Hello, all. I'm new to this site and quite new to the world of the RX-7, but I recently purchased a '91 Turbo with about 75000 miles on it. All original. I wanted to know if its possible to swap a 3rd gen twin-turbo motor into my '91. I love the performance of that engine, but I also love the "sleeper" aspect of having it installed in the more unassuming sheetmetal of the older car. Would I need to swap out the transmission also? Any help provided will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks...

 

Just build the 13BT its too much crap to put a 13BREW in vs the performance gain.

 

So what are the stock power ratings for these two engines (13bt & 13brew)? I was under the impression that the 3rd gen motor absolutely blew away the 2nd gen motor as far as performance was concerned...

 

Building your engine will less expensive. Your engine has the same compression and the rotors weight the same as an FD's. So internally the engines are similar and if yours only has 75K you are starting off with a low milage engine.

 

If you really want to do an engine swap look into swapping a 3 rotor. Check the 20b forum, basic draw back is it's VERY expensive.

 

The stock series 5 13BT makes 200 hp, while the stock series 6 13B-REW makes 255.

But the swap is very difficult with quite a few pieces of the 13BT needing to be included onto the 13brew. The biggest problem is that the 13Brew is not bolt in, and requires fabrication to put in. As well as front cover issues and a a whole lot of other problems.

It's my understanding that it is easier to put in a 20B than the 13Brew into a FC.

Your better off building the 13BT up than swaping

 

I've heard of the 20B. That's supposed to be the cream of the rotary crop, right? Well, that may be more money than I'm willing to spend right now. How responsive is the stock 13B engine to basic modifications like intake, exhaust, intercooler? I'm not building a race car, but I'd just like a bit more oomph when I stomp the gas, know what I mean?

 

a free flowing exhaust and a nice air filter (like the K&N or Apexi) and some people claim they gain 40 HP easy on their T2s.

 

I'd probably like to add a chip also. Any suggestions? Would a larger front-mount intercooler make much improvement? Can a rotary engine be balanced and blueprinted like a conventional engine?

 

Rotaries are already balanced and blue printed. Its piston engines that don't go a round that gains can be got by matching piston weights and the such.

However additional gains can be found by port and polish the intake.

As far as FMIC, there are pluses and minuses, but for pure HP mostly pluses. I am gonna sell my FMIC setup in a couple of months, I'll post it here first.
*edit
BTW: The majority of chips are crap, you are better off useing a AFC instead.

 

I've checked out NOPI online, but they don't seem to offer much in the way of performance mods for this car. Where should I go? Also, can any engine shop perform the port & polish or is there a specific place I should look for? I'm in north Florida and there aren't a lot of tuner shops at my disposal, so I'd probably have to travel a little to get what I want...

 

You should know now that unless you are willing to do the work yourself you may not want a RX-7.

You may have problems finding any one shop that knows how to work specificly on rotaries as good rotary mechanics are far and wide between.

My suggestion would always be to do the work yourself. You can get help and information from this board as well as the thousands of websites out there. There is a search function for this website up in the right hand corner of this page, use it and search though to find just about anything you could possible think of about moding these cars and where to find parts for them.

NOPI BTW, is much more intrested in helping get parts for turning FWD economy cars into something that actually has handling and power than selling to people that already have decent true sports cars that want to take them to the next step.

Try Mazdatrix, Raceing beat, Corksport, the store here, and others that specialise in RX-7 and rotaries, rather than places like NOPI.

 

NOPI doesn't offer a lot in the way of performance mods, PERIOD. They have a lot of crappy "RICE" appearance mods though.

Check out the RX-7 Store on here... or rotary perfomance (www.rx7.com) or Mazdatrix (www.mazdatrix.com) or racing beat (www.racingbeat.com) for some idea of what is available. I know several people with 300+ to the wheels with just a FMIC, street port, hybrid turbo, and some fuel system upgrades. Your car has a lot of potential.

Brad

 

Thanks for all the great help, guys. It is very much appreciated. I believe I'll go with a mild build up, mostly bolt-on stuff like intake, exhaust, intercooler; then maybe a port & polish along with a lightweight flywheel.
What's your opinion on full blown coil-overs vs sport springs and shocks? I like the height adjustability of the coilovers because I don't want to drop the car more than an inch and most sport springs start at 1.5" or more. The RX-7 doesn't need to be dropped that much, in my opinion anyway...