Man an S2000 engine would be awesome. What people are doing is putting K24 blocks with Acura Type-S heads on them mated to an S2000 tranny and is much faster and has loads more torque than the S2000 engine alone. Buddy did this minus the tranny in his RSX. Its fast. No turbo and it doesn't sound like a honda at all. Smooth nice tone.

We use to play with these cars. Very popular cars at ralling in Europe.

Use to put an Opel 3.0L straight six, or Ascona 400 model 2.4L

They are good to drive and stupitly fast..

well, i pulled the original motor/tranny today so i could measure the bay to see what will fit, not so good! the sr20 det nissan is nearly 3" wider than the chassis rails with all the bits bolted on so that isnt happening, the s2000 will fit easy width ways as no turbo etc but is 2" taller than the hood when shut and i really didnt want a hood bulge, if i go the ls route i know that little monocoque shell will twist like a pretzel with the torque if i dont put a frame under it! i really wanted to keep it light and agile but it seems a frame and 9" is a better option then i can beat the snot out of it without breaking stuff, just means the build will take longer than i wanted, it seems crazy that a 5.7 v8 fits easier than a 2 litre 4 banger!! i think a lot more planning and measuring is in order before i jump in with the sawzall!

I would think if you went the S2000 engine route you could just do a really wide nonchalant rise in the hood. Follow some of the stock lines. I know you don't want a bulge but as long as it looks clean and and factory most people won't notice. I have done it on a few cars.

Very cool build, how about a GM Ecotech, or a Ford 2.3L there is a company out there making lots of power from the Fords.

i wanted an ecotec first, especially a solstice turbo and trans, but they are very hard to get especially up here, also, there is only one company i found that can wire one to run the direct injection and that is 2 grand on its own! i had also thought of the saab turbo motors which are essentially the same as ecotecs but hard to get rear drive trans, europeans have more choice though and i even thought of importing a few as spares, i am in the process of getting dimensions of a brand new 3.6 llt and 6 speed auto from a 2010 camaro, this would be different and 300hp would scoot pretty well in a 2100lb car!

What about going with a Volvo motor? You've got lots of options for transmission, heads, and internals they're easy to come by in the yards.

The older "redblock" engines have cast iron blocks and aluminum heads. They can be had with either two or four valves per cylinder.

If you want something more modern, then you can go with a "whiteblock", which is all aluminum with four valves per cylinder. They come as four, five, or six cylinders.

i did think about a volvo motor as originally i wanted to build a p1800, but couldnt find a suitable car then the manta came my way, from memory i thought the 5 and 6 cylinder motors are too tall for my fitment without a hood bulge, only have about 22-23" max above crossmember and rack, i know they make decent power,

What about a Cobalt SS motor? Is the FWD variant that much different than the RWD found in the Soltice/Sky that adding the trans later would be difficult? I'm just thinking of ways to increase your available options for motors.

A V6 would be cool unless you have to deal with direct injection in order to get one that makes power. Ford EcoBoost maybe?

cobalt ss motors are similar, but not widely available up here, and it is hard to get rwd trans, there are not many solstice/skye in wreckers yet,