It became obvious on inspection that this was genuine. Tell tale clues were the cleanliness of all parts of the engine, and genuine new look of accessories like pumps and alternator.

(Left) A view of LHS of the engine. Note the air conditioning pump on the bottom left.

First examination of the engine raised questions about the flywheel.

A visit to the Westfield factory to talk to Chris Masters about engine mounts confirmed suspicions that this engine was an automatic. The drive plate and starter ring can be seen on the right. Worse was to come.

(Left) A view of the the RHS and front of the engine. Showing, alternator, serpentine belt and automatic tension adjuster 

Close examination of the sump showed that it had been punctured, probably during removal from the crashed vehicle. A swift phone call to Chris at Borough produced a replacement sump. Followed up by a flywheel so that we could convert the engine to manual gear change

Here Andrew points out the damage.