finally dropped an LT1 engine in my car
 

Well, this was just test fitting but the real engine that will make my FD run will be in the car in about 3 months. I just wanted to see if everything fitted fine and it didn't. The subframe I think is just alittle off, but enough for the engine mounts not to be used correctly. The oil pan didn't fit which I suspected, so an upgraded one will have to be fitted. The headers needed some messaging which Jimlab already told me when I bought them from him. It doesn't look as bad as I thought though. The passenger side hits with the frame barely. One of the pipes on the driver side hits the steering shaft. Probably going to end up making my own Y-pipe.

Well, it'll be 3 months till it's up but here are some pics for now

another

one more, but blurry

wrong forum dude.

I bet you, somewhere on this planet, someone that works for cheby is laughing REALLY hard at Mazda right about now...

if you dont like what he is doing- dont post a reply

Very awesome man, good luck with the swap!

For the love of god what are you doing to that poor 7.............










j/k looks good sitting in there, now just get everything to fit right..

Jeesh! I never said I didn't like it! but I'm not saying I do like it, either.

All I said was that someone at cheby is....well....just read my damn reply :)

Isn't the forum for Rotary Enthusiasts???
In fact doesn't the homepage state. "Home of Rotary Enthusiasts."?
Doesn't seem like one to me, there is another 60 threads on LT1 RX-7's Maybe this should be on the Camaro or V8RX-7 forums instead???

The things we do to make people happy.
Now we are going to have to change the title to "World's largest originally rotary and rotary powered community" ;)

Sweet!

great, a half-ass v8 job...

poor rx-7. I truly hope that you have put a bit more thought into the project than seems to be the case :(

-manolis

Don't be so close minded people. V8 power has been going into just about everything since V8's were invented. Good power, compact size, plenitful parts, GOBS of torque.

John, looks much better than I thought it would, good job!

Jeff
Been contimplating a V8 1st gen:).

Umm, I don't think it's a half ass job. He said he's still test fitting. Besides that the engine bay is spotless and looks about 10 times better than most of the dirty 10 year old engine bays I've seen. (I know it's been painted but it looks good) Not trying to knock anyone elses car(rotary powered or non rotary powered), but don't be so quick to knock someone elses project for not fitting 100% the first time they drop the motor in, it usually doesn't work like that. Rome wasn't built in a day.

If it was a 20B everyone would be bowing down/drooling and saying "Don't worry, It looks great, I'm sure you'll get everything to fit, etc". Some people need to stop being so discrimating against pistons.

here's my $0.02....
i think with the rx7s still being the ONLY rotary powered production cars in the world should be left alone
that's part of it's allure - being different....most people still don't know wtf a rotary engine is...
granted a v8 rotary is still different and definitely a sight to see
but if i wanted to do a project on a small v8 sports car, i'd look for a car with pistons

i've been following jimlab's progress too and it looks great
personally, i would not want to replace the rotary in my car
good luck with your project!

I got a suggestion for all those complaining about the V8 conversion.

Go buy a Camaro, Mustang, Corvette, etc and then install a rotary engine in it. After that, you can claim your right to complain and criticize someone doing a V8 or any other motor conversion in an RX7.

Well if you like that, just wait until I drop the real engine in. Anything aluminum will be polished in addition to the chromed alternator kit you see. What I really wanted to pay attention to was not having anything in the engine bay I didn't really need. I took out the ABS cause I never even tripped it once since I've owned the car or any car for that matter. I installed a manual steering rack because power is not needed, not for me anyways. No AC because it never really worked that well. No windshield washers, no one really needs that. No pop-up lights and the relays, Cwest lights look much nicer:) And more things I left out. What you see in the pics is probably all that's going into the engine bay. The only thing that's missing is the engine wiring, sway bar, polished stainless steel brake lines, the radiator and I'm probably missing some things. Yeah, it's going to be one clean engine bay:D

Here's another top view. Look at all the room I have:eek:

that logic doesn't make any sense....

No crap. Why would you want to change out an engine that people understand, that's reliable, has very high potential, and lots of torque for a rotary?? That I see would be a wrong engine swap. That's not to say that I would be against it, different is good.

how does this conversion compare with jimlabs? Aside from the motor itself (i know jimlab spent $30k on the motor) but Jim went through great lenghts to push the engine backwards. Did you guys use the same kit? Any cutting or welding involved?

The last time I checked, this was a THIRD GEN forum, and since he is dropping v8 into a third gen.... hmmmm... not too hard to understand. Am I missing something? Sometimes the ignorance on this forum just boggles my mind.

I think these swaps are very good ideas. I'm just waiting for someone to actually complete one and comment on how it drives ;) I can't wait to see the results. Low end torque would make the FD so much more fun to drive, in my opinion.

That looks great man. Not a half-assed job at all. Plus it will last more than 80k miles now! Very good upgrade. Maybe if the people at Mazda hadn't of half assed the engines that came in the car from the factory nobody would consider a V8 swap. He has the best of both worlds, killer looks and reliability/longevity. Yeah it says for rotary enthusiasts on the main page but guess what the name of the web site is? - RX-7 Club < ---

-Charlie

DAMM, Check out the 2 FOOT space in front of the motor:eek:

That's it, I'm putt'in the Hummer 6.5 LITER TURBO DIESEL in mine:D

I think Jim and I are using the same subframe. We both have Granny's but he has one of the very first ones made. Mine was the second batch that they made and I believe I have just a tad more hood clearance than he does. No cutting or welding involved, I could care less either way, I'm never converting back to rotary. It's funny that you should mention how mine compares to Jimlab's. I've bought many parts from Jim that he *rejected*. My pistons, rods, cam, valve covers, T-56 tranny, valves, oil pump, alternator, headers, all came from Jim. He moved up to much better exotic parts as most of you know.

I'm going to drop in a stock Lt1 engine for now since my car has been down for way over a year now. Well, it's not going to be stock, just internally. I'll have some goodies but I'm going to put together my built engine while I drive with the stocker. I'd say the stock engine should have 450-500hp but it'll have just as many shiny parts as my built one:)

I think you did a great job on the engine swap. The engine bay looks immaculate! Personally I would have left the rotary, but hey that's my opinion. Have fun with that thing and don't hurt it, lol.:cool: :D ;)