iDrive1993

Okay... The patient is a 1993 RX7 ALL stock, with a bad motor. While the most simple choice to get the car driving again would be to just do a simple swap to a rebuilt engine that I priced out and am prepared to do. However, after having read alot of info on the internet about various engine swaps, I started thinking about alternative engines choices from that year range. I am basically looking for opinions from others that have done or have heard of various engine swaps that may be suitable for swapping. I read alot about the corvette engine swaps, but I don't want to swap to a V8. So I am open to suggestions!

My second choice came from a friend of mine that races. He offered an idea of the 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse 2.0L Turbo which has endless mod capabilities. However it's an AWD so I don't know if that would be an ideal conversion. I could not find any info where someone has done that swap.

Then I thought about the MX5 1.8L. I know it be a lot less HP, but I want to have something that will last longer than the rotary engine.

Any thoughts or opinions from anyone will be greatly appreciated...

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

there is a section called "other engine conversions" on Forum here that you may find interesting.
How about a 2.3 litre Ford Turbo engine?

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

welcome to the board.

you will likely find that these free-for-all opinion threads have very limited use and can be somewhat dangerous if you have no clue what you're doing on a technical/practical level. the only possible exception to that is if you have deep pockets.

anyway ... opinions? here are mine, but first you need to consider a couple things:

- AWD in the donor car is irrelevant. the engine (or the car) doesn't care what bolts behind it.
- you probably need to make a decision if you want performance or just a powerplant to move the car, because considering the 4G63 because it has "endless mods" while considering the Miata engine is a bit confusing.
- if you don't care about power, then take your pick of ANY mill from Toyota or Honda and call your fabricator.

1. i think the 4G63 is a poor choice to replace an REW.
2. replace the REW with an REW, leave it stock and take care of it ....
3. forget 4-bangers!
4. if you don't want a V8, then get a 6
5. stay away from interference engines
6. you're probably better staying Japanese (keep in mind i have nothing against European or even "some" American engines)

Evil_Sephiroth

iTrader: (1)

istall an NA M3 engine ^^

Btw i suggest you a rebuilt of 13B-REW

Make it single turbo and you trash away lot of delicate parts of 13B-REW (vacuum and solenoids)

BTW i love stock twin turbo...


After this istall a double oil cooler and uprated intercooler and radiator...and a complete exaust without CAT

Change oil every 3000KM and you have a reliable car with good power.

And with this probably you have less work to do then a swap, plus the unique charm and sound of rotary


And i'm not sure if all these mod cost you more of a decent swap....consider that if you search reliability a swap need lot of attention and knowledge if you don't want to ruin your car....

Rotaryrevo

Find a way to bolt an F20c from an AP1 S2000 in there. Lol

samjaza78

Has been done. The problem you run into with Honda's F series is that they are already close to the brink as far as output capabilities from stock, and high enough compression that turboing them is difficult for the underexperienced.

If you want the best bang for your buck with the least downtime, snag the rebuild. It will be the easiest and cheapest to install and modify with the least downtime. You can consider something a little more unique down the road, if you're still interested.

Rotaryrevo

I'd definitely agree to the rebuild.

I'd love to have an F20 in an FD though, I'm a huge S2000 nut though so I'm biased haha.

iDrive1993

Hey, thanks for all advice guys!

So hear is more to the story....

At the time I posted the original question, the car was in transit being delivered to me.
I bought it online and out of state. I was told by the seller that the engine needed to be replaced. So I was just gearing up for some options. And all you guys opinions are welcomed.
So the car gets here and has a dead battery. Jumped the battery and it was slow to start but it started. The engine shook really bad, making the entire car rock side to side! I haven't got it up in the air yet but I am betting the motor mounts are shot. The one-owner beast came with a one inch thick file of everything that had ever been done to it, needless to say I was impressed with that. Going through the records, I discovered that the engine had already been replaced at 40K miles or so. It now has 79K miles. Never been driven in the rain or snow either! Garage kept its whole life! All original interior and paint. She is GORGEOUS!

Now on to the preliminaries. Idle was rough! Press the gas pedal a little and she smoothes out with a nice purr. This is my first rotary engine so I am brand new to them. I have plenty of experience with traditional piston engines, hondas, toyotas, nissans, etc.. But being that this is my first rotary and hearing it run, feeling it run, I am wondering if the motor has more life left. It never died or stalled. I didn't drive it either, just started it in the driveway. I opted not to drive it until I knew more about the problems. The other problem besides the rough idle is a really strong gasoline smell coming out the exhaust pipe. Not to be mistaken, there was no smell of gas under the hood or in the cab of the car, just the tailpipe at the rear of the car. Faint white smoke at first but that went away and left the gas smell and what looked like fumes coming out the tailpipe also. I want to start with a compression check and check the plugs and plug wires, and check for spark. Any opinions are welcomed! Thanks guys...

iDrive1993

Oh, and the engine swap is not off the table until it can be determined that this engine is no good. At which time, I suppose I will weigh the options but for now, I think I want to see what I can do with it.

samjaza78

Idle problems abound in the troubleshooting threads of these cars. Scan through them and see what you can do with it. In the meantime, check the thread on improperly stored vehicles and start rolling through the maintenance items (this will help you the most.)