I'm thinking there should be RWD bellhousing adapters from the factory for darn near any modern 4 cylinder FWD engines? When Chrysler introduced their 2.2 and later bangers in the early 80s the RWD bellhousings were available from Chrysler almost immediately. SO how about the GM engines, Hondas, Toyotas, Fords, and so on? The engines are used in racing and almost NO racecars are FWD like the cars the engines come from.
In many cases, the factories did you the favor of offering the RWD bellhousings you seek! GM used their 2.5 and 2.2 engines in the S10 and S15 truck line, so RWD transmissions are available there...Ford offered the 2.3 "Duratec" engine in the newer Rangers...and as you know, the 2.2 and 2.5 Chrysler engines were used in the Dakota pickups. In addition to that, the early 80s Ram 50 pickups had a potent 2.6 litre Mitsubishi engine in them, and the various imported mini-trucks from Datsun (Nissan), Isuzu, Mazda and others all came with 'modern' four cylinders in an RWD configuration. Ford Motorsport can equip you with the stuff you'll need to run a new Focus-bred four banger engine in a rear-drive format, and GM guys can accomplish the same feat with the little four banger currently offered in the Cobalt. It's not a hard thing to do if you're into it!!!
The SCCA has alot of fast fwd racers. Hondas, acuras, celicas... The really fast fwd drag cars are nothing like the factory counterparts, but nissan silvia, mazda miata, toyota are good base platforms if you need a start.
I believe they offer a bellhousing, starter and motor mount package, but I'll have to do some digging for ya. I saw an article about them in some magazine not too long ago...I'll see if I can find it tonight then let you know.
The popular B and H series motors turn backwards. The newer K and F series rotate the right way. F series comes with mounts for rwd,since they are used in the S2000. K series is larger displacement with taller deck height. KEP should be able to adapt any motor to any trans you want. A lot of FWD motors don't have side mounts, like the typical rwd motors always did. I think Fat hack ran into this on his 60 degree Chevy V6.
Sure did...being from a FWD vehicle (Citation), the engine needed to be mounted from the front, not the side. It worked out in the end, but it's something to be aware of. Also, on some FWD engines (like 2.8 V6s!), the starter is on the opposite side of the engine from the RWD engines of the same make and family. On a Chevy 2.8 that isn't a big problem, the RWD trans bolted up okay...but it's just another thing to think about when planning a swap like that.
i ran into the same problem on a s-10 project and after discovering why the dude didn't install the replacement motor because of mounting got lucky and found someone needing a fwd 2.8 v6 and broke even. can't wait to run into the guy that sold it to me when he comes back to town. can't drop your guard or you will get burned!
I believe a lot of the Toyota twin cam, turbo'd 4 bangers, 1600cc etc, use the same engine block as the early Corollas, Coronas etc, and the RWD 5 speed gearboxes bolt up to them OK. I don't know any details, sorry, I remember cause I was checking the engines out ages ago for a Morris Minor project for my wife to drive. They're a very popular swap into little cars like Morris Minors, and also Clubman syle sportscars so a google search might find you the information you need for these engines. (She ended up and decided not to go ahead as it didn't have bloody air conditioning!) Cheers, Glen.
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