2.3 Duratec into a standard or SV chassis

[paul jacobs]

I know a number of people have installed the taller 2.3 Duratec into a standard chassis.  Is there anything special to do or is it just a matter of offering the engine up and connecting all the bits?  Obviously the correct engine wiring loom would need to be in place.  Is there enough ground clearance on a standard chassis?

Could it even replace a K series, Zetec or even a X/F?

[7 wonders of the world]

Ground clearance can be an issue with wet sumps the front edge is vulnerable, using a short bellhousing aids this as the engine is 25mm further backwards and slightly higher as its installed nose down.

Better still use the Raceline DS set up with a remote oil tank in a short footwell this gains 32mm of ground clearance over the wet sump in a like for like install.

Short bellhousing will more than likely require a gearbox rebuild to swap the first motion shaft for a short one depending on what your replacing. good excuse to put a decent gearset in too.

Raceline alloy cam cover is lower than stock but I'm pretty sure you could rework the OE plastic one and machine and fill the oil cap aperture - not really required if you go DS.

Aside from exhaust being on the drivers side (sideskin hole) and normal plumbing etc they a a pretty straight forward fit, I've done a couple (albeit 2.0's) into K series cars now.

I still run a K fuel tank with uprated pump with dead end rail set up

BM me if you need any photos of specifics

 

[rgrigsby]

It's certainly a tight right, we needed a different cam cover to get it under the bonnet in my standard chassis S3. I've got the Pace 3 stage external dry sump system fitted with the short bell housing. I opted to use a Brise kidney shaped dry sump tank in front of the engine, that avoids the need to shorten the passenger footwell.

If I was doing it again I'd use the smaller flywheel/clutch assembly that is now available which removes the step from the engine to the bell housing (Titan make it I think, 7.25" vs 8.5" as standard).

#2 I use the same fuel setup, K series tank with the old "R500" uprated fuel pump.

I'm running around 250bhp/210lbft so I run an uprated BGH gearset in the gearbox, I've never had any problems despite lots of sprints and track days. Depending on the level of power its definitely worth the upgrade.

Also happy to share any photos, my installation was from 2005 so has a few DIY bits as a lot of the bespoke items were not available then.

[morpheous]

rgrigsby - photos would be most useful for my imminent duratec build!

[rgrigsby]

I've got lots of pictures so let me know what you'd like to see, here are a few from the last rebuild (hence everything looks very clean and new!)

You can see the external Pace dry sump pump on this image

Trial fit of the engine to make sure it fitted with the inboard push rod suspension

[morpheous]

Thanks - have you got any of the exhaust side of the car - that exhaust arrangement is what I'm going for

Cheers

 

[Tazio]

Mike Edwards will make you a nice one !

 

[Tazio]

Mike Edwards will make you a nice one ! He is on Facebook, search on Edwards Motorsport

 

[7 wonders of the world]

Mine is a Mike Edwards thro the bonnet set up 

 

[rgrigsby]

Here you go, the primaries and silencer were all through Ammo at Raceco, Mike Riley made the silencer. I can't remember where the primaries where made (even though I went there!), I do remember the place also made Indycar exhausts as they had some Inconel systems lying around that weighed practically nothing. (Now confirmed by Shaun as being GoodFabs)

A couple of things to note, the primaries actually go forward slightly out of the engine, this was to get the required length, if I remember correctly I think they are 2" primaries (slightly larger than the 1.75" Raceline primaries). 

The silencer is 1m long an 7.25" wide, it's effectively the largest side mount can we could fit, done on the basis that noise regs are only getting tougher. Also the primaries were shaped to ensure the bottom of the silencer is about 10mm above the lower chassis rail, this means that the silencer never hits the ground, a common problem with larger exhausts. 

I can probably dig out the comparison graphs but the net effect of the revised exhaust was a 25lbft boost in torque at about 3500rpm with a 3-5bhp increase at the top end. It does mean the engine is a little grumpier at lower revs but nothing too bad.

 

[TomB]

That looks amazing! The size of that thing! 

[Shaun_E]

I've got the same system on my 2.0L car. The primaries were made by GoodFabs to an Ammo design and the silencer is a RaceCo item made by Mike Riley.

[morpheous]

Thanks - that's an impressive exhaust!

[rgrigsby]

#13 it works really well, I never have any noise issues on circuits and people often mention how much quieter the car is relative to others on track, its all relative though it still nudges 96+ on a noise meter.