Hello everyone, I'm new here and as I require 10 posts I thought this would be a great way to learn something about my new car and also get some posts! Anyhow

My dear brother law recently bought two 88/89 rx7's. One with a blown engine and one that runs, low milage 166km n/a. He has given me the one that runs and I am unsure what the heck I want to do with it. And to make matters more complicated it has an automatic transmission!!! FML

I have wanted a project car for a long time, but I don't want to invest too much into something if the auto will just rob all of its potential.

What would you do? I got the car for free basically. My three brother in laws and father are auto mechanics and we have space to work on it. I am not considering swapping over to standard because I don't want to wait the time and money. So if the auto is a deal breaker then so be it.

P.S. I heart ITB's.

 

Congratulations on the free RX-7! Now for the bad news. The auto trans is an absolute sluggish turd. Mine was auto, and it sucked. I am in the middle of a restoration and swapping to manual. The swap itself isn't that tough, but there are some hurdles to overcome. There are many threads on the swap itself. Also, ITB's require high revs to get the full benefit and an auto shifts early, so that wouldn't help you.


The actual body of the car where the transmission mount is on the body, is not the same as the M/T body. The mount for the auto transmission is shaped like this:

==\__/==


The M/T mount is different:

==\__/=\

Not to scale, but the protrusions on the body are also about 6" further rearward on the auto chassis. This difference in position on the body also means that the speedo cable on the M/T will not fit with the A/T mount in the way. There are some bodies that have both mounts on the body, but those are rare. I didn't know this when I bought my GXL, so I am in the process of building my own mount on the bottom of the body to adapt the factory M/T mount. There are threads where people have used thick plate to adapt the M/T Y-mount on the transmission to the A/T chassis mount.

Good luck otherwise with your new car though.

 

Another forum member told me the swap in a huge under taking. Hmmm Ill look into it some more. I cant stand auto I haven't had an auto in over 10 years.

 

If you can handle a wrench and a floor jack you can do the Auto to manual swap easy.
Plus you got lots of help in the GTA if you ask.(CDN section)

 

Well considering I have 3 competent mechanics in my family, and a community full of people I may reconsider the swap. After all its an Rx7! I have wanted one of these cars since 2001 LOL. I ended up with a 240sx which I do miss.

 

I wouldn't call it a huge undertaking. It just depends on you level of competency. I understand you have family that can help, but doing it yourself is also part of the experience. The biggest thing is deciding which transmission you want to run.

The standard NA transmission is perfectly fine for an NA application and is not quite as strong as the T2 transmission, but I'll get into that in a minute. The big thing is tracking down all of the parts you will need and then weighing the cost/benefit to the swap, or simply converting to a different chassis. In my case, I was able to track down the trans, diff, pedals, axles, and other bits fairly easily since I'm not in a huge hurry. I'm also doing an interior restoration, turbo build, and a few other things, so I have time.

I tracked down a few resources that detail the swap:

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-arch...ite-up-201102/

FC auto to manual

Rotary Resurrection home of the budget rebuild.

https://www.rx7club.com/new-member-r...tails-1041803/

The A/T rear diff has a 3.9:1 ratio, where the M/T has 4.10:1 Ratio, so just swapping the trans and driveshaft will work, but the car will be a dog off the line and move the shift points down in the rev range. Better for highway cruising, but not acceleration. The GTU has a 4.3:1 ratio rear diff, but only came M/T, so you wouldn't have that diff. When going from a NA to turbo rear diff, you need the diff, both axles, and a driveshaft. All NA axles are the same, regardless of gear ratio. Turbo axles are very, very tough to find and stupid expensive usually. Your best bet is to get an NA drivetrain, or a different car altogether.

Good luck. Honestly though, if you don't have confidence in doing all that work, or tracking down all of the parts. Find an M/T chassis and go from there.

 

My car is standard i couldn't tell from the photos i am so happy that is why im typing in caps!

 

Well WOO HOO!!! That solves quite a few issues for you. In that case, get going on getting it running and send pics.

 

Ill have pics by next weekend. Its dark grey, has 5 bolt conversion, momo wheel, short shifter. Faded paint and a lad rear end which i dont know what that means.

 

If the lsd rear is stock and wasn't swapped, it may be a GTUs model, if theres no power windows or locks, and its 4piston brakes all around, you got a good car

 

Can you tell from the pic if its a gtu model?

rx7 - Album on Imgur

 

It looks like it has power windows, sunroof, and 5 lug. You got yourself a GXL model. Just because it has 5-lug, doesn't mean someone converted it.

 

Easy tell is look at the shock towers under the hood, if you see wires going under the black caps, than yes it is a gxl

But like above stated, power windows locks and mirrors are a dead giveaway

Edit: i just looked at the pics, unless the center console was changed, its not a gxl because there is the change holder versus the auto suspension switch

May just be a GTU, i believe they had everything the gxl had minus the adjusting suspension

 

I wouldnt grab it, i too need posts, im trying to buy a t2 s4 engine but cant find em anywhere

 

The OP said he was given the car for free. It's been getting tougher and tougher to find a clean T2 anymore. Most that are available are either trashed, modded, or the mouth-breather that owns it wants $10k because it's a "race car"

 

I think the automatic to 5 speed swap should be easy if your at least slightly mechanically inclined, don't worry about it to much a mad go ahead and tackle it ����

 

The car is a manual though...

 

Sell it and then invest it into a T2 S5 unless you want to converted into a manual..... But got to do what you got to do when you are going to spend alot of money bro.