FE3 piston engine into RX7
 

Hi everyone,
I am new to this site and currently own a 1990 mazda mx6 turbo. I have swapped a jdm turbo fe3 engine into it. I keep breaking the transmission( 5 so far) and have terrible traction on the street. I am really tired of FWD and was thinking about swapping the engine into a 2nd gen RX-7. A few people have done it already, but I need some answers before I purchase the donor car. I am having trouble finding a turboII car local for a decent price. I see a lot of NA's around in good shape for cheap. So if I were to get an NA one...
Is it possible to swap the turboII rear diff setup in and are the lsd's in them strong? My engine is making around 400whp, so i need a diff that will last more than a week, unlike the one in my trans now. I will also be using either the turboII,b2600, or 929 trans. all of which are similar, just not sure which one i am going to need as far as gear ratios,shaft splines/length, etc. I will be using my sds standalone engine managment, so wiring shouldn't be a problem. So basically I want to use a non turbo car, but need to know what has to be done to have the stronger drivetrain of the turboII. Please no negative comments, and I appreciate any help you have to offer.
thanks
Cory

get a N/A and swap from the tranny back and you should be good there is difference in the FC's some have a clutch type rear end and other vicous

From what i've read, its my understanding that drivetrain's are interchangable between turbo and NA models, just be sure all the parts match up (Ex. Turbo II Diff for a Turbo II driveshaft and Turbo II Trans) .

If your worried about how strong a Turbo II diff. is, i'd recomend you replace it with something aftermarket. any used TII diff. is questionable

Yeah, might as well go NA and swap parts and save over a turbo. You'll get better answers from the "other engines" section. Plus some of your questions, like how much power can the TII drivetrain hold, could be answered with a search.

And maybe you could consider putting that engine in a different rwd car. A miata would give better traction, for example, if the engine fits. Or you could buy a TII and (with a great deal of effort) upgrade the rotary to the same or greater power. That way you don't ruin the "front-mid engine" configuration. I know some people in the "other engines" section don't care about that. But balancing the car and pushing the engine/weight towards the center seems to matter a great deal to Porsche, Ferrari and modern Japanese sports car makers.

i knew someone was going to call me a homo or something along those lines. But to each his own.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
I will probably be getting an NA car and just swap the tranny back. I really don't like how miatas look and they are too small for me. I am going to check this car out. It looks like a turboII but it's NA. I think it would be a good canidate for the swap.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/so200...QQcmdZViewItem

do it in a Miata. Handles great and needs your 400hp motor. Look into using a TII tranny and rear end.

thanks.
I know the miata may suite it a little better, but i really like how the rx7 looks and it can hold the power with the right parts

323 GTX?

Pretty hardcore. AWD > RWD > FF.

Dipshits?

I'd like to hear how a RWD transmission mates with a FWD motor?

Now look who sounds like a dipshit...


-Ted

Thread moved to appropriate section and most of the flaming and dumb posts edited out

i had a friend who had a mx6 turbo. his idea was to swap the rotary drivetrain in the mx6. he said that the rx7 rearend would bolt in the mx6 and turn the car into a rear wheel drive vehicle. he never got it done. it's and interesting idea, but anyway if you done want to do that buy a NA (which i hate to see done you can make more than 400 hp easily with a rotary) then you can buy the trans and diff and start your project.

the car i have now is 1990 mazda mx6 gt. the original motor was an F2T 2.2 sohc turbo. The JDM motor that I swapped in is a DOHC 2.0 FE3 non turbo. But i built the motor up and turboed it. The FE3 motor comes in rwd trucks, and the rx7 turboII trans bolts up to the FE3 with the truck bellhousing. Also the rx7 turboII and mx6 share the same clutch setup, so I can reuse my racing clutch setup. I am running a small mitsu 16g on the car right now. The car went 11.9 @99, I missed 4th gear bad and rolled the rest. Next run on the launch i sheared all the teeth off the spider gears in the diff.

here is a pic, do the rims look familiar??:wink:
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2...ture586zt2.jpg

PM hurleysurf. You might be able to get his TII drivetrain. Dunno what he did to his stuff.

thanks PM sent

Use a bellhousing/transmission from either B2000/B2200 or 929 HB/HC with FE/F2 engine and it fits.

Now look who sounds like a dipshit...

the b2200 b2000 transmission will work, but it is very weak and uses a smaller clutch. it is very similar to the NA rx7 trans. I didn't know the 929 came with a 4 cyl. manual? I know the rare v6 manual 929 has a almost the same trans as a turboII, but the bellhousing is different.

Saying it works is totally different than actually making it work.

I can talk all day about how to stuff a 20B into an FC, but does that mean you can do it?
I highly doubt that.

I've never heard of this being done.
A quick web search popped up choke shit...in Aussie.

So show me proof if this is being done in the U.S.?


-Ted

there are 2 in this thread...
http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/20...-rx7-pics.html

Hello,

Most of the 929's came with 4-cyl in Europe (MA 2.0l, FE 2.0l or F2 2.2l).

Regards,
Frode

Fitting the FWD FE3 into a RWD car has been done many times. There is one problem and that is the intake manifold. TB will point towards the firewall.

Use thermostat housing and some other stuff from a KIA sportage (same engine, but rwd) and everything fits nicely. If you do this into a previous FE/F2 car, you can use the stock motormounts. You will need an B2000/B2200 or 929 oil pan.

Almost as simple as fitting a 13B into a 12A chassis.

...and both are in NZ and Aussie...

Notice, RHD chassis...at least for the first one.
The second pic looks LHD?

See the mess of pipes for the turbo exhaust manifold and turbo?
Does that clear a LHD steering?

As you already mentioned, the plenum is backwards.
The one included in the pic uses a custom (sheetmetal?) plenum.

What about power steering?
What about AC?

Radiator hoses are trivial enough, but it's not close to being drop-in.

So, this ends up being an exercize in making it run.
Dropping the engine in looks pretty simple enough, but that seems to be the easy part.
I'm familiar with 4AGE 20V swaps into AE86's, and I wouldn't call it easy, even though the engine and trans mate and drop right in.


-Ted

it won't be as difficult as you think. I have done plenty of engine swaps. there will be plenty of room for everything. I also own a 1988 chrysler conquest with a turbocharged chevy 350 swapped into it. the rx7 will be a lot easier than that.

the turbo II tranny and rear end should hold the power and torque, i seen 600HP rx's with TII tranny and rear end they hold it fine. but mating the FE3 engine in a turbo II tranny will be a challenge. you migt just go with a T5 tranny and a custom bell housing. but ill be interesting to see a FE engine on a FC

thanks for the info. the motor will bolt right up with the bellhousing from a mazda bongo van. I has the same bolt pattern as the fe3 and uses an r type trans like the rx7 turboII.