well i have finally started working on my 72 808 coupe. And i am starting to plan out what i want for it, and I am thinking about engine options. here is what i have come up with so far.

1)- The 13b efi Rotary
2)- The B6 Miata Motor
3)- Small Block Chevy or Ford Crate motor

I love the rotary, but the B6 wold give me a decent amount of power and ther are tons of engine mods to do. and then theres the small block, i mean a crap load of HP and torque in a light car, cold be quite fun.

as far as getting the swap done, i am gonna rewire the entire car because i jsut dont trust 30+ year old wiring. so I will end up buying and using parts from the 2nd gen or miata, or if i wnet with the small block I could buy a new complete wiring harness.

well what do you guys think. Thanks matt22

 

In your sig you mentioned that you're trying to sell it. Is this still true? Are you going to try to sell it after the engine swap?

Is the 808 a boinger version of an RX-2? If so, maybe someone around here has a front swaybar cover (or whatever it's called) with motormounts and front cover mount they'd be willing to part with. Or I guess an EFI 13B ('86+) has side motor mounts which would line up pretty well to the boinger mounts on the main crossmember of the car.

There is a guy who's stuffing a 20B in his RX-2 right now. That should be fun.

I don't know anything about the Miata stuff. If you're considering a small block V8, a 20B isn't too far off. I've gotten my 20B down to near REPU engine weight levels for my piston variant of an RX-3 unibody. It's got my REPU's engine in it right now, and a relocated battery should allow it to break even weight-wise when the 20B goes in it.

 

Oh I see, the 808 is a piston RX-3. It should be pretty easy to convert to a rotary.

 

oh the 808s are converted to rotary all the time over in
Aussy land I have a buddy that has the 13 front
crossmember and possibly a front mount housing as
well. well the engine swap is a while away, right now i
am trying to fix up the body, so I can hopefully get it
painted this summer when i have the motor out and
some of the other stuff.

I have heard of a few aussy's doing the b6 conversion
the main benefit to that is its a strong running and very
reliable motor.

however the small block will produce high hp numbers,
it will be practically new, and i can get a new wiring
harness. so it would be the easiest to install and get to
work. well i think at least. thanks for your reply jeff.
lates matt22

 

i'm still partial to the 13B EFI conversion ... maybe it's just jealousy, but that's what i'd vote for. all of the choices you've set forth would appear to render the cost issue a moot point ... they would all require some money. that's just my take on the situation ...

 

EFI
but why not go for a T2 swap? would be almost easier to get the parts and would be more powerfull in the end.

 

The hard part about the conversion is getting a front "K" frame from a rotary car. It has the mounts set up for the rotary.

And, on a side note, the 616 and 618 were the pistion versions of the Rx2. They came with 1600 and 1800 cc engines.

I have header, intake, and weber carb for one of these boinger engines if you decide to keep the 808 a piston car.

 

I thought about the t2 swap, but figured that doing the Na swap first would give me a great start. and i dont know much about turbo cars, I like NA's for some reason. but if i can find a good running turbo car i would consider it.

as for keeping the motor thats in it, I also though about it but then the whole 80 hp kinda threw me off that idea. know what i mean. lates matt22

 

i say go carb if u go n/a
and go turbo if you go EFI
n/a EFI electronic wirering doesnt worth the pain for the 140 hp it will gives you, compared to the 200hp the turbo engine will produce.

keep it easy if ur not going turbo.

 

Hey Matt with that carb and header we can bump that 80 hp all the way up to say 88 or maybe even 90!

Ok, so maybe that is no all that exciting. I think an S4 or S5 NA engine would be great in there.

 

ya i thought about the whole carb thing but i have never got into them, I am sure you could make as much power with a carb. I am going todo the whole efi with no emmisions route.

 

IMO, a rotary is the ONLY swap. did it to my '75 808. u'll definately have to get the mount that bolts under the swaybar to mount the rotary by the front cover. i know the post '86 mount at the center housing so i don't know how close it would be to mount it there with the stock points in the car for the 4 banger. anyone have any knoledge of this? i don't know what kinda power ur looking to make but i ran a 12a from a gsl for years with rb holley setup(465cfm) and was pretty damn quick. the 12a fits the best since the rotary version had 12a. i now have a 12b in it from a '74 rx4 which was street ported but needed rebuilt which i did, and funning rb 600 holley setup. the tranny is that same gsl one which i modded to fit the car.

 

What is your budget?

 

well i already have a motor for it, I am thinking that i wil upgrade the flywheel and clutch before i put it in the car. as for a budget its a month to month car so i end up spending as much as i can before my funds run out. know what i mean. I am definately want it to be a high performance machine, I will eventually have a really good suspension on it as well.

My goal for right now though is to fix the body up and get the car prymered or maybe painted.

 

Ya, I was joking about the hp of the boinger! I agree the roatary is the only way to go.

 

so, I will be taking all the emmisions stuff off the motor,
as well as the ac/ps stuff. I will only have the absolute on the car. I still need to located a good complete harness though.

anybody have an idea on what the better water pump is made for? I mean the early 13b or the 12a. Cause i need a front mount front cover and i am going to get the one that has the best aftermarket water pump. cause i heard they both will mate up to my 13b.

does this sound right. thanks matt22

 

Why don't you try to use side mounts?

 

you think it would work. I jsut dont have access to a cherry picker yet. But I guess i could try that though.
thanks jeff for the idea.

 

It's what I'd do if my GLC didn't already have an RX-3 front subframe thing in it.

 

is that what you did with your 20b?

 

I chose to use an '84 12A front cover on my 20B. I didn't bother to drill and tap an oil drain in it though.