I have a 1984 GSL 12A RX7. I need a newe engine and I am wondering if I could put a turbo charged engine in it? I was on mazdatrix website and I saw that they had turbo charged engines for my year. Now, would this engine work without extensive mods to my engine compartment? Thanks

 

Yeah, you can do anything. 12A Turbo (if you can even find one), 13BT conversion (seeing more and more people doing this), 5.0 Ford twin turbo (not seen it yet, but a 1000+hp RX-7 would be cool). It's never a question of "can it be done", but "how much is it gonna cost".

12ATs were the turbo engines used in '83(?)-85, sold in Japan only. They had low compression rotors, GSL-SE style injection (two huge injectors vs. 4 for '86-up EFI), a really small turbo, low boost, and no intercooler. Mazda figured that detonation only occurred in a narrow RPM range with this setup so they did some bizarre tuning tricks to keep it from happening. (Remember, it had no intercooler) Also it had a special distributor with boost-retard diaphragms, these dizzys are much hunted down and cherished by people converting to turbo so good luck finding one.

Look on the bright side... they had 12A 6-ports and 12A turbos, but WE got the 13B 6-port. The 12AT made 160hp at some low RPM. It was the Japanese equivalent of the GSL-SE, IMO.

How much you need to change your engine bay is up to you. 13BT conversions can be done without needing to hack anything up, you just need a 1st-gen front cover so you can use the stock crossmember. I'm told the GSL-SE front cover is best because it already has the boss on it for the turbo's oil drain, just tap it, put in your fitting, and there you go.

There used to be a good site (members.nbci.com/craigpage) with lots of info on the "weird" Wankels like the 12AT, the 13A, the 15A, 21/22A, 13G/J, 20B, Lada, etc. I haven't been able to access anything on nbci.com for a long time, though, so I can't find the link to the 12AT page.

 

Will an 84-85 13B 6-port work? Also, if I order it from mazdatrix, does it come with the turbo charger? Thanks

 

Could I just buy the 12A engine and buy a turbo kit for it? And where could I find a kit for a first gen?

 

Yeah, it looks like Craig's page is down right now. Too bad Craig didn't show any real Wankel engines. I have seen one and two rotor Wankel engines and they are pretty cool looking. A bit smaller than the Mazda rotary. I would imagine that the Wankel engine is about the same size as a Moller Rotapower/Freedom Motors 530 enigne. I would love to get my hands on either one and stick it in a... uh oh, now I've got evil swapaholic thoughts again

If you put a turbo in your car, count on spending lots of $ and time.

 

Mazdatrix doesn't sell turbo kits. They only sell bare blocks for engines, and parts/accessories for US spec cars.

So no, you can't buy a complete turbo engine from them.

AFAIK there are no reputable turbo kits anymore for the 12A cars... why bother then, for less money than a turbo kit, you can buy a used 13BT (complete with manifolds/turbo) for $750-1500, get the wiring harness and computer with that, and all you have to do is sort the wiring swap to the car, figure out an exhaust, and scrounge up a TII transmission and have a driveshaft and transmission mount made. All that would still be cheaper than a complete turbo kit for a 12A.

People are charging $500-800 for a turbo EXHAUST MANIFOLD... which is unreal considering all it is is a couple pipes and a pair of flanges. I'm making my own (have flanges and available weld els) as soon as I finalize what turbo I want to run. Of course, this is for the FC, I'm making more than enough power with the SA right now

(dumb question... why do GN types pay $500-800 for trick turbos and RX-7 types pay $2000-4000 for trick turbos?)

 

Where can I get a used engine?

 

HERE

http://www.soko.com/
http://nippon-motors.com/
http://www.usedengine.com/pricing.asp
http://www.jkjapaneseengines.com/page2.html
http://www.mazdaracing.com/engines.htm
http://www.zeenperformance.com/high.html

Hope these help

 

For the love of god ME!!!!! Engine and tranny 60K miles doesnt burn anything they are perfect! comes with carb and all that jazz.