12A engine swap
 

i recently got an '83 RX-7 for $50 with no expectation of it running. after charging the battery for about 2 hours i poured a little gas into the carb and cranked it for about 30 seconds. it started but it stalled as soon as i let of the gas. so i had to keep it above 3500 rpm before i could let the clutch out or i would stall. after i drove it home my dad and i started to look it over and found that the back bumper just behind the window was in need of some serious work. a couple of days later i started it up to back it out of my garage, my dad started yelling to kill the engine so i turned it off and asked what was up. turned out i had started to pour anti-freeze out of the exhaust. after tracking down what the problem was i came to find that the center section of the block had shattered. the bad news is that the engine is toasted because of rust and corossion but the good news i dont have to pull the radiator plug to drain it. now i am looking for a suitible swap for the engine. possibly dropping a v6 into it. does anyone know of and engine that will fit that would put a honda to shame

Simple, drop in a streetported 12A, then keep on modifying until the money runs out. Alternatively go one step up and transplant a 13BT.

There is simply no need to drop in a V6 or V8. Keeping to a rotary you can progress to 400hp and still have a streetable RX-7. First step is establish your budget. Second stage is to plan the modifications available in your cost limitation. Third learn to do the work yourself Fourth enjoy.

Try cleaning out your fuel lines first man : P.


also, PaulFitszwarryne is right.

When I googled RX-7 I found a site that had a 2nd gen with the engine/tranny from a 00 mustang V6. This may be a nice motor to swap in, the 00 v6 mustang 5spd I once test drove was pretty quick, and I can only imagine what it would be like in a 2300lb car. Personally If i had the skill to do a motor swap I would try to swap in the Nissan RB20DET turbo motor and RWD tranny from the skyline GTS, motor and RWD tranny combos aren't that expensive on ebay, also the aftermarket for the RB20DET is really really huge! If you want to stay faithful to the rotory, swap a turbo II motor and tranny from a 2nd gen (also cheap and on ebay) check out the post, The Chronicles of a Turbo II Swap.

piston swaps have their own section. Enjoy.

Jon