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Old 01-10-02, 06:52 PM
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Re: My 2 cents

Originally posted by Chris81
I know alot of people here will probably hate me for this, but oh well, here goes.
(snipped stuff out...)

ENGINES. choices choices.

As I said, the stock engine has 89k miles on it. It does however have a very heavy oil leak and as i said has been sitting for a number of years. I guess what I do depends on how good the compression results come out. If the engine comes out good, then I'll use that engine for now. If it comes out bad, or even if it doesnt, down the road I will probably do the unthinkable. a FORD v8.

Why oh why you ask? Because I dont care what Mazda had in mind for this car. Because I dont care what any of you have in mind for this car. This is MY car, and I'm going to make it into what I want it to be. I happen to choose the Ford 302 because after all is said and done, not very much weight will be added. Adding to this, parts availability to the Ford 302 is phenominal. My choice will most likely be a late 80's 5.0 Mustang engine because I will also have to use all the emissions equipment to pass emissions here in AZ (bah). I know it will require a bit of money and rewiring, but it will be worth it for me.

Why not a rotary? simple. This is a car im going to have around for a long time after I put this much work in it. And as much as I hate to admit it, 13B parts are getting more expensive as the years go by. Its a simple fact that because there are so many Mustangs in existance, there will be parts availability for the 5.0 V8 for a good, long time. 5.0 V8's also enjoy quite a large aftermarket, very much larger than that of the 13B. And last bot not least, the numbers of V8's around make parts for the engine just so much cheaper than that of a 13B. Reman starters can be had for $23. You cant get that for an RX-7 that cheap, and you never will.

Chris
Now THIS is a reasonable explanation.

Trying to tell us that the V8 will be lighter, and more reliable, and will help you find the Holy Grail like some of you insist, is not.

He's going into the swap knowing fully well that there will be obstacles to overcome, and the car is going to gain some weight. Not denying it, and not making excuses. He knows that he may actually have to spend MORE initially, and has accepted it. Very reasonable.

He ISN'T trying to convince everyone that it will be lighter, cheaper, or easier... which is the concern I have with the folks making those (false) claims.

Brad
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Old 01-10-02, 06:58 PM
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Originally posted by ChrisV


I'm only going to go over this one point, as it illustrates teh hard time I'm having with your whaole set of assumptions.

Show me where I EVER said the weight of the V8 was sans manifolds. Show me where I EVER said the weight of the 13b was "all up."

You are making assumptions about what I said, and flaming ME based on YOU putting words in MY mouth.
You didn't SAY that the V8 is sans manifolds... but that is the weight you listed. You didn't SAY that the 13B was "all up." But again, the weight you listed IS the all-up weight.

Research it and get back to me if you have any doubt that my statement is correct. A "bare" 13B is under 300lbs... you quoted considerably more. But the figures you gave for the V8 coincide with "bare" weights that are commonly published. Apples to oranges. That's not flaming, that's stating the facts.

Brad
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Old 01-10-02, 07:01 PM
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Originally posted by RICE RACING
ChrisV, you truley are a fucken usless dumb **** ! Youre mother should have drowned you at birth.

V8's are ****, always have been ALWAYS WILL BE.

WAN'T ONE DO IT TO ANOTHER CAR, NOT A MAZDA ROTARY.
Ok RICERACING, you know better than this... warning #1. I see a whole STRING of posts here with similar content, and it WILL stop.

Brad
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Old 01-10-02, 07:13 PM
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Originally posted by gnx7
WOW! This has turned into an emotional topic. I'll start by picking on a few guru's in here.

RX_7Ragtop: Don't forget to add the additional weight of the T2 transmission which is easily over 100lbs I believe as I pulled one from a parts car and was impressed by its weight. Obviously removing a/c and heavy exhaust from the T2 or N/A 13B helps to reduce some weight as well.

RiceRacing: It is very nice that you have an aftermarket TEC-II or something similar that allows you to lean out the fuel delivery for sustained engine RPM on long cruises. Without this expensive aid ($1K-1,500) I'm sure it wouldn't be possible. Also you are EFI and ChrisV was total budget buildup and was carb'd.

