Motor Swap Question?
 

Hey I have a 88 GXL and was planning on doing a motor swap in it. Well I'm going to go a different way with the motro by not using a rotary. I love the rotary motor and all but just want to be different. Oh and I do not plan on doing the V* or the SR20 swap.

Ok what I'm planning on using is a BMW or Mercedes Benz V12. Now my question is will it fit and has it been done before.

i think you're really brave
*smiles*

umm do something unique
lexus v8 is good
are you totally against nissans?
because there is the rb20det rb25det and rb26dett

I don't know just everone is doing motor swaps now and its what everone talks about and I was like it would be sweet to put a V12 in the rex.

I have thought about the RB26DETT, its kinda my second choice after the V12.

would the v12 even fit??
i know it has a fairly long enging bay but still
how many horsies you want out of it?

Well It should fit, i havn't had a chance to measure things to see how if it would fit.

I have also changed my idea of which V12, I'm thinking on the lines of the Jaguar 6.0 V12. Stock they have something like 320 and have talked to a jaguar fanatic and he said those you can easily get 500 hp out of them and even more.

yeah
thats my 12cyl of choice
i think they're alot cheaper too

My only comment on using one of those motors is that hopefully you know enough of how to work on them that you won't need a significant amount of help.

I say this because dealership mechanics won't support it, small shop mechanics likely wouldn't know where to begin, and experienced engine swappers can try but won't be of much help if they've never worked on that engine before.

This isn't saying you shouldn't use one of them - I think it would be FREAKIN' BAD ASS to see ANY 12 cylinder under the hood of ANY car. I just know it's easy to get put off when you're halfway through the conversion if something isn't working right for you. I did a few times, and mine was among the easiest swaps you can do. Mostly my problems were clearance though, since I used big tube headers and wheels with the wrong offset.

Also, make sure you are willing to part with the money it cost to build. Because if you ever want to sell it, you will be damn lucky to get 25% of what you have in it. I've seen guys spend 8-9k converting a 2nd gen to V8 power and only get $2500 when selling it - and that's with engines people DO know how to work on. As an example - I would LOVE to buy it from you after completed, but I never would, because I couldn't fix it if it broke down. You'd have to make the price so low I couldn't say no - which would be you throwing money away. So basically, make sure it's what you want and you don't mind the expense. If that's the case, DO IT and POST PICS :)

Yes I'm still in the plans of doing this swap and also going to twin turbo the motor too.

As of right now i need to sell my other car first beofre the project will start.

I also have a 90 FC that I will be using as the dummy car to figure out if everthing will fit and stuff since it has no motor any ways.

And as far as needing helping with the swap i'm pretty sure i should be able to tackle the swap myself and if not ask a couple of friends from work to give me a hand, i work at a mechanics shop.

But as of right now I'm going to try to buy a pre race prepped motor pushing about 500 hp and twin turbo on top of that, motor is built for turbo use. Do a complete stand alone, i have friends that know how to tune motors very greatly. But its going to cost though, but i get discount.

So it will probally take a while to complete. But at least I still get to drive the car while doing the swap. Going to complete the swap mostly on the 90 rx-7 to get all clearence issues done and out of the way and then transfer it over to the 88.

But I saying when done i should be looking at around 800 hp or maybe more

If you want that cool sound of a V-12, go for it. Nothing sounds like that if you do the exhaust right. But if what you are after is huge torque and horsepower in a very strong and reliable package, look at the Buick Regal Turbo/Grand National V-6. There are lots of bolt on goodies available and you can dial up as much power as your drive train will handle.

I know a guy who drives his 3400 pound Regal on the street and goes 145 mph in the quarter! That motor in a 2500 pound car would be adequate, and probably a lot less hassle than a V-12. Granny's web site shows one or two of these conversions.

IMO.. If you want to know if it'll fit, make the necessary measurements and find out. If your not able to get that far, this project is more a dream than anything. :)

I bought a '91 with the same idea. Use it as my test mule and then transfer all the stuff to my '86 when I get it figured out. Thing is the project required more modifications to the chassis then originally planned and then there was all the wiring...... I've been driving the '91 for a few weeks with no plans to swap it to the '86. too much work and now that it is running I'm not going to stop driving it unless it breaks.

I don't have dimensions for a V12 but I expect it will stick out of the hood a ton. I put in a Nissan maxima V-6 and I had to modify the crap out of the car to get it under the hood. Maybe you plan on a big hood scoop or something?

Doing something different is cool. Nothing like learning something.