I have been reading many threads for the past few weeks on 13b swaps people have done from the n/a s4 to the REW ones. So for some background on what I would like for the car and what I already know I need to buy.

-13b(obviously)
-thinking bridgeport, semi pp, balanced e shaft, ???
-single turbo(not sure which one yet)
-haltech ecu
-12a front plate
-SE oil pan

Things not completely sure about besides the ones stated above

-trans???
-which 13b

Overall just some general things to look out for when planning for this. Also from what i can tell there’s a lot of different things based on which motor I pick. So I would like to do REW but if it’s going to be substantially more to do it then i’ll go with a different one. But anything would help! Also some power numbers would be nice as well I know there’s going to be differences depending on what’s done to the motor and turbo set up and everything but anything would help. Also if anyone has any price points roughly or like ballpark ranges would be nice as well.

Honestly like I said any feed back or recommendations or anything would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.

 

how much power do you want? i realize part of it is the engine you find/buy, but narrowing things down helps

putting a 13B in the FB is basically the same for everything, you need the GSL-SE oil pan, some 74-85 front cover, and the front mount bar thing (Front Engine Mount for 12A to 13B RX-7 Engine Conversion - Racing Beat). if you have an 83-85 car you also need to add an oil cooler, and most people would use an FC cooler, although there are options.

Mazda basically uses 2 clutches, the NA and the turbo. if you keep the FB transmission you need to use the NA size clutch and flywheel

the 13B is longer than the 12A, so the intake and exhaust manifolds change too, but if you're going turbo that changes with the turbo.

 

I was thinking about this the other day and didn't end up posting. With how much easier/cheaper it is to get 13B housings this conversion makes too much sense.

Would there be a noticeable change in performance/smoothness going from a 12a carb n/a build (stock port) to a 13B mild streetport with a Weber? Mainly looking for low end torque for just cruising/daily driving.

 

honestly i’m not too sure about numbers since I haven’t really seen many numbers being thrown around too often. You hear about the high horsepower big builds and the standard lower ones but not too many(obviously i haven’t looked hard enough) in the middle. Would you happen to have some numbers you could throw at me?

 

well a stock FC non turbo engine is ~150hp
an FC turbo engine is ~200hp, stock
the turbo engines get up to ~280hp with bolt on stuff pretty easily, and larger turbo is 350-400hp.

a full bridgeport turbo is 450-550hp, peripheral port turbo ~800

so pretty much anything is possible, its just a matter of budget and what you want. IMO 150hp would be really fun, and 300hp starts to get very serious and its not really fun anymore

 

so could i get in that 400-500 range on an fc motor? also roughly what would i be looking price wise like a ballpark number?

 

actually what would a street port semi pp single turbo get me power wise roughy? obviously I know it’s not going to be exact.

 

Japanese way would be 5 new housings, 2 rotors. full bridge port. big turbo (T51/GT42) and about 20psi. injectors, fuel pump, ecu, clutch. T2 transmission (or something). intercooler...

it could be done for ~15k

 

hopes and dreams.. . do more reading get your game plan and set your budget and X that by 2 ... ... look into carbs this way u could do everything yourself

 

Just...why that much power? The 1st gen chassis is sketchy at half that power level. I can't imagine driving such a light car with such loose steering at 500 wheel HP.

 

400 hp in a modern sports sedan is very manageable. 400 hp in a 40 yo design chassis, showing it's age, won't be much fun on the street. Not for long anyway.

 

is it reasonable to do things in stages? like would i be able to start with a single turbo street port and then later down the road go semi pp as well?

 

sure, people do it like that all the time.

 

how much would just a street port single turbo run me price and hp wise.

 

without specifics, it's impossible to say. (who's doing the work? what turbo? fuel? etc.)

in my opinion, your best course of action would be get a running engine, install it, then run it stock in order to set up the car (sort out the bugs and gremlins). as was mentioned earlier in the thread, you can go pretty far without porting, just a fresh engine.

at some point down the road, you can start with bolt-ons and tuning, then if it still doesn't satisfy you, you can throw porting into the mix.