$300 rebuild on your 13B....?!?! well assuming you are the one rebuilding it and if the housings aren't scored you can reuse them and do all the porting yourself. But if the housings are scored then I'm assuming your cost of replacing them is free as you probably have access to a pile of dead 13B's.

You can go to about any Kragen/Grand Auto and get a 350 rebuilt shortblock (block/pistons/rings/rods/crank) for $699 and slap on box stock Trick Flow Twisted Wedge aluminum heads $900 and swap the cam $119 to make around 400hp with upgraded intake $149 and reworked QuadraJet carb $100 with headers. Then the rest can be junkyard oil pan/distributor/timing cover etc. If you are more resourceful you can get a shortblock kit from PAW or Summit or Speed-o-Motive for about the same price and it will be a 383 but then you have to assemble it. This will push a 2nd gen car into the 11's easily and have over 400ft/lbs of tq. If you really want to save money you can run GM Vortec heads that are cast iron/fully assembled and new for $221 each and they flow enough to make nearly 400hp out of the box. The GM engineers finally designed a decent flowing budget head with nice combustion chamber and decent intake/exhaust ports.

RiceRacing: You may have 500hp but I doubt you have more than 400ft/lbs of tq. HP is relational to engine speed and TQ as you know. You have a pretty sweet setup I'm sure... and one of a handful like ChrisV mentioned who can keep a 13B with over 400hp running for more than 10,000 miles if that. In a featherweight 1st gen that car must fly.

Ford 302's weigh about 80-100lbs less than 350's! Mainly because their blocks are thinner castings and past 500hp are questionable. But 500hp in an RX-7 would blow about anyone's mind.

$2K valve springs.... ha ha ha. I run LT1 valvesprings in my Buick GN 3.8i turbo engine that cost $89. They are from the LT1 V8.

This debate can go on forever. Someone needs to finally complete an LS1 swap into either a 2nd gen or 3rd gen and your jaws will drop with the performance and reliability derived.

At least everyone here is in agreement that the RX-7 is a killer chassis that handles well, is light, aerodynamic, and is a great budget sports car that with some mods is an impressive little car.

I wish you guys would realize that when you can buy a 2nd gen with a blown engine for pennies on the dollar $200-500 for a car with near perfect body and nice interior... and then for about a total of $5K have a car that runs 12's or maybe even 11's, still handles better than most of the crap on the road and gets 20mpg+.... that is bliss.

I truly think I'll be doing engine swaps with 2nd gen RX-7's for a long time to come. Mainly because I will not pay the insurance a Z06/TTPorsche/TTSupra/TTRX-7 commands.... and I want to be different and really blow people's minds.

Happiness is blowing away a guy with a fully pumped RX-7/Camaro/Rustang/Vette/Supra/MuscleCar at the track and your car looks stock from the outside. Then drive by them in my car on the highway going home as they trailer their "racecar" that just got whooped at the track.

:p GNX7
Good point about the TII transmission... it does weigh a BIT more than the NA one, I know that from personal experience. Total difference between the NA transmission and differential and the TII parts is about 75 lbs. This is PARTLY why a TII weighs more than an NA. Beefier springs, bigger brakes, usually power EVERYTHING, and the weight of the turbo and intercooler system make up the rest.

Brad

p.s. We don't call Mustangs "Rustangs" either... that's against forum rules.

OK, my turn to rant for a sec...

This thread is WAY out of hand, but there is also some good information changing hands on BOTH sides, so I will leave it for now... but EVERYONE needs to tone it down. Most of you guys (Rice, Chris, etc.) are long-time members, or frankly I'd be a lot more inclined to ban folks. This issue always gets out of hand, which is why I hate these discussions... because I'm the one that has to babysit all this crap. If I have to lock this thread due to continued flames, you can rest assured that won't be the ONLY action taken.
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Old 01-10-02, 07:21 PM
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Originally posted by ChrisV


You're the one who needs to stop talking ****. I'm not in Australia. Here, V8 engines are extremely inexpensive to work on. Weight is a known factor, with scale weights available all over. all you have to do is weigh them, instead of pulling numbers out your ***. And the fuel mileage quotes you have are a joke to ANYONE who has driven modded rotaries.

