I have a 13b-rew with an RX8 jdm 5-pseed. I went that route because with SAs the shifter lines up with the opening. The stock mounting brace can't be modified to work. The two mounting bolts in the picture that are circled in yellow, are about 6 inches behind the tapped holes in the body of the car. There are actually 2 holes on each side. I'm guessing they're for different transmission options from the factory. I'm planning on running 2 square steel tubes back (parallel with the bottom of the car) that are bolted directly to the car. Urethane mounts and spacers would then hold a flat piece of steel

under the transmission and attach to the two large bolts. There is an additional mounting point that I have circled in red on the side of the transmission.

Does anyone know if this side mounting is necessary? I know the FB and FC don't need this. Is this just a more solid design for higher powered cars?

 

This is the mount that Chip fabricated for the RX8 6-speed transmission in my 1980 SA RX7.

Please keep us up to date on your progress.

 

Both sets of studs were for a PPF (Power Plant Frame). It is a frame that runs from the trans to the rear differential bolting the two together in permanent alignment. If you use the RX8 transmission in the SA with the live axle you will need to build a mount using those studs that will bolt to the body. It is your call as to whether you want to use only two of them or utilize all four.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the photo. That is certainly less clunky than what I have in mind but mounts to the frame the same way. It looks like you are directly mounted with no shock absorbing material. Is the vibration excessive?

 

The project is currently still a work in progress. I haven't done any work on my car since it was recovered from Chip's Motorsports (USA).

I suspect there is some sort of rubber bushing between the custom mount and the chassis. I will verify in a few weeks once I get working on my RX7 this spring.

 

Or just use the SA tranny until you decide how to mount this one.

 

I eventually was going to do a 6spd into my 84. I wasn't to worried about the mounting of the transmission, but the electric to mechanical speedo deal. Sounds like there are a couple different brands of devices, but not sure of what one would work with our cables.

 

I already sold it with the engine years ago. I figured it would pop within a few days with over 300 ft-lbs of torque.

 

Does anyone know how high to mount the transmission? Mine still seems like the angle is too extreme. The end of the transmission where the driveshaft meets hasn't cleared the heat shield, but I'm not sure if the heat shield was bent out of position. In the picture, you can see the shifter base is still slightly lower than the cavity. If it were to stay centered, I'd have to remove some of the sheet metal at the rear right of the cavity. I wish I took some measurements before removal.

 

I can't tell from your photo whether your engine is mounted or not.

For my project, the engine/transmission were mounted together as a single unit. This required a custom front engine mount to allow the entire assembly to sit lower than stock. This was necessary to help create additional clearance for the intake system which sits fairly high on a stock 13B Renesis.

 

Yes the engine is mounted and bolted to the transmission. I bought an engine crossmember from Racing Beat that is made to mount the 13B to the 12A subframe. I have GSL-SE suspension but I forgot to remove the subframe to add to this car so I had to purchase that bracket. Anyway, it looks to be in just about the same position as yours. I do need to weight down the front as it's just the short block and no radiator, battery, hood, front bumper...etc. That will help a little bit with the angle.

 

I forgot to mention that the 13B Renesis assembly in my project car is physically longer than the 13B-REW that you are using. The internal combustion volume is the same, however the Renesis side exhaust ports utilize a thicker front and rear plate. This required a custom mounting bracket as well as a custom oil pan.

 

I've completed making a mount. It took a while using a hobby cnc mill. I'm wondering if there are any engineers that could tell me if this is safe or not. The aluminum arms are 6061, 1.25" thick and 2" wide. The crossmember is 3/8" stainless.