Rookie needs help with 1st gen 12A swap.
 

I am new to rotories, so I apologize for my ignorance.

A friend of mine has asked me to help him swap the worn out motor from his 1980 RX-7 to something that runs. We have located a few donor cars, but I need to know what year 12As will bolt up to this car. Can we use anything up to '85 if we snag the whole engine?

Also, what do we look for when scoping out donors? Can they be checked with a standard compression gage, and if so, what is a "good" reading?

Thanks,
Erik

Rotaries will have crappy compression if they haven't been run in a while. That's why most local junkyards have a "no warranty - as-is" policy for rotaries, even IF they'll let you buy one. (some of the yards in Cleveland - all the ones I've talked with - don't even TAKE rotary cars)

If you need to retain the emissions components, your only options are '79 and '80. If emissions is free, you can also use use any '81-85 12A but you have to do a little work to use it... you'll need to swap to headers and get an ACV blockoff plate, and remove all of the emissions gear. Last spring I put an '84 engine in my '80. I also swapped out the (horrible) water/oil cooler and converted it to my '80's oil cooler system.

Hmm, that's a good thought. If at all possible, avoid the '83-85 engines unless you want to reseal it first - they tend to leak oil prodigiously because of cooked O-rings due to the oil running hotter than it should (due to the water/oil cooler).