Oh, and the Granny's thing. That's a company run by a guy by the name of Grant. I'm assuming he got the nickname many years ago. I had nothing to do with it, him, or his company, and he has nothing to do with me. Calling me names based on that name shows you to be extremely small minded. I'm sure Brian will ban me over this, as it's his firm belief that you can call me all the names you want, and that's merely disagreeing. but if I defend myself in a like manner, *I'm* flaming you.

So be it.
First of all, it's BRAD, not BRIAN. Second, no, I'm not gonna ban you for this... I don't see this as a flame... but you know as well as I do that you've had multiple warnings, and you ARE pushing your luck. Let's tone it down a bit, shall we?

Brad
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Old 01-10-02, 07:27 PM
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If I were building a drag only car, I'd have a GN 3.8/200R4 combo.

But for just general driving, I like the rotary, beacuse to me its fun to drive. I live the way it revs, and sounds, etc. But there is no denying the power potential of V8s and turbo V6's. I saw Duttweiler's 2000 HP GN in person when I was younger. I just don't care for the GM G-Body platform. So no GN for me.

I have a lot more fun driving my 13B RX-7 down a curvy road than any piston engine car.
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Old 01-10-02, 08:48 PM
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Originally posted by Winnipeg85GSL
Ahem, A 225 horse 302 would beat a 225 13B in the same car any day of the week, month/year.
really?

Ok I'm going to buy another N/A tranny for my Turbo GXL
which I broke cause I'm making over 225
with 3" exhaust and a Mild Ported engine and that is ALL the
mods I got.

I'm going to envite forum member BogusFile who has a 350 in his
2nd gen with a 2 speed power glyde that is making over 250HP
to the track(we're both from central florida)
and we shall see what my tiny little 1.3 liter car can do against his
Ok after that I'll make you eat my time slip
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Old 01-10-02, 08:49 PM
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Well, I guess the storm has passed... So I guess its safe to add my $0.02. I can understand both arguments. And it really is just a matter of what you want. Personally, I dont like turbos, fuel tuning, or anything overly complex and expensive. This is mainly because I cant afford the supporting systems of a turbo motor, much less a good turbo and a ported motor to begin with. I'm also partial to N/A power because its 100% consistant. You get this much power at this RPM (not counting changing atmospheric conditions) EVERY time. No vacume leaks, boost spikes, turbo lag, or worries of running lean because my 90psi fuel pump hiccupped when feeding my 1200cc injectors.... I'm also a fan of torque. Its fun.. Plain and simple.. Its also nice to be able to pull in any gear without having to downshift to get into a narrow powerband. On the other hand, there's nothing like the feeling of boost. Feeling in the seat of your pants as it builds up to its peak. Or the sound of a tuned motor revving it up high. My favorite sound in the world is the Williams BMW FW23's 3.0 liter V10 going through the motions. And as far as the balance issue. I seriously dont think a V8 would throw off the balance all THAT much. And besides, with a V8, you could afford to ADD weight to balance it out. More weight makes it handle worse? Get wider, stickier tires... Anyway... All of this has been covered quite extensivly already. As I said earlier, its all a matter of what you want. If you enjoy tuning an engine thats trying it hardest to explode into little peices, low displacment turbo motors are for you. If you want simple, consistant power with a wide powerband go with a nice V8. And just for the record, I've chased a V8 firebird down a twisty country road. And not only did he leave me in his dust after going sideways through 2nd, he also out handled the **** outta me through the turns... He also had some fat *** tires I could only dream to afford for my car So anyway... I love my car. I love the simplicity of the N/A rotory engine. What I DONT love is the fact that my car is slow as hell. V8's are a cheap, effective means to an end. For me, thats to have a car that'd take any respectable supercar on the strip, at the track, and on the street. And to do it without a turbo... Jimlab, your my hero..
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Old 01-11-02, 01:47 AM
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All I can say is that if it wasn't for rotary purists like rx7_ragtop to challenge newage way of doing things, then sure enough the rotary would die out. Mazda made the rotary with the intention of selling it (which explains why the rx series has them) to the consumer. Also it's great that entrepeneurs like ChrisV have the guts and obviously the know-hwo to be able to challenge a motor that has had a foothold in mazda tradition for decades.

