Thats news to me I always thought that rotarys are high maintinence, and not as reliable. Oh well. I say if you want to do the swap then do it. It is your car, do what you want. Who gives a **** about what other people think. So what it won't be rotary powered. It'll still be a rx7 body, people will still call your car a rx7, right? I'd go for it!

 

Whoa whoa whoa....

as far as smoothness you need to get into some of these new DOHC engines.... even Ford's 4.6 DOHC cobra V8 is a very quick very smooth revving motor. As far as oil leaks I have seen some spots under my buddys RX7 which he is selling due to too many problems. It was still a fun car but it had its share of problems. granted my GT leaks a bit of oil but it sat for about 2-3 months before I bought it and it only needs a new valve cover gasket. I love Rotary engines... they have their problem but all motors do.

the last 4.6 Cobra I drove was way ahead in refinement compared to the last RX7 I drove and the cobra would smoke the RX7 I last drove but the RX7 was more fun to drive.

Its like my 2.3 Mustang compared to my 5.0 GT mustang.

The 2.3 is loud rough unrefined buzzy but due to the cars better weight balance it is a lot more fun to drive! It will actually out corner my GT and it doesnt even have a rear sway bar compared to the rather hefty and beefy suspension on my GT.

If you can find an all aluminum V8 even if it is under 5.0 liters it may be better. Less weight still have a V8 sound but less weight. I am still thinking this would be a good swap and if I had a motor laying around I would have bought my buddies RX7 it needed a transmisson and a whole new motor... it had dual exhaust and I think it was an 87 Model.....

 

You might have a good point about an all aluminum v-8 being a good canidate for the swap.I drove desmogged 12A modified carb(NIKKI)engines and have virtually no maintinence except oil and spark plugs.I will admit to being out of the loop concering some of these modern piston engines so feel free to enlighten me.A person who doesnt learn something everyday isnt doing anything(loooke att meee maaaww I ma tiepeen) HAPPY NEW YEAR Doug

 

Yeah my 2.3 and 5.0 have only needed basic tuneups since I have owned them.... a valve cover gasket is not a big deal about 20min worth of work and it simpley dried out... so no big deal there....

 

Hi Kinetikrx, Hey it's allright , we don't think you're crazy - not! . I haven't heard of a V8 powered Rx7 in Australia, not to say there isn't one, but a craze from a few years back was the V8 swaps into Rx4's. Most were of the 302 variety, but in my part of the world, high horsepower V8's are not cheap to build. I think mainly because most of the good bits come from the US and our ***** dollar!! These cars were still quite quick.Hey if it's cheaper/easier go for it. I've done a few radical engine swaps for customers over the years. Dare to be different.

 

Here Wooffinn..........

V8 conversion

 

Thats too bad- it wont be cheap once I do everything I want to- but it will be cheaper than upgrading a rotary for close to or even more power. No turbo, no weird porting- simple v8 power

 

For around 1000 dollars or so I could completely rebuild a stock 302 EFI H.O and get it up to around 300+ hp