I've got a Ford Puma (1.7) with a very dead engine. I know I could put another Puma engine in it but fancy having a go at putting a bike engine in it. It will be used as a track day car so road legal is not an issue.
Was thinking of using a Kawasaki ZXR1400 (187bhp and lots of torque).
Any suggestions on the best firms to get anything fabricated that I will need?
Thanks in advance for any assistance
Ken
I reckon another Ford engine- didnt Puma have the Fiesta 1.4 as a choice? Why not keep alookout for salvage sales for a rear ended/rolled Puma or Fiesta?
http://www.zcars.org.uk/index.htm do some Motorbike conversions
If you do it you'll want to make the Puma a light as possible though
most that I've seen have been made rear wheel drive too
e.g. Mini's (Classic), Smarts cars For2's and Coupes
Being front wheel drive, I would have thought it will be a bit tricky mating the bike engine to the gearbox / drive system. Most bike engined cars are rear wheel drive so you can use a standard type rear axle.
Penguinious - thats boring and no fun!
lots of people have - and there's certainly a lot of kit cars running round with motorbike engines in.
try looking around kit car forums for advice. one thing you'll need to consider which will be the tricky part is connecting the output of the engine to driveshafts and sorting gearing out - as the bike engine screams round alot quicker than your old 1.7 ford engine 
If i'm going to put a ford engine back in I'll get another 1.7 (why would I put an asthmatic 1.4 in it)
The whole point is in using a bike engine is high power, high revs and light weight
Mate did a westy a few years back when folk started doing this stuff. It was OK, revved it's nuts off, but lack of low end power (torque) made low speed stuff a bit of a pain (probably not a real issue for a track car), but TBH gearbox was a nightmare as it just wasn't designed with a car's weight in mind, and no reverse was a pain.
Fun though
Something to bear in mind is the usual suspects for bike engines (minis, westfields, etc) are significantly lighter than a Puma, and work well because of this. Bike drive trains aren't designed with a tonne or more of metal to lug around in mind.
didnt Puma have the Fiesta 1.4 as a choice?
There were 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7 Pumas. The only engine for an enthusiast is the 1.7 - designed in conjunction with Kawazaki I believe. Or was it Yamaha?
Yamaha, needed strict TLC with the right oil and change intervals. So theres a change the replacement engine might not have been.
In regards to the weight issue. Yes its too heavy for a motorbike engine 
Me practical but.........would a 2.0 Ford lump fit?
Yep...the 1.7 was developed with Yamaha.
I don't remember there being a 1.6 available though.
Nearly bought a Puma. But then decided not to.
Then nearly bought a Racing Puma but decided I wouldn't be able to afford the fuel. If I had been able to afford a 2nd car, or didn't do so many miles.....I would have had one.
Could you not get a Racing Puma engine? Should be easier to drop in. Not many made though so perhaps not many re-conditioned ones around? I think they are 155bhp.
I did find a place on the internet a while back that would stick the Racing Puma engine into Fiestas.
Ford engine with a Yam VVT head if I remember right.
Just put a TDCi engine in it & flog it to Molgrips 
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-want-a-diesel-sportscar
If you could get it to fit (a big if) you would probably have clutch problems just look at the size of the Kwak clutch compared to the Ford clutch. Even when bikes are fitted with sidecars they struggle with the clutch and usually need the gearing dropped.
Anybody heard of Mike Endean?
He's pretty good with Puma engines!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e49TPk2AW5c
There's a mental V8 motorbike engine based on two kawasaki 1300cc cylinder blocks and a custom crankcase and crank.
300bhp and 14000rpm
Think it was made for some land speed record attempt, so probably hard to get a hold of
or take the tyger (sp?) approach and fit TWO bike engines.....
Was the 1.6 not in the racing Puma because it was supposed to be as much like the super 1600 rally cars as possible. Thats what I always thought.
How about a 2.0 Mondeo engine. OK you would need the ecu and stuff but it would be a lot easier than a bike engine and much much cheaper. You could buy a Mondy for a couple of hundred and strip it then scrap it. If you leave the standard gearbox in there it will accelerate like sh1t off a shovel.
