FRP Duratec Turbo Project!

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PumaNoob

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
2,712
Location
Under my car
Hi all, i guess its time for me to start a new project. Ive been mulling it over now for a while, and i think its time to do it. I was going to do more to my green turbo 1.7, so started looking at the duratec, which seems to have more tuneability, and parts are alot easier to get hold of. Then i thought, nah, the standard puma would not do justice to the engine i want to build, so i went and brought an FRP.

I know this might not be to everybodys liking, but i want to give it the power i think it should have came with in the first place, the power this car deserves!

As always, any comments are welcome, good or bad, but keep it civil!!

Here are some photos, i took them on my phone, so quality is not very good.

FRP.jpg

The arches are all corroded, and the sills and bottoms of the doors need attention too.
Rust2.jpg

Rust.jpg

Rust4.jpg

Rust3.jpg


Sorry about the poor quality pics, but they will be better from now on!!
 
Better to have an FRP in tip-top condition albeit "tweaked" than not loved and rusting away in a corner unloved. The 1.7s won't last forever either so be good to see a Duratec in one. In my opinion.

Good luck :thumbs:
 
What number is it?

Condition wise, it reminds me a little of #013. I guess I'm one of the purists, I'm not sure if I like the idea of the car being messed around with.

That said, cosmetically it isn't brilliant - it'd probably end up in bits anyway.

Swings and roundabouts...
 
Well the first thing I'm going to do is get it in the body shop, the paintwork on the whole isn't bad, but it's just those arches, & I'd rather get it looking mint, & stop that rust & corrosion eating through the wings.

That's exactly what I thought about the duratec, I'm future proofing it, as you say the 1.7 will get scarce, and FRP parts are so rare now. I'm also fitting Focus RS Brembo calipers and discs, they have better stopping power then the alcons, and the discs are about 1/4 of the price, & they can be brought from ford or most motor part suppliers.
 
excellent i like seeing different things being done with frp's although id never do it too mine but its nice watching other people do it.

good luck ill be watching with interest :grin:

p.s, thats some of the worst rust ive seen on any frp and ive seen alot. :?
 
PumaNoob said:
I'm also fitting Focus RS Brembo calipers and discs, they have better stopping power then the alcons, and the discs are about 1/4 of the price, & they can be brought from ford or most motor part suppliers.

have you tried an frp with fully serviced and working alcons??

ive driven quite a few special and fast cars and the alcons are the strongest brakes ive felt on any of them, on track days with my frp they have never once faded and you can keep up with alot faster cars by braking so much later into corners, they get stronger with heat so they keep getting better.

brembo's will definitely be easier and cheaper to get parts for but id 100% disagree with them being better than the motorsport alcons.
 
Neil said:
What number is it?

Condition wise, it reminds me a little of #013. I guess I'm one of the purists, I'm not sure if I like the idea of the car being messed around with.

That said, cosmetically it isn't brilliant - it'd probably end up in bits anyway.

Swings and roundabouts...

It's number 45!

That's fair enough, I know there will be other people that have the same opinion as you, and I did think the same thing myself, but then I looked at it differently: the parts are so hard to get for the frp, if I sell the engine, or break it, I can potentially revive a few other FRPs that could be the difference between them being broke. Then this puma as you say could have been broken, so I'm essentially bringing it into the 21st century, and mechanically, all the parts are still being made, & will continue making them for a long time yet. The DUratec 1 of the most popular engines in the world at the moment, being used in Mazda, ford, and a tonne of kit cars!!
 
bigal82 said:
PumaNoob said:
I'm also fitting Focus RS Brembo calipers and discs, they have better stopping power then the alcons, and the discs are about 1/4 of the price, & they can be brought from ford or most motor part suppliers.

have you tried an frp with fully serviced and working alcons??

ive driven quite a few special and fast cars and the alcons are the strongest brakes ive felt on any of them, on track days with my frp they have never once faded and you can keep up with alot faster cars by braking so much later into corners, they get stronger with heat so they keep getting better.

brembo's will definitely be easier and cheaper to get parts for but id 100% disagree with them being better than the motorsport alcons.

to be honest, I never had the privelige of driving an FRP before this, so I can't say I have, but from what I've heard, it is awesome!! I'm just going off the fact that the brembos are 25mm bigger, so should in theory have better stopping power. That being said, I could be wrong!! Only one way to find out!!
 
yep we will have to find a patch of road and have a braking test once you have installed them, i know what id put my money on :wink: .

good luck with the build, should have some nice power after your done :grin:

my mechanic has just put a 2.1ltr duratec in his time attack car and is aiming for over the 300 bhp mark :lol:
 
Neil said:
Condition wise, it reminds me a little of #013. I guess I'm one of the purists, I'm not sure if I like the idea of the car being messed around with.
better than it ending up with the "breaker brothers" IMO.
PumaNoob said:
to be honest, I never had the privelige of driving an FRP before this, so I can't say I have, but from what I've heard, it is awesome!! I'm just going off the fact that the brembos are 25mm bigger, so should in theory have better stopping power. That being said, I could be wrong!! Only one way to find out!!
Having tried cars with both, unless you go for some massive 6 pots then you will very unlikely find a road 4 pot caliper that can beat the alcons for performance. But then, they are a motorsport caliper so its not surprising really.

and if you read jacko's guides, then they really arent hard to service.
 
