bmxerbrett

Just picked me up a 1980 rx7 today. How much power can the 5 speed trans and rear end hold up to? I was also thinking about putting in a chevy 350 unless you can persuade me to do otherwise. Thanks

Brett

TOUGHGUY

The stock rear end can take a mild small block but there is no adapter to mate one to the Mazda transmission. You will need to use a GM 5 speed with a small block chevy. It`s not the rear end you need to worry about, it`s finding traction! Go here and ask your questions before the close minded individuals here start slamming you.

http://www.torquecentral.com/

Toughguy

nlc1179

PISTONS
you should not even consider putting any kind of piston engine in an rx-7. that is the worst thing people do to these beautiful cars. if you want a better engine, buy a 20b 3 rotor. if your car doesn't have a rotary then technically it's not an rx-7. the "r" stands for rotary. shame on you for thinking of putting that engine in your car.

hornbm

NO WAY. Theres no way in hell you are going to be able to use your stock transmission with a 350.

The stock rear ends were designed for an engine with around 100hp, and not very much torque. The torque of a 350 qould just destroy the rear end.

Theres a very good reason why people end up swapping a ford 9" rear for high output motors!

nization

I can understand why ppl might wanna put a piston in our cars, kinda....mostly lazyness and not wanting to LEARN about the rotary engine. The funny thing about it is that they are easier to work on!

Another point is that the RX-7 is a considerably Lighterweight car than anything else affordable with a V8 in it, and, IMHO, they have better handling than most any other car that you would put a V8 into.

When it comes down to it, it's your car, and you will do with it as you please, but I think you should consider working with the rotary engine in a rotary car, I am still learning here myself, but there are lots of things you can do to a rotary engine to release the true power it poseses. Read around on these forums a while before you decide to drop that boinger into the car, man. I know that if you keep true to your RX-7, you'll be happier later.

-my 2 cents

BRealistic

Isn't it obvious that people wanting V8's in a seven are just about 1/4 miles times? So dude took a dead seven and wants to put in a 350, maybe the car was just sitting and would be scrapped if it wasn't used? Now, if the car was nice, and he wants to put in a 350 "cuz they are cheap to rebuild and easy to mod"

MosesX605

Putting a V-8 into your RX-7 is a fairly major undertaking and is a mod that changes the character of the car. The appeal to the RX-7 is centered on its light weight and nimble handling. Coupled with the free-reving rotary, you get a fabulous sports car. Granny's Speed Shop can say what it will, but adding more than 150 pounds of motor to the car will affect the handling characteristics of the car.

Call me closed minded but there are several V-8 powered cars out there, many that can be had for a fairly cheap price. A Camaro or Mustang can satisfy a need for straight line speed without the hassle of swapping an engine or doing engine work.

If you are willing to learn, the rotary has great potential for power and drivability. The community on this board and on www.mazspeed.com is very close knit and knowledgable. So, I would keep the engine and hold on to a unique car and engine combination. You've bought an RX-7, and that's a free pass into the best car community I've ever seen.

Just my .02.

TOUGHGUY

Your only fault bmxerbrett was posting here in the first place. The zealots have come out and, as predicted, have nothing better to do than slam the very people that are the true pioneers of automotive performance expression. Close minded and afraid of thinking outside the box, these are people with no ambition or drive to do things differently or against the grain. No leaders here, just followers. You can rest assured that guys like Lance Reventlow, Zora Arkus-Dundov, Max Balchowsky and Carrol Shelby were not bourne of this cookie-cutter gene pool. Don't let their holier-than-thou short-sightedness intimidate you into rotary conformity. Take your serious questions to the dark side http://www.torquecentral.com/ and decide for yourself. This forum is clearly not where true knowledge exists.

Toughguy

futant

OWNED -

all you that think us v8 guys don't know anything about rotarys are wrong. I know more about rotary engines than 99% of everyone .....especially in the first gen section here. Most of you don't know ****, you sheep ............bahabahbah bitches

cdk 4219

While I agree that an all iron 350 isnt the best slalom choice for your first gen, it would give it more power than the stock rotary. While I cant attest to the added weight of an FB I can tell you that my TII car is actually lighter with the LS1 T56 in it than it was with the Turbo engine. 67 lbs according to the four corner Longacre scales that I have. Keep i mind that this is the lightest production 346ci engine that I am aware of 525 fully dressed with trans. The only actual adverse affect to the feel of the swap is the loss of smoothness that the rotary has. The plusses are many 320 rwhp 12.7 @ 113 quarter mile (street tires) daily driven and the fact that it gets 30mpg around town all from a totally stock engine nothing changed but the spark plugs. In contrast the 93 R1 CYM I have with a street ported engine, 3mm seals and all the goods puts out 375 at the wheels with stock twins (non sequential) , and I cringe everytime I come to an idle after pulling hard through the gears, always woried about hurting the engine. Impressive as ot may be it isnt real friendly to drive around town at these power levels, and it drinks gas at the rate of 10 mpg. The last rx7 is a 93 touring with a supercharged LS1 turning 485 to the wheels. The weight of the car came in at 2845 actually 35 lbs heavier than the stock car. The Procharger and intercooler added the extra weight. the balance of all of these cars is very close to 50/50 so if done properly you wont lose any handling. The tail of the car will not want to follow though. Take it as you will, but coming from a guy with 3 rx's if done right it really makes the car a good amount of fun.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

