I recently bought a 1983 GSL with the intentions of building a moderate street racer. The front end had some slight damage and I was told the car had been in a low speed accident. The right side of the bumper was slightly higher than the left, both fenders and header panel between the headlights were also slightly damaged. No problem since I was planning on using a body kit anyway. The seller said the car had been checked out and no major damage had been incurred.

After removing the front end this weekend I discovered the frame is bent just inside the engine compartment on the right (passenger) side, near where the radiator mounts. Also the area where the bumper "compression mount" is located is pushed in. I am not sure if this can be repaired or not. Any input on this would be appreciated.

 

sounds like it's repairable by a reputable frame shop... could be slightly pricey though. Get an estimate to be sure, as frame damage severity can only be determined by a qualified professional who understands the metallurgy and sciences behind frame construction.

 

Sounds exactly like my frame for my track car. Body guy said its fixable. He cant take on the job cause hes too busy, but he said that it might be a good idea to get the section from another chassis. Take it somewhere and talk to them.

 

Thanks to all who responded. Been quite a while since I was last here....workin toooooo damn much!

Frame shop says they can straighten my frame for $400-$600.....could be worse I guess. ANyway, my next question has to do witha power plant.

This is my 3rd 1st gen, the last one was an '81 GSL, had a Rotary Engineering street ported 12A with dual down-draft Webers, full header exhaust sytem, centerforce clutch, suspension kit, body kit, a 3000 watt stereo and lots of other cool stuff. That was some 17 years ago. Now my son and I are building this one together. We have just about every aspect planned out.....except a power plant. I don't want to take the same route as before...there's no way that engine would be street legal now and I just don't want to have to worry about any legal issues. I'm thinking maybe a 3rd gen 13B Turbo, but I've heard alot of talk that a turbo really reeks havoc on a rotary, especially pertaining to engine life. Any input on this????

I can't say money is no object, but I am willing to spend a bit to get where I want to be.

I'm also interested in changing the interior color to black. Any good used parts sources, preferably in the Seattle/Washington area?

 

get the turbo motor from the 86-91 rx-7 aka Turbo2.

 

why that when he can go with a cosmo 3 rotor 20B turbo

 

because that's not very economical

 

it burns rubber

 

Why the 2nd gen turbo over the 3rd gen? The 2nd gen turbo has 182hp/183ft-lbs (86-88) or 200hp/196ft-lbs (89-92), while the 3rd gen has 255hp/217ft-lbs. The 2nd gen in particular is the one I have heard has a short life span due to the turbo.

Not really interested in a 3 rotor.

 

It's not worth getting a 3rd gen motor. With a few add ons, the 2nd gen turbo motor can be on par with the 3rd gen. It also has better reliability. Another option would be the twin turbo motor from the Japanese Cosmo.

 

but with the same few add ons the 3rd gen motor would be ahead too....or so i think!

 

why not be unique and get a 12A, street ported and drop a camden 7 inch blower on it or maybe even a custom blow thru turbo setup(would make a good father son project)

 

Because the Camden blower is pretty crappy, being based off of the really old Roots designs, before Eaton made some improvmements to it for better efficiency.

2nd gen turbo motor over the 3rd gen is for reasons of complexity and reliability... and also cost. The 2nd gen motors with the single turbos are possible to troubleshoot, easier to set up, etc. The 3rd gen motors have the wacky-assed sequential turbo setup that causes so many nightmares... even in stock form, even in the stock cars.

Upgrades to either will push up the horsepower, it's true. But... you'd be essentially doubling the stock horsepower even without modifications, and turbo upgrades are simpler than porting.

 

The TII motor with upgrades is super fast in the first gen chassis. Plus there is a lot people who have done it already = more support.

Trying to fit the 3rd gen motor with the stock twins might not fit ( I haven't seen or heard of one). But if you have the skills and the patience, you can do anything.

 

Yeah, the TII sounds pretty good. Plus I've already located one in my area. But what about longetivity? As I said, I've not heard good things about this. An acquaintance I have has a TII and says he only got about 80k out of it before rebuild time. Don't know the guy that well and he does seem like kind of a bonehead, so it could have been abuse/neglect. Unfortunately that's about all I have to go on. If anybody out there's got a different view let me know.

 

Just dont dump crazy amounts of boost in, and it should last a good while. Id rebuild the engine, give it a good port job, just do everything that you would do to a race engine that would take high boost, and then bumb the boost up just a little. Itll last.

 

Sounds reasonable. I've never dealt witha turbo so I'm sure I'll learn something. I'll try to get some photos on here soon.

 

I've heard of turbo engines lasting for just as long as a NA engine. The rotary was meant to have a turbo. The exhaust pulses are perfect for running a turbo and they generally accept boost quite well. Rotaries also make just as much torque as other cars with a turbo, but without, their torque sucks.

 

Torque? What is this "torque" that you speak of?