DubSeth

iTrader: (3)

So long story short, I have an 86 GXL with an engine that was overheated and the engine died. It had coolant seals that were toast (pressurized cooling system, blowing coolant out of the overflow). Should I trust that the housings aren't warped and no serious damage was done? It has 180k miles on it...So basically, rebuild the overheated 6-port with street or bridgeport, buy another 6-port to street or bridgeport then rebuild, turbo II swap, or other engine swap with a budget of $2000-$3000 and a quest for about 250-300hp at the crank? I know I'm obnoxious asking all this but I have no idea wat i should do! I have no experiance with rotarys but I've rebuilt a few piston engines from ground up so i know the basics Thanks for the help!

She's a work in progress, be gentle with your words

S13 @ fullboost

sweet lip

LunchboxCritter

iTrader: (9)

For your power goals and budget a TII swap (engine, trans, driveshaft, rear end, half shafts, and ecu) is your best option. I do not believe that you can get anywhere near 300hp with an NA setup, and if you did get close it probably wouldn't last very long.

For simplification purposes I would also suggest that you go with an S4 TII swap, as your car is S4 and it will make the swap easier, also S4 TII parts seem more readily available in the US.

To be quite honest if you are patient it might be in your best interest to part out your NA and stack that money with the $3000.00 and watch out for TII's for sale. A very nice TII can be purchased for not much more than your budget.

jparker7

iTrader: (1)

Throw an LT1 in there. I t will be NA and could be done very easily for under 3k and meet your power goals. Replace the opticrap and it will be reliable as well.

sv51macross

iTrader: (1)

Knarly fender-dent man!

$3000 won't buy a 300rwhp that's tolerable on the street. A semi-PP, maybe, but custom manifolds/induction on top of the porting would be out of budget, and that's before engine management and fuel system mods.

Realistically, a turbo swap is the best option for what you want. It is debatable whether you need the full TII driveline right away, Aaron Cake drove his NA-turbo on NA trans and rearend with 400hp for awhile. But then again, he's crazy. And Canadian. And we all know Canadians are magic.

While a V8 is economical, it upsets the weight balance unless you want to spend another 3000 on a CF front-end.

sharingan 19

iTrader: (16)

Not to mention, its in poor taste...

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

if you already have goals for more power then sell it and buy a turbo II chassis and build the car from there.

if you can't find a turbo shell then save up more money because a budget of $2-3k will just get you a reliable running car, not 300 crank HP.

the only non turbo cars you can expect to see anywhere remotely above 200 wheel horsepower are for the track only, turbo is your only option. in all reality i don't know why anyone bothers with non turbo 7s anymore, they're slow and have limited potential. the people i know who do have N/As are the type who would be happy with just about any car, not a sports car. the ones who do wind up building non turbos wish they spent it on a turbo swap.

/end of story

durtled

if u look hard enough u can find a tii parts car i got 1 for 300 bucks and took everything i needed for the tii swap spend a lil more on a rebuild kit and misc. odds and ends like ecu afm boost sensor and straight pipe. and still way under a grand with my swap. for 3k u should be able to do what ur lookin for. hawk ur local craigslists. never know.

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

You're going to have to go turbo for those power goals under that budget.

DubSeth

iTrader: (3)

Well I'm not sure i really trust the engine in it now, after all it does have 180xxx miles so it's not fresh...I was thinking about a TII swap actually but realistically for a power goal of 250hp its gunna cost more than 3k...I do have 2 chevy 350 small blocks, a 396 big block and a pontiac 400 small block in my possession but I have no clue wat i would need for a drivetrain to make any of those work....but just having those engines takes a little off wat its going to cost for my power goal...Only thing i dont like is too much weight in the front (probably good for drifting, but not for really carving thru corners)...Might that change anyone's opinion on this? I also have chevy rearends and driveshafts etc from old muscle cars (like camaros and pontiacs), maybe some of that would work with some fabrication? I also have access to a welder and I know how to weld

12AllWays

iTrader: (20)

Just rebuild that n/a with some porting. Drive it for a few thousand miles to break it in and stock up some parts, then turbo it... You would be able to get 250whp no problem with a hybrid s4 turbo. And if you are good at finding deals, Have it all be under 3k...

