Looking for info

[dutchkluge]

I'm new to the list and cruising for some info, so please bear with me.
I currently am searching for a potential engine to swap into my '73 Lotus Europa. If you're not familiar, it's a longitudinal mid engine GT.
Stock engine is a 1600 Ford derived twin cam @~140hp.
The kicker on finding a mill to swap in is the length of the engine.
Could anyone in this group give me the length of the F22C, not including bell housing?
Thanks in advance
Dutch

 

[phunky.buddha]

Longitudinal mid engine? I know what a Europa is, but I didn't know that it had that engine layout...

If you want, I can measure my engine tomorrow after I get to work, then come back on here and post the measurement for you. I don't really want to go outside and search for a tape measure right now in the cold.

 

[dutchkluge]

Thanks, that would be much appreciated.
The setup is a fore & aft mounted 1600 twin cam attached to a Giordini 5 speed transaxle. There's about 23" from the front of the bell housing to the firewall.
Dutch

 

[phunky.buddha]

So you mean:

back of car -> rear axle -> transaxle/bellhousing -> engine -> firewall

Right?

 

[dutchkluge]

almost:

back of car>transmission (gear end)>differential (rear axles)>bellhousing>engine>firewall(back of cockpit)

 

[phunky.buddha]

Gotcha. I'll have a measurement for you soon.

 

[dutchkluge]

Here's a photo of the drive train.
Please excuse the mess, it's a work in progress!
Dutch

 

[phunky.buddha]

Wow. Getting to the timing belt/chain has got to be a pain in the ass! Sorry it's taking so long to get the measurements to you... I do have to do an oil change this weekend though, so hopefully I can measure things out either today or tomorrow for you.

 

[dutchkluge]

Ya, the front of the engine ain't the worlds most accessable.
Good - the PO put in an electric water pump, Bad - the DPO squeezed it in against the firewall below the carbs. The hoses are literally in a knot! It's being moved to the nose alog with the AC heat exchanger.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Ouch!

 

[phunky.buddha]

Ok, from the bellhousing to the front of the block is about 19.5 inches including accessory drives. I'd just assume 20 inches, and give yourself another 2 inches of wiggle room to be safe.

 

[dutchkluge]

Thanks - much appreciated. That's something worth more investigation.
How has your experience with the S2000 been
I've had Honda bikes & a CRX that were very reliable. Wish we had kept the CRX ('86HF), but no place to work on it at the time. Mechanicals were great, interior & plastic exterior panels didn't like the Florida sun.
Again, thanks for the info. Time to try & find one in the area to dig further into it.
Dutch

 

[phunky.buddha]

No problem. The only sucky part was that I had already put the car back down on the ground before I remembered to measure it. If you're looking straight from the stock firewall to the front of the pulleys, you'll want about 22-23 inches- but the bellhousing mates to the engine a ways in front of the firewall.

As far as reliability, I really think that the S2k engine is one of the best sports car engines you can get. I've driven my car 26k miles in just over a year, and I romp on it on a regular basis. 9k every day isn't a problem, and all I feed it is oil and gas. The best known record so far is 170k from a guy in California that posts on S2ki, 100k of those miles were with a supercharger, and all of those miles were aggressive driving and HPDE track events. I think that's a pretty good reliability record for the amount of abuse that engine took.