when the weather clears up, im going to take a final stab at reviving my rotary, after that, it's no longer worth the cash.
my thoughts are leaning towards a ls1 swap, auto trans.
im guessing that i will need the computers and all sensors and wiring harnesses from the donor cars. looking around on here and v8rx7 i could not find any mention of computers.
any suggestions on a trans and how to get the computers to happily coexist? i know on my 97 dodge, swapping the trans computer would cause the main comp to freak.
i looked on grannys for an ls1 kit.
im looking for this car to be a fun daily driver. my only real requirement would be to be able to beat a new gto,auto just to say he got beat by a 23 year old car. i imagine that regardless of tranny, the weight alone would accomplish this, but figured i'd mention.

 

The V8 computer will control everything related to the motor and trans ... or you can get a 6-speed pullout and run a 200r4 or similar non-computer controlled auto.

 

thank you.
is there a way to use the stock gauges or would i have to fab a cluster with aftermarket gauges?

 

Just to let you know on the new gen engines they have the computer built in them,and thats if your looking for a 6 speed auto and that i know of the only new one you could fit in there is the either the 6l80 or the 4l60.The thing is that on the new 6l80 i heard that they r about he same size as the 4l60 but only the new ones.It would be nice to have the new padel shifting like the new vetts!! Remember that if you want to go with the new stuff.

 

People use stock gauges primarily...

 

does anyone know if they sell kits for this or is it all splice and go?

 

That or you can ship the wiring harnesses to Hinson or another shop that's done the work. It's the same with guys who do CA/SR/RB swaps in their 240sx's. Not really anymore complicated.

 

Tach is same signal so it's a direct hookup.

Speedo requires a converter box, available thru Hinson. If using a manual valve body auto there are some electronic converters.

Water temp and oil pressure are simple, just use the rx7 senders and extend the stock wiring to the new location of the senders.

For the idiot lights Hinson's converted harness or others' converted harness provide hookup instructs.

 

when you buy the motor yo can get the harness with it. but you need to send your harness in so they can adda few things to it. 300 bucks should cover the harness then you need the converter for your stock guage which is 99.00 from hinson. just go onto hinsonswebpage and look under rx7 and you will see ls1 swap and they have a full kit you can buy with a ton of extras you can buy to make the swap as painless as possible. it adds up though all said and done with labor and buying the chassis it cost me 17,000. not bad since the turn around sell price is much higher. Good luck and ditch that rotard crap. its a nice thing to wake up and know you can drive long distance with no problems.

 

Good luck with that higher "turn around sell price"...my experience tells me that you'd better be doing this for your pleasure, not for profit.

Your last two sentences bother me for a couple of reasons.
The "rotard crap" comment is just devisive...the rotary is what it is and either you can deal with it or not.
It took me a few months after getting my RX ('91 NA) to learn how to drive it properly. Coming off a '71 240Z with a 280 engine, I was used to abundant low end torque, which the rotary definitely lacks.
However, I adapted and love the new characteristics...they are just different, neither better or worse...just different.

Furthermore, my experience with the 7 doesn't bear out your implication that the rotary is unreliable.
Mine is a daily driver and in the past two years I've put nearly 25k miles on her with no issues at all.
Several long trips- last fall she made 4.5k miles in ten days without a hiccough.

All that said, I'm currently working on a friend's third gen conversion to LT1/T-56 and very much look forward to it's completion.
It's already obvious that the conversion will totally change the character of the car but again, neither for the better or the worse, just different.

So far, the best analogy I can make would be the comparison between a two stroke and four stroke motorcycle engine.
Ultimately, the same result but much different technique required to achieve it.

And they can both be fun.

So, when my aging rotary finally begins to go **** up- and, at nearly 200k miles I won't be complaining- converting to a V-8 is definitely a very real possibility but not because the rotary is in any way inferior, just to experience something new.