My friend knows a neighbor who totaled his SE. The drive train isnt really in bad shape at all, somebody just backed INTO his door panel! The whole door is smashed to hell and so is part of the frame on the side. Anyways, i know that people do rear end swaps all the time and that they are fairly easy. My question is the front wheels. How hard are they to swap out. Will the sterring linkages meet correctly? The reason im asking is that the person is parting the car, said he would give me the parts in question for $200. This wouldnt be a huge upgrade, but i would have a HELL of alot easier time finding rims and, to my knowlege, arnt the disc brakes slightly larger? Anyways, is this feasable? Im curious because didnt all SE's in the states have power steering. If so, wont that make hooking the sterrign up a bitch.

 

Get it, that is a steal.

Larger Brakes, 4.11 Rear LSD.

Steering is not an issue, bolt your GSL tie rod ends to the SE spindle. Bolt the SE strut assembly to your strut tower. Bolt your lower control arm to the SE spindle assembly. hook up brake line. DONE!

Did I miss anything?

 

BTW not all SE have Power Steering.

and if you do not want to do it I will pay you $400 plus shipping for the stuff!

And see if he'll sell me his tranny.

 

$300 and its yours...

 

Well if you can get that to Texas I would buy it.

 

if you're putting it on your '84 (checked your profile ) then all you have to do is swap the rotors, backing plates, and calipers... the strut housings are the same. 'Course it can't hurt to have extra parts lying around

 

How hard is that peejay? Can any car savoy person do it? My friend said he would help me. He just got a 65 Mustand and is working on it, got the jacks and stuff. The rearend swap is easy to right? Just a few bolts and brake lines..o...do the e-brake and brake lines on the rear match up?

 

All depends on one's notion of car savvy.

Rear axle should just be a remove and replace job, since you're starting with an '84. I dunno about the E-brake cables (to be safe, grab 'em... after all, can't have too many spare parts) but the lines should match.

http://www.mazspeed.com/axel.htm Hmm... that's right, you don't even need to pull the housing, the axles themselves are interchangeable between '84-85 GSL models and GSL-SE, because the housings are the same. (You'll need the brakes too, of course) This way is probably just as difficult as swapping the entire housing, though, because unless you want to run tires the same diameter as 12A cars, you will want to get the 4.11 gear centersection, too. Mazda put the 4.11's in there to counteract the effect of having taller tires on the -SE - the driveshaft turns per mile is the same for a 12A and an -SE.

 

So would that mean the Speedometer cable / MPH Gearing on the instrument cluster is the same on the GSL and SE's, since basically the turning diameter is the same for both with the stock rims and tires?

I am not sure (whipping out the calculator...)

GSL - Stock - 185/70/HR13 Rear End - 3.909
SE - Stock - 205/60/HR14 Rear End - 4.076

These Numbers are according to the 85 RX-7 Brochure by the way....
1985 RX-7 Sales Brochure and Specs

Tire Size Comparisons

When I compare the two sizes on the link above, I get a difference of 2.10 %

GSL Gear Ratio 3.909 + 2.10% (.082089) = 3.98718
That's not 4.076.

The difference in Rear Ends is 4.27219%
GSL 3.909 + 4.27219% = GSLSE - 4.076 ratio.

So, even when you remove the 2.10% Tire size advantage from the SE,

4.27219 - 2.10 = 2.17219+

So the SE has a 2.17219% advantage over a GSL when they are both using the stock Rims and Tires.

Got a headache?

I do!

 

LINK TO SWAP WRITE UP FROM SCC

 

2 percent is nothin... going uo or down one tooth on the speedometer cable gear will be greater than that. Likewise, that's less than the difference between a new tire and a worn out tire