Hello there. My name is Dave Decker and I live in Kamloops, B.C. I purchased 2 cars this spring. One is an '85 GSL auto tranny light blue color and pretty loaded up. I'm the 3rd owner and it has 117,000 km. on it. The other is a black '84 GSL 5 speed that is for parts. ( A little too rusty to restore ) I bought them to install a 5.0 5 speed and they were sitting til I could find a donor car. About a month ago my '99 escort (daily driver)dropped a valve seat and I pressed the RX7 into emergency service. I drove around the block when I bought it and had no idea if it was a good runner or not. A month later it's really starting to grow on me and now i'm wondering whether I should V8 it or not. Nice untouched survivor with a few quirks but i don't really care if I ever get the escort back on the road! My other car is a '65 Corvair with a Crown conversion. (small block Chevy in the back seat) Not finished. i've been reading the posts on this forum for a while and belong to a few others. This seems like a good one. Cheers, Dave

 

Dave, thanks for taking the time to register and welcome aboard to RX-7 Club!

While the 2ndgen and the 3rdgen RX-7's have seen definite all around gains with V8 swaps, not losing balance and all, the 1stgen's have not seen that behavior. The "deer on the hood" or nose heavy aspect of a V8 1stgen RX-7 hasn't been solved by any documented car so far. I have yet to see an LSx V8 1stgen RX-7 in the GrassRootsMotorsports competitions but all of the chevy and Ford conversions ended up slower overall than a rotary-powered rex every time becuase of the upset of the balance.

Keep it wankel!

Mario III

 

Thanks for the reply. I know precious little about rotary motors. I'll use the forum to help make a decision. I beleive what you say about the balance thing, although surely a 5.0 would have better acceleration. Mines a bone stock 12a complete with "rats nest" with an auto trans that wants to hit OD as soon as possible, so I'm sure that is hampering performance. I'd like to do some mods to it but i'll read some more and see if it's best to leave it alone. It's a 74,000 mile survivor but theauto tranny kills some of the thrill! Thanks for the comments about the 1st gen 5.0, grannysspeed shop makes it sound a little different! Cheers, Dave

 

You're absolutely correct on acceleration. Any V8 you use is going to have a massive torque advantage in the lower rpm range coupled with more horsepower almost across the entire rpm range, as well. The 1stgen RX-7 will be a much, much better drag racing car but that's about it. The braking, the corner carving...all that will be gone and it takes a LOT of work to get it back. Moving the V8 engine back so it is behind the factory motor mounts to restore the front/mid-mount relationship to the chassis is one example and also why you need a Ford engine or an LS engine to eliminate the rear distributor which won't fit under the firewall as you move that engine back.

 

welcome and let us know how the swap goes

 

Thanks for the info. Just what I needed to hear. I don't want to ruin this car. Handling is # 1 on my list so i'm thinking of swapping in a 5 speed and maybe some mild mods to the motor. The 5 speed alone will make it a way more enjoyable car. I'm not in any hurry to do anything, I'll just continue to enjoy it and see if I can get some collector plates for it. Thanks again. Cheers, Dave

 

Hey Dave, welcome to the club. I have just joined also as I bought my first RX7, a 1stgen SA, a couple of weeks back. It is in need of serious work but a little bonus is that a 13B engine conversion was done by the previous owner, that certainly helps speed things up and was a nice surprise
Maybe look at that conversion and definately change the tranny if poss to manual, these types of cars are all about handling and driving so not having the manual IMO will hamper performance and experience.
Good luck with which ever way you go

 

Welcome.