widz

iTrader: (1)

so i have a gsl-se, but im seriously considering picking up an SA....now the question is..can i swap pretty much everything from the gsl-se over to the SA? i have re-speed coilovers on the gsl-se with tokico race inserts...they should fit over without any modification correct? can i swap the gsl-se diff over as well? and do they have different steering ratios? are the steering boxes easily swapped as well? can my gsl-se brakes (including brake master/booster) swap over as well?

now here's a more serious question....the SA i am picking up will be automatic...are there any differences between the automatic and the manual chassis like there is in the FC? either way i will be swapping a T2 w/ haltech in, but i'd rather not deal with the automatic chassis if it's oddly shaped like it is with the FC's...thank you all for your time

is there any reason why i shouldn't be going through with this? or why i should go with this (SA is lighter?) T2 swap in the SA should pretty much be the same as doing it in an FB right?

what are all the differences i need to know?....gsl-se is a 1985 and the SA will be a 1979

Rotor13B

Why not just lose the weight difference in the SE? To me swapping everthing is going to be more trouble than it's worth. You would have to swap the whole axle to use the lsd and the brake line threads are going to be different so there is something else you would have to deal with. SE has big bearings that won't fit in the earlier axle plus you would have to take the front spindles also because of the millimeter change in the bolt pattern. Even if you went and got everything swapped over what about the smog ****'s?


I'm sure someone will answer the rest of your questions and/or give advice on what to do.

wesmcbride

iTrader: (2)

I don't understand why you would do this? Is there something seriously wrong with the gsl-se body? It seems like a lot of work and the only change would be a simpler car with minor body style changes.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

Yea, tell why you are conidering the swap...

I think everything will swap over in a fairly straightforward manner. The big bearing situation doesnt matter cause you will swap the whole struts and rear end from the GSL-SE. Like was stated above, the brake lines do have a different pitch but it would not be too much trouble to use the brake lines from the 5 letter. One small issue is with the brake booster. The GSL-SE booster will not fit on the SA because the clutch master is closer to the brake master on the SA. Would take some moding or you could use the SA booster.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the SA has a 3 speed auto, so the trans mount is the same between automatic and manual. the shifter on an SA is in a different place though, vs FB/FC

basically the biggest difference is that the brake lines are 1.25 thread vs 1.0, so they are all different.

the SA is actually a little heavier, a stock SA is 2420lbs, and an 81-83 non GSL is 2330... of course the GSL-SE is the porker @2500+ so you loose weight anyways. the SA uses steel bumpers, vs aluminum, and its got the 5mph braces, and the FB is made from different steel

its a TON of work to swap the whole car over....

peejay

The SA is a nicer car overall but you'd be ruining the feel by putting all of the heavy GSL-SE stuff on it.

The GSL-SE rear is HEAVY compared to the SA rear.

Interesting to know about the pedal box difference. I knew that my SA's pedals always just felt better than my Series 3s, I want to swap an SA pedal box in to my '84 but if the spacing is different, I guess that means I can't do that without hackery. Bummer.

Another issue is FUEL TANK! The SA has a deep spare tire well to take a full size spare, the FBs have shallow wells and compact spares so they could fit a 3 gallons larger fuel tank, (the literature says 4, but my '80 could take a hair over 13 gallons while my '84 and '85 couldn't take more than 16ish) this means you can't put an FB tank into an SA without lots of deconstructive surgery.

In short, the SA is the perfect RX-7.

widz

iTrader: (1)

i've never driven an SA but to be honest i always thought it was more OG of an rx7...i like all things old school and although the fb is pretty old school already, i'd like to go older if i could (if i had the oppurtunity and the money i'd totally get an rx3)

theres a sweet deal for this automatic SA in clean condition for 900....i've been lusting over an SA for quite some time now...so what do you guys think? totally not worth it? its pretty much a win win situation afterall...dont get me wrong i love my gsl-se...but since im doing an entire turbo swap including haltech...i figured it wouldnt be that much more work to swap every gsl-se over to the SA....thanks for the input peejay i totally agree with you...an SA just seems like pure nirvana

above all my FB is salvage title..not sure how bad the front end accident was but i guess its not that bad since it drives straight and considering the picture in my avatar

DdoubleR

iTrader: (10)

I'm not sure if I joust missed it but I will ask it again, Is there something major that is wrong with the SE? It sounds like a lot of work to tear apart a good running GSL-SE joust to source parts for a SA body while I understand what you want to do upgrading an older car, if the donor is in good condition it doesn’t make sense to destroy it when many of the parts you need could be soured elsewhere and to be honest unless you are defiantly in for something in the look of that early body car you could do this swap with the FB and have an easier time than to do twice the work and like Peejay said what makes the SA body so much fun is how light it is and you would be adding a lot of weight with those components. m2c

rotary84

iTrader: (4)

nothing wrong with what he wants to do, i say go for it and keep us updated with the project.