Ken, is the engine not stripable/rebuildable? What is wrong with it? Seized?
I'm liking the Mondeo idea. Bet if you went on a Ford enthusiasts forum you'd find a wealth of people who have done similar things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee9H93uvYRo&NR=1
Look at this puma 1.50
Was the 1.6 not in the racing Puma because it was supposed to be as much like the super 1600 rally cars as possible. Thats what I always thought.
I'm liking the Mondeo idea. Bet if you went on a Ford enthusiasts forum you'd find a wealth of people who have done similar things.
I nearly did it with my xr3i when I blew the engine on that I also considered getting a Sierra XR4X4 and having a XR3X4 but I was skint so did neither. One day I would love to do it. I was going to totally pull the mondy apart and have all the (much more reliable) electrics and power steering and really update the escort but it wasnt to be.
Note of caution..since people started using Busa engines etc in Westies etc these bikes have become an even more nickable commodity...please source your engine responsibly ....the mass outpouring of rage/sympathy bike thefts on here generates indicates how attached people get to their bikes...lets not encourage the scummers to nick more!...plenty of totalled bikes around if you look.
Driven a few motorcylce engined racing cars over the years. One of which was horrifyingly fast, talked sub F3 laptimes.
But then most single-seaters are 350-500kgs without driver. It the puma too porky?
Oh yeah....there was a 1.6 Puma, but it wasn't introduced until later in it's life - Oct 2000 according to Parkers.
I test drove one in 2000 and the bloke said there was only a 1.4 & a 1.7 available. Must have been before the 1.6 came out.
Racing Puma was definitely the 1.7 tuned by Tickford racing I think.
Puma was released with a 1.4 and a 1.7. Then came the 1.7 Racing Puma (lovely) then in about 2000 the puma became available with a 1.6 Fiesta engine only.
I'd go for a Duratec engine, a 2l mondeo lump on throttle boddies will see 200bhp on a standard engine. Or hunt out a imported Mazda or ford Duratec from the states at 2.4L 200+Bhp and lots of bottom end.
The ford has its advantages in that a lot of componants will just drop in. The Fiesta would take a 1.8/2.0 zetec engine (RS 1800), the Puma is a rebodied Fiesta and a Duratec uses the same Block as a Zetec.
How about searching a a trashed Focus ST170, again the same block, 170 BHP for starters, and probably 95% straight swop.
Turbo is the next option, A RS turbo lump would go in, and would a Zetec ?CVH hybred. Thats quite a common conversion.
If you fancy a real challenge how about a Audi 1.8 Turbo. Would be hard work to make it work, but theres a few 225bhp FSI TT engines kicking about.
Busa engines etc in Westies
JEESUS!
With a 350cc V-twin engine:
I have driven a couple. A ZZR engined westie & a blade engine caterham. Lots of fun, great with the sequential box & brilliant front ends due to lack of weight.
Not sure how they would work in a puma though, the original cars I drove would have been 500/550kgs with their original engines in so nearer 425/450 with the bike engines.
Definately good for a laugh & totally manic.
Puma is 980kg out of the box and makes 123bhp and 115ftlb's of torque
with removal of the interior, replace most of the glass for perspex, lighter wheels and removing the Ford engine and gearbox I reckon you could knock 200kg off it
The Kwak engine makes 187bhp (197bhp with ram air effect) and 113ftlb's so should work ok. Would fit a heavy duty clutch.
Quaife do a transfer gearbox with reverse that fits with Ford drive shafts so it's mainly a case of lining it all up and mounting the engine....sounds easy
But still heavy and FWD. And for the spend and effort, you could have build something seven-like which would blow it's socks off on track.
rember most bike engines are air cooled not water cooled so there will be alot of modification to sort it out
Don't know about bike engines in cars, but I put lawnmower engine in a raleigh chopper years ago.
Lucky to be still alive really!
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