Why to people buy a rotary powered Rx7's and put V8's in them. Why dont they just buy a mustang or camaro. All they talk about is torque and 1/4 mile times like all the V8 guys.........

It's the rotary engine that makes Rx7's special afterall. The R stands for Rotary!

TOUGHGUY

You know, the answer is so simple, once I tell you, you will want to smack yourself upside the head for being so ignorant. But then again, ignorance is bliss so you just go ahead stay in your little box where your little motor ego won't get hurt by the big bad V8 RX7 rebels!

Toughguy

MosesX605

edit: It's not even worth responding to this thread anymore.

maxst420

well this is bmxerBRETT's friend and he got the car for only $200 and he also has a 2001 taurus which is his daily driver and he doesn't know too much about rotary engines, i am the one who actually found the car and talked to the guy and talked brett into buying it. he had a 1971 buick skylark and his dad made him sell it, and agreed to buy him a new car, he just misses having a car to work on and is probably afraid of working on a rotary engine, but i will not let him put a V8 in that car, all he wants is a project car and he prolyl wants a V8 also b/c he is more familiar with them and they have a lot more torque, but actually much more comlex, each engine has is benefits. i dunno why everody is gettin mad he just deosn't have any knowldge at rx-7's yet but i am sure he will come to respect them soon

cdk 4219

Well I purchased 2 of my cars with expired rotaries. . I even got the 93 touring running and drove it for a while with a stock 47000 mile engine. I think that the problem is the reliability of the engine, mostly for the FD, i wanted to make an RX7 with 375 hp that i could drive daily and not worry about. Nothing against the rotary, but it didnt look like I was going to be able to do both of those things with that engine. it ususlly comes down to the $ figure and I figured it would be cheaper to do the V8 than the 13b.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

Now there's a logical answer. Thank you!@

3rd gen motors don't last very long. Rarely see one with more than 75,000 on original. I got 248,000 on my 81 carbed motor!

Then again, 375 reliable hp out of a 1.3 liter is a lot to ask.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

Go hang out with your pissed-on buddies and talk about camshafts, floating valves, snapping timing chains on an interference motor, blown head gaskets and engine vibrations.

I'll enjoy my nice smooth reliable rotary power just fine thank you. By the tone of your reply it sounds like your ego got bruised, not mine.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

You made the Rotary of RX7 quite clear.

futant

rotard sheeple-
scary i used to be one of you.

TheWrongMotor

FWIW...

I have yet to find the owner / driver of ANY car that doesn't like my setup.

Every RX7 person that's seen it, likes it. I did run into a guy once that tried to slam me at first. As soon as he learned it was an LS1, and I've owned the car for 15 years already, he changed his attitude.

When it was rotary powered, I got laughs from the Viper, Porsche, and Ferrari guys around here.

I've run across several of them lately. They're not laughing any more! When a cheap *** '87 TII spanks a Testarossa in a friendly game of "stoplight to stoplight", it's changes opinions "quickly".

You "close minded" people just don't know.........

futant

treehugger v8's nooooooo ****.

edscholl

hey, if you think the rotary's so great, you wanna buy my blown 13b to rebuild? my '93 has only 85k miles on it, and has blown it's second motor. the second one only lasted about 25k miles. that's with oil changes every 3k miles, and fresh fluids all around at 60k. totally stock, just cruisin' down the freeway at 75 one day, pulled off the exit ramp, and got me a lumpy idle... what d'ya know, a blown apex seal. never overheated, lost coolant, or abused. yeah, reliable.

so if you wanna buy the engine, i could use the money to finance my ls1... =)

TheWrongMotor

Ouch! That's gonna hurt!

hornbm

Hmm, I seem to remeber the RX-8 making california emissions with plenty of room to spare.

And there is nothing new "technology wise" about a V8. The majority of the design remains the same from the 50's and earlier. And the RX-8 can make 250HP, while meeting these emissions standards, and only from 1.3 liter.

I here every day about how SUV's are such a polution problem. What powers just about all of the SUVs? V8's. I have yet to hear news reports complianing of rotary engines being a polution problem.

hornbm

MODS please close this thread.

We dont need another 200post V8 argument.