hapuna

hi everybody, well iam new to the rotory game. i want to buy a RX-7, i dont know exactly what year the old body style is? but i know its not the newer body style. as you can tell i dont even know the year or generation of thecar :shakehead:

well i want to do the motor swap myself i know its going to be a hell of a time doing all of this when ive never dropped a rotory motor in or even owned a RX-7!

i know its going to be a long hard process but i want to learn and educate myself on everything their is to know about a RX-7 . i want to learn everything; to start how to drop the motor in, dealing with the electrical, how to put on a turbo kit or is it better to get a custom turbo kit. ill leave all the internals to the people who build high performance rotory motors. i just want to drop it in and put a high performance turbo kit on the car. i know you have to figure out all the bugs in the car and so on, thatz part of educating yourself.

To start: could anyone tell me the year/generation of the old body style, not the newer style body?

could anyone give me the low down on dropping a motor in,(everything that you need in doing the swap,example: bushing and so on), then how to put on a turbo kit or is it better to go with a custom turbo kit?(names of company that sells turbo kits or custom set ups), then how to deal with the electrical part?



any knowledge on how to do any of this would be grealty apprecatied

Wooffinn

Hey Hapuna, wooffinn here. Firstly great selection of vehicle. Mazda don't say 'zoom zoom' for no reason. The old shape[ I assume you mean the mighty generation ones] started actually in '78 and went though to late '85. You guys over there seem to get much more standard equipment than we did.

I'm a mechanic and fix a lot of those bloody mazdas things. The engines are quite easy to fit, certainly a lot easier than most of those piston things! Mate, depends on what motor you want to start with. I find usually a 12 to 13 swap means a change of sumps but the mounts are ususally pretty close.I'll leave most of the swapping hints to my fellow nopistons people as our Rx-7's do vary a bit between our countries. We're all here to help so don't be shy.

As I say, have a go. You can learn more from your mistakes than any mechanic. Get yourself a couple of manuals. I've been in the game for 15 years and still read the trusty manuals.

As for turbos it may be easier [and cheaper!] to swap a later model engine/box combo into your rotor but the wiring can sometimes be a challenge.