final drive from car engine

[lardy1]

hi all,i have been looking at the idea of doing a car engined trike,the engine i am thinking of using a ford escort lump,i have seen hadyns bike on you tube,but wasnt sure how to sort out the drive to the back axle...does anyone have any ideas i could use please ,

many thanks,
lardy1

[realnutter]

Hi Lardy...

well.....

the obvious answer is to put the engine between the back wheels, like it was between the front wheels of the Escort....

Or, if you must have it between your legs, dont use the original Escort gearbox.... A Sierra one should fit the Escort motor, with few if any mods (Ford were good like that!)... and then an Escort/Cortina solid back axle, or a Sierra independant rear end...

If you use the FWD Escort gearbox, which has the final drive in it, you'll need to find a 1:1 ratio differential...and I'm afraid they don't exist!

I started going down this route with a diesel bike... didn't need a diff obviously.... but spent ages finding a 1:1 ratio 90degree bevel box..... Eventually sourced from America for a king's ransom! Sadly project got canned and sold for domestic reasons....LOL!

[lardy1]

mmmmmmmm,interesting stuff,i was wondering on the ease of setting up,with the engine in the front,cheers realnutter