The Terrible V-8 Swap!

I just got a 88 Rx-7 with a bad motor and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to swap to do V-8 engine swap. I read a guy on here said to use a porsche tranny? how would that work and do ya have any pics? I know everyone on here is gonna hate me for wanting to do the swap but its cheaper and i get a powerful v-8 thats a bulletproof design instead of a troublesome rotary in a sexy Rx-7.

p.s. i know everyones gonna say why didnt you just get a mustang or camaro, but they are crazy ugly looking and want something differnt

thx for help ninjas

Troublesom rotary. LMAO well hickboy do a search on here or any othere RX7 board/forum and you will find your answer.

I just got a 88 Rx-7 with a bad motor and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to swap to do V-8 engine swap. I read a guy on here said to use a porsche tranny? how would that work and do ya have any pics? I know everyone on here is gonna hate me for wanting to do the swap but its cheaper and i get a powerful v-8 thats a bulletproof design instead of a troublesome rotary in a sexy Rx-7.

p.s. i know everyones gonna say why didnt you just get a mustang or camaro, but they are crazy ugly looking and want something differnt

thx for help ninjas

naw nobody's gonna hate you anymore, it boils down to which engine your gonna use.

cuz if its not the ls1 im gonna bitch and tell you keep a rotary

Look down about 12 posts and you will find the thread you are looking for.

"cuz if its not the ls1 im gonna bitch and tell you keep a rotary "
I know I'd want to spend a few times more on the car's engine then I spent on the car, for sure

i remember the post wars of months back... i guess if you wanna put a v8 in a 7 if you wanna sit still and burn tires, or never be able to keep traction. i ran into a guy with a "tweaked" fd and it was the ride of my life. yeah the rotary will nickel and dime ya to death if ya don't really have the means to do it correctly... but that's just my opinion and you can tell where that's going.. lol

just watch what ya say on here about sticking an american v8 in a japanese sports car. ppl in here don't really care for um, the car didn't come with pistons and was never meant for um.

i realize this is old, but not too old.

the answer is grannysspeedshop.com
im going to do the same thing, going to pick up the 305 i got tomorrow. A grand total of 140 dollars for a newly rebuilt 305 w/ edelbrock IM, Edel. Carb, Cams, Pistons...etc...

i realize this is old, but not too old.

the answer is grannysspeedshop.com
im going to do the same thing, going to pick up the 305 i got tomorrow. A grand total of 140 dollars for a newly rebuilt 305 w/ edelbrock IM, Edel. Carb, Cams, Pistons...etc...


WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY


i dont understand replacing the cast iron rotary engine with the cast iron 305

atleast switch to an aluminum engine and save weight (ie SR20, LS1)

why ? because normal people don't understand rotors, but they understand pistons and that's what powers the normal cars that go fast enough for them, so they think the solution is to put a damn V-8 in it ... lol

why ? because normal people don't understand rotors, but they understand pistons and that's what powers the normal cars that go fast enough for them, so they think the solution is to put a damn V-8 in it ... lol

i mean why replace the engine with something substantially heavier?

i think a sr or ls1 is better since they are aluminum, save weight

LS1 is only 112lbs heavier than the 13BT that is in there equipped with AC and PS. So ya, its ok.

But like i always say,

Stay in school and say no to pistons.

i've never seen a real life piston powered FC or FD but i would imagine the only real purpose would be to lay mad tire.... i've seen videos on the net of v-8 powered 7's and they burn rubber, that's about it... lol and IMHO a nicely tweaked 13b of any form would do just about the same.

i've never seen a real life piston powered FC or FD but i would imagine the only real purpose would be to lay mad tire.... i've seen videos on the net of v-8 powered 7's and they burn rubber, that's about it... lol and IMHO a nicely tweaked 13b of any form would do just about the same.

when i went to formula d, i saw the falken FD that had an SR20.

i think people swap it to piston motors because thats what they know how to tune

a mazda car, with a nissan motor... odd. but hey at least they stayed within the same genre of ethnicity as far as car manufacturers go... but then again i guess its just about as odd as a 7 with an american v8 parked under the hood... idk, IMHO the 7 was created as a rotary powered vehicle and it should stay that way. if someone's gonna make a piston-powered 7 it should be called the MX-7... or some bullshit like that... because it doesn't deserve the RX badging anymore.

I just got a 88 Rx-7 with a bad motor and was wondering if anyone could tell me how to swap to do V-8 engine swap. I

Just get an ex-Japan motor, nice and easy bolt-in, and you can actually drive it to the 7-11.

this thread is full of misinformation. i love it

i'm curious... misinformation ? ... elaborate please.

I will have to learn fast ... I have a 93 RX7 lined up with TTS going in her ... mmm, can you say 0 - 62mph < 5 secs :grinyes:

I went from owning a dodge shadow ... to a Nissan pUlsar NX SE, now a RX7 TT ... Insane ... but I work 6 days a week and put all my savings into her :P she'll be sweet. That red one is damn sexy ... :smokin:

That red one has an LS1 in her. Sexy too. But, he didn't say no to pistons -cries-

people use pistons because they don't understand a rotary. yeah they're expensive... but find a affordable v-8 that can match the powerband and be practical in such a small car.

but find a affordable v-8 that can match the powerband and be practical in such a small car.

I already did. It’s called the ls1.



I am not like some other swappers doing the V8 swap without even having driven a rotary RX-7. I have been a Mazda fan since before I could even drive. I am on my third RX-7. (all FC's) Every one of them had already needed an engine replacement when I got them.



Don't get me wrong, I am not the one to come and start disrespecting rotaries, I just wanted to try something different with this. The LS1 has proven itself to be very durable and powerful. It does not throw off the weight balance of the car, and it gets pretty damn good gas mileage, all things considered.



Anyways, I am pretty much just rambling. If you want to debate further that is cool with me. But please, let’s keep it respectable. I know other forums are quick to drop off into ruthless pissing contests back and fourth over the engine swap. I am just really not into that.

That red one has an LS1 in her. Sexy too. But, he didn't say no to pistons -cries-


When I found the TII that I swapped the LS1 into it was blown up and had been sitting for almost a year without moving. It had under 60,000 miles on it. Death was caused by a bad pressure sensor. The sensor was basically telling the ecu that the engine was not in boost when it was. It ran lean, detonated, and blew.



If I didn't save it, it might not even be on the road anymore.



:smile:

Really? Nifty, still I think that saying is funny.

So That LS1 does better then the 13BT?

The LS1 is the only V8 i would put in a FC.

As far as doing better, that all depends on the application it is being used in.

That LS1 would run someone what? An arm leg and a testicle? or?

LS1's are cheap. Didnt you post in an other thread that you have a considerabel amount of money to throw around?
Then a LS1 should be no problem.

ls1's are alright i guess, but they still belong in a f-body car, not a 7. again, my opinion (btw this is tubjub) IF i had to put a piston pounder in, it'd be an LT1... because i know its all-aluminum... is the LS1 all aluminum ?

what options do you have if you chose to put the four-cylinder from a MX-5/miata into a RX-7 ? i prefer the idea of only using engine/drive train from the same manufacturer as the car i'd be working on.

I do have a Considerable amount of money to throw around, but like I said in another thread, since I am doing both cars though, the amount I have is half what it would be if I was going to do just one :P

ls1's are alright i guess, but they still belong in a f-body car, not a 7. again, my opinion (btw this is tubjub) IF i had to put a piston pounder in, it'd be an LT1... because i know its all-aluminum... is the LS1 all aluminum ?


I believe you might have it backwards. The LT1 is a cast iron block with aluminum heads. The LS1 is all aluminum block and heads. LT1's came in Camaros from 93-97. LS1's came in Camaros from 98-end of the Camaro line.


Both are good engines though.

Really? Nifty, still I think that saying is funny.

So That LS1 does better then the 13BT?

Better in what way? I will say this, the LS1 won't rev to the moon without breaking something like the 13bt will. However, when kept in its rpm range the LS1 will almost certainly outlast a 13bt.

Power is debatable of course. Both engines can be built to produce rather crazy power levels.

That LS1 would run someone what? An arm leg and a testicle? or?

I bought a wrecked Camaro for 4k for the whole thing. By the time I sold a bunch of the good parts from the car that I didn't need I had gotten the cost of the engine swap down to under 2,000.


I have maybe 6,000 invested in the car total. Granted I am still not satisfied. I need some much larger tires and a good suspension set up. Other than that I am pretty happy.

what options do you have if you chose to put the four-cylinder from a MX-5/miata into a RX-7 ? i prefer the idea of only using engine/drive train from the same manufacturer as the car i'd be working on.

I can't say that I have ever heard of someone putting a Miata engine into an RX-7. There honestly wouldn't be much point. However, I have heard of dropping the rotary into the Miata.

Only 6k into your car? that's amazing looks like there should be more.

That LS1 though has theoretically more potential does it not? or am I just on crack?

As I don't see how you can get the same HP out of a Piston Pusher then you could a Rotary.

Without of course adding more rotors....?

What else do you want to do to your 7? Aside from tires and suspension?

Have you looked at a Tien Suspension at all?

Friend of mine runs Tien in his Supra, and it's like glue to the road..

I have no Tein experience. I am a fan of Koni yellows and GC coils. I had those on my spec miata and they were nice.

Koni Yellows? GC Coils?

They would be new to me as Tien is to you.

Just something else to look at though.

Sorry to drag this back up, though it's better than starting another thread... ;)

Normally in threads like these there is a lot of insulting getting thrown around about the intelligance of the guys building V8 swaps. And a lot of rotorheads that don't understand them, and think that it's ONLY because we don't understand the rotary.

And then there's all the insults about what the RX7 was made for and how the car is ruined by the swap. There's a tiny bit of that creeping in here, though.

V8 RX7s haven't lost their cornering ability unless specifically outfitted for drag racing. Just like rotary powered RX7s that have been outfitted for drag racing (I have yet to see a rotorhead complain that Adam Sawaraturi's drag RX7 ruined the balance or the spirit of the car or that any of the Puerto Rican rotary powered drag cars ruined the cars, even if they have live axles and couldn't corner if their lives depended on it).

True, the RX7 was never designed with the V8 in mind. Neither was it designed around 400 hp rotaries, coil overs, aftermarket springs and swaybars, or sticky tires to pull over 1G laterally. But no one complains about those mods, either.

I'd never tell anyone to put a V8 in a car that they were already happy with the engine of. But, I have a real problem with rotorheads that say the V8 RX7 is no better than a Camaro or Mustang, or "if you wanted a V8 you should have stuck with a Camaro or Mustang." That mentality completely ignores all the OTHER good points of the RX7: light, looks good, excellent ergonomics, build quality, style, suspension and brakes, etc.

As for balance, my personal V8 RX7 was built when my autocross rX7 died. I had already owned many rotary cars, from an R100, RX2, and 2 RX3s, to a few RX7s. I've rebuilt rotaries on my kitchen table (dont' try that when married, BTW). I like rotaries and understand them. But when my last RX7 died in 1993, a 300+ hp rotary was either excessively expensive OR it was excessively unreliable. A 300 hp V8 was nearly stock (or in the case of the GM versions, completely stock). In '93, the aluminum GM V8s were very expensive, too. So I built a mild (almost 400 hp) small block Ford, which weighed the same as the aluminum Chevy, but cost vastly less.

My car, with no lightening (and an additional autopower roll cage) weighed 2720 lbs. That's less than a stock FC Turbo II, and all the differnce was ahead of the firewall, making my car better balanced f/r than a stock RX7 TII. Since no one claims those are poorly balanced or poor handling cars, then mine was just as good. In fact it was better, with a 49/51 f/r balance. And it handled better after the conversion, as well as being VERY fun. Looked better than any Fox Mustang, and only cost me $2500 to build. Thaty was less than the 300 hp Cartech turbo kit, and less than the cost of rebuilding my STOCK rotary to it's original 145 hp state. My car was a regular street driver and autocroser for 5 years like that with no problems (before I had to seel it for taxes)

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cvetters3/rex.MPG

Interestingly enough, subsequent buildups of V8 RX7s have proven my theories factual. Here's a video of an LS1 powered FD autocrossing. About a minute and a half into the video, he puts it on a corner scale and weighs it. Then follows it up with a stock RX7 R1. The V8 car weighed 15 lbs more than the stock R1, but the stock R1 weighed 60 lbs more on the nose than the V8 car!!!

http://207.127.219.37/video/AX.wmv

Trust me, I didn't put a V8 in my FC because I wanted an American car. I wanted the torque and inexpensive, reliable power in a light, excellently balanced chassis with oustanding ergonomics, build quality, and style. I will never tell someone to put a V8 in theirs, or that they should like the V8 converted cars better. But I will remind people that the RX7 is vastly more than the engine, and if you think that swapping to a V8 makes the car the same as any American V8 car, you're sadly mistaken. And if you're worried that it changes the characteristics of the car, remember that so does sticky tires, coilovers, and a 400 hp turbo rotary... ;)

everyone got to grannysspeedshop.com this is the place for 350 swapping rx-7's
mr roboto go for it i love my RXV8 it handles better than any camaro, mustang, nova, chevelle. but right now i want to sell it to fix up my new integra. and i can drive it to the local 7-11 with a 16 gallon fuel cell it takes a little while to run out

i have a video on my computer with a LS1 FD thats going to compete in formula d

looks promising, if you guys want to see it let me know