Before too long a rolling chassis was stood upon the chassis stands. Looking quite good but not quite looking like a Westfield yet. Still a long way to go... The bodywork was hanging from the roof out of the way and my parts box was pretty much empty. Time to start thinking about how to power the beast.

I'd already decided that Zetec power was the way to go and at the time the Silvertop was the engine of choice. Blacktops were not generally catered for and were somewhat rarer. That said, I like the idea of using a lower mileage engine and I'd read that the Blacktops are slightly more tuneable - decision made. Afterall, the blacktop and silvertop more or less looked the same. What could go wrong ?

Not long after starting my engine search, someone advertised a new 2.0L blacktop for sale - brilliant, until it actually turned out to be a 1.8. Especially, as at this point I had paid for it and had it in my garage. Thankfully that mix-up was sorted and the search began again.

Trying to buy engines from the internet was a little trickier than I thought. Most suppliers of second hand engines expected an exchange unit. The surcharges varied quite a lot and sometime made them appear not that good value. I made several trips to scrappies around the country but they tended to offer very sorry looking engines which didn't fit my vision. Eventually though, I spotted a low mileage (sub 10K) 2.0L Blacktop from a local supplier and the price was right. Before too long, a pallet and engine was dumped on my driveway and some engine fettling could begin.

I stripped off a mountain of unused brackets, manifolds, hoses and electronics to get to the block itself. It was a little grubby but was much better than the ones I'd seen up to this point.

Raceline had been recommended to me for Zetec bits - especially the sump and they also supplied other bits that made the Blacktop usable, such as alternator brackets (more on this later), water rail, water pump idler pulleys etc. All very bling and a little pricey. but looked quality. The stock sump had to go whether I liked it or not. So, with the wallet a few hundred pounds lighter I had a baffled sump, water-rail, idler pulley assembly and lightweight flywheel winging their way to me. I also ordered a cambelt, tensioner and some new cam pulleys too, just for some peace of mind.

Time to build the engine!