87 RX7 N/A to LS/T56
 

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.

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Interior was completely gutted.

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Car was in primer, but rust free.

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Interior all installed.

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

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Engine as received.

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LS2 rods, etc.

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Started to pull it apart.

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Oil pan set up for turbo drain and fuel pump.

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Engine out.

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New engine cleaned up and painted.

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76mm turbo.

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Ronin Mount kit.

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Ported tbody.

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Still in progress on porting.

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Intake and throttle cable setup.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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. :icon_tup:

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

Flipped truck manifolds for a front mount.

So far I have mocked them up and the drivers side is just fine, but the passenger side has some clearance issues I need to take care of.

nice! i'm trying to decide which headers i'm going to use for my swap.

amazing this is something i want to do

Doesn't look like much, but I can hook up a battery and spin it over with the ignition now. Replaced a lot of crappy factory wiring. Once I get fuel and coolant into this thing it should fire off.

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Nice work. That will be a fun car when it's done.

Thanks!

I am hoping this thing is fun. Wanting to hit up a few autox events before the snow hits. My Mustangs were to bloated to do much and I had spent so much time and money on them I was to scared of damage to have any fun. This thing is going to be a road warrior, it shall fear no door dings, lol.

Almost ready for the road. Just need to button a few things up. Alternator and Radiator are on the way. Should show up sometime next week. I ended up punking out on the Microsquirt and have a standalone LS1 setup installed. Hopefully take a test drive in two weeks!

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The radiator came in. I made my own brackets to mount it. Not the best pictures in the world, but you guys get the idea. I will be running a Taurus fan.

Its just mocked up below. Still got some cleanup to do.

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Things seem to be going pretty smooth for you, it looks awesome man!

How'd you make the brackets for your radiator?

Thanks. This car is honestly fairly easy to work on. Work keeps me from making to quick of progress, but it will be done before winter hopefully.

I purchased some sheet metal then measured, cut, formed, and mounted it to the location where the old oil cooler mounted. Took all of 20 minutes.

It lives!

Still need to button up a few things. Started right off first try and no weird noises. Next up is exhaust and a few other small bits.

Feel free to overlook the years worth of dust buildup, lol.

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Congrats!

That thing sounds like a beast! How much do you reckon the whole build will cost you?

$900 for engine
$2000 for complete T56 kit
$350 for ecm and harness
$75 for tune
$570 for mount kit
$172 for radiator and mounting
$400 for various cleanup items, fuel system, fluids, etc.

Have you thought about relocating your batt to rear or back seat box? It can give you some extra room for your intake filter further from block

Yea, I plan on moving it back there now that I have verified there are no engine problems. I would like to take it for a test drive next weekend.

A little more progress. Finished the fan mounting and have been cleaning up small stuff.

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Little bit of an update. Finishing up a lot of small things to make it road safe, mainly wiring cleanup.

Got the intake finished. Much thanks to AutoMods for hooking me up with the elbow and tubing, great quality stuff!


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It sits nicely in there. And dang thats a huge snail!

Looks great.

Thanks guys. Its been a long slow road. But just maybe it will be road worthy soon!

Took it for a spin finally!

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Dropped it off for exhaust yesterday. They had some trouble finding flanges. I was able to source some today so the car should be good to go Monday.

Car was a blast to drive over there though. Never went past maybe 10% throttle due to how loud it was but it felt strong. T56 is quite an upgrade from the T5's I have been used to in the Mustang world. Shifts nicely and the car is super easy to drive.

I'm keeping an eye on this thread. I just picked up a all aluminum 5.3 on black friday