Mopar 360 into Rx7

[millertime289]

I am an automotive Instructor at a High school in Fort Scott, KS and I own an 86 rx7 and have been asked to join the other high schools in the area in building a car for a drag race competition.  I also have an 85 Dodge truck with a 360 carb engine in it.  I would like to ask if anyone else has this engine trans combo in a car and if there are any hints that you would be willing to share as this is our first attempt at modification.  Our curriculum is based on repair, not hot rodding.  I have not removed either of the engines from either vehicle yet so I can get some information first.  Thanks and I look forward to any help that comes my way.

Ryan S. Miller
Fort Scott High School
Automotive Technology

[383mazda]

A guy on here has (or had) a mopar powered Rx7 like yours.  His name is MoparX or something like that.  Look him up, I'm sure he'd be willing to point you in the right direction.

And tell your teacher you're fixing leaky apex seals for good with this "repair" 

[digitalsolo]

I've seen a couple o them.   I think that Granny's Speed Shop has a kit for it also.

Let us know how we can help, and welcome to the forum!

[MoparX]

What do you want to know and what are your goals for the car?  I can help with all aspects of your build, including getting the car set up for racing, but there is so much to share I would rather start with specific questions you may have. 

[millertime289]

383 Mazda, I am the instructor, I haven't found a kit, and as for goals for the car, my first goal is to get the two vehicles merged into on and it starts and runs.  I haven't even gotten the truck engine out.  but I did bring into the shop yesterday to get started on pulling the engine and transmission.  I would like to know what wiring in the Mazda I need to keep.  The first thing I have to do is get a new key cut for the car as I lost the copy and only have the broken one that came with it.  Thanks for any tips and tricks.  I plan on having my students do a lot of the work with my and my assistants supervision.  Have a great weekend and I hope things are going well for all of you. 

Ryan S. Miller
Fort Scott High School
Automotive Technology

[gadzooks]

http://members.tripod.com/~grannys/2ndgenrx7moparv8.html
Here's the link to the Granny's kit, a word of warning though, they do tend to be a little slow on getting orders out

http://grannys.tripod.com/2ndgeninstructions7.html
This has most of the needed electrical connections

[millertime289]

Thanks for the help I was camping with the my muzzle loading rifle club this weekend will get going on Monday on this project.  Thanks for the help I will keep this thread updated with our progress. 

Ryan

[MoparX]

If you buy the kit from Grannys Speedshop, here are some tips to help you out.  First, the drivers side mount is made for a 318 and doesn't fit the 360.  The mounting points are 1/2" too wide and puts the rubber isolator too close to the exhaust.

 By the way, Summit (Patriot) block hugger headers work great. 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g9064/overview/










So the solution is to move the mounting tab to fit the block, then move the hole that the rubber isolator bolts through 1" toward the front of the motor.  It will look like this.  I also added a wing to act as a heat shield for the rubber.

[MoparX]

Since the rubber isolator has been moved, the engine cradle will need to be modified.  It's simple, just connect the 2 holes in the cradle on the drivers side.  This way when the motor is set in the car it's easy to center it.  On the passenger side, open up the rear hole so the bolt in the isolator can slide in easily.  Doing this makes dropping the engine in super easy.



Another modification for the cradle is to clearance for the headers, if you choose to use the block huggers I mentioned.  It will look like this (pic taken before cleaning up the cut).

[MoparX]

The passenger side mount doesn't require any modification, but the header comes close to the cradle and needs clearancing.




The last thing before setting the cradle is to shim it so the oil pan will clear the steering rack.  I swapped in a manual steering rack to gain a a little more clearance, but technically you can use the power steering rack if you want.  Engine height should not be a concern, it's not going to fit under the hood anyway.  I have a 3/8" plate between underneith the cradle to move it up, and 1/8" spacers in between the cradle and rubber isolators to get the clearance I need.  It should be known thar your stock truck oil pan will work.





One last thing.  The kit uses mounts from an 71-ish Dart, and they don't take much abuse without splitting in half.  Solid mounts can't be used because the angle is not 100% correct between the motor and cradle.  I would suggest either Shumacher Poly-Loc mounts, or a simple torque strut.  I personally went with the torque struck, it's just a turnbuckle attached to the head and to a bracket using the stock swaybar bolt holes.  A simple mod that has worked great.  For a drag car you don't need a front swaybar.

[MoparX]

As for clearancing the body for the motor, there's not much really.  You need to trim the lip on the firewall to clear the distributor, and the hump in the same spot needs to be moved in a bit.  Do it with a rubber mallot and you'll never know it was done.  Just be very sure to not go too far, that hump is clearance for the windsheild wiper arm so if you beat it in too far the arm will hit.  Go just far enough to where the arm moves freely.  You will need the room.  Also, a stock mopar electronic distributor will fit, but an HEI style unit will not.

What trans are you using?  Granny's sends their universal truss trans mount, but I originally used a 904 (have a 2004r now) and found that it was easy to build a trans mount that attached to the stock location in the chassis.  I don't ahve a pic, but if you stick a 904 or 727 in there you'll see what I mean.  One more flaw with the truss mount is that it gets in the way of any exhaust you may run.

If running a 904/727 you'll need to clearnance the trans tunnel a little bit to make room for the shift linkage.  Just a little persuasion with a rubber mallot is all that's needed.

For help with general installation and electrical, read the install manual on Granny's website for a sbc.  It's close enough and should give you a good idea.


Hope this helps get you going.  Feel free to ask questions.

[millertime289]

Thanks!!! Those pictures will help a lot and I appreciate the tips and tricks that experience brings.  We haven't quite got the engine and trans out of the truck yet, my assistant and students will hopefully have it swinging tomorrow.  I don't know for sure but I believe it is a 727 trans.  I do know that as soon as we separate those from each other I will have the kids start cleaning and regasket the engine.  Here are some pictures of our progress and one of my car.  I will keep this updated as we get progress.  Thanks again!

[vinnythespud]

i put a 318 with a 904 auto in my fc, i made all my own mounts so i don't see the point in spending money on a kit, its not hard to make your own, i dropped the front roll bar by half inch and used a truck oil pan,other than a bit of hammering on the transmision tunnel it almost fit its self.

[MoparX]

Sweet!!  I thought I was the only one with a running Mopar FC.

[N2v8fcs]

RHD also! Wow