1991 RX7 Turbo II Swap - Completed!
 

There is kind of a sad story on why I ended up doing this swap. I took my car into an Auto Upholstery Shop to get my driver seat fixed (It had a 6" tear). It was the last thing to be fixed on my RX7. The rest of the car is mint! When I returned to pick my car up, long story short, the Upholstery Shop had blown my engine during a Joy Ride and refused to do anything about it (Yes the engine made good compression before I dropped it off and did not smoke).

I will admit, I took my car to a small shop that has a mechanic that loves Rotary Powered Cars to do this swap. Labor was $1020.55 (Including NYS 8% Tax) to do the complete swap & I bought the parts.

Parts I had to buy...
JDM Turbo II Engine w/ Transmission, intercooler, ecu, turbo, etc...
Turbo II Drive Shaft
Turbo II Throttle Cable
Turbo Inlet Duct
N370 AFM/MAF
TOP SPEED PRO-1 3" Complete Exhaust (Stainless Steel)
Turbo II Carbon Fiber Hood
Radiator
N370 ECU (Just incase the N374 did not work)

Issues
The only main issue we ran into was when the car was running, it would "bounce" between 750rpm to 1,500rpm. After installing the correct AFM/MAF, the issue was still there. Then over the weekend I got a call saying the shop fixed it and that they had to reset the TPS.

Also the N374 ECU worked just fine with the American Wire Harness.

Final Product
It took 3 months to complete the job. Mostly because the engine was delayed in shipping and then held up in customs. Then ordering parts one by one as we realized we needed them.

Overall the car runs great! Good compression, no smoke, and pulls insanely hard! The JDM Engine & Transmission I ordered came with a short throw shifter and a racing clutch (not fun to drive slow). My '91 RX7 NA was fairly docile, now I have a Turbo Beast! Sadly I had to put it away for the winter :(

What I plan to do in the spring is paint the hood, Turbo II Rear End, Suspension, & Brakes. I just ran out of time & money for this year to complete it all.

Out the door it was a little over $4000 to do the complete swap.

Pictures
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/b7f21...c3b0b8049b.jpg
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/20e69...882ce9c3d5.jpg
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/7ab22...344c2ee422.jpg
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/73fcd...26847bf37f.jpg
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/252d9...3335435c42.jpg

Wow man! That looks nice as hell!

Did your jdm engine came with ecu and intercooler and everything? Mine only had intercooler and oddly, a auto tranny flex plate.

How did the shop get away with the joy ride?

WTF is this?!
http://zombiefilehost.com/pics/20e69...882ce9c3d5.jpg

A piece of junkyard intake duct attached to a black dress sock?

dress sock he said, oh man that killed me, lol

I dont think they left it like that................ did they?

It must have been to test if it started. look at it. the hood wouldn't close! It's gotta be temporary...

i'd like more clarity on why you didn't ass rape the upholstery shop who killed your car please.

why would you waste the money for a CF hood just to paint it?

*to paint it a different color than the body? ^_-?

As for the "A piece of junkyard intake duct attached to a black dress sock?", that was temporary to connect the AFM/MAF to the Engine. The real part came in 2 weeks later and the stock airbox was reinstalled. Once I pull the car out of storage (its an hour away at a friends barn), I will take more pictures.

I sued The Upholstery Shop that killed my car for $3,000. I had 2 witnesses and stacks of evidences. The judge rules in favor of the shop saying that I could not prove that the "Joy Ride" actually caused the engine to fail. Needless to say I was pissed and all I can do lately is just bad mouth their buisness locally.

CF Hood = Cheap, plus I am not sure if I like the black on red look yet...

Damn that sucks they got away wit blowing your motor. I wouldve been pissed as hell if that happend to me.

Is your rear of the exhaust really that low or is it just not on the rubber donuts?

Cars looking good, I'm not a fan of those cans on the back, but the car looks great.

must be a JDM thing... :dunno:

because the epoxy resins used in Carbon Fiber can delaminate when exposed to UV rays, or he is just stealth like a cat.

also doin' the same build and coming to the same head, do I take the time to find a stock TII hood or just get the slick CF version... I think you just made up my mind

Cause the cf hood look never looks good.

Do you need the turbo II driveshaft from the tranny to the rear end ? Would the stock N/A shaft work ? I have T2 Differential and shafts to wheels

If you have N/A transmission and T2 rear end then no, you'll need to either buy a T2 transmission which aren't that expensive or buy or get a driveshaft made that goes from N/A trans to T2 rear. But if you have a T2 trans and T2 rear you still need T2 driveshaft.

Suggestion:

When you paint the hood, have the paint shop "tint"the hood rather than regular paint by mixing red into the clear. That way the car will blend out all one color, but the carbon fiber can still be seen when the sun hits it just right. You also might want to consider some flush mount hood pins to stabilize it.

I'm really debating on getting a CF hood for my TII. However looking at the mesh in the scoop I think it would block a crapload of air to the intercooler. Yes? No? How about the cons without running hood pins.

Oh and to the quote above. If I do go for the hood I have a 100% damage free TII hood. Just needs to be painted.

I dont think it would be any more of a restriction than the stock intercooler already is.

I think most composite hood makers recommend hood pins even if they don't specifically require them.

If I had a CF hood I'd paint it.

And my thoughts on your engine are.... if they blew an n/a motor... it was on it's last leg anyway.

Unless they did something like refill your gas without adding premix if you've disabled the omp.

IMO having a naked carbon hood looks rice. You need a specific looking car to make it look good, like a car that is basically a streetable track car. The carbon fiber hood is incredibly light and they have a lot of different vented carbon fiber hoods out there so I think people buy them more for what they do for heat in the engine bay than actually the fact that it's carbon fiber.

I've always wondered how effective that inlet really is in cooling the IC. Looking at the car from the side, seems to me most of the air flow is directed over the inlet. :scratch:

When you think about it, it's a low pressure area. It's probably helping in scavanging heat from the engine bay @ speeds :lol:

You want a functional IC? A big front mount is the answer. You'll love it!