Considering an engine swap project FD
 

I've been out of the car scene for a few years. In college I had my share of camaros, a turbo buick, and a few bikes. I'm having fun now with a 1.8t gti, but am considering another sports car.

I've always liked FD's since I drove a friend's 93 touring model. It seems they have really come down in price recently and body only cars are almost a steal. The idea of an LS1/2 in an FD sounds fantastic..

For the guys who have gone down this road, is there anything you wish you would have known when you started out? Was it not as straight forward as you hoped? Is there any recommended reading you would point other people to before they start this project?

Also, would it almost be worth it to buy someone else's project and complete it (or buy a complete car), or just do it yourself? If I had to throw out a ballpark budget, I'd say 15K would be the most I'd want to spend on it so I know this puts a completed project almost out of reach since they commonly go for 20ish.

What I don't want is to get committed to it financially and only then realize this is much more of a project than I'm looking for. :eek:

Thanks for any input. :)

Some here aren't very friendly to the swap, and the subject is only generally discussed, not the details.

This is a forum entirely dedicated to V8 RX-7s.

http://www.v8rx7forum.com/

search search and more search on v8rx7forum. its a great place with tons of helpful/nice people, but they dont take kindly to noobs posting new threads. everything has been covered on there, so theres really no need.
they have a section of just build threads, so thats a great place to start.

the biggest question/debate seems to be which cradle to use, so you should def do your homework before ordering one. other than that its a pretty strait forward swap. plenty of people have completed theirs with little or no posting (i often see guys with like 8 posts showing their completed cars)

as for what i would have done differently- i put mine in competely stock, thinking 300hp would be too much already. thats so not the case. i wish i had cammed it (its so cheap theres no reason not to), and used headers (debatable- i need cats). other than that it all went very well. i say cam it on an engine stand, because of the work involved while its in the car.. ugg