hi fellas, just fyi. not bashing rotaries i'm just solely looking for information so that im reassured a certain motor would be ideal for me...

i bought an 86 rx7 n/a for 500 bucks, the body is quite nice and ill see if i can get some pics up, interior is rough which will probably be gutted down the line and added with a roll cage , seals are blown , radiator is not attached, the bay is pretty rough much to say..

im aware of all the hate non rotary swaps get, but also aware of their reputations. I've looked around at 13B rebuilds, parts inspections, videos , write-ups and walk-through. and id love to have a 13B TII half bridged with that gorgeous sounding idle.

my thing is that i like to drive more than i like to tear apart a motor and replace the seals 1-2 times a year, not to mention from what ive READ with all the mishaps in japan, parts are becoming scarce which is scary because this is going to be the first motor ive built/swapped so i need some margin for error.

My goals for the car are to either obtain 400 hp on a rotary for weekend car/ street/track drift. i am in wyoming so high altitude temps are usual 30 and below with ice/snow

or B toss a build 1jz or Ls swap and daily drive it when i get out of the air force..
No flames fellas, im open to any motor just need some reassurance that im not going to build a rotary and blow it a month into it. (not going to cut corners or go with a cheap build)

sorry for the novel, thanks for the time

 

Yes personally I look down on swapps in RX7's (no offense). A lot of people really complain and hate rotary engines but in my opinion they are very.strong engines if taken well care off and modified correctly. But if you wanted to do a swapp I've heard people doing swapps with a LS1 (corvette engine). But if I were to ever swapp anything with a RX7 ( which I will never) I'd keep it JDM and go with a RB25DET or RB26DETT (Skyline GTR engines). But hey its all up to you....your car you do what you want with it. Hope you have a sweet ride after your done with your build.

 

i completely understand the looking down apon, the rotary made those series different from any and every other car and they have alot of potential if done right. there unique and authentic to the brand, how hard is it to build a "reliable rotary" in your experience?

 

As long as you have good tune, fuel delivery, cooling, and dont cut corners theyre strong motors. I have a single turbo rx7 and i beat the crap out of it like every day and it loves it haha. Theres a lot of threads on here about rotary reliability, just do a search and all kinds of stuff will pop up

 

any reputable
places to order a series 4 T2?

alot of the sites i look at that specialize in rotary are often 2008 was the last time their site was certed.

 

They dont need to be rebuilt once or twice a year..what a load of crap. Something is seriously wrong if you need to break it down and replace seals once or twice a year..
How do you think some cars go 100k miles or more without a rebuild?? 100k in 6 months?
Its not uncommon for an engine to last 5+ years or even more. The engine in my FD is over 5 years old and gets daily driven. Turns over and starts within about a second, hot or cold.
Get a piston engine if your want, but having to rebuild even once every year is plain old rotary myth.

 

He's probably just looked at ignorantly riced together builds where the owners expected the performance of $15,000 worth of parts and work when they only put $500 into it and then just cranked the boost up without knowing wth was going on...



NA motors that are built right and tuned well last just as long as their average piston counterparts. Once you start adding boost to the engine life expectancy goes down.

Ask yourself this... you bought the car for $500, are you willing to spend $3,000-$5,000 to have the engine built properly?


Oh, and do yourself a favor, stay the hell AWAY from JM Classic Imports (owned/run by Joe Maddox)... He's relatively close to your neck of the woods and the man is a retarded monkey with a wrench in his hands, he just talks a big game. He'll promise you a cheap rebuild, but give you a pile of scraps.

 

1jz

 

since i dont have an extensive background in rotaries most my knowledge is here-say or forums. id love more to put a turbo ii in this...

I came from the honda game and ive learned first hand what ricer builds get you as i boosted a damn d15b singlecam to 220 hp. ( for about 6 hours before my radiator hoses swelled up like a balloon and i blew a hole in the block

so with that said ive promised myself my next project would not be half-assed ebay build.. with the camaro as the DD i have no rush to hurry the build so i intend on properly inspecting / rebuilding the T2 i order.
(need to research a reputable motor dealer tho)

also promised my self i would put the wrench-work in myself. minus the Tuning... that i need to find a reputable person in CO or Wy

but thanks for the heads up about Jm Classic

 

400 whp is possible but also not on thecheap . also bridge porting are you sure? the fun thing about building a car from scratch almost is the freedom to make the car your own do plenty of research and get your facts straight .

