Ford Kent engine - Citizendia

The Ford Kent is an internal combustion engine from Ford of Europe. The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Originally developed in 1959 for the Ford Anglia, it is an in-line four cylinder overhead valve type engine with a cast iron cylinder head and block. The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The straight-4 or inline-4 engine (often abbreviated I4 or L4) is a four cylinder Internal combustion engine with all four cylinders An overhead valve (OHV engine, also called pushrod engine or I-head engine is a type of Piston engine that places the Camshaft

1 Pre-Crossflow
2 Lotus
3 Crossflow
4 Valencia
5 HCS
6 Endura-E
7 Future
8 Trivia
9 See also

Pre-Crossflow

The original OHV Kent engine appeared in the 1959 Anglia with a capacity of 996. An overhead valve (OHV engine, also called pushrod engine or I-head engine is a type of Piston engine that places the Camshaft The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. 95 cc developing 39 bhp at 5,000 rpm. With an 80. 96 mm (3. 1875 in) bore and 48. 41 mm (1. 906 in) stroke, it was a departure from traditional undersquare English engine design. Stroke ratio, bore/stroke ratio and stroke/bore ratio are terms that are used to describe the form of a piston engine's cylinder when the The same engine with a longer stroke and thus larger capacity was subsequently used in the Ford Classic and Consul Capri (1340cc and 1500cc), the Mk1 and early Mk2 Cortinas (1200cc and 1500cc), and the early Corsairs. The Ford Consul Classic or 'Consul 315' (as the export version was known was a mid-sized car built by Ford in the UK from 1961 to 1963 The Ford Cortina is a mid sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982 The Ford Corsair, manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom, was a Midsize car available as either a saloon or estate

The engine is now referred to as the pre-crossflow Kent, with both the inlet and exhaust being on the same side of the head.

Applications:

Lotus

The Kent was also used in the Ford Classic and Ford Consul Capri at 1340 cc. The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Ford Cortina is a mid sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982 The Ford Consul Classic or 'Consul 315' (as the export version was known was a mid-sized car built by Ford in the UK from 1961 to 1963 The Ford Corsair, manufactured by Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom, was a Midsize car available as either a saloon or estate The Ford Prefect was a line of British cars produced by the UK section of the Ford Motor Company, and a more upmarket version of its direct siblings the The Ford Consul Classic or 'Consul 315' (as the export version was known was a mid-sized car built by Ford in the UK from 1961 to 1963 It was in this form that the Kent was noticed by Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. Lotus needed a compact engine for the new for 1962 Lotus Elan, and Chapman adopted the Kent block. Lotus Elan is the name of two Convertible Cars and one fixed head Coupé produced by Lotus Cars.

Whilst the 1340 engine, which used the original 109E 3-bearing block, may have intiated Lotus' interest, this was never used in production Elans though prototype 1340 twin-cams were built. By the time the car was on the market, the 116E 5-bearing engine destined for the Cortina was available, and this was the one used. The very first Elans - the "Elan 1500" used the 116E block with standard cylinder dimensions, soon changing to the "Elan 1600" when the cylinders were overbored to give 1558cc. For the first years of production, the Lotus blocks were simply selected for the thickest cylinder walls from the standard production line, and identified with an "A" stamped into the timing cover mating face. Later, the blocks were specially cast with twin-cam production in mind and identified with an "L" cast into the block under the engine mount. By 1966 all major engine parts: block, crank, rods pistons and flywheel were unique to the Lotus engine. By the end of production some 55,000 twin-cam engines had been built.

Harry Mundy, technical editor for Autocar magazine, designed an aluminium DOHC hemi head for the Kent, thus providing Chapman with his engine; The Lotus TwinCam. Harry Mundy (born 1915 was a British car engine designer and Motoring Magazine editor. See also Autocar Company and Autocars Co, American and Israeli automobile manufacturers respectively see Otokar for the Turkish Overhead camshaft, commonly abbreviated to OHC, Valvetrain configurations place the engine Camshaft within the Cylinder heads above the It was bored to 1558 cc and produced 105 hp (78 kW). Exact dimensions were 3. 25 in (82. 55 mm) bore by 2. 9 in (72. 746 mm) stroke. Later versions produced from 115 to 190 hp (140 kW).

The same engine was used in the 1963 Lotus Cortina, and 15 were installed in the last production Lotus Sevens. The Lotus-Cortina was a high-performance car, the result of collaboration between Ford and Lotus. See also Caterham Seven The Lotus Seven was a small simple lightweight two-seater open-top Sports car produced by Lotus Cars (initially called It was also used in the Type 47 Lotus Europa race car, and Lotus-tuned Ford Escorts. The Lotus Europa or Lotus Europe was a two door Mid-engined GT Coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975 Over the years the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models

The naming of twin-cam engined Cortinas needs care. Only the first production cars were actually "Lotus Cortinas" and these were assembled at Cheshunt. After the first year, the cars became the "Cortina Lotus" and were Ford assembled. The Mk2 version was the "Cortina Twin Cam"

Applications:

