I've heard you can get an 04 3.9L v6 mustang engine dropped in the 87 rx-7. for want of more torque and a fix for my never ending rotary problems im very interested in doing this. does any one know if this is a good idea or the results in doing this?
No.
-Ted
lol "rotary problems." you're not gonna get much help from rotor heads. if you want a mustang engine then buy a mustang. its much cheaper and you won't have to go ruin a rx7. There's ppl whos done the chevy ls1 swap, you might want t look that one up if you're really interested. but honestly, just go buy a mustang.
ignore them. First off htere are MUCH better engnies to be swapping in that are going to be cheaper, that have been done, and that will provide better performance.
check out v8rx7forum.com first off. You are looking at many thousands of dollars and custom fabricating (unless osmeone has already done an off the shelf swap setup) for a minimal gain in power. The Chevy V8, V6 and ford small block (302) have all been done on an FC.
BC
lol "rotary problems." you're not gonna get much help from rotor heads. if you want a mustang engine then buy a mustang. its much cheaper and you won't have to go ruin a rx7. There's ppl whos done the chevy ls1 swap, you might want t look that one up if you're really interested. but honestly, just go buy a mustang. Dude, he posted in the "other engines" section and asked a legit question. Telling him to just go buy a mustang is like telling you to just go buy another house if your water heater breaks. You are not going to do that. Why? because you already have a good house to live in and you don't want to shell out big bucks for another one when you can shell out alot less for a new water heater. Then you would have the house you really like with the still busted water heater and another one with a good water heater, but not necessarily the house that you want.
Same thing. He already has an Rx7. Why go buy a whole other car? He just wants to replace the thing that is giving him problems with something more reliable.
Sorry for jumping in like this. I just peaves me when someone tells someone just to go buy another car. In no way does an engine swap ruin a car. Most times it enhances the car. Yes it does take away the originality of the car, but if originality is ruining your enjoyment of your car and making you miserable, why not do something about it. The problem I have with purists, is that most of them are not really purists. Alot of purists have Holley carbs on their engines. Or aftermarket parts in their engine and suspension. Even after market stereo systems. Once you replace an original equipment item with something from the aftermarket (read: parts that did not originally come on the car- ie: headers, struts, seats, etc,) even if it is an aftermarket item from the vehicle manufaturer, the car is no longer pure. If it is modified in any way other than it originally came from the factory, it is no longer original. Being as that is the case, then a purist has no room to talk, if he has modded his own car, about someone putting in another engine.
Now, back to the question. I would check with sources like Grannysspeedshop. they have a wealth of info.
Later,
Bill
well said ssrx7
hey thanks a lot guys i wasn't very informed about my options and the grannysspeedshop website helped a ton. Thanks again for those who actually helped me.
Some of you are tired of hearing me say this, but again: For those who criticize our engine swaps, just post a photo of ANYTHING you have built with your own two hands. Most of these "critics" aren't smart enough to change their own spark plugs.
And why hasn't anyone complained about the GLC that I defiled by installing a rotary engine????? Or the 1st gen convertibles I built - they are not "original". The fact is all of these cars were going for scrap before I started working on them.
Regarding the choice of V8 engines, mine is a Ford 302, which is significantly lighter than a small block Chev, but there are more parts and choices for the Chev, and better choices of automatic trannys. For either one of these old school V8s, Grannys is an excellent source of parts and information.
I recently bought one of Grannys radiators for my 1st gen/Ford. It was delivered to me 4 days after I placed the order, and everything fit perfectly. It is a Ron Davis radiator, regarded by experienced street rodders and drag racers as about the best you can buy.
LOL, to quote another person who posted somewhere on the Forum:
"A Japenese car with a German Engine, owned by Ford, an American company."
After all that, I think even Mazda is at least a little flexible about their "originality", EH??
Ps I like saying "Eh". It sounds cool, eh? :D
Later,
Bill

Could somone tell me the bad things abour Rotarys? I really don't go into Rotarys much so if someone could name them, I'd appriciate it. ^_^
poor gas mileage
rebuilding requires pulling the engine out.
i thought our parts where expensive, but ive been talking to my nieghbor who has an '87 bmw e30 about costs of rebuilding... 100 bucks a piston!.
meh.... ill take rotary power. you can abuse rotarys longer than you can pistons.
Aren't Rotarys hard to work with? Not very reliable?
They are reliable, owners and some mechanics are not reliable.
If you do not take proper care of your car, who is to blame?
They seem to be reliable N/A or lightly boosted, but once you start getting power hungry (350 rwhp+ on a 13b)be prepared for an occasional rebuild imo. Tuning is key, but there are very few I would trust. When a seal does let loose it can damage the housings and turbo as well.
Gas mileage is poor when compared to piston engines with similiar output.
Rotaries are extremely loud with a free flowing exhaust, which can be good or bad depending on what you like.