This goes for anything that is technolically related. It's all about trying new things. I honestly wish that everybody would just act more open minded and not try to be personally insulted when somebody doesn't want to treat a car the way you want to treat it (kind of a spinoff ofthe Golden Rule). With that in mind, I hope that we can all get along better, and I hope to read more of these great debates. Now a couple questions:

rx7_ragtop: I plan to prolly get a 3rd gen and was wondering if you think that a 20B motor would be worth putting in? I heard that they get 50% more power output from them, but are they worth the extra money? As a matter of fact, how much do they cost? Any other info on them would be greatly appreciated to ragtop. Thanks bud.

ChrisV: If I ever did decide to do the V8 or V6 (+ any other motors that you might recommend) conversion, I was wondering on what you think would be a better bet in a 3rd gen. Because I know it seems most guys who do this conversion use 1st or 2nd gens based on reasons that have already been stated (like insurance). I'm trying to think how to word this correctly, but I can prolly be pretty sure of myself when I say that the V6 Turbo will cost more in the long run on a completely stock FD since other miscellaneous parts would need to be bought by me (boost gauge among other things). Are the FC and the FD that much different so that in your explanations, I couldn't directly think of the FD in my my mind instead? Hope I didn't maek that sound too complicated and if I did, you can count on me responding to either yours or rx7_ragtop's posts .

To be quite honest, I like the rotary, but then again my words can be deceiving. I like it, but I don't love it, as for in the words of a true rotary enthusiast (as far as one can be for just liking the rotary), "It doesn't matter how much I love the rotary engine for it can only love me back so much back" . I hope that this brings about more lively debates later on.

P.S. I wish I hung around these forums as much as I do Supraforums.com. If I knew that the discussions were this good, I woulda come here years ago. I'm glad to say that you have nwo another somewhat-newbie member that you can officially add to a list of people that will have over 1000 posts here. Well on my way...

Aslo sorry for the spelling errors, I entirely blame myself and my crappy typing ....o what the heck! It was the infrared keyboard .
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Old 01-11-02, 01:54 AM
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Engine swaps in the FD are a whole different ballgame.
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Old 01-11-02, 02:43 AM
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What a surprise...
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Old 01-11-02, 03:37 AM
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Originally posted by Mykl
What a surprise...
What do you mean?
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Old 01-11-02, 05:26 PM
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Originally posted by kabooski


really?

Ok I'm going to buy another N/A tranny for my Turbo GXL
which I broke cause I'm making over 225
with 3" exhaust and a Mild Ported engine and that is ALL the
mods I got.

I'm going to envite forum member BogusFile who has a 350 in his
2nd gen with a 2 speed power glyde that is making over 250HP
to the track(we're both from central florida)
and we shall see what my tiny little 1.3 liter car can do against his
Ok after that I'll make you eat my time slip
Thats 225 hp to the Flywheel right?
I sure hope you have modified your fuel system or you will end up running a 0.00 at 0mph. Are you sure that is all you have? And I am certainly not making 250hp. I may have intake exhaust and a nice carb and all, but it is not matched up. My motor makes 170hp
in a stock 79 camaro Z28. With my mods Id say Im at 210hp. Why only 210? Well for one because the cam is stock, and that effects the motor more than any mod, secondly the carb is much to big for the cam resulting in an extremely rich condition at low RPM which causes bogging off the line and so on. My stock cam is good for about 5k RPM, and with my gearing it won't allow good MPH at that RPM range. Hence the 13.9 at 92 mph. The cam I am getting will accomodate my carb, and allow the motor to rev out to 6500rpm, with the help of some roller rockers and stiffened valve springs. Then I will have an extra 50-60+hp and an extra 1500RPM worth of MPH. Should run low 12's all day long.
If you really want to see how your car holds up against a V8 FC race me when my car is running right. Then we will see who is eating Time slips.
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Old 01-11-02, 05:38 PM
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lol ok then

