A New Focus

Carter just reminded me about the Ranger manifold.  And, apparently, I’m such a bad blogger that I never mentioned it here before.  (which not only means that you didn’t know about it, but also means that *I* have no record of it… you see, this blog is an extension of my feeble memory!)

This is the manifold in question.  The Duratec 2.3 has been used in the Ford Ranger (and Mazda B-series) since 2001.  The intake manifold is completely useless for me because it wraps OVER the head, where I have no space.  But, the exhaust manifold… is actually a pretty sexy piece for a cast manifold.

The part I forgot to mention before was that Jeff actually purchased one for me and we test-fit it.  Fortunately, they allowed him to return it.  In spite of looking like an awesome and simple solution… it isn’t.  The output flange exits squarely into the passenger footwell, which I’d prefer to retain!

But, I can definitely use this manifold as a model for building a header and just position the collector in the right place pointed straight down.  It could work!

Ah, but I have mundane frame modifications to do before I get to do anything fun like build a manifold!

I did buy an alternator last night, though.  Found a stock Focus unit on eBay for $35 shipped.  At that price, it’s not even worth a trip to the salvage yard to see if they have it for less!

I read somewhere that it requires some kind of input from the ECU to function.  Don’t know if that’s true or not, will have to check into it further.  But, the fact that it mounts directly to the engine block without requiring any adapters or other weirdness is a major plus to me.  Plus it already has the correct 5-rib pulley on it, and the alignment with the crankshaft pulley will be perfect.  I like using simple-fitting and readily available stock parts wherever possible.  And if I can’t get the electronics to play nice… there’s an alternator shop nearby… I bet they could help me hardware-hack it into submission.

This project is going to drive me crazy, and I’m not even doing anything yet!

Gave things a closer look during the daylight yesterday.  Remembered that the right side stock engine mount has been significantly trimmed (and I’ll probably trim it some more just for clearance).  Not a big deal, I’ll just have to drill some new holes to mount my “shock tower brace” to.  Might as well go ahead and trim the left side to match.  More clearance is never a bad thing.

I’ll also need to do some more trimming on the steering rack mounts and weld in a small triangular support on each side.  No biggie there, either.

Looks like the frame mods should be about as straightforward as expected.  I’m going to strip the electronics and other stuff from the engine compartment this weekend and get the frame clean so that I can start work.

What’s making me crazy right now is that I’ve started trying to plan the exhaust header.  Performance is not a real issue, as I expect this engine will make more power than I need no matter what I do.  And with the way the car is geared (3.27 GT6 diff, and a 5-speed with overdrive), low-end torque will be all it really needs for cruising around.

So, I’m thinking stock-sized primary tubes and a 4-2-1 design.  I need the 4-2-1 just to get things to fit, I think.  The 4-2 needs to be fairly close to the head, the secondary tubes need to squeak past the frame and into a final collector somewhere under the car.  So far, so good.  Will probably opt for a non-sequential arrangement so that hopefully, my short primaries won’t make much difference and the longer secondaries will have enough momentum to scavenge effectively.  The exhaust ports appear to be 1.5″, but since I’m not building a high-rpm beast (I really don’t WANT to see the full torque potential of this engine because I know the diff can’t handle it), and I’d be tickled pink if I could get 50 mpg out of this car… I’m thinking about going with 1.375″ pipe for the primary and 1.5″ pipe for the secondary tubes and finish with a 2″ tailpipe.  Exhaust velocity will be the name of the game!

Now the fun part… to clear the alternator that’s mounted just below the head on the right side, the #1 tube can’t bend down.  It has to bend toward the rear as much as possible and hug the block… or, I could go up with it, but then I have to be sure to clear the coolant tube.  Of course, to be sure I don’t have to remake anything, I’m going to have to buy the alternator and get it mounted before going any further with the header design.

The other complication of the header is that the engine mount is almost directly below the #2 exhaust port, so my two secondary tubes will have to come down neatly between #3 and #4 to clear the engine mount and avoid where the block starts flaring out to fit the bell housing.  That’s right about the same place that the exhaust cutout in the frame is.  If the two tubes won’t fit well there, I may end up putting a flattened collector right about there so that I can run one pipe down.

