rgus30

is grannys the only one for first gen conversions ? I thought I seen 2 others but I cant find them.Anyhelp would be great.

randy g

12aPwr

no help for you! your commiting a sin,hehehe...j/k

duboisr

You do not need any kit just use your head and design your own. Roland Gray it LaVergne Tn has done several with chevy 350ci . He never has seen a kit.

rgus30

I am good at alot of things but fab-in a kit from scratch is not in my bag of tricks

onepointone

my dad used their bolt in kit, and it helped alot. it also included the tranny crossmember. everything else was custom fabricated. (his was on a second gen with a 4.3 v6). the people at grannys are VERY helpfull. you dont really need the whole package if you are mechanically inclined. me and my dad came up with ways to fabriate everything, including a full fuctioning cawl hood.

Eville140

a 302 swap is the cheapest I beleive. I dropped in a ford 2.3turbo in mine, only thing I had to buy was a driveshaft.
Be sure and check out www.v8rx7.com , lots of good info and everybody is happy to help with questions.

Later
Randy

onepointone

are you the guy i e-mailed wanting pictures? i never got those, but did you post them on the turboford forums? the guy i wanted them for found a car like yours, i think it was yours and it was very nicely done.

even if it wasnt your car, how do you like the 2.3 swap? how much boost are you running? dyno'd? track times? ect...

Eville140

I am working on a basic web page that will have the pictures,

Here area few, it is still in the thrown together mode. Motor is comig out this winter and the good one is going in. Car is getting painted and the engine will be much cleaner looking.

I did take it to an 1/8th mile track last weekend ad on the atleast 4yr old 13" tires it went an 8.46 @ 84.5mph which should be good for low 13's at around 106-107mph in the 1/4.
motor/turbo is a junkyard special, 18# of boost , gn intercooler. Car stil has evrything in it, spare, full interior (pleather seats)and a few tools. It weighed 2500# even without driver on the scales.

rotary emotions

Come on guys, putting a ****-ton engine in an RX7 is way next to the point. You're completely missing out on the fabulous Wankel design. It's simply the best sportscar engine you can have. High revs, low weight...
Also, you're gonna mess up the near perfect weight balance (51/49) of the first gen. Why don't you look at some other alternatives? Like conversions to a Turbo II?
That will give you about 300hp easily, if done right, and remain all the positive sides of an RX7.
Don't forget: performance is about power to weight ratio, and you simply can't beat a rotary on that.

onepointone

dude, not to get a flame war going, but i have heard of 2.3 swaps running 30 psi of boost and running 11's i believe. in a rex. my car is slow as ****... im getting there with my exhaust, but its expensive, and you need to wait forever for parts. dont get me wrong, i love my car and the fact it has a rotary. but my god, if someone would hand me a 350 and the money to throw it in my car... bye bye wankel.

the engines are 10 times more realiable than a rotary with MUCH more torque, and to some people thats what matters. its all a preference on race setup.. if i had a parts car laying around, with a moderate budget, a chevy would be going in (unless i could afford what direct freak is doing )

you have to understand the type of race setup you want. my dad has a chevy 4.3 in a second gen, and i smoked a fd in it off the line. of coarse he would of go me on top speed because i was ripping that beast to redline (4500-5k ). i think there is nothing wrong with a piston conversion.

also the weight ratio.. that can get thrown off all the time. what if you have me (135lbs) vs someone else (250lbs) even down to a full tank of gas will throw it off. exhaust systems (i hear aftermarket is alot lighter than stock) wouldnt that throw it off? carbon fiber hoods.. ect.. and if you do throw a piston engine in it, nothing suspension attension couldnt handle, which most engine arent that much heavier than rotaries anyways do to the rotary's emissions.

like i said though, its all what kind of racing you are looking for. but its your budget and reliablity you are looking for.


edit: nice swap, it looks like it fits quite nicely

MikeLMR

I'd only swap my rotary for a big burbling V8 or one of these


as long as you like your car thats all that matters

Eville140 , your car is cool, how much power are you wringing out of that 8 valve motor ?

Felix Wankel

And all the negatives tenfold.

rollin82

**** ON PISTONS!!! rotary till i die BIOTCH

haha if you want pistons by car that comes with them............
want to go against the grain? stay rotary

Eville140

If you want to saw through the grain stick a piston where a rotary use to be. I love how people get all fired up about crap like this. It's a damn car, and if I ever get tired of it I will be sure and take a sledge hammer to it and tape it. lol


MikeLMR, Yea a Xosworth 2.0 would be at the top of my list, but it is out of reach here inthe states. Esslinger is bringing out a alum. street head here soon that isn't to expensive and is suppose to flow as much as the best ported big vale stock head will out of the box.
Anyways, The motor/turbo that is in the car is a junkyard special. And going by the mph inthe 1/8th and the cars wieght it is putting down around 250-260 at the wheels and around 300-310 at the flywheel. And I think as of now I have around $600 in the whole car As soon as winter is over it will be getting the 2.3 from my mustang
http://members.sigecom.net/randyh/goodpass.wmv
which is putting out close 330 at the wheels and 390 at the flywheel. That motor might have $600 in it total. I have fun going fast for cheap and using a rotary it just wasn't going to happen.
Heck a few of you might even have some of my old rotary parts. When I pulled it out I gave it to Mike-P, figured he would know what to do with it and help people out with parts. Trying tobe nice.

rotary emotions

If I wanted a V8 I'd at least get a modern one(something Japanese, or european: Lexus, BMW...). Those chevy's are still like my granddad used to know them. Come on, no-one is gonna tell me a V8 is not much heavier then a rotary. As for smoking an FD with it, sure, but does it handle like one??? A car is more then a dragstrip-toy. Anyway, if you do want a pistonengine in a RX, why not going for a decent engine? You know, like 4 valves/cil.,DOHC... Lighter then a V8, and probable faster. I just can't believe a small block can be better then a rotary. How expensive are they anyway? In Europe I'd buy a 3-rotor for the same price, but OK, that won't be true in the US.
Hey, Onepointone, want torque? Get a tractor!
Well, everyone should just do what they like, but I really don't see the point.
So I still believe its better to be a rotor then to be pissed-on.

