I'm looking into getting a 93' RX-7 with a blown engine and buying a reman to go in it's place. Someone's told me it was more trouble than it was worth. He told me he had to ship his car with new engine to a place in Texas to get it tuned to run right after he put his new engine in. I'm not a certified mechanic, but I can definetly swap an engine. Is there more to replacing an engine than I think?

 

Most likely the car and engine was shipped somewhere else, because he had an aftermarket ECU and had a lot of mods on the car.

You can purchase a Reman engine for around $2100, which includes shipping. You will not need to reprogram the ECU if the car is stock. Also, there are aftermarket ECUs that don't need any fine tunning on the dyno or to use a wideband. For example, Pettit Racing's ECU is pretty good.

 

Yeh. You're right. He's done a lot of things to his car. He just broke into the 11's on stock twins.

Here are my plans. Sooner or later I'd be getting DP, MP, cat-back, intake, FMIC, BOV and the reliability mods. I know I'll have to get an ECU, but will I be able to do all of this myself without getting the thing tuned?

 

Yeah you'll be fine. You can get an ECU with a map for those things already programmed into it, too ... since it's all standard stuff.

And swapping the motor is easy stuff.

 

Exactly the type of responses I was hoping for. I was already planning on getting a manual and one of the bigger reasons was the vacuum routing. Anyways...where can I pick up an FD manual?

 

You can order manuals from any Mazda dealer or online from:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/m-1.htm

or if you like it in electronic format:

http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/3rd_gen_manuals.htm

 

does the shop manual list all the required tools to do an engine pull?

 

Dear Pinkyswear,

I see by your profile that you live in Lousiana, close to my rebuilder, and that you are a mechanic. You should have no problem with R&R an FD engine. I just finished installing my first FD engine and it went smoothly. However, here is how I made it simple for myself:

I contracted with Bruce Turrentine for a rebuilt engine. He runs East Coast Rotary in Raleigh, NC, 919-212-0671. He charges $1650 for a 12mo/12000 mile guarantee. He rebuilt a core that he had in stock and used his experience to make certain reliability modifications. He sells a video tape on how to rebuild a rotary engine and this is worth buying for about $30 just to see what is involved in the process. The rebuilt core comes with a resurfaced stock flywheel.

He offered to dress the rebuilt engine with my parts for $450 including all needed gaskets, a new O2 sensor, thermostat, and spark plugs. I thought that was a deal that I couldn't pass up, since he would check things out when he installed them. He found that I needed a new Engine block hose connetor for example and that my turbos were OK.

I pulled the motor using an approach that he discussed with me. Then I loaded the motor complete with clutch and pressure plate, precat and motor mounts onto a pallet in my pickup and drove it to Raleigh, NC. He unloaded it at 4:00 PM and was ready to load the completed assembly back on my truck by 6:00 PM the next day.

I installed the motor and it started right up. It ran better after I connected the MAP sensor, however. It is quiet and seems very strong, but I haven't broken it in yet. He likes to see 1000 miles on the engine before exceeding 5000 RPM's. I am taking it slow and careful with the boost too.

Call me if you want to talk about it or R&R details, 505-983-5125. Sorry about the long post, but I thought you and others would be interested.

Steve Bradley

 

s. Bradley,

You are a hard core rotary freak: driving from N.M to N.C. Man, that is dedication.