I'll upgrade my turbo and add bigger injectors
and we shall see eh...hehe

naw, right now I'm planning on painting my car
so performance stuff is going to have wait

ask Little Donny or triangleman
or andres all of which have seen my car
and can tell you all the mods I have are a 3" inch exhaust
and a mild ported engine boosting @10 PSI with no FCD or fuel mods
I did send my injectors to get cleaned at RC when I built the Motor
which helps in having crisp fuel delivery.

after The Paint will come some MAJOR Mods
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Old 01-11-02, 05:55 PM
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Man your walking a thin line, you should at least rewire your fuel pump.
Especially this time of year, with the cold weather and all. I have seen TII's with stock fuel injection run 12.7's, but that is a very risky affare.
Plus the guy had a big *** NPR intercooler, and a motor built by Crispeed. Once you get a bigger turbo you are going to need to get some sort of engine management. But I bet you can get all of that stuff real cheap, knowing the Orlando crowed haha. Do you know jose with the white FD? Almost bought a TII off of him. Or have you heard of a guy running around with a sprinkler head for a blow off valve? That was me, and it worked great haha. Well if you are going to upgrade your turbo, I may have to get some .202 heads, and forged high compression pistons, which would put me into the low 11's. And they can both be bought for around 600 clams.
Well regardless I would like to race a modded TII. I still love the rotary, and I have a **** load of respect for them. I love the old starlets and R100's out at bithlo. They are my favorite cars out there. I just cant afford to do it the way I want to. But I'll never regret driving a V8 FC.
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Old 01-11-02, 06:30 PM
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I assure you that I will be at the track alot though. So I am sure that some time in the future we can race. It should be awesome... and I wont consider it a grudge match or anything. I just want some good competition. Nobody will race me!
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Old 01-11-02, 06:31 PM
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yea I don't see nothing wrong with a V8 FC
it's a fun project I would assume.

actually I have not driven the car in 2 months
But I know if I was to drive here in this cold weather
I could hit 15 PSI, which is a no no.

I got several back up motors just In case
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Old 01-11-02, 06:33 PM
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I got to see if I can find a N/A tranny tommarow
if I find one and install it sunday
I'll be at the track this coming friday
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Old 01-11-02, 06:41 PM
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Well hopefully my freind will buy my TII from me. He is planning on swapping a V8 in it. He will have a TII tranny and motor for sale if you or anyone you know needs it. It has 150k miles on it, but it runs good, and doesnt burn excessive oil. Bought 1 quart per 500-1000 miles. The turbo is good too.
Let me know
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Old 01-11-02, 06:42 PM
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BTW I think the track is closed? I may be wrong, but they usually close it for like 2 months during the winter to resurface it.
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Old 01-11-02, 06:49 PM
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I have a 87 TII
I bought a month or so ago
with a blown motor.
I was planning on putting my good motor on it
but I want to pull the blown motor
and custom paint the entire car
before doing so.

my engine builder has a TII complete
running that he put a mech lien on
the owner disappered (a car dealer) been a year

That I could buy for 1k
but I dont have room for more cars
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Old 01-11-02, 06:52 PM
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Originally posted by BogusFile
BTW I think the track is closed? I may be wrong, but they usually close it for like 2 months during the winter to resurface it.
I HOPE so they have been saying for several years they was going to re pave the strip.

and speedworlds track is uneven especially after the lights
there is a drop
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Old 01-11-02, 07:06 PM
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Originally posted by Dj*BaM|BaM

rx7_ragtop: I plan to prolly get a 3rd gen and was wondering if you think that a 20B motor would be worth putting in? I heard that they get 50% more power output from them, but are they worth the extra money? As a matter of fact, how much do they cost? Any other info on them would be greatly appreciated to ragtop. Thanks bud.

[/B]
I'll address just the part above, and let others handle the V8 questions.

