13b Powered Fwd 2nd Gen Probe Gt.
09-25-2003, 02:20 PM
#1
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 3
Hello everyone, I'm looking to this board for some help. I have a 1993 Ford Probe GT w/2.5L Mazda KL03 engine that I have had turbocharged for some time now.. and it finally blew a piston at 118,000miles last week. What I'm looking to do is swap a rotary into the car while keeping it front wheel drive. I have located a 13b locally that has been junked due to blown seals, it has a racing beat intake manifold, some form of an Italian carbuerator (not sure if this is stock) and a racing beat air filter that says "6-Port Rotary" on it. I have seen a Mazda MX6 (same space frame as the Probe) front wheel drive with a 13b at a car show a while back and am wondering how he did this... does anyone know of a fwd transmission that bolts to the 13b?? I have only been researching this for about a week now, but I haven't been able to find what the 13b would bolt to. I hope someone out there can help me out, and thanks for your time~ 
11-07-2003, 11:31 PM
#5
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Florida
Posts: 25
from what i understand a mazda bp 1.8 series engine such as found in the miata, and protege and 323 shares the exact same bolt pattern as a rotary engine.
this is how miata owners can bolt a roatry right into their cars with no bellhousing adapters required. they can also elect to keep the 1.8, and bolt in an rx7 transmission, again no adapters required. (except custom tranny/motor mounts)
so in theory if a rotary can bolt up to a miata, it should also be able to bolt up to a protege/323 transmission. sence a protege or 323 is front wheel drive and has a similar layout to yours, perhaos you could use this tranny.
as an alternative to the protege or 323 tranny, you can elect to find a ford escort gt series tranny, or one out of a 96-97 kia sephia.
in the end all of these front wheel drive transmissions are identical, they just have different names on them, but its all mazda parts and its all interchangable.
while you have your new tranny (or used junkyard one) you may wish to drop in a lsd of some sort. i have been told quaife makes one. being front wheel drive and with the power of a rotary, your going to need all the traction you can get.
the other parts of the conversion are very simple, you need to buy a exhaust header that is pre-bent but not pre-welded, this way you can shape it to go under the engine at a 90 degree angle, similar to the stock piston header's location and following. you cant use a stock rx7 header in a front wheel drive car as the engine is located 90 degress the wrong way at the outlet of the header.
you will also need to weld custom engine mount brackets. this shouldnt be a big deal though. besides that, there wouldnt be much else. hook up the gas line, throttle, custom radiator hose, mount the coils somwhere, a oil cooler, and other misclainous crap and your done.
if you have a welding machine and are good with it, and have a good auto parts store near by than will let you try different radiator hoses and such, give it a good 3 day weekend of 10 hour per day work and you should be good to go.
sence the engine youre looking at is carborated, it will make the conversion much easier. you probably will need a new fuel pump though, or atleast one hell of a pressure regulator.
edit: i see you already have a gt tranny, but i dont think your transmission bolt battern is the same as a rotary's. you need to find a transmission that came out of a 1.6 or 1.8 liter car. as this will have the bp series block.
this is how miata owners can bolt a roatry right into their cars with no bellhousing adapters required. they can also elect to keep the 1.8, and bolt in an rx7 transmission, again no adapters required. (except custom tranny/motor mounts)
so in theory if a rotary can bolt up to a miata, it should also be able to bolt up to a protege/323 transmission. sence a protege or 323 is front wheel drive and has a similar layout to yours, perhaos you could use this tranny.
as an alternative to the protege or 323 tranny, you can elect to find a ford escort gt series tranny, or one out of a 96-97 kia sephia.
in the end all of these front wheel drive transmissions are identical, they just have different names on them, but its all mazda parts and its all interchangable.
while you have your new tranny (or used junkyard one) you may wish to drop in a lsd of some sort. i have been told quaife makes one. being front wheel drive and with the power of a rotary, your going to need all the traction you can get.
the other parts of the conversion are very simple, you need to buy a exhaust header that is pre-bent but not pre-welded, this way you can shape it to go under the engine at a 90 degree angle, similar to the stock piston header's location and following. you cant use a stock rx7 header in a front wheel drive car as the engine is located 90 degress the wrong way at the outlet of the header.
you will also need to weld custom engine mount brackets. this shouldnt be a big deal though. besides that, there wouldnt be much else. hook up the gas line, throttle, custom radiator hose, mount the coils somwhere, a oil cooler, and other misclainous crap and your done.
if you have a welding machine and are good with it, and have a good auto parts store near by than will let you try different radiator hoses and such, give it a good 3 day weekend of 10 hour per day work and you should be good to go.
sence the engine youre looking at is carborated, it will make the conversion much easier. you probably will need a new fuel pump though, or atleast one hell of a pressure regulator.
edit: i see you already have a gt tranny, but i dont think your transmission bolt battern is the same as a rotary's. you need to find a transmission that came out of a 1.6 or 1.8 liter car. as this will have the bp series block.
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