I currently have an 87 base RX7 with an N/A 13B in it.. The apex seals are going I think, it missfires pretty bad, and the clutch and synchros are trashed, 154k on it of hard driving.
Looking to do an engine swap with this engine linked below, but was wondering if it would be worth it to do the S5 swap (TurboII with the trans from a donor car) or if I should look more into rebuilding what I have and turbo'ing it.
I am leaning towards a new motor, since I would hate to get mine apart and see that it's not worth rebuilding, and because I don't want to deal with the transmission rebuilding.
I've read a couple posts on an S5 into an S4 swap, but was confused about a couple things. I was reading that I would need the whole rear end of the TurboII car, or a custom drive shaft, to make the swap work.
I was also wondering if it was going to take any fabrication to do the swap, or if I could do it at home with the right tools.

Here's a link to the JDM I was going to get.

http://www.jdmenginedepot.com/jdm_en...-T_S5_TURBO_II

Thanks, Nick

 

turbo transmission to NA rear end requires a custom driveshaft. mazdatrix has them. i should all swap over pretty easily but the wiring will be a nightmare. probably easier to go standalone.

 

alright, cool, thanks.
also, will I need to get a new tach and/or guage cluster?

 

went there personally and they tried selling me a siezed motor and trans for 1800 with no warrenty

went to japanese engines inc there better and actually have warrenty

 

no, you will probably need to repin the gauge cluster harness though. it's easy.

 

Wow, that sucks. Thanks for the heads up. Guess I won't be getting an engine from there.

 

thats my experience wit them i did my swap and still working hard after 2 years haha proud of that got lucky and got a motor wit the reinforced rear plate too

 

okay, cool.

The problem with my guages is, my tach doesn't work when my car is cold, or sometimes even when it's warm, my fuel guage only works above 3/4 tank of gas, the voltage guage works sometimes, I can fix it by slapping the top of the dash (some kind of electrical issue, obviously), and m speedometer is off by 5-8mph depending on how fast I'm going.
I tried pulling the cluster out, but ran into troubles so I just left it in. Do I need to take the whole dash off to get to it? I was hoping I could just pull it out and find some short and then fix it real fast... Think this is my actual cluster or is it just wiring? If I need a new one theres one off a turbo at a local junk yard I'll go swoop up before someone else does.

 

Double post

 

We did something very similar on our 90 vert. We bought from Tiger Japanese and got a PoS. I'd strongly suggest getting a JDM engine from someone like Japan2LA here on the boards who is active and trustworthy; and has a rep to maintain. The anonymous "importers" are just moving junk and happy to take your money and wait for the next newb to come along.

Another thing you might do since you're in Oregon is go visit Pineapple Racing in Portland. They have engine parts and provide lots of engine building services. Rob's a really good guy and always seems happy to provide insight and advice.

There are write-ups on doing the swap in the 2nd Gen archives as well as on www.rotaryresurrection.com. Very much worth the time to browse and read.

Swapping the cluster is easy but not required. However, I suspect there are no easy fixes to your shorting problem if it is in the cluster so the swap would be easiest. Mazda's lack of soldering skills in this period is infamous so getting the turbo one might be your best bet. We swapped in a NA 5-speed cluster and as I recall we swapped in our original speedo so the mileage would remain valid.

A standalone is the ultimate ECU but if you can find a Turbo ECU that's the easiest route. It's an N370 on the S5s. I dont know what the S4 turbo ECU designation is but that's easy enough to find with a quick search. With the OEM ECU you just have a couple (on the S5 literally two) of reconnections to make where the standalone is more involved. Gives you lots more control but takes more commitment and $$$. There are several forums here on the various standalone options where you can educate yourself to make your decision.

Good luck with your project.

 

to pull the cluster out remove the cluster surround (w/ all the switches). then there are 2 screws on each side of the cluster holding it on. pull one side of the cluster out to expose the back. there you will find 2 round plugs with a tab in the center that you need to press to remove the plugs. the speedo cable will also be attached and you remove it by pressing on a plastic tab/clip at the end of the cable and pulling it off the back of the cluster. once all 3 are removed, it should come right out.

 

yeah that cluster is not wanting to pull out... not going to worry about it now though. going to wait until I get around to my new engine swap and everything.

 

This happened on my S5 GXL. Apparently, the cluster had never been pulled out before. It felt like I was going to snap something or break the wiring. I just kept pulling on it firmly and moving it around a little and the wires finally slackened up and I was able to reach behind to unhook everything. Some things in the car you have to handle gingerly, I do not believe this is one of them.

 

alright, that's somewhat relieving... I was just unsure if i was not supposed to be able to take it out like that without pulling the wires out first somehow or something.