DubSeth

iTrader: (3)

Ya there's a guy I work with that knows his **** when it comes to 7s...He thinks id be happy with either a bridgeport or turboing it. I have a t3/t4 turbo in my possession right now and im guessing i can find a t3 manifold? Im picking up some 3mm rotors, but idk wat else i would need for a turbo setup besides intercooler, a tune, and probably bigger injectors...I notice no one likes the idea of american muscle under the hood of some pacific muscle

87pyro3

U could build a turbo na
Street port ur na upgrade seals and such
And run low pressure boost No more than 10 lbs
A brand new street port will run you answer from 1500 to 2000
Add turbo and piggyback for it and gas and presto
About 2600 in u can have a running hybrid 7
When u get it tuning take it easy until u can buy t2 drivetrain
From tranny back will run u about 4 to 700
Ther are a few great write-ups in the archives about making that kinda power out of the na engine

12AllWays

iTrader: (20)

I would go with at least a street port and a hybrid s4 t2 turbo/mani, they can be had for about 5-600. T3 is too small for rotary. A good fuel pump, 1000cc injectors for secondaries, and an rtek ecu or standalone to control it, intercooler... done.

blue87t2

if you want to use any of those engines, look into grannys speed shop for a swap kit and any information to swap in those engines. only thing that may become a issuse is what trans to use.

don't listen to this garble about 50/50 weight, if your building a all out track car then i would look into figuring out how to change the weight. but thats not gonna fit in your budget. plus the 50/50 weight is relation to having a passanger and full tank of fuel. im not to familer with how heavy the old cast gm engines are but they can't be to much more then swapping in a jz series engine with a large single.

ive done hybrid 60-1 with the rtek, and it just ended blowing apart in the end. if you want only 300 hp at the wheels and want to matin its reliablity your best bet is to go with one of the v-8s you have sitting around.

now, im not a biasised engine swapper. i love the rotary in a dedicated race car. i just can't stand all the crap excusses about people losing a engine and just seeing these cars just sit in a field and rot; waiting for the next trip to the crusher.


in the end its your car, you should not care what any one thinks of your car because its ulitmitaly your problem if somthing happens.

do as you wish.

my car;1jz swapped, single turbo, haltech stanalone, 450-500 bhp on pump 91. big smile ear to ear every time i drive it.

PS: screw you grammer *****

tuscanidream

iTrader: (6)

The cool thing about having an rx7 is that it has a rotary engine.

Like previously said, the only way to meet your power goal and budget would probably be an s4 t2 swap.

Ps clean body! Besides the dent. That can easily be replaced.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

If he is suggesting either of those things, he doesn't know his RX-7s.

Get any ideas of bridgeports out of your head unless you also want to build your own intake manifold and convert to a full standalone, and want to make all your power at 9500 RPM. NA bridgeports are for the track, not the street.

Turbocharging the NA engine isn't just a matter of bolting parts on. Well, it can be but that's not the ideal approach for a number of reasons. If you want a turbo engine, and want to make 300HP, just buy a TII engine and go from there.

No reason to use 3MM rotors.

Your best bet is just a regular old TII conversion. Find someone selling a TII engine and ECU, AFM and all the other little bits then bolt it to your NA transmission. Run it around like that for a while and have fun with the 250HP which comes from mild upgrades. Then, when you get bored and experienced, convert to a standalone, install the rest of the TII drivetrain and then upgrade the turbo for your 300+HP.

If you are going to V8 the car, for the love of FSM, don't dump some cast iron boat anchor in there. The last thing the world needs is another V8 RX-7 with a POS carbureted 350 small block and some horrid slushbox. Do the world a favor and do the V8 conversion right with a modern LS series engine, nice 6 speed an EFI.

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

Nonsense. Burn more fuel, go more fast.

http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=491.0

These threads always turn into a piston vs. rotaries bash fest.

Engines are kinda like women. Different materials, different weights, different balance points... Different bores, different strokes; some reciprocate, some don't.

Literally different strokes for different folks.

They all do the trick for someone...

Pele

iTrader: (28)

How about a real engine like an LS series engine... Cast iron is for boat anchors.
You can even get some good power out of a V6. keep it light up front too.

DubSeth

iTrader: (3)

I havent posted for a while but i'll update everyone thats in this thread. I have some 1/3rd bridgeport irons (figured out they were 1/3rd by looking at pics on google search) and i have a walbro 255lph, and 3mm rotors. Just remembered the passenger side underneath the car is totally rotted. needs $300 worth of sheet metal welded in but i really dont wanna crawl under my car to weld sheet metal over my head haha...I'm kinda leaning towards selling the entire car or parting it out if anyone's interested? My threads i try to start in the sale section dont get posted unless it takes more than a day?

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

If they don't get posted it's because you are not following the rules of posting in the classifieds and it gets rejected.

DubSeth

iTrader: (3)

I read the rules...and I obeyed lol