lordglenjamin

just curious to settle an argument with a friend, is it possible to install another engine aside from a rotary in a series 1 RX7? such as a 4cyl turbo or some **** like that?

thanks

Glen

MikeLMR

yes

if you have enough money fitting any engine to any car is possible

peejay

It's possible to do anything you damn well please.

Many people have swapped V8s into RX-7s. It's also apparently popular to swap Ford 2000cc "Pinto" engines, and at least one person stole my idea of putting a (US spec) Ford 2.3l Turbo engine in one. V6 swaps are also done.

I'm sure that somewhere, someday, someone with the right kind of ingenuity will discover that Volvo 240 Diesels have a transmission with the same bolt pattern as VW watercooleds and will swap a VW engine into one. Bets are now being placed as to whether it'd be a 10valve Audi 5-cylinder engine (either turbo or non), a 1.8t 20V, or a clattering worn out 1.5l Diesel (45hp!) whose Dasher body finally disintegrated from rust*.

The RX-7 is a very swap-friendly car because the engine bay is very large. The rotary is much larger than it looks, because it is a very wide engine near the bottom relative to most piston engines. The only car with an engine bay as wide that I can think of is a Subaru with its flat-four engine. (And one enterprising soul took it upon himself to fabricate the necessary adapter and bolt a 13B into his '87 Subaru RX...)

* VW had a very odd habit that they didn't lose until the 80's or thereabouts. They'd affix the carpet to the floor by driving NAILS through the carpet, right into the metal of the floor itself. You can imagine how well that worked as far as corrosion resistance is concerned...

peejay

And usually engine swaps are done due to a lack of funds, IE this car's got a dead engine, I've got this engine sitting in the shed, let's put one and one together and make three!

And unfortunately, RX-7s with dead (or merely inaccurately diagnosed as dead) engines are all too common, and most wind up crushed or bought up as parts bitches. Engine swaps keep the cars alive.

Another issue is emissions compliance. The main reason why I'd kept stalling on the engine work on my '87. On the one hand, I could rebuild another 13B and have 146 boring horsepower. (Boring when the car weighs almost 3000lb, my mom's old Grand Am econobox had better power to weight than that) On the other hand, I could build up a nice peppy engine and then have the car fail emissions. On a completely different hand, I could put together a nice 302 for far less money than it would cost to get as much rotary power *and* it would be smog legal to boot. And what stops me is the indecision. And, well, it's a luxoyacht, not really a performance car. (I'll catch hell for that but I speak my mind, and what else would you call a full luxo GXL automatic?)