Been asked by a mate if theres an easy way (read cheap, ok cheap ish) to mate a type 9 to a zetec blacktop.

He wants the smallest bell housing there is. So that the engine is as far back as possible and as close to the gear box as possible.


He does understand that it may mean a shorter input shaft on the gearbox but that doesnt bother him, as if he needs gearbox work done, it'll be an excuse to go to an ally case on that and save a few kilo at the same time.

[Edited on 10/7/13 by adithorp]

I thought Type 9 was almost a bolt-on application for a zetec.

Yep, just bolts right on. I've done it three times now so am fairly confident on that

you need a CT133 (i think) release bearing, and a capri (i think) spigot bearing and you're off. I'm no wizard with the tools and chose it as it was an easy option for decent power.

Sorry I wasn't clear...

It's more about getting it as short as possible. He currently has a zetec black top mated to a BGH E8 type9 gear box
and a steel capri or sierra bellhousing (starter motor is under the exhaust side of the engine). He's looking for a way to get the engine back a bit.


.

The RS2000 bellhousing was ally i believe, so possible for a homebrew shortening job? it also allows the starter to be located on either side if i recall.....

I thought the bell houses were largely the same depth, just some with different materials and/or starter positions. Its just the v6 ones being slightly larger to mount to the larger engine?
I have nothing to back the above up, just the assumption made on the fact ive never seen it mentioned anywhere about different sizes(lengths) of bell housing.

[Edited on 10-7-13 by loggyboy]

The size of the bellhousing is really determined by the size of the flywheel. I don't think there is anything significantly smaller than the standard one, the RS2000 one is actually a bit wider if anything due to the extra lump on the side.

To get the engine gearbox further back you will need to loose a bit of passenger footwell, or whichever side the starter motor is located.

So type 9 its definatly the passenger footwell if right hand drive, depending on the car or chassis this could be a lot of work but could give you plenty inches.

As said earlier the flywheel is the limit on the gearbox and ali bellhouse units are just lighter but worse with a lump each side.

You can't shorten the input shaft unless you can cut splines
Another limiting factor is the clutch cover depth
You could use the standard clutch release bearing and cut the bellhousing back and reweld the mounting face but you would only save 8mm
You can cut the starter motor bulges off and push the whole lot back a few inches
Otherwise its footwell and tunnel mods