A LS swap is probably the best alternative . they are pretty light so they dont DESTROY the balance o the car like a 2j / rb

But they dont really make All that much power say about 330 or so tuned LS1 (you can upgrade cams and such ocourse), and its not a cheap swap it will end up being around 10k

 

what would you suggest?? how much do you think/suggest i could get out of a Reliable 13bT2 as a DD? obviously the 400 was a reach . i just want this thing to be fun, capable of beating up the usual turbo diesels & mustangs around town & be able drift when needed.

 

You should not need 400hp to beat up any turbo diesel or mustang..
400hp in an rx7 is a potential super car killer.

in order to stick with the rotary and make 400hp, basically you need;
a turbo, fuel pump, injectors and an ECU. (and the other various things to support the parts, e.g fuel rail, single turbo manifold, new exhaust etc..)

look at the power to weight ratios of whatever cars your talking about beating..im sure you will notice you only need like 200hp to equal their power to weight ratio..
rx7s dont weight alot!

 

just like you i bought a crap 87 that needed a rebuild for 500 bucks. i was very nervous about rebuilding the motor yada yada but i finally did it and i did it myself in my apartment on the second floor. now i know whats up with these motors and respect the **** outta the tech, its a very cool engine design. keep the rotary and get your feet wet. silly a$$ honda lover

 

thats what im hoping, that its easier and more reliable than all the haters seem to nay-say.. For your rebuild what kind of tools should i look into having. ive looked at Rotary tools but did you need any of them Engine holder etc? or should a basic metric socket set work?

 

I didn't know that. y is that?

 

uh oh . here comes the arguement...they're all good and have their purposes. Topic change: where can i buy a good Turbo 2 :-D?

 

because the LS series are alluminum while the rb and 2j , are steel . plus they are long so they move the weight forward ..


BTW just so you know .. I have a rotary , and I wouldnt swap to an LS or either But LS is the best options in my eyes i you are dead set on a swap.

to me drive feel is more important . I like a car with quick spool and decent power something that is fun to drive and beat those mustangs around a corner . a built mustang isnt gonna be easy to beat LOL an average stock one wont that that much

 

The big thing is, rotaries just dont make sense to alot of people and they are afraid to mod a rotary. The LS1 is just so simple for alot of people. Its the way I wanna go.

 

im easily motivated, so if people are saying its as easy as getting your foot in the door and starting to rebuild them, ill lean towards the 13B T swap, my worry now is that im not finding any tuners around the wy/co area.. searching but not find ( i have alot of time so im in no rush) i dont see myself paying 1000 to get a stand alone unit and Attempting to tune her myself.

 

It's always a personal choice. My opinion. When I bought mine I had a v8 on the engine stand. I sold it and finished the 13b rew swap. My reason was because everywhere I looked I saw v8 swapped fd's for sale. But you rarely see a well built rotary for sale. Must be a reason people keep selling them. Plus no boost is just. No fun.

 

i think the reasons for the misconceptions about the rotary have exactly to do with how you worded your 1st post. why do you give the LS different duties than the rotary? you'll beat the snot out of one but just DD the other. im repeating others. Put the rotary in there and enjoy.

 

yeah, this is my first rotary and first real project.. i cant knock something i know nothing about, everyone that has one , seems to love the hell out. ima give it a shot and im sure ill end up falling for the wankel

 

1999-2006 5.3L chevy truck motors from a junk yard cost $300-$1000 , and can make lots of power. people twin turbo charge them in almost 100% stock form and make close to 1000hp and not hurt the engine, really reliable .

I just bought a 89 rx7 GTU , to do a 5.3 swap to. but the 13b engine that is in it only has 11K miles on a $5200 rebuild from (rotary specialtys Inc, in Colorado ) so i mite keep it stock for alittle bit. or sell the motor and get a 5.3 Ls