Here’s a photo of the exhaust-side of the engine and an MX-5 header (remember, the NC MX-5 uses the same engine block).  The engine mount points that I’m using are the two holes that are close together in the middle, and the one beneath them.  They are the standard RWD points.

For inspiration, I ran across a forum post on the Locost forum where a guy put a 2.3 Duratec (same engine, taller block) into a Sunbeam Alpine.  He had his own set of clearance issues, but apparently height wasn’t one of them.  I only wish that I had all of the fabrication equipment (and skills) that he has.  I’m going to cheat and buy a lot of parts where I can.  Here’s the link.

Reorganized the shed over the weekend to make room for the bonnet assembly so that I don’t have to trip over it in the garage.  Got the bonnet off and out to the garage with the help of a friend.  That was the extent of my weekend activity!  (hey, it’s freakin’ hot)

Spent a little time eyeballing things this evening.  Took a couple reference photos to help put things in perspective.

My hurdles are:

1. Restore the mostly removed crossmember
2. Restore the rigidity of the suspension turret

As you can see in the photos, the crossmember is about 2/3 gone.  I was initially thinking of boxing in what remains of it and then adding a brace below.  But, given that the engine hangs a good inch or so below the frame rails, I really NEED to put something substantial in front of that oil pan.  So, since the factory crossmember is mostly gone, I think I’m just going to cut the rest of it out, leaving the outer stubs.  Box in the ends of those stubs and weld in a beefy new crossmember below the frame with enough height to protect the oil pan.  Easy enough.

You can also see the engine mount brackets that Jeff put in.  Those will be cut out and replaced as discussed in the previous post.  Should be very simple and effective.  Easy enough.

What you can’t quite see in the photos is that some material was trimmed out of the right side suspension turret (the part that the stock engine mount bolts to, and the upper control arm and upper shock mount bolt to).  Looks like that part is bolted in, so I may remove it to make beefing it up (or at least cleaning it up, it’s sloppy) easier.  The other side wasn’t modified as much, since the power steering and AC are on that side of the engine and we’re not using them.  I’ll probably also make a bolt-in shock tower brace that will bolt to the stock engine mount locations and wrap forward around the front of the engine.  That should take care of that.  Easy enough.

But, before any of that, I’m going to remove all of my Megasquirt wiring and components, move all of the stock wiring out of the way, remove the front brake lines and any other “clutter”.  Then I’m going to CLEAN the front section of the frame so that I can better see what I’m working with and be able to put a good coat of paint on it when I’m done.

Yep, that’s what I’m gonna do…

One positive thing about this year of down time is that there seems to be a lot more kit car aftermarket (especially in the UK) for the Duratec than there was. A lot of things that I thought would need to be fabricated are readily available. Part of me says that some of the parts are expensive… but, for complex and tight-fitting parts that I can’t make myself, probably no more expensive than having them done locally. Bonus points for proper fit without any hassle! This will apply to things like the coolant tube that routes from the back of the head to the front of the engine for the radiator, and possibly a partial intake manifold (flange w/ stubs, intended for IRTB), among other things.

I’ve given the engine mounts some more thought, and after spending a few minutes in the Summit Racing catalog, I think I’m going to redo them. What Jeff did for me is fully custom, and would work, but I like to use readily available factory parts wherever possible for a neater and easier to maintain installation. Should also allow for a little more “slop” in the installation, which will make it a lot easier to get the engine in and out.

So, what Jeff built are custom tubular mounts. Basically, a pipe welded to a plate that bolts to the engine with another pipe welded on the opposite end making a T. The end has fixed poly bushings with threaded inserts, requiring a bolt to be inserted in each side of the mount to fix it to the frame bracket. The mounts themselves are passable except for one of the bushings not quite being straight, but the frame brackets are crap and need to be reworked.

