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Hey guys, ive done a bit of reasearch on this and it hasnt been very helpful. Basically, I purchased an Fd roller for cheap and I pulled my banzai racing built 13bt out of my 91 vert to have a running FD. Im not changing the mount housings, so I figured I could just make my own mounts in the front and swap out tail housings on the trans. The engine is standalone with a microtech lt8s. Power steering, emissions, abd ac deleted. OMP blocked off also. Could anyone give me some advise regarding this? Please keep your comments to yourself if you think its stupid to swap a 13bt for a 13brew. Its got plenty of power for now at 400. Thanks guys.
I think the hard part will be figuring out a way to get the 13BT engine mounts to work with the FD chassis, which as I'm sure you already know is expecting mounts on the 13BREW rear iron rather than the center, like the 13BT. Unless you have or can get access to a good welder/fabricator, it will be like pounding a square peg in around hole. I'm not aware of any shops that offer kits/parts to do this kind of swap, though there are a few that do the opposite version of this swap - 13BREW into an FC chassis.
Sorry I can't be more help, there's nothing wrong with wanting to put a perfectly good rotor motor into a roller that wasn't designed for it - beats going LS!
Last edited by Pete_89T2; Nov 16, 2019 at 04:00 PM.
Pete,
Thanks for your feedback. I have all the tools to fab up these mounts available, its going to be a challenge. The rear edge of the oil pan sits a half inch from the crossmember and the front edge sits equally as close to the steering rack. Hood shuts fine too. Just sitting on wood blocks for the moment. I really want to buy a tail housing from an fd trans but dont want to pay extra for the whole thing.
I'm not trying to be discouraging here, but as others have already stated and what is already pretty much known, mounts are in different places. That's why it makes much more sense for FC owners to swap in a 13BRE from a Cosmo instead of a REW from an FD. We're talking the inverse here. I'd say do it properly (or as proper as it can be done in this case), and swap out the engine parts. If you have a 400hp banzai built engine, that obviously cost quite a bit, I wouldn't start to cheap out on such a critical part of an engine swap, connecting it to the car. The amount of time, fabrication, quality of fabrication, cost of all of that, I'm sure would be in excess of just sourcing the REW parts. You're talking about putting a motor in a chassis not designed for it, but don't want to deal with the costs incurred of doing it properly. Not trying to come across as abrasive here, I just think if you are going to do it, do it properly. You're already finding out how much of a pain it is going to be trying to fabricate mounts, let alone what else is going to arise out of that.
Last edited by SwappedNA; Nov 17, 2019 at 03:30 AM.
Good luck man... with the time and effort you'll need to invest in making this work I think you'd be better off just getting a 13B-REW engine and saving your FC engine for an FC.
I think the time and effort to invest to get this engine mounted is only hindered by two mounts. That doesnt justify spending 5k plus on an rew. Im thinking all I need to buy is possibly an fd oil pan and definitely a tail housing from an fd so my driveshaft fits and trans mounts up to stock location.
I think the time and effort to invest to get this engine mounted is only hindered by two mounts. That doesnt justify spending 5k plus on an rew. Im thinking all I need to buy is possibly an fd oil pan and definitely a tail housing from an fd so my driveshaft fits and trans mounts up to stock location.
Hey more power to you, though I disagree, there's far more to it than just a few mounts but you do you. Also the FD pan will not seal, like at all, without the rear shored up with the motor mounts. Good luck.
Well , please elaborate. No offense but statement has no substance.
I think its mostly that everyone is telling you it's not worth the effort and that you're running a microtech but you came here with your mind made up so you keep repackaging your question/idea trying to get someone to agree with you.
Cheap and FD don't go together, do it "right" and procure a 13B-REW or stay your current course and do it "wrong" without expecting positive feedback. People here will respect fabrication skills to make this work but it will always be a "dumb" idea.
I appreciate the contsructive criticism.
The first part of your reply stated "and that your running a microtech," what do you mean by that?
My implication was that it's another "bad" choice in 2019. While a microtech will work it's generally an antiquated EMS without many features, it works best for full throttle drag passes and N/A racecars. I would wager that many would argue that purchasing an FD with a PFC would be favored over a microtech.
You've got an FD, while it looks a bit rough it is probably worth saving, if it has a black interior you're even farther ahead. I suggest ditching the "cheap guy" FC owner mentality and putting it back together with a quality build slowly instead of slapping what you have into it and making it work.
I say go for it. Your motor is obviously built well. Make your motor mounts and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work then buy another subframe and put a brew in it. No biggie.
I will say this about building the car slowly and doing it right the first time so to speak. This is what I did and I actually regret it. I wish I would’ve kept my car running than getting caught up in the latest and the greatest with the current parts offerings or what people were doing in the build threads.
I missed quite a few years of actually enjoying the car because I bought in to my PFC being crap and needed a new ecu, turbo etc This is obviously my fault for buying in to the hype but this is my experience. My car is now awesome and a blast to drive but it took me forever to build whether it’s because I was short on money or time, it is what it is.
People are doing some wild stuff just to have the fd chassis. Theres no point to doing this when you HAVE AN FC. The time, effort and money used to put this motor in the fd is wasted when you can put that same energy into your fc. It seems obvious you're doing this for no other reason just to be in an fd. You're spoiling the experience and bastardizing the chassis just for the sake of doing it. Even if you're successful with this, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just more darkness.
People are doing some wild stuff just to have the fd chassis. Theres no point to doing this when you HAVE AN FC. The time, effort and money used to put this motor in the fd is wasted when you can put that same energy into your fc. It seems obvious you're doing this for no other reason just to be in an fd. You're spoiling the experience and bastardizing the chassis just for the sake of doing it. Even if you're successful with this, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just more darkness.
Oh boy that was dark. Well, the engine runs great and all the fab work wont cost much as we have all the tools and materials. I bought a clean title fd with 90k on it for $5k. If I can make the motor fit with attractive install, I have no clue why people say its cheaping out. All i need to do is some decent body work, new front fenders and paint. Im being thrifty and inventive, not cheap. I'm Simply maximizing my utility for this situation and was curious what helpful advise folks on the forum might have.
I would weld new mount plates/gussets directly onto the FD subframe rather than make adapters. You may need to go solid mount to eliminate the complexity of custom mount bushings. In that case i would solid mount the diff as well so the PPF doesn't get twisted up between a solid mount and compliant mount in the back.