1962-1974 Lotus Elan
1963-1964 Lotus Cortina
1964-1966 Cortina-Lotus
1967-1970 Cortina Twin Cam
1968-1970 Ford Escort Twin Cam
1972-1975 Lotus Europa Type 74
1973-1974 Caterham Super Seven

Crossflow

A redesign gave it a cross-flow type cylinder head, hence the Kent's alternative name "Ford Crossflow". Lotus Elan is the name of two Convertible Cars and one fixed head Coupé produced by Lotus Cars. The Lotus-Cortina was a high-performance car, the result of collaboration between Ford and Lotus. Over the years the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models The Lotus Europa or Lotus Europe was a two door Mid-engined GT Coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975 See also Lotus Seven The Caterham Seven (or Caterham 7) is a small sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom It would go on to power the smaller engined versions of the Ford Cortina and Ford Capri, the first and second editions of the European Escort as well as the North American Ford Pinto (1971 and 1972 only). The Ford Cortina is a mid sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982 Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three separate Automobile models The Ford Consul Capri coupe produced by Ford of Great The Ford Pinto was a subcompact manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market first introduced on September 11, 1970 It also featured in the Fiesta XR2, with the US 1600 bottom end and GT spec head and cam.

The crossflow featured a change in combustion chamber design, using a Heron type combustion chamber in the top of the piston rather than the head. The head itself was flat with each engine capacity (1100, 1300 and 1600) featuring different pistons with different sized bowls.

Valencia

The engine was revised to suit front wheel drive installation in 1976, co-inciding with the launch of the Ford Fiesta. Front-wheel drive (or FF layout) is a form of engine / transmission layout used in Motor vehicles where the engine drives the front Wheels The Ford Fiesta is a Supermini car designed by Ford Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company The ancilliaries were repositioned and the cylinder head redesigned. This version of the Kent was known as the Valencia engine, after the Spanish production plant in which it was made. It would later see service in the third generation Ford Escort. Over the years the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models Even TVR used the engine in the Grantura, Vixen, and 1600M. TVR is an independent British manufacturer of Sports cars based in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. The first model in a long and distinguished line made its debut in 1958 the TVR Grantura.

HCS

In 1988 the engine was revised once again to meet with tightening European emissions legislation and the requirement to use unleaded fuel. The redesign included an all-new cylinder head with hardenened valve inserts, reshaped combustion chambers, and a fully electronic distributorless ignition system. The Ford EDIS or Electronic Distributorless Ignition System is a computer-controlled ignition system developed by Ford that uses an Ignition coil for each The engine was renamed the Ford HCS (High Compression Swirl). It first appeared on the Ford Escort, then was later used on the third generation Ford Fiesta. Over the years the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models The Ford Fiesta is a Supermini car designed by Ford Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company

Endura-E

The final redesign came in 1995, with the launch of the fourth-generation Ford Fiesta. The Ford Fiesta is a Supermini car designed by Ford Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company This edition of the Kent was known as the Endura-E, and featured many revisions to combat noise and harshness. This engine would feature in the Ford Ka. The Ford Ka is a City car from the Ford Motor Company marketed in Europe and elsewhere

Future

The Kent engine and its successors were used as the stock engine in Formula Ford auto racing. Formula Ford is a single seater open wheel class in Motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, motor racing or car racing) is a Motorsport involving Racing Cars It In Europe, Formula Ford switched to the Zetec, but American Formula Ford continues to be Kent-powered. Ford Motor Company used the Zetec name on a variety of Inline-4 cylinder Automobile engines.

The Kent engine has also been used by other makes such as Morgan, Caterham, and Lotus. The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer The company was founded in 1909 by H Caterham Cars is a manufacturer of specialist lightweight Sports cars based in Caterham, Surrey, England and part of the British motor Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at Hethel, Norfolk, England.

The arrival of the Duratec-E engine in the fifth generation Fiesta range has finally signalled the end of the road for the Kent engine after a 44 year career, although it is still in production as a general use engine by Ford's Industrial Power division. The Duratec is a range of four, six and twelve -cylinder Gasoline engines used in Ford cars It does however live on in other parts of the world as the Zetec Rocam engine. Ford Motor Company used the Zetec name on a variety of Inline-4 cylinder Automobile engines.

Trivia

The Kent engine was largely responsible for Ford gaining a name in the 1960s and 1970s for producing cars which were reluctant to start in damp weather conditions. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The siting of the distributor tucked at the back of the engine beneath the inlet manifold made it an ideal candidate for attracting moisture and condensation with the obvious effects in damp weather. A distributor is a device in the Ignition system of an Internal combustion engine that routes High voltage from the Ignition coil to the The arrival of electronic ignition in 1986 put an end to these problems.

Harry Mundy, who designed the twin-cam development of the engine for Lotus, was offered the choice of payment for his work of £1000 cash or a royalty of £1 per unit. Knowing Colin Chapman's reputation in financial matters and the fact that he'd never made 1000 of anything, he took the cash. Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive The twin cam went on to 55,000 units.

The Ford diesel engines "Endura-DE and Endura DI" bear no similarities to the petrol namesake. However Ford did produce a diesel HCS engine. These engines are notoriously underpowered.

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