Buying tips for a 20b powered '81 please!
 

Greetings -

I have been offered a 1981 rx7 that has a 20b motor in it.

Are there any specific checks I need to do or things I need to specifically look for in regards to the body, suspension & brakes, electrical system and interior?

I have a suitably experienced rotary engine mechanic for motor, gearbox and engine wiring issues.

Any and all help or advice will be appreciated, thank you!:nod:

Johannesburg, South Africa.

Everyone here is going to say they wish they were you and to buy it right away before somebody else does. As for your questions about engine, electrical etc, it's a custom job to get the engine in there so it honestly doesn't matter at this point as the work's already been done. If it was a hack job, the next mechanic that works on it might complain a little, and recommend fixing things that were done wrong, but that's something you won't need to worry about until an issue comes up. So I say in the mean time, enjoy it! Who knows, it may always run perfect. :)

Thanks alot Jeff20B, I'm holding thumbs!

The vehicle belongs to a chap who, after having enough of the conversion take more than a couple of years and 1 triple bypass surgery later, overheard me talking about my 13bt powered 71 Beetle project and simply came over for a chat. Long story short, the mechanic has promised to have the car dyno'd before month end and in my possession by the 1st.

Would you mind very much if I occassionally came to you for advice?

Jozi, South Africa.

Do you have pics?

I'm going to see the car on the weekend, pics will follow.

So I have finally got my grubby little paws on the car and it's a BEAST!!!

Unfortunately My work firewall has blocked access to Photobucket.

Is there not an 'upload from drive' option?

Once you click on "Post reply" scroll down below the state icons and you'll see "manage attachments" that brings up a new window where you can browse for the pics and upload them. See screenshot:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1342706650

Got it thanks 82transam!

I have to resize the images before I can post them, Ill do it a little later on!

Finally!

mmmm, me likey. What rearend is it running? Do you know what kind of power it's making?

Delete post :P

Very nice car. Looks like it will go like stink. Any plans...future ugrades etc???

Not a big fan of the yellow, but that is a real pretty engine bay. Do post the dyno specs, I am sure some of the other guys here besides me are dying to see what it can pull.

Awesome car, congrats. I'm also interested in what she pulls, and some smaller specs like the rear end, turboed, ported, aftermarket parts and things of that nature

Thanks for the responses and the encouragement !

The drive train is still standard so I'll rein the motor in at around 320kw, apparently it has easily made over 760hp with really low boost but I haven't seen those hardcopy results...

It has been on the dyno twice and done 3 runs at Tarlton Raceway in a race body where it ran under 11 sec without the guys having dialled it in properly before it was transplanted into the street car.

The lump has been streetported and doweled with uprated apex seals and injectors, full cooler setup and obviously has a monster turbo! It was built by a chap called Kobus Kruger who is a legend and 1/4 mile record holder over here to take the national record back about 18 months ago in a tit for tat game from another legend, Arthur Joubert who incidentally holds the current record, 8:095sec (I think this is the correct link to the video: Fastest Rotary in South Africa 17 June 2012 Tarlton - YouTube) so I know it is built strong. It will be tuned by the same guy, Pieter Lombard, who tunes the ute in the video clip. It goes in on Monday so we'll have to wait and see what happens there...

Future plans? Not much on the motor side of things, definite plans to upgrade the drive train to put more power to the deck, a little suspension upgrade, brakes have already been upgraded to monster Braggio calipers and discs.

Cosmetically, debadging, a body kit and a vinyl sticker mini wrap of lots of rotors of varying sizes. I will have the interior totally redone in black leather, racing seats, the roll cage will be coated with black Hammercoat and I'm looking at going 19" on rim size.

Any and all suggestions, help or advice is appreciated!

Correction, it ran a 9!

Update:

I am collecting the yellow beast - aka Doctor Allcome - tomorrow morning and taking it to my tuner at last!

It needs a new battery, plug leads and an engine oil fill up, ecu has to be connected to coils etc and then it's onto the dyno!

So, not far from running on the road then, hopefully only a couple of weeks tops...

Awesome! Looking forward to some more pics

My tuner took a look and then presented me with a huge quote for basically a full fuel delivery system which the previous owner neglected to tell me was way under spec.

Also critical is a diff upgrade, the standard diff will apparently fail on the first ride.

Now to find the money!

I'd ask your tuner to see charts so you can see what your AFRs are. I'd also post up a list of specific parts he is telling you to swap, along with what parts you currently have and what he's planning to install.

Also, the life of the stock diff will depend on a few things: it's current condition(go ahead and swap in quality fluid), how much torque you're putting out, and mainly how you're putting that torque down. If you are side stepping the clutch, then yes, it probably won't last long at all, but if you are driving it modestly and not stomping it then it should be fine until you get an upgrade.

You never posted the power output, just an assumption of 320 kW. If that's the case, and it's running around stock boost levels, then 320 kW may be a little optimistic. Also, in one sentence you say it's stock, and the next you say it makes 760 HP on low boost, that doesn't seem logical. There's a BIG difference between 320 kW and 760 HP. For comparison, 320 kW is approximately 430 HP.

I think some people may be messing with you. Get it on a dyno so you know where you are, then go from there.