N/A turbo swap questions
 

Hello, I am new to the rotary engine and have a few questions about turboing my 88 rx7 N/A. I was wonder if the N/A engine is different than the turbo engine and if so what are they? Is it worth turbocharging my engine or buying a turbo one and swapping the engine in?

Really depends on your goals for the car and how you'll use the end result.. if you'll be happy with 250hp and won't be drifting, doing burnouts, or otherwise abusing the car unnecessarily, you can get away with just swapping out the engine and keeping your drivetrain as is.

Most will tell you to just buy a turbo car and start there.. which, if you can get a good deal and know for certain the engine has been rebuilt or is otherwise healthy, then sure.. it is easier.

If your body is in good shape, I'd suggest finding a turbo motor with documentation and is known to be healthy.

Yes, the engines themselves have differences as one needs to reliably support turbocharging and the other needs to make maximum use of breathing naturally. Biggest differences are the irons, rotors, and front cover.

The fact that you are asking these questions has me feeling like you should enjoy your NA motor for several years until you acquire the knowledge necessary to support having a turbocharged rotary in your life. You absolutely have to know what you're doing and what you're facing or it is basically guaranteed to blow up on you.

The N/A engine is different from the Turbo engine in a few ways. The most obvious being compression ratio and the intake ports (Turbo engine is 4 port, N/A is 6 port).
My opinion, may not be worth much, which i have developed from years of reading on this forum and a little first hand experience is that if you have a healthy engine it MIGHT be worth turbocharging. It depends on your budget and goals really. The most cost effective way would be to use the turbo components off of the turbo engine. There will be some customization required but it usually will work out cheaper than a custom setup and a turbo swap. I can post some links to help you...

There is a very extensive write up by one of our forum members, Aaron Cake, detailing what all is involved with putting a turbo on an N/A rotary. In my opinion, you would be much better off getting a complete turbo engine and transmission to swap into your car or finding a turbo car (I bought a 10th AE for not much over $2k that needed some work). Link to the write up below

The (Almost) Complete Guide To Turbocharging The Naturally Aspirated Second Generation RX-7

There's actually someone selling a turbo kit specifically made for the N/A engine

+1000