I am tired of loosing my car to my son everytime he comes back from university.

Thus I am buying a second gen 1. I want it reasonably powerful for street use, say about 180 hp.

My two options are buying a car with a good engine and adding a turbo to its !2a, or buying one needing a rebuild and having it ported. Both will give the some power once fitted with a decent header/exhaust and modified Nikki. Cost is also the same sort of order.

Of course I could get both done but it would be more power than needed for a street car, plus he will have to pay fuel costs from the miserable student allowance I give him!

I would appreciate viewss

 

i vote for porting. i don't know how plentiful 12A turbo parts are in Australia (never had the pleasure of going ) and i figure with porting you can focus on building a nice, reliable motor first and foremost.

then, if that doesn't fetch the power you crave, you still have the turbo option.

 

porting

 

I'd vote for the port. Try to pick up a car that's got a blown engine or no engine. Then call around a heap of workshops and get prices.

How about an EP 13B. Of course that might be a bit more work than you want at first.

Anyway... As diabolical1 mentioned, you'll still the turbo option later.

 

i vote for porting too if your going for under or around 200hp save yourself the trouble and get a nice ported motor, then if that isnt enough you can turbo it..

 

Go for it all, do both

 

A 2ed gen with a 12a ??? anyway,,,porting .IMO

 

He wants to buy a second RX-7, also a 1st Gen.

 

He's buying a second 1st gen... not a second gen.

I vote port as well. A 12A extend-port built by someone who knows what they're doing, combined with a certain Nikki carb and manifold , should get you close to your goal.

 

If you pick up a GSL-SE and do all the bolt ons. it will be real close to what you want. Porting is an option later after the engine finally goes.


-Zach

 

That would be nice if we had GSL-SE's in Autralia.

 

Where's Autralia? Just screwin around with you.

You may not have GSL-SE's, but you have Plentiful 20B's,
Skylines, 12A Turbos, and a whole bunch of other goodies that we wish we had.

 

Sorry, missed that he was in Australia..


Well, ****.. GET A 12A turbo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Since you are in Austrailia, i would say go turbo something. There are alot of good tuners and cheap parts there..


You should really try to find a car that has been already built. That would be the cheapest..


-Zach

 

REVHED that certain Nikki carb stops where it is happy now! If Peejay is right that is all I need if I ever add a turbo. My RX-7 is used for my twice a month cruise frm work to home. The intention is to build another car for my son to drive during uni vacations-no one in their right mind would want to drive everyday in Melbourne!

 

Not to mention, a nice bolt pattern on every 7

 

Nah, we've got the 110mm bolt pattern on our Series 1 and 2 as well.

 

Thought about the 12AT but in stock form its only good for about 135hp. Those that are available are in poor shape and will need a rebuild plus a decent turbo and computer, change over the fuel delivery system then think about porting and intercooler. The budget would be twice the cost of buying the car in the first place. It would nearly be as expensive as the annual insurance on a new Porsche 911!

 

Damn, I thought someone told me once that you guys had a the nice bolt pattern on your sevens

 

Yeah, but all series III (84&85) have the GSL-SE suspension, brakes, rims, and bolt paterns.

 

why couldnt i have an australian 84?

 

Well, then you have your answer... if you can't afford a 12AT then you can't afford a turbo period.


So pick up a 13B 4 port and get a really nice street port with a weber 48 IDA or go bridge if you can live with it on the street..


-Zach

 

Oh, and i believe the 12AT came with like 160HP, maybe 130 to the wheels though..


-Zach

 

Zyounker- the 12at had about 160hp JIS which is about 20% above the SAE figure. thus if the 12a has 100hp then the 12at has about 130hp. Remember it was not designed for sports car use, had small ports and turbo, with a crude EFI.

You missed the port about the 12at, the cost of obtaining and rebuilding would be more than for the same exercise in a 13bt. But what I am trying to do is keep with the 12a as a genuine Gen 1 and modify it to a reliable 180hp which can be done by either porting or adding a turbo, but does not need both.

Fortunately I can eaily afford a turbo, but I see no point in overspending as RX-7s are a passion not an addiction. My next door neighour at one of my holiday homes is addicted, he bought the house in the street behind for over half a million to pull it down and build a bigger garage for his historic cars, and employs someone to come in everyday to maintain them!

 

Well, You could probably do a TII swap, but that is a bit of work. I just droped in a built 13BT.

If you stay stock ECU you could do it pretty cheap.

Or you could get a nice ported 13B and run it NA untill you wanted to bolt on a turbo at a later date. That way you meet your requirements now, and in the future if you want to go further, the engine you have would be fine.


Just an idea...

 

zyounker- thanks for your comment I agree a second gen 13b ported would give 180+ easily. However I intend to stick to 12a options to keep the car more original.

This car would only be used as a vacation vehicle so I want it totally reliable, thus the engine will be rebuilt before I hand the keys over. Fortunately all my children were taught to drive on a manual Mazda Luce bought for that purpose, so know the gearbox.

Baed on other advice I will go down the ported route, the car is about A$7,000 plus about A$6000 for rebuilding which is a reasonable total cost.