MY BELOVED 2nd GEN BLEW IT'S SIDE SEALS. I HAVE DECIDED THE ONLY ECONOMICAL WAY I CAN GET THE CAR ON THE ROAD AGAIN IS TO DROP A V-6 IN IT. ANYONE IN THIS FORUM DONE THIS BEFORE OR KNOW OF ANY GOOD RESOURCES ON THE WEB FOR DOING IT?

 

Economical? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You will need:
1. New engine
2.Custom motor mounts
3.New tranny
4.Custon driveshaft
5.ECU
6.New fuel system
7.Possibly new hood

A new/used/rebuilt engine costs about $500-$2k That is less tahn half of what it will cost you to drop an entirely new drivetrain into your car.

 

IT IS NOT SO MUCH THE COST OF REPACING IT WITH ANOTHER ROTARY. IT IS THE COST OF MAINTAINING IT. THERE ARE FEW PARTS ON IT THAT COST LESS THAN $150.00. ALL THE 7s IN JUNK YARDS HERE IN HUNTSVILLE, AL. HAVE BEEN GLEANED OVER . IF I LIVED NEAR A LARGER CITY WHERE PARTS ARE MORE PLENTIFUL, I WOULD CONSIDER ANOTHER ROTARY.

 

Maintaining it? What do you mean? $20 every 3k miles in oil and $25 every 6 months in spark plugs costs too much for ya? Also, a new engine means it will last for another 100k + miles. The reason I say this, except for a turbo GNX engine, no one has done this. Few V8s though: www.grannysspeedshop.com

 

THE CAR WAS MY ONLY TRANSPORTATION. IF YOUR 500 MI. FROM HOME WITH A PISTON ENGINE AND THE SPARK COIL OR OTHER CRITICAL PART GOES OUT YOU RUN DOWN TO AUTOZONE AND PICK ONE UP FOR $10.00 OR $15.00. IF A COIL/IGNITER ON THE ROTARY GOES OUT YOU CAN SPEND DAYS IN A MOTEL WAITING FOR THE GODAWFUL EXPENSIVE REPLACEMENT!!

 

A friend of mine has just finished dropping a 350 in his 90 GXL and it isn't by any means the most ecomomical way to keep your car on the road. I'm sure he could help you out a bit, but he'd probably tell you to nix the conversion idea if money is an issue. His was just a fun project. Also, there are plenty of junkyards down here with rx-7's. Maybe I can help you find what you need.

 

THANKS. I KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A 3.5 LITER CHEVY WITH FACTORY WIRING HARNESS, ECU AND ALL SENSORS FOR $1875.00 PLUS SHIPPING. HAS 13K MILES ON IT. MY MAIN QUESTIONS INVOLVED WHAT PARTS OF THE MAZDA WIRING HARNESS HAVE TO REMAIN, ETC. ALSO, I UNDERSTAND THE ROTARY CRANKSHAFT ROTATES AT 1/3 THE RATE OF THE ROTORS THEMSELVES. THAT MEANS RECALIBRATING THE TACH. ALSO WOULD LIKE SOME ADVICE ON THE BEST ENGINE TO USE FOR THE CONVERSION. AS FOR MOTOR MOUNTS, ETC. I HAVE BUILT A LITTLE WELDING AND MACHINE SHOP IN MAY GARAGE AND HAVE ALL THE TOOLS I NEED SO THAT WOULDN'T BE A SIGNIFICANT COST.

 

I personally wouldn't consider chaning the engine even with a new rotary, if I couldn't figure out where the cap lock button is on my keyboard.

 

IT'S THE ONE THAT SAYS Caps Lock. I GUESS I HAVE A KNACK FOR MACHINES. VERY SELDOM I TAKE SOMETHING APART AND CAN'T GET IT BACK TOGETHER. OTHERWISE I WOULDN'T ATTEMPT IT.

 

You know always typing with the caps on is the same as shouting???

 

im curious....how is swapping to a V-6 cheaper? even with the maintenance of a rotary(which isnt as much as you think) the cost of swapping the engine alone would cost more than an imported j-spec engine. if you take care of a rotary, there is little maintenance required. if you cant take care of a rotary then you shouldnt own an RX7.

