So I just got my 85gs and want to put my engine from my 82. Do I need to put the same tranny in too? Also how do I mount the different oil cooler. And is there anything I need to know before I begin?

I got the 85 gs for $250 and its nice.

 

Awesome you picked it up!!! I thought I told you to call me!!!! Skank!

What oil cooler you got now. The beehive or the Front Mount

 

Use which ever tranny is in the best shape. Use the front mount oil cooler. I don't know if you will need to modify the mounts or not. Don't change the flywheel between the engines.

 

I have the frount mount on my running engine, so swap that over to the 85?

 

Yes, swap the FMOC over. One the '82, the oil cooler sits under the rad. The '85 has a taller rad and not really a space to mount the oil cooler underneath. The easiest option would be to swap the rad and the FMOC from the 82 into the 85. The other option is to maybe use longer lines and mount in front of the rad. A GSL-SE oil cooler and lines would work better for mounting in front of the rad, though.

 

But the 85 has a brand new radiator. So I can't mount the FMOC under it? I'd have to try and mount it infront of it with longer oil lines or use the 82s radiator?

 

i have the same setup in my car 85 with 82 setup and the only way i got it to work was to buy the 82 rad. and then you can mount the oil cooler under it unless you can fab a way to mount it in front in witch case you'd have to find longer lines, or in front of rad. then you'd have to make sure that its securely mounted and wont slide forward and hit the fan....you would also have to remove the fan shroud....dont you just love front mount?! unless you use the beehive in witch case ive heard nothing good about....everyones allways going front mount....its a nice setup, although i dont remember how many miles the 82 engine had on it sooo, that sucks....good luck!!

:AA:



EDIT: i see that you live in east bay ca? what city? i live in whitter ca, if you dident see that already....lol

 

oh and dont worry about the 82 rad not fitting, it bolts right up!....
as far as the trans. use witchever you want....although id use the best of the two, i saw that this was previously stated....

 

no matter which trans you use, you will have to use the 82 starter. The gear is diffrent and the 85 starter will not engage on an 82 flywheel.

 

Wrongo. If that was true about the starters, I'd never have been able to use an '86+ starter on my '74 ribcase tranny. I only had to remove some casting flash inside the bellhousing. '79 to '85 trannies don't have this minor inconvenience.

Any 1st gen starter should fit just fine with any 1st gen tranny. The flywheel ring gear diameter and tooth count is the same on NA engines from '74 to '92 (including 12A turbo). The starters have different tooth counts and shapes and sizes, but they all pretty much work with only a minor mod if using '74-'78 ribcase trannies.

One note about the 1st gen trannies. If possible, try to use the '82 tranny. It's got larger teeth on the gears. My friend's '82 tranny has over 100k miles on it and is still going strong even with a streetported 13B 4 port and a Camden 5" supercharger. Infact, he sold the car but kept the engine, tranny etc and put them into another 1st gen and it's still holding up very well. It doesn't even grind when he shifts it mad quick yo.

If you need more convincing, read peejay's site. http://www.geocities.com/izzmus/trans/trans.html

One more thing. I had the luxury of comparing two RX-7 trannies recently. One was suspected to be an '81-'83. The other was from a 2nd gen. Both removed from cars and sitting in my garage. I took off both drain plugs, looked inside, and could just barely see a difference in the 5th gear's teeth. I poked a medium slotted screwdriver into the hole and marveled at how the early tranny's gear would cradle the tip of the screwdriver, while the 2nd gen's teeth were so small that they did not.

As it turns out, the early tranny is most likely an '81 or '82 and definitely has the big gear teeth. It made my day. You owe it to yourself to check yours.

 

All I know is that when I first bought my car which is an 84, it had an 82 motor. It needed a starter so I bought a new one for an 84 and it fit right in with no probs. I went to start it and the starter would not engage with the flywheel. I went back and traded it for a 82 starter and put it in and it started right up. I compared the 2 starters side by side and the gears were diffirent. I mean just by experience of trial and error, I relized the 84 starter would not work with my 82 motor.

 

I have. Im using FB starter in my RX-3's SP tranny.

 

^^^ Jeff
Quick question I havent had time to read all of PJ's page but arent the flywheels different sizes on the 81-82 then the 83 +. Isnt dosnt one have a 215mm flywheel and the other a 225mm flywheel so wouldn't they require different starters?

Opps I gues Mazda12AGS just went over that.

 

It is just the clutch surface that is different. You can interchange starters. I have interchaged between the '80 I had, the '82 engine that went in the '80, and my current '84 GSL-SE. No problems. The gear on the starter did have different number of teeth, though.

 

I want you to take an 84 starter and an 82 starter, put them side by side and compare them. The are diffirent. Not only by looks, but when you go to order one they are diffirent part numbers.

 

Yes, as I said, the number of teeth are different. They do have different part numbers. They did exchange between the different setups for me. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. He should have both available, so he might as well you the '82 starter with the '82 engine.

 

i just put an 82 starter im my 85 the other day and it worked fine..

 

I dunno maybe i just had the one fucked up engine in the world, But when I swaped my motor with an 84 motor after the 82 blew up. The brand new 82 starter would not work. It doesn't really matter anyways because like said he has both starters. I would just use the 82 starter so you don't run into problems.

 

Mazda12AGS, yeah, your situation may have been totally unique. I've currently got an '86 starter in my MG Midget along with a '74 ribcase tranny and a Racing Beat light steel flywheel and 215mm disc and pressure plate. That starter also interfaced perfectly with my heavy stock REPU flywheel when it was temporarily in there before I got the light steel flywheel.

My GLC currently has an '86 starter, 225mm disc and pressure plate, light steel flywheel, and a '76 Cosmo 5 speed. I'm about to change it over to a '78 RX-4 5 speed for the taller 1st and 2nd gears and also so my Cosmo can go from a crappy automatic to a genuine Cosmo 5 speed. It's a heavy car with a tall geared rear diff (3.636 I think) so the shorter 1st and 2nd should help acceleration. I'm also considering a GSL-SE flywheel since it accepts a 225mm disc and has more mass than a light steel, but less than a stock Cosmo or RX-4 flywheel. It should be a nice happy medium.

Like Kent said, the 215mm vs 225mm size differences describe clutch diameter and matching pressure plates. They aren't really interchangeable. The light steel flywheel can be used with either clutch size as long as you purchase the longer bolts and spacer kit from Racing Beat or Mazdatrix if using 225mm components.

He should use whichever starter cranks the fastest. Heh.

 

I agree on the thing about whichever cranks the fastest and who knows maybe it was just mine, but when I saw this I didn't want anyone else to have to go though the same problem and nightmare that i did just to get there car started.