Yeah, in N/A form the duratec I think goes to about 230bhp with a good map, inlet plenum or throttle bodies, and a good set of cams. With more mods and higher lift cams ect 300bhp is achievable. That's the sort of figures I'm looking for!!

With the braking thing, I'd imagine the brembos and alcons can't be much different, they are both aluminium housing, both 4 pot, and the pistons are similar size. If the alcons could be used on the 325mm disc, then I'd imagine the stopping power would be the same, but we all know that when it comes to breaking, the further away from the centre the braking force is, the better effect it will have.

The focus RS is a heavier, more powerful, and newer car then the FRP, so it makes sence to have more effective brakes on it! Why would ford put better brakes on an older, lighter car with only 150bhp? If the FRP brakes were as good, surely ford would just have used them on later cars like the RS, as the cost can't have been much different?

As I said, this is just theory, but I was thinking a more accurate test, when you go for your MOT, they test the brakes, there is a force measurement readout on the machine. I know that big vans and the Hummer have amazing brakes. If you get that when your car goes for an MOT, and I'll get mine when it's done. I suppose it's dependant on pads, discs, & tyres too!
 
PumaNoob said:
The focus RS is a heavier, more powerful, and newer car then the FRP, so it makes sence to have more effective brakes on it! Why would ford put better brakes on an older, lighter car with only 150bhp? If the FRP brakes were as good, surely ford would just have used them on later cars like the RS, as the cost can't have been much different?

Because Ford didn't fit / spec them, Tickford did unlike the FRS.
 
warrenpenalver said:
Neil said:
Condition wise, it reminds me a little of #013. I guess I'm one of the purists, I'm not sure if I like the idea of the car being messed around with.
better than it ending up with the "breaker brothers" IMO.
PumaNoob said:
to be honest, I never had the privelige of driving an FRP before this, so I can't say I have, but from what I've heard, it is awesome!! I'm just going off the fact that the brembos are 25mm bigger, so should in theory have better stopping power. That being said, I could be wrong!! Only one way to find out!!
Having tried cars with both, unless you go for some massive 6 pots then you will very unlikely find a road 4 pot caliper that can beat the alcons for performance. But then, they are a motorsport caliper so its not surprising really.

and if you read jacko's guides, then they really arent hard to service.

yeah, that's pretty much my opinion too!! The thing is, i got a set of brembos for £170, a full seal and screw rebuild kit for £40, and mintex pads and EBC grooved and dimpled discs for £85! That's more then £100 less then the discs alone for the alcons! Yes I did get a good price for these, as I know people in the trade, but I also dontlike the fact that FRP owners are forced to pay a ludacris price for discs that production and material wise, are not much different to the Focus rs discs. If I do this conversion, my brake disc suppliers then become competitive again!! Like I said, it's 1 more thing that's going to be future proof on my car!
 
Dal said:
PumaNoob said:
The focus RS is a heavier, more powerful, and newer car then the FRP, so it makes sence to have more effective brakes on it! Why would ford put better brakes on an older, lighter car with only 150bhp? If the FRP brakes were as good, surely ford would just have used them on later cars like the RS, as the cost can't have been much different?

Because Ford didn't fit / spec them, Tickford did unlike the FRS.

ok smart arse!! Lol
well I think that if ford, Peugeot, fiat, Subaru, & Porsche to name few, felt brembos were good enough for their 200 to 300bhp cars, then who ami to argue??

If I'm wrong and they aren't up to the job, I'll just swap them out, & it's a lesson learned!!
 
oh no doubt they will be well upto the job but i was just putting my money on them not being better than a fresh set of alcons :wink:
 
Yeah that's fair enough mate, I'm always happy to get different opinions. So do you think that if you put alcons on a bigger disc, then it would have better stopping power??
 
What Duratec wee you thinking of using?
 
The 2.0 duratec. The duratec found in the fiesta st, mk2 focus, and mk3 mondeo. The full aluminium duratec, not the fake duratec found in the focus st170 and focus RS which are modded zetec blacktops.
 

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