'85 GSL 302

I'm sorry if it bothers you purests, but please keep your coments to youselves.

Anyway, I finally got the mounts finished and the motor's in the car for the final time. Another 40-50 hours of connecting stuff and figuring out how to get things wired and I'll be in good shape. Looks so nice in the car, i can't wait. I would have been done sooner but I keep finding myself in the car making engine noises as I pretend to shift it....







More recent pics are here:

http://people.clemson.edu/~summerr/V8/6302003.htm

and the whole swap is here:

http://people.clemson.edu/~summerr/V8/main.htm


Oh yeah, here are the seats if anyone's interested.




Car is being built for open track usage. Mainly to take to HPDE's and use for driving schools and as a weekend play toy. But for now, it's going to be daily driven.

Pedestrian X

No comment, just one link

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=201403

looks like a nice job tho, congrats man. I hope you enjoy it.

mwpayne

Lovely job, but still,
I am 'aghast'!

toxic_d

nice work now don't you think you will need bigger stoppers up front...

gamble302

nice work man, my bros about to do the same thing, but with and aod instead for now

i'd ditch that evil air cleaner though. my buddys car caught on fire cause it backfired and the foam went into flames =-o

nosajwrx-7

One of those air cleaners did the same thing one my fathers cars one time. One backfire and it was toast. Lucky we caught it in time.

anthrax

Looks good, enjoy it.

I have never sceen a V8 in an FB befor,

Kinda unsettling

fatboy7

Nice work!!

What happened to the bumper and the header panel?

MosesX605

You know, comments like that are what really irk me. Fine, you've put a V8 in a 7, but by whining like that, you're only inviting us to give you **** for it. This is the "RX-7 Forum, Home of Rotary Enthusiasts" after all, not "Slap the biggest doggone engine into the littlest car that we can find, h-yuk."

All that aside, it looks like a very clean install.

V8kilr

just curious which rear end you are using.
you should swap over to gsl-se suspension and brakes for safety and better breaking, not to mention bigger sway bars.

btw the headlight conversion looks like it might turn out pretty good.

82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

ditto on the air cleaner. I had one on my 12a and luckily when it backfired it blew it off the carb but it still melted all over the header.

get a K&N

MikeLMR

yep never trust a cheap air filter .... or an expensive one for that matter ... http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/filters_test/2/

MikeLMR

stupid forum

rotor vs. piston

Welcome to the "other side" brother. Now stop making noises and get that thing on the road.

setzep

Intresting looking headlight conversion you have going there. That car is going ot be fun once done!

luiml73

iTrader: (1)

Somthing might be wrong with the other side

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=201388

Looks good though

rotor vs. piston

Hmm, I thought about going back to rotary myself, but if I do I'll just find another Rx-7 to save.

So luiml73, where can I get a full size picture of you car? It looks very good.

luiml73

iTrader: (1)

Thank's man, There should be some in the first gen photo Gallery.

I always thought that the reason people go to V8's, is because they've had bad luck blowing motors and had enough. I've only blown two in 8-9 years so the though never crossed my mind. Plus I love the high reving sound of the rotary. But hey, What ever ticles your pickle.

rotor vs. piston

I don't see your car man.

My decesion was made final when I didn't have the power to get in front of a Ford Sport Trac in my GSL-SE. After that day I vowed to put a V8 in a Rx-7.

justrx8

why please

'85 GSL 302

Sorry, my disclaimer was basically to try and not insite any of the flame wars that have happened with the other posts. That's why I'm not going to use this as a place to argue for or against this swap, just to share it with those interested.

Brakes will probably be needed eventually. For now I'm going to run a nice pad like a Hawk or similar, and i'm going to run brake coolers from the front scoops to the inserts on the GSL shields. Those should keep me safe for a good while but when it becomes a track car I'll probably upgrade to GSL-SE or maybe a big brake kit.

