My first Rx7... looking for some input about engine swap
 

Hey guys, I'm new to rotaries and rx7s and i just got mine to the point where i can start thinking about modification. My car is an 81 fb with the stock original 12a. The only thing ive done so far is put in a non-cracked dash and a stereo, and built a 2 1/4 inch exhaust with magnaflow cat and muffler.

My concern now is that my engine is leaking oil between the front plate and the rotor housing on the drivers side so i'm starting to think about motor swaps. I'm wondering about the reliability of a stock turbo 2 engine versus getting another 12a and turbocharging it using a drawthru carb'd setup. Has anyone had any success with this type of setup? Any input would be really great!

I'll post pics of the car and stuff tomorrow when i can take them in the light.

first off welcome...

2nd. search......12at, tII swap, drawthrough, and blowthrough.


you will find a lot of good info. each one is an animal of its self and you need to know what your getting into up front.

what part of az are you in??

Temporarily stranded in Mesa, but looking to get back to Tempe sooner than later. I'll run that search too thanks. I've never had good luck with forum searches for whatever reason... maybe i suck at it or something. I like the idea of making a 12a better just cuz i think its cool to upgrade correct engines rather than just swap for newer sometimes, but it seems like a t2 motor would be somewhat simpler than trying to tune a drawthru on a rotary. I'm coming here primarily from the air cooled vw scene where drawthru is the way to go for easy street power but i feel like rotaries wont want to act the same way. Just want to learn as much as i can about these things and i guess i dont know where to start. :dunno:

draw through is not that common but a lot of people have don blowthrough ( mine is almost done) a tii swap will give you more power but needs a good amount of fab work. some of the big Q's are whats your budget and how big of a project/ fab work can you do? and..... is this your DD? if so you will need something to drive while your 7 is under the knife. these swaps are not an over the weekend job.

1st Gen FAQ has good info also. Forth thread from the top on the main 1st Gen Page.
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/1st-gen-rx-7-faq-page-237777/

Should read the 3rd, 5th and maybe the 6th thread too.

Thanks for the links that makes life much easier! I ran search too and got some more good info. I like the drawthru idea because carbs sound really cool with turbos, but the simplicity of installing a turn-key engine with a harness and ecu is really tempting, not to mention mazda knew more about it than i do when they built it. Fab work and wiring/harness modification, etc arent an issue as i've got experience with all that from a previous job in a hot rod shop and my own toys. I'm currently on only car status with this one so it will have to wait til i get something else i can drive during the swap, which is motivation to finish my big block chrysler swap in my 58 edsel:) One big thing i keep wondering is the difference in the mounts... can tII 13bt's be mounted using gsl-se mounts?

Another thing came to mind today also... any opinions about a possible renesis swap? Seems like if you got the motor and harnes and computers it wouldnt be that bad?

http://www.myrideisme.com/FullImage/...e678a.jpg/353/

http://www.myrideisme.com/FullImage/...75444.jpg/353/

http://www.myrideisme.com/FullImage/...642db.jpg/353/

Some pics of the car as promised... a little late. Its not much to look at yet, but that will change once im in a better place with my other project. Considering i paid about $325 for it and its been my daily driver for a couple months and got me to cali and back with no real issues id say its a pretty awesome little machine.:)