What I’m looking at instead are Jeep CJ5 engine mounts. They simply bolt to the frame with two bolts (I’ll weld a flat plate to each frame rail with studs to bolt them to) and have a single stud from the top to set the engine mount/bracket onto. Designed for the torque of a Jeep inline 6, they should be more than adequate for the task. I like that they’ll be forever available, easily replaceable, and I can even switch them out for softer rubber ones if I ever choose to. (the extra slop of a rubber mount may cause an interference problem with the bonnet, so I’m going to start with poly)

The single transmission mount on the Type 9 also uses a simple single stud mounting, so I can use another of the same engine mounts for a transmission mount. And I’ll have to cut out the welded in “transmission mount” (a flat piece of steel with a hole in it and no room for a bushing) in favor of a bolt-in bracket.

I’ll have to give things a closer look before ordering parts, but I think that’s the direction I’m headed. Since I’m back to doing this myself, I might as well go ahead and do it in a way that pleases me.

[cough] Wow! [cough]

Yeah, the car’s dusty, too. Maybe I’ll take a photo later.

So, what’s been going on with the DuraSpit over the past YEAR? Precious little, I’m afraid. In spite of an enthusiastic start, about the only thing Jeff has accomplished since the last update was a little more sheet metal trimming and the welding in of some structurally sound, but unimpressive engine and transmission mounts that I may end up redoing. (or not, depending on how I feel after closer inspection and introspection)

Why no progress? A lot of reasons. Part of it is me. I’m sure I gave Jeff the impression that I was going to be there helping a lot more than I was, but his shop being an hour drive away from me didn’t make that easy. And, frankly, he was doing some pretty hardcore cutting and stuff that made me cringe… I couldn’t bear to watch! Instead, I just told him what NOT to do (the Prime Directive: Don’t cut the hood) and left him to fit the engine into the car. Unfortunately, his helper quit due to health issues, leaving him with a project he couldn’t handle on his own. (then again, said helper is the one responsible for these crappy engine mounts and a lot of lost parts…) Couple that with a simple loss of momentum and motivation, and here we are.

But, I decided that it’s time for me to take control of this project and get it done, even if that means I have to do more of it myself than I intended to. Such is life.

My baby is back home today! Many thanks to Ed Courtemanche for divesting me of a bunch of Miata crap that was taking up space in my garage in exchange for helping me get the Spit back home!

Current status:

• Many of my high-quality OE Triumph/Standard nuts and bolts are forever lost, this will prove to be a pain in the ass.
• Missing bolts for steering shaft clamp, on order. (presently have no steering)
• 2.0 Duratec engine, ready to rock (well, it’s a salvage engine, so who knows?)
• Duratec > Type 9 bell housing, check. (need correct bolts)
• Hydraulic throwout bearing, needs plumbed and shimmed to fit.
• Type 9 transmission, needs another 2mm trimmed from input shaft.
• Need to source pilot bearing to fit input shaft to crankshaft.
• Type 9 > GT6 driveshaft on order from Canley, will need to be shortened.
• Engine and trans mounts need attention.
• Custom intake and exhaust manifolds need to be designed and fabricated.
• Alternator, bracket and belt routing needs to be sorted.
• Waterpump outlet and pulley needed.
• Stock radiator will fit in stock location, need to build a fan shroud.
• Coolant hose configuration needs to be sorted.

Whew! I think that’s just about all that will be needed just to get the engine IN THE CAR. Then I can move on to fuel and electronics. Then there’s exhaust, fixing the large hole in the firewall, custom-bending the shifter and maybe the hand brake lever, not to mention all the deferred maintenance items that need to be caught up on.

Spare parts:

• 1500 engine completely disassembled (and missing parts, some of them sold already)
• Two 4-speed single-rail transmissions (one good, one w/ bad 2nd gear synchros)
• Two 1500 driveshafts (both good)
• One good 1500 diff (broken ear on case)
• Bunch of 1500-specific custom fuel injection parts (PnP Megasquirt!)

Really glad to have the car back home where I can work on it. But, don’t expect too much progress too soon… we’re in the hottest part of the summer. Maybe I can at least get a good start on sourcing parts and required fasteners and other bits while it’s hot?

Took a trip over to Tampa to visit my baby today. Jeff’s been busy! It looks a little scary at first glance, but it takes some cutting to get just about anything other than a Spitfire engine to fit into a Spitfire! Admittedly, this is taking a little more cutting than we anticipated, but it will all be worth it in the end. We could have taken a major shortcut and done a lot less cutting if I was willing to put a bubble or scoop on the hood. But, dammit, I want it to look like a Spitfire!

