Re: [DML] Venturing for some thoughts...

["B BENSON" <delornut@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Your talking about taking an engine designed to be mounted transversely and
re-positioning it in a longitudinal running position. This has some obvious
problems as well as some hidden problems that won't become obvious until
later. When we began building Ranger trucks with the Mazda twin cam 4 cyl
for the 2002 model year many problems showed up that delayed production for
quite a while. The obvious was that accessories such as the AC compressor
and alternator as well as things like the water pump and coolant line
locations were designed into the engine with transverse mounting in mind.
They became problem areas when the engine was moved to a longitudinal
position. However, those were the easy  to solve part of the equation. Once
the engine was installed strange vibrations appeared that weren't there when
running the engine transversely. Engine mounts became super critical and
very sophisticated computer controlled tooling had to be designed to achieve
proper torque and angle without stripping the treads out of the aluminum
blocks and yet achieve the critical torque required to help overcome some of
these problems. There were other areas that also had to be address to get
rid of the vibrations but the point I'm getting at here is that the cost of
re-inventing a drive train design can easily grow beyond the budget of most
back yard mechanics. Once it's done it's a one off item that has no
consistency to make it maintainable by anyone other than the builder and a
few high price custom shops. Granted for some that's not a problem but when
it comes to finding a buyer for your car it will deflate the value by much
more than was spent on the project.

Bruce Benson

> Hi everyone.
>             When I buy my DMC sometime in the near >future, I want to
> put a different engine in.  Either a Ford 1.8 or 1.9 L >four cylinder
> engine, much like what I have in my 93 Escort.  >
Thanks,
>
>                         George DeLorean




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