The car was wrecked when I bought it. The guys sister drove it into something or another. Very minor frame damage which is holding up the passenger side head light conversion. The fender and header panel will be replaced eventually. I wanted a header pannel with a scoop in it, but I have to wait for people to finish them up so I can buy one. Once the frame is checked and fix'd I'll finish the other head light.

As for the head lights, I haven't touched them in 2 months almost. The battery kit is still unfinished because I need to get the car on a lift. No battery, no lights. No lights and I can't test the kits display. But I do have a nice set of HID lights and Ballasts sitting in the shop waiting to go in when it's all finished.

Rear end is the stock GSL LSD with 3.933 gearing. It'll hold for a while until I can muster up some wider tires. There just won't be enough traction to break it. I might upgrade to a Ford 8.8 or 9" when the car gets some nasty rear tires for peice of mind and relyability.

Air cleaner was free. I might upgrade to a scoop with K&N though because everyone is telling me how shitty that thing it. Plus I'd get the cool shaker look

Most people I've met had rotory motors and hated either the lack of power or relyability. Personally, I love rotory motors. We race an '81 GSL with out autocross club and it's been the absolute best car I've ever seen. There's no end to the abuse that 12a will take. I love those motors and respect their strengths. I started this swap with the motor. I had the engine, and chose the RX-7 because it was the best platfrom available. Light weight and great handling. I'm actually one of the few people that actually took a running RX-7 and did the swap, but worry not. The old motor will live on in a pretty yellow GSL that is owned by the guy I bought the car from. And if it helps, the owner of my RX-7 took pretty shitty care of it. There were litterally 1/2 smokes cigarettes on the carpet, and it needed a cleaning really badly. Luckily there isn't a spot of rust on the whole car, and now that It's in my hands, it's going to be properly maintained.

MarkPerez

I like it !! but then i'm a ford freak and a member of the ford drag club with a 69 mustang in shelby trim.well i used too.
Question ??? why a 302 ?? what year is the engine ?
and i hope you go T5 transmission. I'd like to see a clean 7 (stock)(or a sleeper to some of us) with a couple of subtle but says alot,, badges..a cobra right where it says mazda rx7 on the fenders. then pop the hood and the first thing you see,,are cobra valve covers and an oval cobra air cleaner,,all tucked under the hood/no scoops ! for safety , untill you 9' inch it, i'd employe a safety hoop/loop, around the driveshaft, and brace the front strut towers to each other, and the firewall to the strut towers. I also think that somehow use the stock tach and guages would be unique.

'85 GSL 302

You can use the stock tach and guages but I'm using my digital ones for accuracy and easy of instalation. I'm to lazy to solder on resistors to the tach to get it to fuction properly. Also, the speedo would cost me near $200 to get calibrated, and I have a free digital one sitting beside me that I can do for free.

As for the drifeshaft, it's getting a loop installed with the exhaust. I'm way ahead of you on that one.

If I ran EFI the car would be scoopless, but since it's carb'd, I have to cut the hood slightly, which means a scoop or cowl is necesary. The engine is an '89 HO with a summit rebuild, and the tranny is a T5 upgraded to T5z specs with a full rebuild.

I had the engine already. It was left over from my roomates Factory 5 kit car project. They ended up with a crate engine, and this motor was from their donor car. So they gave it to me and I build it up and found a car for it. Chevy 350's seem to be better swaps for these cars, but I'm happy with how mine turned out. It should be a lot of fun.

Cloud

Hehe, he already knows about me from the v8 boards. I yelped about the air cleaner already too.

Again, nice, clean swap. It's coming along nicely.

As for the disgruntled folks, sorry! It's hard to resist when the complete conversion is about HALF the cost of building a rotary that makes HALF the power! My daily driver is an 82 GS 12A that I love...but I can't afford to build a rotary powered racer, so that's why the 85 is getting the boinger option. To each their own!

Forcus

Very cool project. I'm glad that you put a disclaimer on your first post. I've read enough close-minded chit on the subject to last a lifetime.

Let us know some performance numbers...