need more power!3rd gen motor/trans in my 1st gen?
 

got some tax money to spend and was looking to make my car faster.
I have been looking into intakes,carbs and headers for my 12a but i was on ebay and seen multiple 3rd gen tt engine and trans combos for under 1500 bucks.
How hard is it to do? Or should I stick with the simple carb set up even though the 3rd gen motor makes a ton more power?

first of all, lemme say that i know nothing about REW's. BUT, REW swaps into Fc's are said to be more trouble then they are worth. with that said my advice would be to do a simpe 13BT swap. there is a near infinite amount of info on that and plenty of others who have gone threw it and im sure wouldnt mind lending first hand advice to you. seriously, you can achieve damn near the same amount of power from a 13bt that you could an rew with less effort and probably equal or less money. just my .02

It's fairly simple to put an REW into a 1st get. If you use a 1st get front cover and GSL-SE oil pan, you need to modify the stock 12a mount or pick up the Racing Beat mount. The hard part is the tranny, driveshaft, and a Ford rear if you plan on hard launches. Grannys makes an 8.8 rear kit. Then you have cooling, fuel, ignition, ecu etc.

Another route is a 2nd gen N/A motor. I have a ~180k mile '87 N/A motor in my 1st get and ran 14.3@94. I spent less than $2k including the cost of the car.

If your going to do a swap just put a FC 13BT engine in your FB. Much easier and well worth it.

How is it easier?

read the FAQ section in the FB section. It's been covered tons.

There's nothing about a 2nd gen motor being easier in the FAQ. Thanks for trying.

There are only two places where REW will differ from TII. One is if you want to use the stock ECU, you have to use the 3rd gen front cover. This means you will have to make a cradle for the motor to mount to. TWO is if you want to go stand alone, you can use the 1st gen front cover to mount the motor with a 2nd gen CAS or build a HALL effect setup. One hole on the front cover doesn't match, sealant will take care of that (should be done either way). Also some of the bolts holes on the oil pan don't line up. The easy way is to drill new holes in the pan and seal well (again, should be done whether new holes or not), or you can tap the block which is a bit harder.

I don't think these issues are enough to say it's so much harder that it's not worth it. With a 2nd gen CAS, and redrilling the oil pan, I don't assume it would take more than an hour at most to just get the motor in the car on top of a 2nd gen swap. But then wiring comes into play.

The 1st gen transmission and rearend will bolt up with a non turbo clutch and flywheel, but will not hold up to much power.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=rew

I don't know if you are capable of doing the work yourself or not, but hopefully you now have enough information to make a decision.

Watch those engines on ebay
 

Hi, I have an FD and I have read quite a few times that those engine/tranny combos (on ebay or at times even from importers) are at often times shot and you are looking at rebuilding the engine with all the inconvenience and costs that that process entails. Among the most evident: blown apex seals and/or coolant seals; blown turbos; worn grinding tranny that needs a rebuild.
I would make sure you get your hands on an extremely good engine/tranny, or you're in for a 5k rebuild...
Giovanni

I think im just going to get the intake/carb and header for the 12a a and call it good and some new struts and springs. I plan on doing mostly auto crossing and the motor swap sounds like more work than I want to do. As long as I can roast the tires im happy!

Good choice. Even the stock 12A will spin tires. I have no problems roasting the 245/50s on the widebody with a 1/2 bp 12A.

Course I've done a 'little' bit of work on the car. :lol:

https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/unvieling-12a-bp-widebody-462184/

nice