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 ;)

Yeah. That looks really good! Don't pay attention to the haters. They're just ignorant.

Here is a 3rd gen with an LS1 that just started up the other day. He's going to post videos when he actually goes and drives it. I can't wait either

http://www.hinsonsupercars.com/novemberpictures.htm

Thats awesome! That guy needs to invest in a better camera or something. Those pics suck. I'm glad to see someone finally nearing completion.

I've known that car and it's owner since they came together. It was fired this weekend, and will be driven by the 23rd.

My daily driver is powered by the LS1, with a 6 speed. I freakin love it! The difference is, mine is an '87 Turbo II.

The (non) difference is, the mounting parts were made by the same person!

For those saying that we're no longer "different" because we don't run a rotary, you're wrong!

We're WAY different now! I'm in a city of over 250,000 people, and my car stops people in their tracks! Must be because it's so "different"!!

why do people pick RX-7's to do these swaps on? especially an FD. it looks great so far, but, sorry, i dont consider an RX-7 to be one when its piston powered. RX-7 stand for Rotary eXperiment 7 right? just my perspective. but agian, the swap looks nice.

it would be a lot cooler if when you open the hood the entire cast of the muppet show was in there riding little bicycles.

:)

ANIMAL fucking rules!

Wrong.

Looks nice, I like seeing a swap done well.

Animal does rule

BTW, Nice swap...I don't think the lt1's are THAT reliable though. But then again compared to the 13B-REW...

That must be why there were and still are so many LT1 Caprices used as law enforcement, city, county and state government vehicles, not to mention taxis companies and the tens of thousands of private owners. Add to that the huge number of LT1 Camaros, Firebirds, and Corvettes with over 100k+ miles on original engines. No, they're not THAT reliable... :)

Even with infrequent or indifferent maintenance, you'd almost have to shoot a stock LT1 through the block to keep it from lasting 100k+ miles. They don't have many known shortcomings, and the ones that they do are normal wear items anyway (Opti-spark distributor and water pump).

And then there are the performance people... engines based on LT1 production blocks making 1,200+ horsepower. Hundreds if not thousands of drag racers using LT1s in supercharged, turbocharged, nitrous injected and naturally aspirated configurations. LT1 Camaros with full interiors deep in the 9s. LT1 Caprices and Impalas deep in the 12s and high 11s... with 4,000+ lb. cars.

Short of the Ford 5.0 liter engine, I don't know of too many more reliable domestic engines. And either one is infinitely less expensive to upgrade or repair than anything that ever came out of Japan. I can't see why anyone would want a domestic small block engine, personally... :)

Just FYI, John has purchased many of the speed parts I originally bought to build my 396 before I went completely off the deep end. His slightly more "docile" version should make only... oh... 570-580 horsepower and 520-530 lb-ft of torque... :)

Elteewun Schmelteewun...I want to see beaker and gonzo in ther busting their ass on gilligans bicycle!

they peddle as animal beats the drum like the a roman sailing slavemaster.......the sound out the exhaust would be rad...drum beats animal style!!!!

every time you open the hood they all sing for you.

come on guys...you know that would be the coolest thing you ever saw!

only prob with that mod....miss piggy would beat the hell out of any chicks you tried to woo into the car.


j

Really?!?!? I thought I'd get into the 500 range but that's deep in there. I was thinking of spraying 100+ shot but now I think about it, it would just be power and wear to the engine I don't need. I'll see how this engine goes and maybe, just maybe move up to a 383 twin turbo:)

here's something I just got in the mail and thought you'd like to see. Took me some time to find but was sure worth it

http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...b1000b/i-2.JPG

http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...b1000b/i-1.JPG

That makes me sick!!! BLAH !!!

Get a Domestic already:D.

I'm glad to see that the lobotomy worked out for you.

Our Rotary brothers are dropping like flies :( ...Good luck anyway...

I never understood what in the hell you people do to your cars. I've own three fd's, the first one i wrecked at 125000 original miles, the second I still have with 90000miles and my dailey driven FD has 112000 miles and running strong with all the bolt-ons. Perhaps its not the engine but the damn drivers. :mad:

Why would you want to reciprocate, whyen you can go round and round. In all seriousness, looks like an interesting project. I've seen a few 240 Z's with 350 Chevys and Chevy powered 911's. What is the weight distribution going to be?

Weight distribution? I have no doubt in my mind it's going to be 50/50. I've taken allot of stuff out of the front. AC, PS, ABS, IC, oil cooler, headlights, windshield sprayer, allot of wiring, and other small sensors for the rotary. I'm really thinking about taking out the heater core and getting rid of the heater/AC all together. I will only drive this car in the summer time and it never gets cold anytime of night. That'll get rid of the AC core, heater core, blower motor, AC panel, and all the wiring and hoses. That's going extreme though so I don't know about that yet. I haven't weighed the car or anything yet but I'm guessing it will be somewhere between 2600-2700lbs when I'm done

I can't believe you took out the windshield sprayer! And the headlights too? Guess you'll only drive it during the day, in the summer :D

You are definitely the exception.

It's funny how similar this thread
is to one on an old Jaguar forum.
The chevy powered jags weren't
allowed to have their hoods open if
they took part in a jaguar meet.
Isn't anybody getting tired of
living in fear of the low coolant
buzzer, or constantly checking the
color of your exhaust, or not being
able to speed shift to 3rd without
blowing a syncro.
I know I'd really be pissed if I
paid $35k for my FD.
At this point my 93 is running
great (16k on a reman) 12.60 1/4mi.
at 12psi boost, but I'm on pins and
needles wondering when she'll blow.
So for all you rotary purists,
take my engine and trans off my hands so I could convert.
BTW, I'm serious.

I think something happens thats kills the engine. Either a radiator hose splits or they run out of oil. But I think the most common cause is letting them sit too long. Alot of people sell them because they don't drive it any more, but by the time they sell it it has sat around for 6 months or so. From what I have heard this causes the water seals to dry up and split.

Awesome job man!

I just need a nice big jump in the stock market (or land another great contract (yeah right on both)) and I might do the LT1/FD combo.


Very cool.

I have more respect for a MoPeds than i do for people that install V8's into RX7's. It doesnt matter if that thing runs 8's or how clean the engine bay is, its still retarded. Good thing you picked something so creative since there are practically NO CARS/TRUCKS on the road with V8's in them.

I feel the same.

hey red tt you should be hung in public for doing that swap. i think you been reading to much import tuner......whats next corvette tail light conversion
the designers of the car should come from japan
and kick your ass!!!!!!!