Good 4 Cylinder Motor Swap
 

Please don't hate on me, but I have been thinking about this but have been afraid to ask the question....but anyways here goes. I have seen V-6 and V-8 engines in the RX-7, but never a 4-Cylinder. One obvious downside of the Rotary as we all know is fuel economy. Performance has never been a big issue with me, I've always liked the looks and handling of my GSL-SE. How hard would it be to put in a 4-cyl motor and what would be a good match? A good rebuilt rotary would be fine if it wasn't so darned expensive, which is why I'm thinking of putting in a small fuel efficient 4 banger in. Any ideas?

The only one I would even consider is an F20C or F22C. As for how hard it is... anything is easy with enough money. There is no known bolt on kit for this though.

You could go for the mazda miata 1.8L (94-96) engine, not great power, but its mazda and you should be able to use your same rear end. not sure about bolt up or anything. good mpg. great internals for if you decide to turbo it for more power. just my 0.02$

2.3 ltr Ford turbo engine?.

hes not looking for power, why a turbo 4cyl? go with a 1.6 miata, or k24de( 240sx( it's rwd already)
i have an 06 kia 1.6 DOHC that i wanted to put in my fb, but it's fwd layout means redoing all the manifolds, and it just doesn't look feasible. plus the trans adaptation... start with an RWD 4cyl and go from there, problem is most rwd's will be performance oriented. I vote for the miata 1.6 or 1.8 for a little more grunt, and you can get the miata 6 speed from an NC? or ND? that will fit the NB motor.

You could get an FE engine out a Kia Sportage. It's a Mazda engine in a RWD layout. Really stout engines, come forged from the factory.

^^ Agreed.

Miata's are from what i know are lighter than first gens definitely smaller . Probably easier swap to stick with a miata driveline . But if you could find a wrecked saturn SKY or the gm version that would be a kick ass swap modern technology and power with great fuel economy . In your car left stock non turbo 40-50mpg and still lots of poop

I can't weld and have meager wrenching skills, although I have put in motors before, but I would need a kit or a LOT of help. I refuse to let this car die, so I will have to look at a V8 or a 13b.

4g63 is the way to go tons of power lots of cheap parts

:: Project Zero G ::

http://www.billsautofab.com/recent_mit.asp

Any motor swap is gonna be pricing if u cant do some fab work though..sounds like u should just learn to rebuild your rotary

v8 power is probably the way to go if you want something simple. for the most part you can buy prefabbed stuff for it. but on the other hand buying prefabbed is always going to be a pretty penny. and v8s in light cars get decent gas mileage. i heard some ever hit 30s

I agree with overhauling the original engine if you dont have alot of experience . There still is nothing wrong with the rotary. A header exhaust and a good tune is a i had in my gsl se it was a dream to drive and like any engine that has some poop if you stay out of it you could get great fuel economy .

My housings have some corrosion and not too sure if they are good. The rotor apex seal grooves are open beyond specs. I put a used engine in that runs, but smokes like a banshee and has low compression on the rear. I would prefer to stay rotary, but cannot see putting 3 to 4 grand into a new or rebuilt motor.

Some photos of the corrosion. How bad??

I would do a ka24e or ka24de or if you can find one a 2.3t out of an svo mustang or turbo coupe thunderbird

Having done many swaps into different vehicles, chances are $3-4k is probably where you'll be in the swap. Rebuild the stocker

sr20?

It will be a lot cheaper to pick up an N/A 13B and just put it back that way. Saving 1500 dollars in engine swap money will buy a lot of fuel.

Add that's coming from someone who gas done a swap of a different make. Good advice.

Do a cheap 5.3/auto swap and you'd be in the mid 20's for mpg pretty easily.

-Jason

S

Sr20det is a solid choice, it's what I have in mine. Only issue is the oil pan, you can spend 15 hours making one like I did or buy an sr-miata pan from a company in Australia. It's a lot of money ($2000 iirc) but it's a really nice piece.

anyone have a good write up on whats need and how to sr20 swap?
seem's like it could be a good alternative to the rotary just not sure how much works involved.

Your going to have to be a pioneer on that one, there won't be many write-ups because most people aren't going to go with a 2 rotor engine to a 4 cyl. I believe if you compare engine weights, the newer v8's are only 100lbs heavier than a 4cyl at most.

Like the member stated above, a custom oil pan will need to be fabricated. Also there could be issues with clearance of the turbocharger.

There would either be ghetto looking radiator hoses going all over the place, or a custom radiator.

I got into the sr20 craze, and the engine is not that great. Solid block, but horrible valvetrain design and heads that don't flow too well. Now a sr20vet tickles my pickle, but that brings the budget price up high. Good luck finding someone selling a ve head

3sgte for sure...
or beams 3sge