PERSONALLY, I don't think a 20B is a good choice for any but the most hard-core hot-rodders. It has exactly the same issues as a V8: It isn't just a "bolt in" fit, it is heavier, (about the same as a Ford small-block) and longer (slightly longer than a domestic small-block V8) and a lot of fabrication is required. Read that as "a lot of $$ required" unless you do it all yourself. I don't just mean motor mounts either. I personally don't think it is worth it IN MOST CASES. (Exactly the same reasons as the V8 swap.) However... in stock trim, with just intake, exhaust, and raising the boost slightly, it's good for an easy 500+ hp... a lot more "bang for the buck" than an NA V8 built up to that hp level, and a lot more streetable- it will drive like the stock engine that it is, and be reliable like the stock engine that it is.

Now, that being said... you can make 400+ streetable RWHP with a properly modified 13BT or 13BREW, for a LOT less money invested. I personally know several people who have done so, and 1 who drives his 400+ hp car EVERY SINGLE DAY to work.

Am I a rotary purist? No, not really. I own a big-block 69 Cougar convertible as well, unfortunately, it's in pretty bad shape. I'm not even totally against V8 engines in RX-7s. What I AM against is unreasonable or misleading information. (Like saying a V8 is as light as a 13B!)
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Old 01-11-02, 07:15 PM
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Id say that the small block is still a better choice than even a 3 rotor. My dream car is a 750hp 3 rotor FD, but my reality car would more than likely be a 600hp LT1 FD similar to Jims car. My main concern is reliability and cost. The 3 rotor would be fairly reliable, but if and when it does go, the cost to rebuild it would be astronomical, unless you do it yourself, and even if you do it would likely be 2k dollars+. Its just a scary swap man. Plus the mazda tranny would be at its whits end with all that 3 rotor torque.
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Old 01-13-02, 10:24 AM
  #100  
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
 
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Brad (sorry about the name thing... don't know what happened...), Sorry about going off earlier. it's guys like this rice_racing fellow that I've had to deal with for the past few years. Only can take people like that for so long before blowing up. Won't happen again. Ok?

Secondly, I NEVER said the V8 was lighter or as light as the rotary. Never. I did, however, try to show it wasn't THAT much heavier (I've always stated, depending on whether you start with an N/A or TII, that the weight will be 50-150 lbs more with the V8). When I gave weights, it was of the engines I personally weighed. With stiffer springs, relocated battery, etc, the difference (because of how far back the engines sit) will be minimal as far as handling is concerned. In some cases, like my car, the balance was changed enough to make the car more neutral. But I've also always shown that I had Tokiko race springs, Tokiko HP struts, 1 1/8" front bar, and Yokohama A008RSII tires. My car was an autocross champion before the conversion, and remained so after. It felt better on the track, to me, and I've been doing this (autocrossing) for a couple decades in hundreds of different cars. I'm just trying to say that with my experience (and I'm not a redneck bubba who simply stuffs V8s in everything) the conversion works, and works well.





The front of the valve covers are at the center of the struts.. That means it's still front-mid engine. And look how small that V8 is in there. In my case, only 150 lbs was added to the car, and only 50 of that ended up on the front. I gave all the paperwork on the conversion (scale weights, alignment specs, etc.) to the new owner back in '98, so I can't scan it in and prove any of this, which pisses me off. And as I said in teh other thread, if I could transfer Hi-8 to .mpg, I have video of the car autocrossing...

Oh, and about the design of the car: Everything about the Ford V8 conversion was as though the factory had designed it this way. All fuel lines, vacuum lines, etc lined up. The Ford sump fit around the Mazda crossmember like it was designed to be there. The steering gear went far enough over to the side to allow huge amounts of room. The exhaust snaked down next to the frame rails like it was custom built for the car, yet it was off-the-shelf MAC bits for a Mustang. the Ford trans mount was in almost exactly the same spot as teh Mazda one, and the Ford driveshaft was the same diameter as the Mazda shaft, so it was a simple chore to install the Ford yoke at the front of the Mazda shaft. Heck, even the wheels use the standard Ford 5 lug bolt pattern...
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