It's a long story, but I had an extra .351 all dressed up and no where to go, so I am placing it in the engine compartment of my RX7. Go ahead, cringe...

I want to say, though, that I appreciate all the help etc. I have gotten from this forum. You are a lot of fun.

Now I have a perfectly good 12a with a decent transmission with about 13000 miles. Everything is there except the alternator. Anybody care?

 

Let me get this straight, you have a 12A with 13,000 ORIGINAL MILES and you're tossing it in favor of a V8? That's just plain silly. With a minimum of effort, you can get the 12A up to ~140-150 without touching the internals. Not to mention that an engine with that low mileage is just screaming for a turbo.

To each their own, I suppose.

 

good luck and take care

 

Sorry, I meant 130,000 miles. Whoops.

 

and may God have mercy on your soul

 

Thanks, I think

Look, I felt like I was doing the right thing. After all, the 351 was done, I spent more on it than I did for the entire RX7 including gas and tires, and no car.

I was going to put it in an '85 Bronco, but my wife hated the Bronco, so she bought me a '99 Dodge pickup. Now, I have this 4000-dollar tricked out engine. I look at the engine; I look at the 105 HP Mazda, and I cave.

I enjoyed the rotary, I really did, but I couldn't withstand the temptation of having that car with nearly 400 HP and nearly 380 ft/lbs torque. Come on, what would you do?

Can't you guys understand? Come on!

 

Drop the 351 in the FB. Enjoy the car. I want my father in law whos a die hard Ford fan to get an FB and build a hot V8 for it. He's just not a rotorhead. But a hot rodder is a hot rodder guys. Good luck, and why leave? The rest of the car is the same. good luck

 

Thanks. The swap is pretty simple, really.
And it was a tough decision. I have the 12a engine and transmission sitting in my shop. I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Maybe I will have to put it in a second RX7. I bet I could get another non running one cheap. There is something I don't want to give up after learning all of the little things about the rotary. hmmm.

 

good luck on the V8 swap and go for the 2nd FB. Never can have too many.

 

If you've already built up the 351, I suppose you've got to use it something. I concur with the posters above though, get another FB and keep it rotary.

Good luck.

 

What would I do?

Sell the tricked-out 351, and use the money to port and turbo the 12a

But that's just me!

Jon

 

Take lots of pics of the installation and the end product.... I wanna see

 

I'll do that. But I don't want a bunch of flaming if I post the pics. I know how some of you guys feel about these things.
I'm kinda proud of the instrument cluster I am building.

 

put the 351 in, have fun, and once it takes a ****, go with the 13bt!

 

make sure you sell it for enough money to buy a few extra engines

 

cool,,, any trick parts ?? T5,,right ??

 

Yup T5, but it is overhauled by the machine shop. The engine is pretty basic: oversized valves, timed racing cam, RPM intake, 600cfm carb, Alloy fly wheel with matched clutch, MSD (i think) distributor, ported, balanced, and anything else the machine shop wanted to do. I just wanted it strong, reliable, and smooth. They got a different cam when I told them it was going in an RX7 instead of a Bronco.

 

What ?? a solid
, hydro,roller, bump stick ?? don't you want a cam that kicks in early ?? make sure the heads have screw-in studs, and guide plates at least, larger pushrods, Moroso makes oil pans for rx7's with either a chevy or ford engine conversion. FYI

 

It's roller lifters, if that's what you mean. They customized the cam. I don't know what they started with, but they machined it to get it to open at exactly the right time. I am not an expert on cams, but I am confindent that it is right for the car. These guys are across from the Meridian Race Way, and they do a lot of high power engines. They plan to dyno it when I get it running. I hope I am doing this right. I know that all the rich Micron guys get their work done at this place. That is about all I know.

Oh and it came out of a Lincoln, so it already has the double sump oil pan as recomended by Granies.

I know they put screw in head studs, but I have not heard of guide plates.

 

Not head studs, rocker arm screw in studs, guide plates are for the pushrods to keep then aligned a must have !! for hi performance. double sump ?? aren't you going to need a rear sump to clear the cross member ??

 

oh, man. this is way over my head. I'll check on the push rod stuff. thanks for telling me.

the double sump is what the swap kit recommends. That's all i know, but the engine already had one anyway.

 

I thought you were moving on?

 

I will if you want me to.

 

I just had forgotten how much fun this forum is: answering the easy questions, realizing that other people have an unnatural love for their cars, you know.

i also hadn't thought of getting another car for my rotary. what a concept.
So I decided to stay around here. I am still learning a lot, and, as a bonus, a few members have done the same damn thing I am doing. Small world.