 

This is a well documented swap. It has been done using the 3.8 Buick turbo, and the Chevy 4.3 V6.
Both work great. the 4.3 is the cheaper way to go, and offers excellent performance.
Cost estimate;
Complete 4.3 Engine and trans $1000
Prefab Mounts $300
Driveshaft $200
Exhaust $300
Radiator (optional) $200
Misc: another $300

Reliability and operating costs: excellent.
Flame magnet on this site? YOU BETCHA!
I say go for it.

 

So, $2300 and weeks of work is econimical when hyptnyz7 can rebuild your engine for $1400 and have it back to you in a few days? Well, I guess logic isn't economical either....Do waht ya like man, it's your $$$, time, and car....

 

Well then you're an idiot. You drive a sports car hard enough to break it even though you're on an economical budget...
And you apparently don't know much about your car... you could swap in a $10 or $15 coil if you're too cheap to replace a Mazda coil, and it works fine. Not to mention it is rare that a coil or ignitor EVER goes on an RX-7.

Maybe you should spend some time and get to know your car. My RX-7 has gone through over 100 lbs of nitrous oxide, has 7000 very hard miles on a rebuild, and has never left me. In fact, none of my RX-7's have ever left me stranded. Explain to me how my 450+ horsepower motor is reliable, but you couldn't keep a stocker running?

Perhaps it all comes down to how much a person cares. When I got my car, I ripped it apart to the chassis and reassembled it. I knew all the wear on it, and checked everything on it. I made notes on what would need replacing and when. Every week, I check all the hoses, electrical connectors, fluids, etc. I change the fluids on or before normal specs. Everything I do to the car is documented, even just tire pressure checks.

If you follow simple maintenance, the car will be fine. If you can't keep a rotary running, your piston engine will suffer as well.

Not to mention that the swap is WAY more expensive.

Face it... you need a honda.

 

NO MATTER HOW WELL YOU MAINTAIN A CAR, THEY DO BREAK, AND THE DRIVER HAS NO CONTROL OVER WHERE IT HAPPENS. THE ENGINE IN MY '7 STARTED ACTING UP ON THE RETURN TRIP FROM OCALA, FLA. NEAR MACON, GA. ONCE I HAD TO REPLACE THE INPUT MAINIFOLD PRESSURE SENSOR ON THE CAR. THANKFULLY I FOUND ONE IN A JUNK YARD. THE LOCAL MAZDA DEALER SAID A NEW ONE WOULD COST $310.00. FACE IT. THE ROTARY IS AN ORPHAN- AN EXPENSIVE ONE.

 

SOrry man, but if you think that the driver has no control over the life of his car, then you have obviously never owned or worked on a car before in your life. Face it, you don't know jack about cars-an expensive mistake.

 

DESPITE ALL THAT HAS BEEN SAID, SWITCING TO A PISTON MAKES SENSE TO ME. I DRIVE 1400 MI. EVERY CHRISTMAS TO VISIT FAMILY. IT'S A PAIN TO BREAK DOWN ON THE ROAD IN ANY CAR. I DON'T WANT TO RISK SPEND PRECIOUS VACATION DAYS WAITING ON A PART FOR MY CAR. SEEMS LIKE WHEN A ROTARY BLOWS IT CAN DO IT WITH NO WARNING. MY CAR RAN PERFECTLY WHEN IT STARTED MY RETURN TRIP. OIL WAS CLEAN, NO SMOKE, ETC. WITHIN 200 MI. IT STARTED ACTING UP. BY THE TIME I GOT HOME IT WAS BARELY RUNNING.

 

Yeah I agree with scathcart and rico05, I think you’re clueless about cars (as well as computers). I drive my 88 RX-7 1500 miles every couple of months with no issues.

Anyone that thinks a drive train swap is going to be less maintenance trouble is not playing with a full deck. To top it off your swapping from an engine with a dozen moving parts to something that has 100's if not 1000's of moving parts lend much closer to something failing and stranding you.

