MG ZT Engine change.

[scoobywho]

I need to put a new engine in my ZT 190+ but i'm just wandering if anyone knows what other makes of engine, if any, would be farely easy to replace it with. Thinking of putting something with a bit more power in. Or does anyone know where i could find out.

[sparkster8]

I'd be interested to know how you get on with that one............


Darren

[scoobywho]

Hi Darren,

As you can see nothing from PH, just trying other sources will let you know if i find anything out. Let me know if you can suggest anywhere else to try.

Cheers

Andre

[Fleckers]

to get real power you need a proper engine.

your 190 is front wheen drive

MG did a cracking car with the Mustange V8 fitted, known as the 260, its rear wheel drive and no its not an easy replacement for yours.

my honest advice is fix up what you have an buy a v8


yes they are worth it cos I love mine

[cyberface]

The 260 was a full-on re-engineering job, the engine had to be crammed in, the battery relocated to the spare wheel well, and then the suspension and transmission completely redesigned.

The transmission is overengineered to handle the planned '380' version that never happened, but other people have fitted superior superchargers to the Mustang engine (the OEM 380 was going to be an Eaton blower) and not blown up gearboxes, diffs, etc.

Converting a 190 to V8 and rear-drive is a huge task - given the way fuel prices and lunatic road tax have hammered the value of ZT 260 cars, it'd make more sense to buy a 260 and then play with that. Something like 80% of the entire production run is owned by enthusiasts and members of the Two-Sixties club though - finding a good one may prove tricky because owners tend to love them and keep them

The 260 is a hell of a lot heavier due to all that iron, the 190 is much lighter and IMO if you're changing the engine then you should keep this in mind. Both handle really well, but a 190 with a replacement engine that is twice the mass won't. I really think the ZT *requires* more than 4 cylinders for the noise, so I'd drop in another KV6 and supercharge it (I'm a massive fan of superchargers), or find another manufacturer that makes V6s that are known for being bombproof. An Audi turbo jobby, if it could be adapted to the gearbox, would make proper power. I'm not sure whether the Audi turbo V6 was mounted longitudinally though in the S4... if so it may be a difficult transplant.

I'd be interested in what you finally end up doing. The well-proven alternative, and my favourite (obviously) is this:

[900T-R]

Yep, I'd go with that - get another KV6 and supercharge it.

2Qs:

• To the OP: what caused your present engine to expire?
• To everyone else - is 2.5 litre the practical limit of the KV6 or could it be bored/stroked enough to make a significant difference?

[scoobywho]

The bigends have gone and the tappets need changing, no one here in Jersey will do an engine stripdown and re-build so new engine is the only option.