I was wondering if Mazda ever made a four-wheel drive REPU because all I've seen were two-wheel drive and I think a 4X4 one could be fun.

 

nope, the only 4wd rotary are some rally RX`es

 

I've seen a picture of a 4x4 Courier. It probably wouldn't be too hard to convert a REPU or intall a rotary into a 4x4 B2200 or something.

 

I don't believe they made a 4x4 B2000/B2200.

I have a 1989 B2600i 4x4... The only problem is that the front driveshaft is offset to the passenger side. The same place where the exhaust is on a rotary. Immediately after the driveshaft comes the tranfer case, and then behind the transfer case is the fuel tank.

There are two ways I can forsee routing exhaust on a 4x4 rotary truck:

1.) Right off the manifold or turbo, Immediately bend 90 deg up and over the tranny bellhousing.

2.) Instead of exiting the turbo or manifold towards the rear of the truck, go towards the front, curve around towards the drivers side, then back. (Would be easy as far as I can see. Just mount the manifold backwards or mount the turbo backwards on the manifold.)

I move for the latter, as it keeps the hot exhaust down low... Keeps it away from the intake, fuel rail, and wiring.

The low gearing of 1st (3.730:1) and the 4.44:1 rear end make up for the rotary's lack of low end torque, and because the transmission is of the same basic design as the Turbo II/3rd gen, you know it can handle some power. (The tranny is a Model R/Type III.)

Bolting the engine to the tranny should be as simple as a swap of the bell housing.

Mounting can be done by using the stock cross member from the donor RX-7 or using the front engine plate from a 1st gen or earlier 12A or 13B, and the engine mounting bracket off a 1st gen.

Fuel pump is an in tank design. Should be sufficient for EFI applications. Return type system.

Thread the coolant temp, oil pressure, and other sensors from the donor truck into the rotary for the stock gauges and idiot lights to work. Speedometer is mechanical off the rear driveshaft.

EDIT: Racing Beat sells an adapter that fits under the oil filter pedistal for aftermarket oil pressure and temp gauges... A MUST, because there isn't even a stock gauge. I'm still looking into mounting for the gauges, but the truck's interior is more function over form, so that is a non-issue... Although A-Pillar pods would be nice.

That should be it.

 

A subaru transmission conversion is quite easy as well, the transfer case is built into the transmission. The older (mid 1980's) transmisisons also had a shifter allowing selection between FWD, 4x4 hi and 4x4 low.

just a thought....

 

Pele, does your 89 B2600i have a LSD? I'm looking for a LSD that will fit in REPU.

 

I'm sure you're right. I don't know the B series pickups very well. I do know that B2600i and REPU rearend stuff is interchangeable to some extent though. LSD would be very nice.

 

The B2600 should have a lsd. They atleast came with that over here in Europe. In fact, some of the B2000`s also had LSD`s over here.

 

I sunk it axle deep in a muddy sinkhole on a construction site. (4x4 offroad fun quickly turned into a class 1 misdemeanor. Charges dropped luckily. )

I'm sorry to say I had only one wheel turning on either axle.

However, I've found:
http://www.drivetrainsuperstores.com...ail.asp?id=960 (For B2600)
http://www.drivetrainsuperstores.com...ail.asp?id=958 (For B2000/2200)

They've also got em for Turbo and N/A FC applications.

Scoob tranny is designed for a small car... Old GL hatchback or a Justy... Maybe a Legacy or Loyale wagon at the heaviest.

I'm talkin pickup here... 3/4 ton bed capacity... A foot of ground clearance...

I'd dig the Subaru tranny conversion in a rally car though. Would shift the weight of the engine forward of the front wheels though.

 

!!!!Thanks Pele!!!!

The one for B2000/2200 looks promising. Price is right too.

Got any specs on size and length of ring and pinion gear for any mazda trucks?

 

www.mazdatruckin.com

If you click on links, you'll notice that it changes to "Trucking" Just remove the G every time... They're having domain issues.

As a side note, if anyone does the conversion, please post pics or document some of your proceedures. I'm doing my homework... When this G6 engine dies (175K miles, Knock on wood, Hopefully it'll last me at least another two years.) and I have space to do this, The entire truck is coming apart and I'm gonna build a REPU the way it was meant to be...

 

Nobody has thoughts? I wanna see pics of other B series Rotary swaps... Undercarriage mainly.

 

Could you flip the transfer case 180? Just a thought.

 

I think that's put the driveshaft too high. I'll have to crawl under and see...

But then you'd have to flip the front axle... And the rear... And then you'd have to regear the tranny or transfer case, because you'd have 5 reverse gears and one forward.

Even then, you've gotta cross over due to the fuel tank being back there.

Seems like a little more trouble than a funky exhaust re-route.

 

I don't think that's what he was talking about. Some quality aftermarket transfer cases allow several different positions with an interlock for all sorts of interesting combinations. I saw it on Trucks, the TV show a while back.

 

Perhaps "rotate 180 degrees about the logitudinal axis" would have been a better way to term it. I'm not overly familiar with the specifics, but I'm sure it would require a bit of modification to the front axle. But hey, transplanting the engine isn't an easy job to begin with. :-P

 

No, I understood what you meant, rotate it parallel with the driveshaft, 180 deg... But to get the differential flange from the front axle on that side, you'd have to flip the axle. Then it'd turn the opposite direction of the rear axle.