kayaker43

I used the Ford Escort distributor on my 2.5 frankenmotor with EJ22 heads and dual Weber IDF carbs. It was fitted into a long travel buggy. I had to fuss with the slots and I think file the drive tang a little. The slot in the cam and the tang don't have the same offset from the centerline but there is some float so the tang can slide on a pin. To me this is a bad situation because every revolution causes the drive tang to shuffle in the slot and on the pin. Expect high wear here. I ended up using an aftermarket cam which did not have a drive slot so I was able to machine the drive slot to fit correctly. It runs best with 15 degrees of initial advance but that causes too much total advance so I need to limit that. The Escort used a couple different versions of the TFI module and the one I got had the bastard first year TFI that was only made for one year and has issues. I bought up 4 of the modules on ebay and in stores and every single one was dead. I ended up adapting a GM HEI module with good results. I carry a spare cap, rotor and HEI module for trailside repairs. Still looking for a programmable digital ignition that doesn't cost $500. Right now I have a great engine that runs with just a few wires and a fuel line including a one wire alternator. It would be a shame to add a complex computer to something this simple.

Thanks for the ideas. Planetary hubs would add far too much unsprung weight to this ultralight buggy. Its a mid engine 2WD so what you guys call the front diff is really my rear and only diff. The rear wheels are driven off what used to be the front axles. Engineering wise,.. it all works out great. My only problem is getting a dual range transaxle to the US at a reasonable cost. The JDM supply chain brings us low mileage parts cheaply and they have the shipping worked out too so If I knew DR gearboxes were used in Japan and could come up with a trans code life would be good. Shipping 100 lbs or so from Australia or Europe would be much more expensive but I haven't ruled it out. Its just hard to convince someone to go through the trouble

My vehicle is a long travel mid engine dune buggy with 34 inch rear tires. I'm building a 2.5 Frankenmotor for max torque. We use this for trail riding and not wide open sand dunes, I will convert the transaxle to 2 wheel drive. I am now shopping for a 5 speed tranasaxle but am concerned about the gearing with extra large tires. The best I can do without dual range is to select a 5mt trans with 4.44 gearing and 3.454 first gear, I am afraid first will still seem too tall and we won't have a slow enough speed to crawl over logs or other trail obstacles. Also we just don't need a high top speed. The choices are,.... An older phase 1 four bolt EA dual range trans with 1.59 low range and 3.9 final drive. I will need to re-drill the flywheel and use an adapter plate for the 2.5 motor. A phase 2 eight bolt EJ dual range with 1.19 low range an 4.11 final drive. No adapter plate needed. I can make either choice work if I can get my hands on a decent transaxle at a reasonable price. The older EA units are available in the US from early 90's cars so they are usually pretty worn out. The later EJ style dual range is only available in other markets which makes them hard to get and expensive. The one possible exception is the very active JDM market but I'm not sure if they have dual range there? I called several JDM importers and they either wanted to know exactly what make/model/year it fits or better yet the transmission code. I found a half dozen nice transmission charts showing codes, gear ratios final drives etc. but with absolutely no mention of dual range. I need more specific info on which trans codes or which USDM or JDM cars used them. I'm not even sure if a year/model is enough because I suspect the dual range was only an option? Any help is appreciated.