Let’s take a look at the photos, shall we? The first three were taken with the engine out just to get a good look at what’s been done. As you can see, over half of the front cross-member has been removed. I suggested just cutting the whole thing out and replacing it with a wider and flatter piece, but I think Jeff’s going to box in what’s left of that one and just add a second one. Either way, that’s the kind of thing Jeff like’s to over-build, so I’m not worried about it. There was also some trimming of the uprights, most of it to the right side engine mount flange, which won’t be used, anyway.

The right side suspension upright structure had to be “compromised” a bit, so it will be beefed up and boxed in to strengthen it. And, of course, the firewall hole had to be enlarged and the tray cut out due to the engine being moved back several inches. An inch or so more of the tray will be removed to allow more space for the coolant return pipe, and an aluminum cover will be fabricated to cover the hole and replace the stock tunnel cover. The tunnel area at the back of the transmission had to be cut back considerably to make room for the shifter. More on that later.

Photos 4-7 show the engine in place and the clearance on each side. The engine will ultimately be about 1/2″ or so higher than it is in the photo. Clearance on the left side isn’t a problem. All is well there, even with the starter (which isn’t installed in the photo). The clutch hydraulics are all inside the bellhousing, so only a hydraulic line and maybe a bleeder extension will come out of the bellhousing. Space on the right side will be tighter. You can see in the photo that the right side frame rail has a notch in it. That’s from the factory, the ’76 came with a catalytic converter that required that space… convenient now! The engine mount will cover the front part of that notch leaving just enough room for exhaust pipes (Jeff will probably do a short 4-2 header and run two pipes past the frame rail before merging them).

Photos 8 and 9 are inside the cockpit. You can see the bellhousing is just about even with the firewall, so the engine is probably about 3″ back from the standard location. Should result in a slight shift in balance toward the rear. The shifter comes up at about the center of the brake handle grip, but doesn’t actually interfere with it. All gears can be shifted without the stick touching the brake handle, and it shifts SO smoothly! The gates of the T9 are SO much more narrow than the Spitfire 4-speed, I expect it will be a joy to drive. I’m going to hold off on making any shifter or handbrake mods until the engine installation is complete. As it is, it appears that the car will be drivable just like it is, so I’ll do that and then make an informed decision on what changes to make.

It does appear that removing the rearward angle of the shift lever (maybe angling it slightly forward) and maybe shortening it an inch or so will put it in just the right place. It’s in a great “cruising” location, falling right to hand from the armrest… for competition (which I don’t intend to do in this car), putting it more forward for less of a reach from the steering wheel would be a plus. The brake handle will need to be tweaked, as well. It can be used as-is, but it’s hard to grab the handle because it’s so close to the shifter. Putting a dogleg bend in the handle to move it over half an inch might fix it, but I’m not sure giving up that thigh-room is a good idea. (we all know how narrow Spitfire seats are already!) The other easily possibility is to just add about 2″ of length to the handle so that it can be grabbed FORWARD of the shifter. That’s likely what we’ll do, but that’s something we won’t have to worry about for a while.

The last two photos show the oil pan clearance… it’s not great! But, the engine will be raised by at least 1/2″ in its final mounting, so that will help. Jeff will also incorporate some skid-plate protection when he does the cross-member fabrication. I’ve been thinking about raising the front of the car by 1/2″ or so, too. With all of that, it’ll be fine.

So, there ya go. Next time I see it, I expect a little more trimming will have been done, and likely some fresh metal welded in strategic places… and I’m gonna bring a can of somewhat matching green paint. Things will look a lot sexier then, I promise!

Oh, the steering rack, while presently not bolted down, did remain in it’s stock location. The only non-drivetrain parts that had to get relocated were the RF brake line, the starter solenoid (which will probably be replaced with a junction block), and the heater control valve. Pretty minor stuff.

It’s gonna be a while longer, but after sitting in the driver’s seat and holding that 5-speed stick in my hand… I can’t wait to drive it!

