Duratec clearance

[Anonymous]

I've only got about 1.75" of ground clearance beneath the sump of my Duratec engine. Tom solved the problem with a Raceline wet sump. Any other suggestions?
I made a couple of sets of mounts to allow me to use the side markers in place of the turn signals. It turns out that they hit the fenders when the wheels are turned to full lock. If anyone wants them let me know. I can e mail pictures They should work fine with the flared wings.

[magnusfeuer]

I don't know the format of the Duratec, so this is just speculation from my side.

I assume that you have adjusted the ride height, in case you have adjustable spring platforms.

If there is clearance between your hood and engine, you could raise the engine a bit by modifying the engine mounts (spacers?). You will probably also need a small spacer between the gearbox mounting rubber and the chassis plate it is mounted on. This operation will alter the angle between the diff flange and the propshaft, but not enough to make any difference. Your shift lever will come up a tiny bit as well.

The main drawback with this one would be that you would raise your center of gravity, an action that sends shudders of fear among all seven owners.

I would bite the bullet and go for a raceline sump.

/Magnus F.

[Scott E]

I have a Duratec 2.3 with the Raceline pan. Adjustible front springs, the lower A arms parallel to the ground, and 15 inch wheels allows 3 3/8 in. clearance in front and 3 3/4 in. at the back of the pan. My around town driving is almost worry free. I've only scraped the pan once while going over a large hump in a driveway. Get the optional oil pan and save yourself all the work of modifying your engine's height. The oil filler cap clears the bonnet by only a couple of mm. as is. However, My engine uses a cartridge oil filter, and its cap sits maybe 1/2 below the pan. Installations with the 2.0 Duratec that I've seen use twist on filters that hang lower. Two I've seen also use the Raceline oil filterhousing adapter to turn the filter, virtically 90 degress, up and out of the way.

Tom? Chris? You have 2.0's. What's your take on the issue?

[Elv15]

Duratec sumps

I have a 2.0L with both the raceline wet sump and the raceline 90' oil filter adaptor. Both are well made. FWIW, the bellhousing is the lowest point - being level with the sump. The dry sump pan is shallower, but the bellhousing is still lower.

I have ~83mm clearance below the wet sump.

Raceline is supposedly also working on a new low profile cam cover which should help quite a bit. As you mentioned the oil fill cap is the highest point on the motor. With the revised cam cover I suspect this fill cap will be moved to the rear where there is more room.

Cheers,

Tom

[Anonymous]

thanks

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll go for the Raceline wet sump. I too think the price will be offset by not having the hassles of fiddling with the ride height, and the motor mounts. I made my own remote oil filter setup, so that will not be a problem.

[moosetestbestanden]

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, soooo...

http://home.comcast.net/~chris.carter4/WetSump.jpg

As you can see, I've got a problem. I've never touched the ride height from the build and I'm running 13s. This is the other reason (besides the obvious one) why I'm dry-sumping the car, although I reckon the dry sump won't improve this condition too much. I intend to diddle w/ the ride height n stuff sometime over this winter while corner-weighting the car. That will be part and parcel of a suspension / handling project although the car really feels great, at least as far as I've been willing and able to push it on the public roadways. I've got a woody for the Freestyle track suspension too, so eventually I'll have to do it all again. But the dry sump comes 1st.

Tom and I have the same condition in that the bellhousing is effectively the lowset point, although my pan like Scott's slopes slightly down from back to front. And quite low it is, too. I have room up top though so perhaps at some point - likely after I've found a (legal) way to get enough dough to build The Really Wild Motor - I'll probably try to source some different motor mounts (Tom? Just kidding!) too.

Amazingly, and luckily, I haven't had too many scrape-o's, yet...

[Roll a 7]

You are definitely "living dangerously" with the sump :!: Big thumbs up on Freestyle; and great guys to talk 7s :!: