I just picked up an '85 yesterday and I was considering throwing a PI 302 in it. I know it's possible and all but is it worth messing with or should I just put the 12a under the knife, either way the entire drivetrain is going to need a revamp since I picked it up from the former PSI motorsports shop (PAS now and under new management) and I know they thrashed it, and I think it's the base model but I haven't run the VIN yet.

 

don't put a piston engine in that 7. that would be like me putting a 20b in a 72' nova. no point it that huh? besides alot of people here are a little sensitive about that subject. i'm honestly suprised you haven't been flammed yet.

 

You can check the site www.grannysspeedshop.com for a kit for the V-8 conversion.

 

Part it out before you install a Boinger in it (1st Poster) or you will get Creamed on this site!!!!!
steve

 

Check the section "Rotary Performance" then "other engines" plenty of support for this type of conversion there, just keep it manual is all I ask......

 

20B In a Nova would actually be kinda cool, different anyway.

Yeah check out grannysspeedshop.com and torquecentral.com for all the info you'll need, this isnt exactly the site to discuss piston swaps being alot of guys are partial to the rotary.

Anyways, I'm going the LS6 Route with my 1st gen.

-Chris

 

i took that route dark secret. mine is finally completed and running. i have an 87 5.0 in mine. its a pretty scary car. my buddy got a ride in it when it was running crappy with open headers and he said it feels like a muscle car. just cuz when i rev the whole body shakes and the open headers was really really loud. since then i've fixed a ton of problems and anything more than 1/4 throttle it just burns the rear. its seriously a fun car.

its true a lot of people here dont like the idea, but its your car and you can do what ever you want with it. if you want me to post pics just let me know.

~Steve

 

Go with the pistons. Nothing wrong with it. Don't sweat getting flamed by these guys: Bottom line, it's YOUR car. You have to drive it, you have to like it, who gives a **** what anyone else thinks.

 

honestly i am against the idea of dropping in pistons in a 7, i have always wanted a 7 because they are so different and i love the car, i just got one 3 days ago and i wouldn't even dream of taking one of the things that make a 7, a 7 and changing it. BUT it IS YOUR CAR so even though i wouldn't it doesn't mean you shouldn't so YOU make the choice!!!

 

Rx-7's were built for engine swaps.... :stands back ready for the bashing: In all honesty your power to weight will double. To me more power for less money is just smart. and you get to keep the cool rx-7 curves... A three rotor would be really nice, but it would cost about 5 times as much as the 302 swap.

 

i would like you to post pics, if you could, i have a spare shell, and im looking for ideas on what i should do. how is the handling of it? what have you noticed as its tendancies? sorry to bother, just interested.

 

Go for it.

 

i have a friend who just finished putting a 91 5.0 HO motor in his 81 Widebody RX7, it has awesome horsepower, I am cuurently working a deal to buy it from him.

 

those pics are teh small

 

Piston Engine discussions belong in the Other Engine Conversion section.

I am moving this thread there. Please do not start piston-related discussions in the main section. It leads to fights and flame wars.

Jon

 

best advice i could give would be to really sit down and consider what you want to do and why.
i'm all for engine swaps in 7's, they work great, but just have a clear reason (that isn't bs) as to why the rotary isnt for you and why (also not bs) the v8 is.
at first when i got my 7 (it had a shot drivetrain) i was all gung-ho about a small block chevy swap because i saw rotaries as anemic little weirdos.
well, after i did a whole bunch of reading i actually began to like rotaries better than v8's alltogether because they're just so different and aren't an obvious answer to the "make big power" question.

i grew up in the muscle car scene and i love em and all, but everyone that i know that is into that sort of thing along with me, they all seem to dream about the same damn car. 8 cylinders. 350 or 450 cubic inches. tops out at 6000rpms. great in the quarter mile.
i like v8's, as long as me and everyone i know isnt driving the same v8.
i just remember having the same conversation over and over about "oh man, i can't wait to put heads/cam/headers on XXX engine in my XXX car, to make 300-400horses.
after awhile i got bored. it got monotonous to me. i started thinking, "damn, what if i made a 377 that revs to 7500 instead of a 383 that goes to 6000." then i realized that i was trying to make a v8 that behaves like a rotary, so i jumped ship(on this project at least).
maybe there are some that can take one 350ci v8 and swap cam/heads on it and call that variety, but i can't. the power curve may change but the personality doesnt, at least to me.

the bottom line is, do what works for you. an rx-7 is a very capable platform and will do damn near anything well. do consider the rotary though, they're crazy weird.
but if you have tinkered with small rappy engines all your life, give the v8 a shot(or vice-versa), you'll like it i promise.

 

Yeah sorry about posting under 1st gen tech i'm a noob to the forum. As far as keeping it original i'm not to worried about and I seriously doubt i'll keep the 12a simply because I can get a 13b for a good price, I currently have a 6th gen Celica that's about to get a 3SGTE, an '02 Lancer with a 4g63 swap in the works, an '88 Camaro with a built 350 w/ a 7000 rpm redline swapped in from the FI 305, and I am going to plan for this one but just wanted to know if it was a good idea. I would like to keep a good weight ratio on the car but I have the Celica for the handling so I would really like to make the car a nice street terror (the Camaro does the job but it's a Camaro so it's expected by most around here). I've gone over all the schematics of the car and it's actually a very simple one so i'm going to go for it, in the meantime I can be working the 12a up and make it nasty or sell it.

 

lol, i was thinking about getting that shell from them a while back, but could never figure out who actually owned it. it definitely has taken a beating. it's a gs i believe, so that means no lsd, drum rear, etc...

i turbocharged my 12a setup so it is possible to get plenty of power out of that thing, but if you need to rebuild it then you would spend the same amount of money/ less actually, on a 302 swap.

where in charlotte do you stay?