Improving your Dart 1500's performance
These cars saw the light
equipped with the old Cortina GT 1500 116E engine. In standard form these
engines performed quite well, but could be changed to 1640cc by boring.
These pistons were the ones used in the Lotus Cortina engine and are
unobtainable in our country today (1990). In order to increase engine capacity
one can make use of Fiat 1500 pistons which have the correct gudgeon to top
height and a standard sized set will bring engine capacity to ca. 1598cc.
Unfortunately it has been found that most of the 1500 engines have become
corroded to such an extent round the cylinder walls in the water jackets that
they become perforated when boring to "1600cc". Great care must be taken to have
these engine blocks tested as they may even have this malady when normal
reconditioning is done.
To solve this problem such a block can be re-sleaved by any reputable
engineering firm. A thicker than normal chromed sleeve, normally used in diesel
engines, is a solution to overheating problems experienced when the engine was
bored to oversize. It has been argued that sleeving in a high-performance engine
is not advisable, but Palm engineering in Springs has assured me that it is
perfect if done well and that it is actually an improvement.
Once this has been done, the bottom end should receive attention. Balancing,
though regarded as expensive, is a must. It not only results in a
smoother-running engine but also increases engine life. These five main bearing
engines are sturdier than their three-main predecessors. It is necessary to
replace main bearing cap bolts with high tensile Allan key bolts (cap screws) as
they are much stronger. For competition engines it is advisable to replace no's
1, 3 and 5 caps with steel ones.
Conrods can be replaced by the later 1600 FX ones as they are beefier and
therefore much safer. Cap bolts are also to be replaced by cap screws.
Another way of getting to 1600cc without the hassles mentioned above is to use a
1600cc engine clock fitted with flat top pistons. It is necessary though to have
the engine block cut down to the correct height by an engineer. The rest should
be treated as advised.
The bottom end of an engine is of the utmost importance as it carries all the
stressed induced by increased power. Next time we are going to deal with the
cylinder head and breathing.
Lukas van Wyk
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