Hello everyone! This is my 1986 RX7 that my dad has finally given me full reign over. He no longer has the drive or funds to get this thing back up and running. It's been in my family for YEARS! He said I can have it and mod it how I want as long as I DO NOT SELL IT! lol I don't plan on giving this thing up anyway. Here are some pics....

Cover your eyes, this might hurt!




Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated as I am new to the rotary seen. It has a 13b NA engine that I would like to swap out for maybe a 13b turbo or 20b. I saw engines on Rotary Engines for Mazda Rx7 's by Mazda RX7World.com and their 13b engines seemed reasonably priced.

My goal is to have at least 350+hp. Which engine will achieve this in the most cost effective manner? Which would be most reliable? 13b?20b?LS1?

I'll also need to convert this from auto to manual

Can't wait to get started!!!! Moving it into the garage this week to start gutting.

 

First step is going to be gutting and refinishing everything. Don't even worry about a powerplant until you have the body fixed and painted first.

 

What is your price range? 20bs are harder to find now a day and they can be pretty spendy ($3k-$4k).
It all comes down to what you want or would like to do with the car. It also depends on your personal preference(s).

Oh and also......
How much of a build can you afford?

 

13B T2 would be my choice for 350rwhp build, probably the best bang for buck. Also if you put a LS1 in it, there is a special place in hell waiting just for you...

 

Over time, as with any build, I expect to spend a large sum of money on the car buying things here and there.

Up front (2-4 month window) I would be comfortable spending $4k-$5k on the major work. Major work being the engine, transmission, and labor associated with those. My dad has 25+ years experience with body/paint, so I'm really only paying for paint and clear on that side.

We are going to try cranking her up this weekend. If she runs, I wouldn't mind keeping the NA 13b for a few months after finishing all the body work just to enjoy the stock ride.

My daily driver is a 08 nissan sentra ser spec-v. That car is just for getting around and modding fun. All motor, I/H/E, pulley, springs, audio, HIDs, etc. The rx7 will be more focused towards performance (some road racing and autocross), hence the need to ditch that NA for a turbo

 

LOL! I wouldn't want to anger the rotary gods :P

 

4-5k....ok just those and not getting started? Or driveable?

Get a 13brew...roughly same cost of the s4/s5 t2 with "more" potential. Only problem is that it isnt essentially as easy as dropping it in and driving it like bam...
However, it may be different because I'm not as experience with rotary's as most people are but yeah...

 

I would like to have it road ready using 4-5k, then space out the additional mods over a few months.

 

I am curious to how the auto to manual swap goes for you. Good luck

 

Yeah I have anything you would need for a manual conversion swap if you would like. Pm me of you would want to buy anything from me.

 

Get THAT engine running. Then get it running perfect. Then decide after (and realize) just what it takes to get these cars going. You will realize there is a better way to spend 1000's of dollars

 

I cant wait to see how your project turns out! If I were you, I'd swap in a 13b turbo. Original and lots of racing potential!

 

As others already stated, get the chassis/suspension/body in tip top shape.
Renovate the interior, go through the electrical system.

All the above labor and cash will benefit you no matter the ultimate engine choice.

I'll be the heretic and say that IMO, a V-8 swap is the only way to go.
You can make an easy 350hp with a NA piston engine...no piping and heat issues associated with turbos.
Better fuel economy.
Easy to do.

 

Learn CNC machining and custom build your own 21a P-Port. That should make an easy 350hp NA. =]

 

Definitely a bit rough right now, but the car has potential. Like you, our wise friend Aaron Cake also started out with a S4NA and it has been a fantastic teacher to both him and myself (1987 GXL gone 20B-REW). In all fairness, my car was pretty rough when I got it too.

Something you may consider is taking a route similar to Aaron Cake's Project Tina to achieve your goal of 350hp, by turbocharging the N/A engine. Another option you could consider is the 13B-RE from the Cosmo. Uses the same mounts as a 20B from Banzai Racing, takes some clever wiring with a standalone but you can get some very nice results with its sequential twin turbo setup. Another possibility is to use the FD twins on the 13B-RE. I believe TitaniumTT's FC is configured in this manner and has about 400hp. The vacuum diagram for Sequential Operation with Non-Sequential Override is in my build thread here: https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...tormas-888195/

AFAIK, I have the cheapest 20B FC ever made and it is just shy of $10k (including the car!) thanks to making sound, frugal choices throughout the build. Practically everything that went into it was sourced at a discount and it has essentially become a baseline for all 20B Conversions. My Pre-A Code engine was $2800 2 years ago and they have become more difficult to find in the past 6 months, with the price reflecting this as well. Based on that, I'm gonna guess that a 20B is out of your price range for the time being. It is very unlikely that someone could pull it off for less than I have, while ensuring sufficient quality.

One modification I would recommend doing immediately is converting to a 3.8L Taurus Alternator. I'm using a Racing Beat pulley meant for FD Alternators installed in a FC and it works awesomely. 130 Amps is enough power to run just about anything you can throw at it. A 2-speed Taurus Fan would be a nice touch to clean up things under the hood and net some extra space too, but not really necessary if your clutch fan works decently. My gallery has the correct wiring on the Taurus Alternator.

 

Ok guys.... I made my first attempt to start the rx today. It seemed that the aftermarket security system was preventing it from cranking. As you know, these things are tied into the ingnition/starter/etc. We removed the security unit and reconnected one of the wires from the starter cable that it was spliced into.

The battery seems to be ok... lights/radio/antenna come on, but it still will not crank. Turn the key and you get nothing. I'm wondering if something that was part of the security system is still stopping it.

Can you guys point me in the right direction?

 

When you turn the key does your alarm beep before you turn it over? This happened to one of my fc and the alarm wouldn't let me turn it over until after the alarm beeped

 

Nope, no alarm beep. I'm under the impression that I have the alarm completely disabled with the amount of crap I removed, but there could be something left over from it that I overlooked.

 

Does it even try to turn over? And how "ok" is the battery? Did you recently drive/start it?

 

Does not even turn over. I'll have to check with my dad to find out when he put the battery in. The car itself has not been cranked in about 7-8 years.

 

Then it's probably the battery haha. Just because the lights turn on doesn't mean the battery is able to start a car up. (Not being an a$$ just saying ahha)

 

Ok, battery it is lol. I'll try to get one in the morning

When I got out there earlier my dad had batteries laying around it, so I thought maybe he put one in. I'll check with him when he gets up and get another battery to try.

Thanks

 

Haha alright. Good luck man. Keep us updated as to what it is.

(Remind me why did you take the alarm off again?)

 

I've always known rotarys need full battery's all the time or they have a hard time starting.

 

Are you pressing down the clutch pedal while starting?
You could bypass the clutch interlock switch just to make sure.