I got these phone pics in my email today. I’m guessing that the minimum required trimming to get the engine in the right place has been completed… which is good. But, now all of those trimmed bits need to be cleaned up, and from what Jeff has said, due to having to remove so much from the front cross-member, he’s going to add two additional cross-members, one forward of the stock location, and one just behind the oil pan.

I haven’t been over there to look at things yet, but here’s what I’m hearing from Jeff over at 1st Place:

The engine is longer than we anticipated. (I think it’s the crankshaft pulley that I overlooked) The Ranger oil pan is as “low profile” as you can get, and it still doesn’t clear the steering rack while leaving adequate top clearance. So, we were looking at either moving the steering rack forward and notching the frame cross-member or moving the engine back to clear the steering rack. We’re opting to move the engine back, it just seems like “the right thing”, and will ultimately be easier and a lot less expensive. (no extending the steering shaft, creating linkages, custom tie rods, bump steer problems, etc)

The back of the engine will be about 2″ further back than stock. The tray will need to be cut some to make room for the coolant pipe on the back of the head, and the frame will still need some slight notching. The transmission tunnel will require some light surgery, as well. The shifter is going to end up way further back than initially expected, but some creativity with the shift lever should take care of that.

I’m almost afraid to go look at this point. I just need to trust Jeff and let him do what needs to be done.

Okay, I’ve been holding out on you. The bell housing arrived about 2 weeks ago. Looks like a well-made piece, the only issue so far was that the supplied bolts that mate to the transmission had heads that were too large to fit in the machined recesses in the bell housing. Turns out the holes were a standard inch size and the bolts were metric, go figure. Easily fixed by taking the bolts to a lathe. Here’s a couple photos of the long-awaited bell-housing.

The optional hydraulic throwout bearing kit that I paid $200 for was also not a direct fit. (apparently, there IS no direct fit) The front cover of the transmission had to be milled down to a smaller diameter for it. Not a big deal… just another thing to deal with. The TB is a race-quality piece from Howe Racing, so it should be durable, at least. It is mostly fitted and ready to go, just need to work up something to attach to one of the nose cover bolts to keep it from spinning. (because the nifty piece that came with the kit… you guessed it… doesn’t fit)

In other news, after much consideration, we decided to use the stock Focus flywheel in spite of its super-heavy weight. Well, partly BECAUSE of it, really. It’s a really heavy dual-mass flywheel. My logic is that the extra weight, and the dual mass technology should help to damp the torque of the engine, reducing driveline shock, and increasing the lifespan of my GT6 differential. That part has been sourced used, and a new Focus clutch kit has been sourced. The current list of parts we need to get includes flywheel bolts (the flex plate bolts that came with the engine are too short to fit the flywheel) and new seals for the transmission.

Here’s a sad photo of my poor engineless dust-covered Spitfire. Jeff is going to put it on th elift tomorrow and pull the stock transmission. The plan is to slap the engine and transmission together loosely and do a test fit after that. Our first “moment of truth”, if you will. So far, based on rough measurements, we “think” that the engine should fit pretty well and leave about an inch of clearance to the bonnet. We also “hope” that where won’t be any other clearance issues. This test fit will start answering those questions…

Not much going on, just waiting for that bell housing to show up. I called Quad4 Rods Tuesday afternoon to check on it and add the hydraulic throwout to the order. He said it was about a week from shipping. Of course, I adjusted that to two weeks… I know how it goes.

In other news, I’ve found someone else who’s doing a Duratec swap into a LBC. It’s not a Spitfire, but an MG Midget… close enough. He’s a little further along than I am, and some of the things he’s already sorted out, like accessory drive belt routing, will surely save me a bunch of time.

He got a kick out of this blog, and decided to start one for his own project. Check it out: Midgitec

Oh, I also ran across a source for some useful Duratec parts for putting one into a Lotus 7 type kit car. They have parts to address a lot of the same issues that we’re facing on my car, like a cast aluminum coolant pipe that runs from the water outlet at the back of the head to the front of the engine, allowing for a shorter and neater radiator hose. Definitely worth a look if you’re planning to use a Duratec for a RWD swap. The outfit is called Raceline, check ‘em out.