Picked up an 87 N/A RX7 that was in poor running condition to perform a swap on last August. Progress has been slow, I only have a few hours every other week to get out into the garage.

Setup is a 2005 LQ4, LS6 valve springs, Ported LS2 intake, ported 78mm throttle body, 76mm turbo, T56 and Microsquirt. I am sure there are things left out. All said and done I want to run mid 500's at the rear wheels.

Previous builds/restorations are all Mustangs, but I decided it was time to get into something that could handle, brake and have an overall weight advantage with more power.


Stock 13b, looks innocent but had some serious redneck engineering done to it that caused it to run like a Geo Metro only with terrible gas mileage.

Hoping to have this fired up before summer arrives.





Interior was completely gutted.





Car was in primer, but rust free.





Interior all installed.





Just need to get the seats recovered and a headliner now. Everything else has been restored or replaced.






Engine as received.







LS2 rods, etc.






Started to pull it apart.






Oil pan set up for turbo drain and fuel pump.






Engine out.

 

New engine cleaned up and painted.





76mm turbo.







Ronin Mount kit.






Ported tbody.






Still in progress on porting.






Intake and throttle cable setup.

 

This thing is gonna be crazy when its all done. Are you gonna drag the car?

 

I am building it more for all around performance. Hoping to road course it more than drag. My last two builds were more oriented for straight line performance, this one is going to be a change up.


A couple updates. Been working on the engine bay.

 

Got it all ready to drop into the car finally.

Next weekend this will be in the car unless something crazy happens to steal weekend hours away from me.



Mock up with the intake on, just because I can, lol.

 

T2 Differential. Glad I found one finally without sacrificing a limb.

 

Just FYI: your engine mounts are Pez mounts from before Ronin bought the design rights. Our current mounts are quite a bit nicer and have had a few optomizations for fitment that will make your life easier. They'll also be substantially stronger than what you have both from a material thickness and weld quality perspective.

Pardon the aside, just didn't want anyone to mistake parts for ours that were a bit before our time. The other pieces in your kit (the powdercoated bits) are us, but the mounts are not.

If you want to upgrade shoot us a note at roninspeedworks@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't help you out.

You look like you're well on your way to making some serious horsepower. I love the fact folks are planning turbos into the build up front. We have 8.8 diff kits in stock when you're ready.

 

I thought they were the same, sorry for the mix up on that. I got them from a guy locally who no longer needed them and he linked me to your site so I could get the rest of the kit.

I was actually looking at your 8.8 kit, but I am trying to keep scope creep to a minimum and get it on the road for the nice weather. There is always next winter.

 

Have to space the engine up a little bit, the turbo drain I have set up has very little clearance as it sits now with the sway bar.

 

Nice.... Definitely like the LS motor in that car. What do you think it will weigh when its all done, and what is the balance f/r on that care after?

 

cool build

 

Not sure what the weight is going to be. Probably be nose heavy since I went iron block and turbo. The car otherwise is mostly gutted other than having some of the interior panels put back over empty space. The dash is hollowed out except for the gauges as well. Maybe down the road I will grab up an aluminum block to play with to help the nose weight.

On another note I got a lot of wiring worked out over the weekend. No pictures, but its getting closer.

 

Not to much of an update. Just been dealing with wiring up the Microsquirt and attempting to make it as clean as possible. Next step will be running fuel lines.

 

nice

 

How is this swap compared to a 3rd Gen? Any added work or is it easier? 2nd Gen rollers come pretty cheap and I love the understated look.

 

I have never swapped a 3rd gen before. But overall the swap has been really easy. This car is easier to work on than any of my past projects.

 

Just for reference and because I enjoy showing off my past projects, here are a couple snaps of my past completed projects. This one will be more go than show however.

I have a bad habit of getting bored with a car once it is complete and selling to buy another more "exciting" project.

 

very nice! i'm aiming for the same general setup.. except i'll probably go with a LM4 5.3 block unless i can find a LS1 for cheap enough. curious why you chose microsquirt over other fuel management?

 

Price. I had the Microsquirt shipped to my door with an 8ft harness and O2 sensor for $359. I am willing to do a little soldering to save myself a $1000.

 

Nice project!!!

 

i'm interested in how the microsquirt works out for you.. that price is do-able..

 

Not much of an update but wiring is complete! Just have to do a few minor things with clips to hold it where I want. Next up will be fuel and cooling.

 

Subscribed.......

Definitely following your progress as I just picked up a 91, and I'm gathering all the parts to do an LQ9 install with PRC L92 heads, LS3 intake, 90mm T/B, and Tick/Polluter cam. Looking for 500 N/A. All the best with your car!!

On another note, did you re-use the LQ9 engine harness? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

I used portions of the truck harness and spliced them into the Microsquirt harness. The truck harness has different injector plugs, not sure what kind, but I ordered some LS2 EV6 connectors and used them.

All the wiring is soldered and shrink wrapped, the majority is hidden away in unheated shrink tubing to clean up appearance.

 

what are you going to use for headers? (might have missed it if you mentioned you were going to boost)