Four cylinder rwd engines.

Offy?

In reply to ShawnG :

Thought about that. But WAY more than i'd like to spend. 

In reply to T.J. :

You are correct. If you look at the front of the tractor, there are small weights on the front. We can add or subtract those weights to try and keep the front end down. We just can't go over the 1450 weight limit.Ideally the front end comes up a little during a pull. Too high, and the wheelie bars hit, and that will unload the rear tires. 

Find some old guy with old IMSA iron Duke parts.

In reply to Knurled. :

The weight isn't so much the restriction. The big thing I didn't add, is that all the tractors use a 26x12x12 tire. Not sure if you could get that much power hooked up. 

The Duratec/MZR from most modern Fords can be RWD with a ranger or Miata trans.  Good power is being made from the 2.5s, there are a bunch in any junkyard for cheap.   How about the 2.7 that was in Toyota Tacoma's?  

The early 80s postal jeep 2.5 in my shed would be just about perfect.  Plenty of mercruiser upgrades available, cheap, and regular SBC bolt pattern on the back. 

Otherwise, what are the transmission limitations for the class? If you could get something to work with an old dynaflo that 5-stage torque converter might be awesome in something like this. 

JBinMD said:

zilla916 said:

In reply to JBinMD :

Well for me personally, it would be price first, availability second. I would think a broad torque curve would benefit over peak power or torque. 

I think the 2.9L GM vortec LLV would fit the bill.  

That's the answer. Very stout motors that make decent power stock and take lot's of boost.

Whatever they've  named the turbo 4s available in new Camaros and Mustangs. There was a full take out Mustang one on Chicago Craigslist. ECU, turbo, cat, wiring harness, etc...for $1,500. That's a ton of potential.

In reply to zilla916 :

That Lima thingy is actually a pretty strong contender. Not sure if you can still call it underrated, but it was definitely better than people gave it credit for when Ford was still using it in cars.

QR25DE from a Frontier, but its neither strong or reliable. 

Stick with the 2.3 Lima. There's a reason they have stayed so popular for this kind of stuff. They are strong chunks of cast iron with a fairly large aftermarket 

Mazda F2T with some b2200 transmission.

Zetec can use old 4 speeds from Pintos and the like. Usually the bellhousing uses the lower bolt holes near the head of the Lima. The T-5 uses the upper ones on the Lima block. The Zetec only has the lower ones. You could mill a half the flange thickness off the bellhousing and use a plate of that thickness and cover the two sets of bolt holes. All of the information I have, which isnt a lot but I have personally done it, is that the clutch and flywheel bits from the transmission will work on both engines.

The CVH, Kent, XFlow, SPI and probably other older than Zetecs should all be mostly the same bolt pattern.

Duartec are different but you can run a 01+ Ranger or MZR Miata transmission.

Mercedes 2.3 supercharged M111 from W202 or W203 can be converted to turbo and make decent power

Toyota Tacoma 2.7?

honda k series? can be mated to miata, bmw or nissan cd09 trans

There are turbo Ecotec's build for drag racing putting down four digit HP numbers.  I'd look at whatever those guys are doing.  Seems like a great application for a traditional automatic like a TH350 since you can stand against the converter at the line and have boost built and ready to go. 

The factory turbo Ecotecs (LNF) are capable of 400 bhp+ without going inside the engines and 500whp+ and 400 wtq with some reliability mods and even larger turbos. The torque is artificially limited by programming in the lower gears so that it  doesn't just break the tires free. The torque is all there from around 2000 rpm. The RWD versions came in Solstice and Sky.

You'd need a beefy transmission for those larger output  engines though.

wspohn said:

The RWD versions came in Solstice and Sky.

I believe they used the Colorado manual transmission

dropstep said:

Stick with the 2.3 Lima. There's a reason they have stayed so popular for this kind of stuff. They are strong chunks of cast iron with a fairly large aftermarket 

This this this.

No sense using a finely whetted scalpel where a simple bludgeon will do.

It should be a crime nobody has mentioned Nissan SR20's. 

https://www.mazworx.com/

In reply to Patientzero :

You can buy like ten Limas for one SR20, and the Lima is a stronger engine.

Mazda's 2.3 from the Mazdaspeed3/6 is already a turbo. FWD but I hear they bolt up to a Mazda transmission. I imagine they're relatively affordable now. The early cars are more than a decade old. 

In reply to spandak :

They are very expensive used because they have a habit of chucking rods, or splitting blocks.  Or throwing timing chains.

When the Focus RS came out, the Mazdaspeed community instantly went into looking into how many 2.3 Ecoboost parts could work as upgrades for the Mazdaspeed engine, since rods were like $30 each, blocks cheap, etc.  They are both derivatives of the Ford Duratec/Mazda L engine.

Peabody here said:

wspohn said:

The RWD versions came in Solstice and Sky.

I believe they used the Colorado manual transmission

I might be pulling this out of my ass, but I'm pretty sure they used the Corvette transaxle, because parts bin engineering.  Might be a lie...