Plus you’re talking about a GM motor (a 3.5 V6 w/13k Miles on it as I recall), Just go look up consumer reports on any car with that motor... and see how reliable it is...Guess is a good thing you can get parts at any “autozone”.

Maybe that will be me laughing at you as I drive by when you break down and a mechanic or tow truck driver looks under the hood and says,” I ain't touching that thing... its some sort of bastardation".

I can see swaping for more guts. Some people have done it here.. but swapping in a GM motor for reliablity, IMO you have your head somewhere it shouldn't be.

 

Nicely put Mark.

 

I KNEW BEFORE MAKING THE FIRST POSTING TO THIS FORUM THE VERY MENTION OF "PISTON" WOULD LIGHT A FIRE UNDER ALL YOU PURISTS. BUT ALL THIS IS GOING NOWHERE. I'M GOING TO DO IT AND THAT'S IT. I WANT ALL THE INFO I CAN GET BEFORE STARTING. THANKS FOR THE RESPONSES.

 

Okay, If you are set on going for a non-rotary motor, then I would say the 4.3 from the S-10. It has way more potential then a 3800.

4.3 and a nice Vortech Supercharger would be fun to play with. I have a friend with a 400 small block in his 2nd Gen. It is way more problems than a rotary ever saw the day to be. But the darn thing is fast.

Plus your car want handle the same if you start throwing in different size motors. The RX7 and 240sx are two of the most balanced chasis's around. Throwing in a different motor just screws that up.

But this is your car. Do what you want to. I like to see cars with different motors in them. I find it interesting. Not that I would put a domestic engine in an import. Domestics sucks. But go for it.

 

I once took a road trip by myself from Fayettenam, North Carolina to Atlantic City, NJ and BACK and had absolutely no problems with my FC....with 230,000 miles on her at the time with the ORIGINAL engine. This same car and the same month, I took another trip from Fayettenam, North Carolina to Trenton, NJ AND BACK to pick up a MAF meter...no problems there either.

MAYBE IT'S NOT THE CAR, IT'S YOU

 

We are not flaming you for the desire to put a different engine in your car. We are flaming you because you belieive that in some way it will be cheap/easy/affordable to do this swap. If you are really great with mechanical work, mabye you could do it in a month or so and for $3k. If you break smething or cannot do it yourself, look at anywhere from $1-$5k in extra costs on this conversion. IT IS NOT EASY NOR IS IT CHEAP TO SWAP AN ENTIRE DRIVETRAIN NEVR INTENDED TO BE PUT INTO A CAR INTO SAID CAR.

And BTW, my first car was a modded S-10 w/ the 4.3L Vortech engine that I would beat the snot out of all my friend's cars all day long in. I am a BIG fan of that engine, so it is not the engine I am flaming, it's the person who wants to swap it in

 

Funny, mine don't. And I triple your horsepower output...

 

This is not a common or desirable swap, so there is little info on it. If you need info on a swap this complicated, you CAN'T do the swap yourself. Expect lots of fabrication and welding, and lots and LOTS of hours of labour.
Funny how you're doing this to your "economical" car....

I love the "Its my car and I can bastardize it anyway I want to" argument too.
Wonder if these examples apply too:
"She's my wife, so therefore its fine for me to beat the **** out of her."
"Its my property, so its fine for me to turn it into a landfill."
"Its my barn, so I can paint racist remarks all over it".

Ahem:
Seems like when a piston engine drops a valve, knocks a rod, or seizes a bearing it does so without warning....

I am not really against Bastard swaps. My main beef with them is how stupidly they are done. It is a cop-out way for easier horsepower and easier maintenance (in mindset only). If a swap is done right, with say... a fully built 8-71 blown bored and stroked hemi, and done with tact, then I'm all for it. Jimlab's car is a good example.
But judging from your inability to maintain a car, your request for knowledge, and your horrible cheap budget, I know this car will either wind up thrown together or in a junk yard as an unfinished project. This car will wind up a huge mistake.

Take this advice to heart: If you want a car with a GN engine, buy a GN.