Can a transverse mounted engine be put it a car with drive shaft, rear wheel drive ?

[conv67bdere]

Alright . . . my Uncle has a 65 Dart, and he's got a potential lead on an older

Chrysler 4 cylinder, double overhead cam, turbo charged engine

that had been raced in the past.

He's thinking ( considering, contemplating ) the possibility of installing this engine into his Dart to replace his tired slant 6 . . .

And the questions . . .

1 - can it be done ?

2 - what needs to be used for the bell housing ?

3 - what transmissions can be used ( can he use his original 3-speed ) ? How about upgrading to a 4 speed / 5 speed ?

4 - engine mounts ? Can they be purchased or will they need to be custom fabricated ?

Any and all information on this swap will be appreciated - I'll pass it all along to my Uncle.

 

[benno440]

wow, there is a first for everything, make it a FWD too? lol

 

[Hemi Rebel]

What 4 cylinder engine? 2.2/2.5 mid 80's to early 90's? They used them in early Dakota pickups. Find the trans out of one of them. Is it strong enough? Probably not. Should be able to use the mounts to some extent as well

 

[AMX364]

Yes, but best to keep as front wheel drive in older body. Use donor front end including springs and frame. Keeps engine and transmission as designed. MIGHT have to have custom length drive axles. Does it have a posi transaxle?

 

[Hemi Rebel]

You would be better off with a 4g63

[video=youtube_share;rRWEiPLpzDk]http://youtu.be/rRWEiPLpzDk[/video]

 

[Budnicks]

It won't be a bolt in, but yes, it can & has been done

convet67bdere correct me please if I'm wrong...

I think he's asking, If I understand the question correctly...
That if it can be mounted in a rear wheel drive car ??,
with a rear wheel drive transmission & driveshaft ??,
it would no-longer be transverse mounted, like originally...

In short,
yes it can be,
with the proper mounts {probably custom fabricated}
& proper RWD trans {Depends on what inline TC 4cyl. engine}
new cross-member {probably also custom fabricated},
proper driveshaft & universals {probably custom fabricated} & necessary trans yoke etc.

If there's a will, then there's a way,
But it will require some fabrication & welding skills for sure !!

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wow, there is a first for everything, make it a FWD too? lol

our all wheel drive, that would be different

 

[conv67bdere]

You're dead on with my question there Budnicks.

He's thinking of taking the engine and changing it to non-transverse, putting on a bell housing, then a transmission, and drive shaft to the back wheels. The end result would be to have the engine mounted in the engine compartment in the same direction as the slant 6 he's pulling out.

I believe that it's the 2.5L engine that he's considering . . . he's just curious if it's ever been done.

Thanks for clearing up my somewhat vague question Budnicks . . . much appreciated.


Now there's one heck of an idea for handling . . . ALL WHEEL DRIVE ! ! ! ( smile )

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You would be better off with a 4g63

[video=youtube_share;rRWEiPLpzDk]http://youtu.be/rRWEiPLpzDk[/video]

You got the idea there Hemi Rebel . . . thanks for the information, I'll let him know.

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wow, there is a first for everything, make it a FWD too? lol

AWD . . . now that's a thought Benno440 . . . but he's in charge of this conversion . . . we'll see.

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Yes, but best to keep as front wheel drive in older body. Use donor front end including springs and frame. Keeps engine and transmission as designed. MIGHT have to have custom length drive axles. Does it have a posi transaxle?

I don't think he's got access to all the front wheel drive stuff anymore . . . just the engine . . . I'm just collecting information for him to figure out what to do.

Thanks AMX364

 

[AMX364]

It can be done as a partial swap using the early Dakota pickup 2.2 manual transmission or the bellhousings from Mexico which were racing a rear wheel drive 2.2 setup in a class racing. How ever that would still leave a lot of early car shortcomings. If done as a full swap to front wheel drive it can use most of the donors parts front and rear especially if you get a donor that has the same wheel spacing, tread to tread. If done as manual transmission it would end up as overdrive and pretty decent gas mileage.

 

[Herr_Poopschitz]

The Mitsubishi engine would be cool, but if $ is an issue (I hate to be unoriginal, but there's a reason for this) there is absolutely no better bang for the buck than a 5.3 out of a newer Chevy/GMC. Lots of take outs w/ trans and wiring w/ <100k miles for ~$750-$1k. Headers and tune make for a smooth, reliable 350 hp w/ good mpgs.