Powerbands are peaky, low torque, like a honda or other small displacement 4 banger, again whatever floats your boat.
Besides what was already listed, they are loud, burn oil (about 1qt per 1,000 miles), not very emissions friendly, they run hot (especially the exhaust), they don't take over-heating or detonation as well as piston engines, it is difficult to find a good mechanic, higher-output rotary engines do not have as much low-rpm torque as their piston counterparts, and you can't dress them up with cool chrome valve covers. ;)
On the good side, rotary engines have a small cross-section, low vibration, good hp-displacement ratio, light weight when compared to other iron block engines, are easily compatible with alternate fuels, have few moving parts, no valvetrain to deal with, lots of aftermarket parts available, are included in many race classes, and the power band makes them a lot of fun to drive.
As for the reliability issue, keep in mind that Mazda rotary engines dominated endurance racing until the rules were modified to lower the power levels of the rotary engines. Even so, you will still see rotary engines winning endurance races even today. An average street-legal rotary engine lasts about 100,000 to 150,000 miles before the seals (similar to piston rings) need to be replaced. While the seals are rather expensive, there are no camshafts, lifters, valves, or timing chains to replace... ever! The eccentric shaft (similar to a crankshaft) bearings rarely need replacing because there is so little lateral load on them, as opposed to the heavy lateral load of a piston engine.
They seem to be reliable N/A or lightly boosted, but once you start getting power hungry (350 rwhp+ on a 13b)be prepared for an occasional rebuild imo. The same would go for a comparable 4-cylinder piston engine producing 350+ rwhp.
When a seal does let loose it can damage the housings and turbo as well. Once again, the same applies to piston engines when a ring or valve lets loose, although the turbine wheel has a little better chance of survival. One advantage of a rotary engine in this case is that there is no worry about the timing chain failing.
So there are more goods than bads?
Definitely. Otherwise we wouldn't own them, and it wouldn't still be offered as a brand new engine. Take care of it and it will take care of you.
So there are more goods than bads? It all depends on how you personally weigh the differences.
If there were one "best" engine, everybody would use it. ;)
hmm, sounds good. On another forums, they had a 3rd Gen Rx-7 VS a MKIV Supra. How would you compare them?
hmm, sounds good. On another forums, they had a 3rd Gen Rx-7 VS a MKIV Supra. How would you compare them?
what you like to compare. Yes supra engine can build more HP ? However MK IV supra engine is much heaver compare to 3 gen RX-7(700 LB heaver, this is a lot of weight). so even with less HP RX-7 can still beat supra on straight line performance. and if you are talking about cornering. Not a single japanese FR car(Z CAR. 240SX. Supra. etc) can beat 3 GEN RX-7.
hmm, sounds good. On another forums, they had a 3rd Gen Rx-7 VS a MKIV Supra. How would you compare them? Apples to apples. Each car was made with similar power, handling, and marketing goals in mind. They were and still are direct competitors.


Easy to mod, easy to mod wrong. Very addictive when working properly.
what i thought the rx-7 got 4.9 sec oh wait thats the r2 or r1 models
That yellow thing on the previous page is an R-1.
Probably the lack of tuning knowledge is the worst thing about it.. Once the tuning starts to come together, all the other "bad" things start to disappear... On my own car , it averages 30 mpg highway..I have been boosting 18-20 psi on pump gas till my boost controller bit the big one last week. I have been driving it on average about 2000 km's a month or so, since early spring, with no problems except for breaking my hks transmission, replaced with the stocker for the short term..Rotary is a long term commitment, its hard to just jump into it and expect roses..
But really most of the problems are due to the supporting cast, not the engine itself..
And I saw Evil aviators disclaimer of lighter than cast iron piston engines, the rotary itself is still lighter than some aluminum blocked motors as well...A 3 rotor p-port is less than 400 lbs..Official weight of the 13brew in running form is 360 lbs.. There isnt much lighter than that among common engines..Max
An rx7 is like a pitbull. There are no bad pitbulls only bad owners. Tuning is key you take care of it and it will take care of you. And just like a pitbull it is not for everybody but to those who love and appreciate them, they will never trade them in for anything else. :)
An rx7 is like a pitbull. There are no bad pitbulls only bad owners. Tuning is key you take care of it and it will take care of you. And just like a pitbull it is not for everybody but to those who love and appreciate them, they will never trade them in for anything else. :) Thats a funny analogy...I have both an RX-7 and a pitbull. I agree, both of them aren't for everyone, but I love 'em! :bigthumb:
poor gas mileage My carbureted RX-7 gets better fuel economy than my (lighter) EFI 1600cc Nissan.
I'd say the only downsides are intense noise, poor power/size due to thermal efficiency woes, and poor emissions.
For ease/cost of modification, and reliability, rotaries simply cannot be beat.
