I have a 84 gsl rx7 and I also have a 87 turboII.. Im going to do a motor swap from the tubo2 to the 1st gen.. Was wondering if its possible putting the independent rear suspension on the 1st gen???? Basically the whole front and back suspension.. or atleast the rear-end.... Let me know if anybody had done such a thing.. Let me know guys!

 

It's theoretically possible. Just cut out everything floorpan-wise behind the rear seats and get friendly with your welder.

The FC crossmember will want to exist where the main body rails are in the 1st-gen, and I'm not sure but it looks like the fuel tank will be too friendly with the diff. You'd also need to do something with the rear shocks and springs as far as a perch is concerned, too. This is why I say, probably easiest to just change out the whole thing instead of trying to adapt a little here and a little there.


However, there are no benefits to the IRS, and given the general and specific problems with the FC rear suspension, you'd probably be better off figuring out how to put a 1st-gen rear in an FC.

If you're worried about drivetrain strength, the unit you have already is plenty beefy enough. You'll kill U-joints before the diff, and if you're using the N/A transmission you'll kill that before the U-joints.

 

A ford 8" or 8.5" live axel would be a lot simpler.

 

The IRS from a Tbird tcoupe is robust and is a 8.8 ford center section. The whole thing is set up in a subframe. It looks like it might work. Anyone tried it?