Crazy idea but what if ......

[hat_man]

So, my over active imagination gets to exercise on the 60 minute boring ride home every day and this crazy idea started bouncing around in all that empty space.

I am restoring a 1977 Triumph TR7 and have been contemplating engine swaps. I'm not looking for an extreme FE car but I want something different. The GM LS swap has been done to death. So, on with the crazy idea.

Would it even be possible to take a mid engine RWD set up and move the engine to the front and leave the transmission in the rear? Ending up with something like the newer Corvette set up with the transmission connected to the engine via a torque tube.

In my warped pipe dream I was seeing the V4 from an Alfa Romeo 4C in the front of my little Triumph and the mated transmission in the rear.

Physically, I'm sure it wouldn't fit, but would it even be possible? Is there anything other than money that stops someone from doing this? If anyone could figure it out, I figured it would be the brain trust here at Ecomodder. Just something to maybe take our minds away from the troubles of the world. Even if only for a few minutes.

[freebeard]

Brain food:
Pontiac Tempest

The Tempest featured a drivetrain with a rear-mounted transaxle[8] that was coupled to a torque shaft arcing in a 3 in (76 mm) downward bow within a curved, longitudinal tunnel. Use of the torque shaft was the result of being forced to use the Corvair floorpan which, being a rear engine platform, had no drive shaft.[4] To combine flexibility with strength in the proper proportion, the shaft was forged of SAE 8660 steel (high nickel, chrome and molybdenum alloying percentages) for torsion bar specifications. For automatic cars, the shaft was 0.65 in (17 mm) in diameter and 87.25 in (2.216 m) long, while the manual-box shaft was 0.75 in (19 mm) by 82 in (2.1 m). This joined the forward engine and the rear transaxle (therefore no transmission hump) into a single unit, helping to reduce vibration.[9] The design, known as "rope drive," had only been seen previously on General Motors' 1951 Le Sabre concept car.[10]

Porsche 924

The original design used an Audi-sourced four-speed manual transmission from a front wheel drive car but now placed and used as a rear transaxle. It was mated to VW's EA831 2.0 L I4 engine, variants of which were used in the Audi 100 and the Volkswagen LT van .... The four-speed manual was the only transmission available for the initial 1976 model, later this was replaced by a five-speed dog-leg unit. An Audi three-speed automatic was offered starting with the 1977.5 model. In 1980, the five-speed transmission was changed to a conventional H-pattern, with reverse now on the right beneath fifth gear.

[rmay635703]

Others have diesel powered Triumphs that look like the total recall cars,
There was a real FE kit conversion available for the Truimph worth a look, several build threads here for it.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...xed-23497.html

[ksa8907]

One of the more rare but completely mundane factory produced vehicle with this setup was the PT Prowler. It had the same drive train as the chrysler LH platform; intrepid, 300m, concorde, lhs.

It was a 3.5l sohc with 4spd automatic, 250hp/tq. It had a front mounted engine and rear mounted transaxle.
Completely doable, you can likely find parts from corvettes since those are the most prevalent vehicles using this setup, it's been that way since at least the c6 I believe, maybe earlier.

[wdb]

Rover V8. Heck even British Leyland did it.

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by hat_man

the newer Corvette set up with the transmission connected to the engine via a torque tube.

This started in 97 with the c5. Not sure if all since have used this layout though.

[ksa8907]

Just to clarify, the chrysler 42le transmission is a transaxle for longitudinal mount. Unfortunately it's not the most efficient transaxle out there and it's a chrysler... but you can pick one up for a few hundred dollars.

These things are cheap as hell, just found some local for $150

[freebeard]

Here's a boxer four ahead of a Porsche 924 transaxle.



I should've put the signboard in frame.

edit: I'd be looking for the 1980 or later five-speed.


https://i.pinimg.com/474x/6b/07/61/6...intage-ads.jpg

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Many production cars actually resorted to this setup. Most were sports cars such as the Porsche 924 or the Nissan GT-R and the Ferrari FF for instance, but even some vehicles with a much more austere drivetrain resorted to it, such as the Gurgel Carajás, which had Volkswagen Dasher engines and a rear transaxle.

[hat_man]

So maybe I'm not as crazy as I thought. I like the fact that there are older cars out there that have this set up. I would guess that with some custom work, a stock mid mount engine could then be moved up front and work with it's mated rear mount transmission. Hmmmm......

A V4 would be a very interesting swap for my Triumph TR7. But $$$$. I'll probably end up going the standard LS swap route for simplicity, but a lightweight, low profile, 4 or 6 cylinder engine with 250ish hp isn't easy to find. Even a 5.3l truck engine, geared correctly, with its low end torque should push a 2500 lb car down the highway to the tune of 30 mpg or so.