One thing that nobody has mentioned is the fact that a Wankel engine can never be as efficient as a piston engine.
Why?
The combustion chamber is square.
This is definately not ideal because as fuel/air enters the combustion chamber it cannot naturally fill an a natural (circular) motion.
Also to seal a right angle is a very difficult task... piston ring hold a nice equal seal around the cylinder wall but a ratary must seal 3 sides (4 technically).
We have discovered these issues when developing a methanol 13BPP running Gen 2 6 port rotars with added meat on the face to bump the comp. upto 10.1
We were pulling aroud 358bhp BUT it just did not have enuff pull to blow away the pushrod engines.
On paper it worked... had more power than the quickest Esslinger of the time that constanly ran top 5... but it never delivered an it was WAAAAAAAAAAY too loud. Also the weight disadvantage by carrying a bit more fuel hurt us early in the race.
Engine foumd it way into a street RX-3 and was detuned to run pump 96 octane.
I own 3 cars an 2 are powered by 13B's but I do believe that they are gas guzzlers and too loud.
But thats the appeal and thats why I adore them... fumes noise flames. Nothing matchs the experience.

Oil Coolers got an upgrade
New Fittings
Delrin Bushings
These things are awesome! They really make a difference :icon_tup: Check out the group buy section for more info.
TRIPOINT RACING SWAYBAR
Excellent quality and great functionality for a stiff price.
EXEDY Twin Carbon Racing Clutch
This thing feels JUST like the Porsche turbo 996 clutch, perfect feel and the best clutch I'v ever tested.
Mounted up (changing oil pain same time)
Banzai Racing Polyurethane Engine Mounts
Good stuff, they offer great support if you run into an issue.
More random upgrades such as
- new transmission bearing, oil seal and synth oil
- Swaybar brackets
- Tie Rods
- Oil Pan
- Old exhaust off (in pic), new one is being made...I'll post more pics of it once its done
- Cleaned tons of parts and replaced all the rubber seals (total PIA)
Last but not least...drum roll...
Nitto NT01:icon_tup:
This cuts 5seconds off my laptime
:icon_tup: :lol: :icon_tup: :)
pretty hot stuff.
why didn't you get widefoot swaybar mounts? i have a group buy set up for them now and they are the lowest prices he has ever offered his mounts for. $220 but ends 12/31. those stock mounts will bend with sticky tires and that swaybar.
i got an earls oil cooler too :)
will you autocross next season? giants stadium. I need some competition :)
pretty hot stuff.
why didn't you get widefoot swaybar mounts? i have a group buy set up for them now and they are the lowest prices he has ever offered his mounts for. $220 but ends 12/31. those stock mounts will bend with sticky tires and that swaybar.
i got an earls oil cooler too :)
will you autocross next season? giants stadium. I need some competition :) I think the tripoint swaybar's additional braces make up for the factory mounts issue. (I picked up the factory mounts for $30 new couldn't just let them go to waste.) I'm thinking about picking up the gas pedal extension, looks useful. :icon_tup:
Earls are good, they keep everything cooled but the real test will be end of spring. Update on the oil coolers install...I tried to install the oil coolers with factory oil lines and they are leaking so I will have to upgrade to braided oil lines.
I will not autocross but I will be on track :)
I used to autocross years ago with Mike and the BMW crew but track is where its at! :bigthumb:
Did you get my PM?
cool. i got your PM and sent you an email to your mac.com address. did you get it? i sent 2. -scott

Are there rims like this, http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ckonblack2.jpg
For an FC? Those are fucking sexy
Corvettes are GM's and GM uses a 5x4.75" bolt pattern, we use a 5x4.5" bolt pattern, they won't fit. Besides, they're probably far too wide with too high an offset to fit anyway.
I think this look similar, http://www.rallysportdirect.com/shop...el-p-2241.html is call Advan Model 5
oh hells yeah Advan Model 5 in 18x9/18x10 do it uP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure if im ready to throw down 2 grand on some rims, even though they are sexy :P
I thought about doing it(fc), you would need a pretty tricky wheel adapter/spacer setup, probably custom built.
http://tomzwheels.com/catalog/produc...roducts_id/101
I was going to use these, the front spacer would have to go from 5x4.5 to 5x4.75 and be 40+mm thick(effectively making a 17x9.5 wheel with a 10-15mm offset), with some wide fenders. Rears would have to have the same adapter, but only about 30-35mm thick. I decided to scrap that idea because getting the spacer made would have been almost as expensive as the wheels themselves, and using spacers/adapters that thick made me kinda uncomfortable. It would probably work better with an FD seeing as the spacers wouldn't have to be as thick and you could get away with stock fenders.
PS...I like how a whole set of z06 motorsport wheels are cheaper than one single Advan Model 5, lol
offset 54 is hard to fit