Ok guys this is my sad story:
i bought this 88 GXL a few months ago (not running) and i managed to de-flood the hell out of it, put new plugs in, and got her fired up. well it didnt idle, had no power and backfired like a shotgun. good stuff. I did a compression test, and well the rear rotor had NO compression whatsoever. anyways i drove it around like this, for a while, just waiting for the rest of the engine to go, no hitches. well today i decided i would drive it to work (more of a gag than a serious means of transport) but i started it up and BAM! loudest bacfire ever heard, and now it will only run for about 10 seconds max, and thats with alot of help from the right foot. have you guys heard of running for a while on a blown motor? i have about 180-200 miles on the car since i bought it. its been a good learning experience for me so far (see the poor man's mods in sig) but now im thinking engine swap..i have done several engine/transmission swaps before, just never with such a complicated engine (ive done a 69 chevy truck 350, 69 camaro 406, my dad's boats motor *another 350*, and have assisted in a few others) do you guys think i might be able to put in a series 4 TII motor, tranny, ecu, etc.????

thanks!

charlie

 

it's not hard, but make sure you have everything.
Have any of those engines you've swapped been FI? That'll be the biggest thing, I'd bet.

www.rotaryresurrection.com for the best TII swap documentation you'll find...

 

Good luck. I swapped the engine on my SS w/o any problems, but when my 13B died, I let the professionals deal with it. The Monte has maybe 5 wires to the engine, no emmisions equipment, AC, ECM. Just TOO many components to account for in the rx7.

 

if you can swap a v8 the rotary should be super easy.

mike

 

HUH? I dont think i understand that comment. it gets no easier than a V8 swap, Esp since his are all carb'd, I mean hardly no wires, No real drivetrain issues, maybe just a tranny if the first was bad, but hell even with the motors he's listed the stock trannys would be fine, yes for the 406 he might wanna upgrade, but doesnt have to.

When swapping in the TurboII motor, you need all drivetrain.i.e. tranny driveshaft, rearend....... You also will need the ecu (not included in V8 swap) And you also have to upgrade alot more.

IMOP its not near as easy as a v8 swap into an older car becuase there is nothing to a v8 it can run lean, low water whatever, but do that to a rotary.. BOOM

-Chris

And i have done several v8 swaps

 

i dunno, i find v8s complex and rotaries easy. theres all those pushrods and cams, and then it weighs a lot more too

mike

 

Yea i guess, if your rebuilding the motor it may be a little more difficult but we werent really talking about rebuilding it were we? True rotories are less complex motors and way alot less, but there tollerences are alot thinner than that of a piston engine. Rebuilding both are fairly easy, i have done alot of piston engines, and helped on 2-3 rotories. But as far as swaping a v8 in to an older steal (you know what i mean, heavy car/truck) weight is not really trying to make it lighter( not as worried) but in a Rx weight matters alot,

It just envolves quite alot to swap the turbo motor into the car, even its not that hard to do the work i gues, it just envolves alot more searching and alot of running to autozone to get hose clamps and various parts, and trying to track down ever part of the turbo car, When all a v8 reguires is the motor, and maybe a bigger radiator depending on what kinda car the motors going into. And you could also need to upgrade the tranny but for most older cars the trannys were pretty standard.

-Chris