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Hey guys, I’m looking into an FB, and as much as I love rotaries I’m a broke teenager who can’t afford the maintenance, and the trans & engine have 144,000 miles on them, so I was wondering if I could take an L28 out of a 240z and put it into the FB. I don’t know if It would fit but I just wanted to hear from you guys, if any one has experience or links they could give me to help. Thank guys!
It would be waaaaay long. Also I would think at this point that a 280ZX would be cheaper/easier to find than an FB since S31s are still pretty much worthless, and SAs/FBs are probably the only Japanese 2-seaters that rusted harder than Datsuns.
I know people have swapped RB20DETs, and the RB engine is a DOHC version of the L-series, so that would be a place to start if you're serious. The RB did not look like a fun experience.
If you can't afford maintenance you can't afford an engine swap. When you add up everything, you're still going to be looking at $4-5k. Rotary engines are probably the least maintenance intensive engines ever, any RX-7 maintenance issues are related to everything around the engine.'
Don't forget heavy as all hell. V8 swaps are generally lighter. And unlike in that photo, it allows you room for a radiator.
Inline sixes are not a light design. Even with a magnesium block (BMW) they aren't particularly light. 240Zs had one of the flimisest, weakest, thinnest-gauge shells I've ever seen, and they still weighed over 2000lb because over a quarter of that weight was the engine. For reference, a 4 door RX-3 was lighter, even though it had about the same dimensions, a much sturdier chassis since it had a leaf sprung rear suspension that required reinforced sills instead of the S30's inherently light central spine arrangement, AND the RX-3 had four doors and seating for five.
