Ford ecoboost 1l Caterham 7
Discussion
Hey guys,
I'm looking at building a 7 but want to put in as small an engine as possible to decrease the insurance. I've done some looking and have come across the ford ecoboost 1 litre. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get one or if they had any other suggestions?
Cheers,
Sam
I'm looking at building a 7 but want to put in as small an engine as possible to decrease the insurance. I've done some looking and have come across the ford ecoboost 1 litre. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get one or if they had any other suggestions?
Cheers,
Sam
samt88 said:
Hey guys,
I'm looking at building a 7 but want to put in as small an engine as possible to decrease the insurance. I've done some looking and have come across the ford ecoboost 1 litre. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get one or if they had any other suggestions?
Cheers,
Sam
Have you been out for insurance quotes yet? If you are assuming it will be cheaper with the small engine you may find you are mistaken or that the difference is so small that it is not worth factoring.I'm looking at building a 7 but want to put in as small an engine as possible to decrease the insurance. I've done some looking and have come across the ford ecoboost 1 litre. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get one or if they had any other suggestions?
Cheers,
Sam
Steve
samt88 said:
I am only 17 and everywhere I've read has said that kit car insurance is cheaper than standard cars and the engine size makes alot of difference.
I'm pretty sure that you'd be paying well over £5k a year to insure a Caterham at 17. They are extremely quick and any insurer will consider that putting a 17 year old boy in a car that quick will end in maiming and/or death.Edited by RSoovy4 on Friday 8th February 13:04
Have a look at restoring/driving a classic mini 850cc if you want to cut your teeth on building a car and then move onto a kit in a couple of years when you have some no claims. Or if the mini is in good shape put in one of the yamaha R1 FWD conversions in a few years (minoexvo or promotive IIRC)or vtec it.
P.S. 1L ecoboost is a relatively new engine and so finding a scrap one under £1k will be difficult and also being new will have all sorts of imobilisers/electrickery etc. to sort out, better to stick to an old clockwork (dizzy + carbs) pre 1992 engine if you are to build/buy a car.
P.S. 1L ecoboost is a relatively new engine and so finding a scrap one under £1k will be difficult and also being new will have all sorts of imobilisers/electrickery etc. to sort out, better to stick to an old clockwork (dizzy + carbs) pre 1992 engine if you are to build/buy a car.
Edited by ugg10 on Friday 8th February 13:14
Buy this and fit a replacement engine. It sounds like the owner would have some idea about insurance for a young person also.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-X21-kitcar-TOTALL...
Thanks for all your advice guys. It's really helpful! Part of the idea of a kit car was to use it also as an extended project for my AS levels so really I've got my heart set on actually building one - helps me justify saving up for one!
I'll certainly have a look into those engines, clearly the ecoboost doesn't seem like the best plan!
I'll certainly have a look into those engines, clearly the ecoboost doesn't seem like the best plan!
OK I am a fair bit older than you now but I built my first car when I was 17 and was told by all and sundry that it would cost me a fortune to unsure BUT it actually cost me way way less than anyone else to insure their tin boxes. Roughly half the cost infact and .... I wound up putting a 2 litre engine in my car. 
Now we are talking the early 1980s here but it seems things haven't changed and awful lot. The main reason is that if you've spent best part of a year building your own car you are not likely to rush out and wrap it wrap it around the first lamp post. Plus if you do then you're going to repair it yourself rather than have some oik who hasn't a clue how to build a car repair it down at the local rip off bodyshop. So insurance on kit cars is generally a safer proposition than your sales rep in his Focus or what ever...
What I'd really recommend however is take a look at a Midas... There's some really good examples out there at very good prices you can pick up and rebuild. Then you've got yourself a nice sports hatch that's cheap to run, very practical and great to drive.
No prizes for guessing what I recently got myself
I do tend to practice what I preach
Now we are talking the early 1980s here but it seems things haven't changed and awful lot. The main reason is that if you've spent best part of a year building your own car you are not likely to rush out and wrap it wrap it around the first lamp post. Plus if you do then you're going to repair it yourself rather than have some oik who hasn't a clue how to build a car repair it down at the local rip off bodyshop. So insurance on kit cars is generally a safer proposition than your sales rep in his Focus or what ever...