RotaryMotorDisorter

Ill have to give it to ya Eville140, for the price you paid and the hp your getting, thats awesome. Nice work too by the way. As for me, im a simple person. A rotary engine only has 3 major moving parts - thats pretty simple! The power is SMOOTH as butter. If you keep them maintained properly they will last many many miles! Ill never get away from these little power plants.

Kerry

Contrary to popular belief, a V8 swap does not destroy the handling or balance. My 82 gained ~200 lbs with a 5.0, same weight distribution as a GSL-SE.

Kerry

Winnipeg85GSL

Ya, well when you can smoke the hell out of 13 second cars with a 12a for less than I spent on my conversion, I'll feel bad about myself.

onepointone

ok.. my dad probably has a little under 3k into his car. smoked an fd up to 50 mph. if he wanted to do that in his automatic n/a 87 rex.. my god i dont even know how much it would take to do it RELIABLE. sure you could say nitrous.. turbo, t2 swap whatever, but compare apples with apples. personally, i would love to have a t2 swap in my car, and if i ever get the point where i have the money for something like that, its going to come down to money. come on.. if you mess up a rotary, its unlikely a short "run down the street" and you will have what you need. v8 parts and peices are so common.

as handling.. my dad's car handles fine.. not as good as my first gen, but close. i mean, when you swap anything into a car, it will mess up something.. so what, nothing to cry over

like i said before.. type of racing, and this happens to be a off the line car, nothing is said when someone with a rotary does drag racing strictly in their rex.

onepointone

HIGHLY doubt that.. sorry.. but my god, what did you do? did you get shop to do it? ive priced it.. i can get a 300hp v8 in my first gen for about 3k tops? i dont know what you did.. i owuld like to see though. plus..

smoking 13 second cars for cheaper? from what i understand, under mid 14's are really possible unless you have some kind of porting. plus you would probably be running a nice carb setup, forced induction ie turbo, slicks, new flywheel, nice exhaust.. ect.. tell me a way to get my car under 13 second for that cheap. im serious, im not trying to be cocky although i know it probably seems like it, im sorry. theres a guy with a crx that runs low 14's and i would love to smoke him by the end of the school year

eddierotary

iTrader: (7)

i dont hate v8 engine it just i HATE THEM SEEN IN A RX7. im a rotary guy all my life, but i like the set up of Eville140 rx7 because is a four cilinder turbo engine, and you have alot of space there too, but a v8, please that ruing everything

EL PAALO

To keep the weight distribution 51/49 with a 302 swap, a full size spare and relocating the battery to the rear is all that's needed. Hell, if you put a sub and amp in the back it'd be 50/50.

I like any car that has power to spare, agility, and a low price. Stock 12a's aren't exactly powerful, and one with power to spare isn't exactly cheap so I've been considering a piston swap myself.

Rotary engines aren't religion. Why does everyone get so bent out of shape.

Simple math:
V8 = more power and same handling for less money

Doesn't everybody want more for less?

This does not mean that I'm definately going with pistons, but it's certainly in the running.

White84SE

Umm... really.. where does this whole "throwing the weight balance off" if you use a V8 come from? Sheesh.. Chevy's new LS6 (engine in the Z06 'Vettes) weights just under 500 pounds. That's fully dressed with all accessories and wiring looms on it. That's, what? 200 pounds heavier than a stock 12A with all the ancillaries? Drop the stock cast iron manifolds for a set of headers and losing 50 pounds more isn't all that unbelieveable. And let's see a 12A put out 405hp and over 390 ft/lbs. While still getting in the low 20's for gas milage. Just ain't gonna happen (cheaply), folks. When it all comes right down to it, the RX-7 is not a 787B, a R100 or any other extrodinarily collectible rotary. More power to those of you willing to swap hammers into your Rex... flame on, Leon....

--Danny

onepointone

AMEN

that $600 budget has inspired me.. ever since me and my dad have gotten his car on the road, my dream was for it to be mine.. literally.. but ive fallen in love with my first gen.. everything about it.. the smallness, the nice *** handling.. ect.. but if i opened my hood and saw this in there


i agree, doesnt everyone want more for less? the only thing you can compare these to are highly modded rotary engines which inturn, are expensive. i saw a kit awhile back and if you supplied the 350 block, for $1000 you could have 420hp and 435 ftlbs of torque. put that into a 2300 fb i love my wankel.. dont get me wrong, but any kind of swap is a work of art..

fatboy7

I dunno, I think an LS1 in about anything would be pretty nice, but I just like the idea of a rotary. I mean most cars that are fast have a V8, so its not a bad thing. To make an engine that weighs half as much produce the same level of performance, thats what I like about it, its a little chalenging. That's why I bought my RX-7. With lightening, a 'simple' TII swap, good wheels and tires, and some simple suspension tuning, you can have a car that weighs 2350 lbs with you in it, and that turns like its on rails, and when you give it the gas it hauls all the way to its 7-8k redline.....