Ok I want you guys honest opinion I have been playing with the idea... I have a 85 12a Carb'd engine in my RX7 I also have a 2001 Caddy with the 32V NorthStar engine in it... I have been playing with idea of a engine swap and do you think it is still a RX-7 or a hotrod at that point.... The dyno numbers for a well tuned twin turbo northstar are around 830hp to the flywheel.... I like the way that sound I just don't think I would ever see numbers like that with my 12a thanks!

 

I have never heard of a Cadillac V8 swap before, it would be pretty interesting. V8 swaps take a lot of work, but the people who have done them wouldn't trade the finished car for anything in the world. I say go for it.

 

You'd never do it.

 

Go to www.torquecentral.com and do a search for northstar. IIRC, there are some problems associated with that particular swap that have kept it from happening.

BTW, a V8 is the best thing that ever happened to mine. If you want a truly CHEAP and EASY swap, put a carb'd 302 in yours. If you want a cheap and not as easy swap, keep the efi! The first gen 7 302 swap is mechanically the easiest swap ever.

As far as the " is it still a 7" question goes I hear rotary guys say that you rip the soul out of a 7 when you take it out. I like a reply by a friend of mine. "Ok, so i took the soul out of it and just gave it a LOT of personality!

 

I see them all the time in Pontiac Fieros. If one can be stuffed sideways in there....... I think the cars weigh the same also. Have to think about tranny, driveline, rearend, brakes, fuel sys, wireing, major subframe reconstruction.

www.v8archie.com

 

i saw a northstar swap into a VW GTI in one of my magazines.

dont think theres anyway in hell it would fit in an RX7 engine bay.

 

i think the caddy would feel underpowered with the 12a

 

Hahahaha.

 

You should check the dimensions, because I think the Northstar is one of the biggest and heaviest v8's currently being produced. 302's on the other hand fit without changing the weight too much and are cheep as hell. Also you can get a 302 to 500hp easilly with a supercharger, which is way more than you need in a rx7.

Let me explain why it's "ripping the soul out of the 7" when removing the rotary. What makes the rx7 the most unique car on the planet is the fact that it's a rotary. You put a v8 in there and instantly your car is just like everyone else's, a banger. The whole reason i bought a rx7 was because it had the most unique engine design, although it's looks and performance were other factors after that.

 

there is a guy in the second gen section currently doing this swap

 

i assume the tranny is gonna give you some trouble b/c as far as i know the northstars only came front drive(and auto) so you'll probably need to do a lot of custom work for a clutch, flywheel and a bellhousing adapter plate. but either way the northstar is a pretty badass motor(it can haul 4000+ lbs down the 1/4 in 15 sec.) , just beware that they tend to leak oil w/o all too many miles on'em. just my $.02

 

Better bet might be the 4.9L pushrod caddy V8. Friend of mine swapped one into his Fiero GT and it dropped 20Lbs with the swap. Very light V8.
Grant

 

DAMN YOU MAN! That was MY smart *** answer, I was actually copying his text to quote it to post it when I saw someone laughing really hard and then read your reply. Crap, beat to the punch again...

~T.J.

 

I'm still laughing now that I read it again.

 

How bout an LS1 V8?

 

For mine I'd go high tech with a Lexus 4.0 quad cam

 

I have did the measurements and I can make it fit... lol no one said it would be easy... the caddy I have was totaled in a real ender picked it up for 4k with 45k miles on engine I dunno it seem so wrong to yank my poor little rx7 heart out.....

 

ls1 all the way. they are soooo light. good smooth power too.

 

Sell it to a Fiero guy, you'll get a decent price thats for sure. Not really the right engine for the car, the LS1 is my current favorite V8 conversion. I hear it's lighter overall than a turbo rotary, but that could be hearsay.
Grant

 

The Northstar is alot of tech. with little payoff in HP... and it's a cadillac engine. I agree with the above post. The LS1 would be good and I don't think anyone has a running LS1/FB swap yet, I might be in the race to have one pretty soon myself.

 

Ive seen guys put Northstars in Toyota 4x4s and crap too, nice motors.

~T.J.

 

hey my vote is ya slap a j-spec'ed 13bt in there for around 1000-1500 for the motor and tranny possibley an ecu. taking rotarys out of an rx7 is like ripping its soul out man.

 

i say go for it, since you already have the motor. i forsee some problems with your transmission though, but i'm sure they make an adapter for a common chevy or ford 5-speed.

i want to see somebody "slap a j-spec'ed 13bt in there for around 1000-1500" (including tranny and ecu) because that's a ridiculous low price. ridiculous! most turbo swaps run several grand, if not much much more.

the 302 fits like a charm and costs pennies. the only problem is figuring out how to get the hydraulic rx7 clutch system to work the ford cable clutch. anyways, that's not for discussion on this forum, so head on over to v8rx7.com/torquecentral.com.

 

here we go again w/ opinion vs. fact

 

I think it's a cool swap, I like the 5.0 swap for ease but haven't seen a northstar swap yet. Someone said a Lexus V-8 I'd like to see that too as I haven't seen that either. Others I'd like to see a Nissan or Infiniti V-8 or Ford 4.6 though that is one wide engine.