What I'd really recommend however is take a look at a Midas... There's some really good examples out there at very good prices you can pick up and rebuild. Then you've got yourself a nice sports hatch that's cheap to run, very practical and great to drive.
No prizes for guessing what I recently got myself
I do tend to practice what I preachI would speak to some insurance companies before you invest too much time/money into building a kitcar. I agree that kitcars can be cheaper to insure but it is also more strict on who their insuring.
I've found in the past few years that more and more wont insure you until your older now 25. Also they'd only insure you if its a second car.
But that said in terms of cost it makes no difference if your driving a old clapped out 1.6CVH or new 170bhp 2 Litre Zetec.
I've found in the past few years that more and more wont insure you until your older now 25. Also they'd only insure you if its a second car.
But that said in terms of cost it makes no difference if your driving a old clapped out 1.6CVH or new 170bhp 2 Litre Zetec.
Furyblade_Lee said:
OP, if you have £5k or so seek out a GTM Libra with a 1.4K series in, there are quite a lot kicking about. If I had one of those just after I passed my test, my d**k would have fallen off.
Do that, the old Rossa K3 wasnt that bad either.Then theres the old Quantums? based on the Fiesta so ease of spares and still keeps with low powered front engined cars.
Furyblade_Lee said:
OP, if you have £5k or so seek out a GTM Libra with a 1.4K series in, there are quite a lot kicking about. If I had one of those just after I passed my test, my d**k would have fallen off.
Any idea what it would cost to insure a 1.4 GTM for a 17 Year old? Just thinking of one for my son when he turns 17 
98elise said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
OP, if you have £5k or so seek out a GTM Libra with a 1.4K series in, there are quite a lot kicking about. If I had one of those just after I passed my test, my d**k would have fallen off.
Any idea what it would cost to insure a 1.4 GTM for a 17 Year old? Just thinking of one for my son when he turns 17 No idea but if i remember there was a 19 year old on here with one and he was paying 1500 quid. So still not cheap at 17 i would suggest not getting a car the insurace on anything is likely to be 2.5k+ thats a lot of money just to insure a car for a year.
MG CHRIS said:
No idea but if i remember there was a 19 year old on here with one and he was paying 1500 quid. So still not cheap at 17 i would suggest not getting a car the insurace on anything is likely to be 2.5k+ thats a lot of money just to insure a car for a year.
That would probably be Yazza. His was a 1.8vvc he completely rebuilt himself. He got crashed into by a van and the car was written off though. He's on motorbikes now though after a short stint with an R1 Fury.TheLastPost said:
I did a bit of research on the EcoBoost 1 litre as part of a design project I was recently involved in.
You will be aware (I assume) that Caterham has done a trial installation of this engine ( linky, linky or Google it for more information) in their Seven?
Don't expect it to be totally straightforward: although the engine itself is small, the full installation, with all the plumbing and turbo gubbins, is quite tall and bulky, as you can see from the photo of the engine bay pictures on the above links. Even Caterham had to resort to a big, unsightly bonnet bulge to fit it all in.
I was planning on using this engine on a Buckland B3 build, but it's 6 1/2 inches taller than a crossflow and isn't even close to fitting!it has a compact footprint, but it's a tall 'un.You will be aware (I assume) that Caterham has done a trial installation of this engine ( linky, linky or Google it for more information) in their Seven?
Don't expect it to be totally straightforward: although the engine itself is small, the full installation, with all the plumbing and turbo gubbins, is quite tall and bulky, as you can see from the photo of the engine bay pictures on the above links. Even Caterham had to resort to a big, unsightly bonnet bulge to fit it all in.
98elise said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
OP, if you have £5k or so seek out a GTM Libra with a 1.4K series in, there are quite a lot kicking about. If I had one of those just after I passed my test, my d**k would have fallen off.
Any idea what it would cost to insure a 1.4 GTM for a 17 Year old? Just thinking of one for my son when he turns 17 - One serious word of advice though, only give a novice a car like that if you feel they are of the right mindset to be responsible. They, being mid-engined, can bit and even a 95bhp 1.4 will probobly do 60 in around 8 seconds, with absolutely NO driving aids whatsoever.
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