LT1 going into 83 RX7

[Nyt_Muves]

I am now ready to start the thread. I have been planning the swap for sometime now. I have had the RX7 for about 7 months now. I bought it specifically for the swap. The original owner of it bought it new, and she had just spent about a grand redoing the interior, brand new leather. She seized the engine (carbon lock) and so I bought it for a couple of hundred bucks.

It was just what I was looking for. The inside is immaculate. The paint was dull and the clear coat shot. I will be spraying it as soon as I get the rotory out. Just for the record, I got the rotory busted loose with a can of Seafoam and a can of WD40 and a bit of work with a breaker bar. Even so, 100 stock ponies is just sad. I had a ninja back in college with more power than that.

I purchased the drivetrain out of a 5.0L Mustang while in Phoenix over thanksgiving. Hauled it all the way home to seattle, and was planning on using it in the Mazda. The price was right, and it is an easier swap than the Chevy engines. However, I got a call on the way back to Seattle from my best friend up here, and he told me that his kid put his 97 vert Trans Am into a wall when he hit ice. It took out the passenger side corner. Headlight and bumper. Ate the core support. Stuff like that. The engine was untouched. Even the radiator is in tact. He planned on replacing it with another TA or getting another one for parts and fixing his 97. Regardless, he would have an extra LT1 so I could have one.

As I love the Chev 350, I immediately decided it was worth a little extra work for an engine that would easily make a pony per inch with minor modifications. I put the FORD engine on E-bay, and it was picked up by a gentleman who is putting it into a Jeep Scrambler. Should be a cool project when finished.

Anyhow, my buddy has his replacement. He bought a 94 T Top TA in green. Originally he was going to pull the body parts he needed and I was going to take that engine. It is the one I have been posting about trying to get it running right as I figured it is easier to do that now instead of trying to figure it out after a swap and adding more to the equation. He made the mistake of taking it home from his shop. His wife prefers the green to the silver, and she prefers the T Tops to the vert, ergo, he is keeping the green 94 and I am using the drivetrain out of the 97. They have virtually the same number of miles on them so he didnt loose much there.

I have now started cutting into the 97 the last couple of days. Finally getting a sunny day or two after months of rain and even a little snow. Figure I had better make hay while the sun is shining, literally. I am pulling the intake and the harness before I pull the drive train out. I have to admit, getting the intake out of this is much more challenging than it was on any of my 8 past Mustangs. I am also seeing a few things I have never dealt with before, like the gear driven water pump, and that weird smog pump or carbon can or whatever that black thing is next to the water pump. I am really excited about this project!!

One cool thing is that the Mazda is emissions exempt due to its age, so I can do anything I want to the 5.7 engine. I could use a bit of advice in this arena. I would really like to get rid of the smog thing, as it sticks out the furthest on the front of the engine, and that real estate will be very valuable as I shoe-horn a radiator into the little car. Also, I would love to simplify as much as possible under the hood.

I have seen pics of Trans Am and Camaro owners who have relocated their alternators when they do turbos or blowers. I need to relocate mine due to hood clearance issues. I want to keep the RX7 as stock looking as possible so that the BMW douches are really surprised when I kick the pee out of their Nazi go-carts with my little grocery getter Mazda from the early 80s. The look on the faces should be worth the price of admission. Also due to the lack of emissions I plan to eliminate cats, and put a beefier cam in. Maybe heads too. And I will probably swap to an OBD1 setup so I have an easier time without cams, and I can update the tune online. Any thoughts on this will be appreciated. Anyhow, I will begin posting pics later this week. Feel free to share tips, advice, insults, whatever. I hope to have it going by sometime this summer.

[Darth Viper]

I am now ready to start the thread. I have been planning the swap for sometime now. I have had the RX7 for about 7 months now. I bought it specifically for the swap. The original owner of it bought it new, and she had just spent about a grand redoing the interior, brand new leather. She seized the engine (carbon lock) and so I bought it for a couple of hundred bucks.

It was just what I was looking for. The inside is immaculate. The paint was dull and the clear coat shot. I will be spraying it as soon as I get the rotory out. Just for the record, I got the rotory busted loose with a can of Seafoam and a can of WD40 and a bit of work with a breaker bar. Even so, 100 stock ponies is just sad. I had a ninja back in college with more power than that.

I purchased the drivetrain out of a 5.0L Mustang while in Phoenix over thanksgiving. Hauled it all the way home to seattle, and was planning on using it in the Mazda. The price was right, and it is an easier swap than the Chevy engines. However, I got a call on the way back to Seattle from my best friend up here, and he told me that his kid put his 97 vert Trans Am into a wall when he hit ice. It took out the passenger side corner. Headlight and bumper. Ate the core support. Stuff like that. The engine was untouched. Even the radiator is in tact. He planned on replacing it with another TA or getting another one for parts and fixing his 97. Regardless, he would have an extra LT1 so I could have one.

As I love the Chev 350, I immediately decided it was worth a little extra work for an engine that would easily make a pony per inch with minor modifications. I put the FORD engine on E-bay, and it was picked up by a gentleman who is putting it into a Jeep Scrambler. Should be a cool project when finished.

Anyhow, my buddy has his replacement. He bought a 94 T Top TA in green. Originally he was going to pull the body parts he needed and I was going to take that engine. It is the one I have been posting about trying to get it running right as I figured it is easier to do that now instead of trying to figure it out after a swap and adding more to the equation. He made the mistake of taking it home from his shop. His wife prefers the green to the silver, and she prefers the T Tops to the vert, ergo, he is keeping the green 94 and I am using the drivetrain out of the 97. They have virtually the same number of miles on them so he didnt loose much there.

I have now started cutting into the 97 the last couple of days. Finally getting a sunny day or two after months of rain and even a little snow. Figure I had better make hay while the sun is shining, literally. I am pulling the intake and the harness before I pull the drive train out. I have to admit, getting the intake out of this is much more challenging than it was on any of my 8 past Mustangs. I am also seeing a few things I have never dealt with before, like the gear driven water pump, and that weird smog pump or carbon can or whatever that black thing is next to the water pump. I am really excited about this project!!

One cool thing is that the Mazda is emissions exempt due to its age, so I can do anything I want to the 5.7 engine. I could use a bit of advice in this arena. I would really like to get rid of the smog thing, as it sticks out the furthest on the front of the engine, and that real estate will be very valuable as I shoe-horn a radiator into the little car. Also, I would love to simplify as much as possible under the hood.

I have seen pics of Trans Am and Camaro owners who have relocated their alternators when they do turbos or blowers. I need to relocate mine due to hood clearance issues. I want to keep the RX7 as stock looking as possible so that the BMW douches are really surprised when I kick the pee out of their Nazi go-carts with my little grocery getter Mazda from the early 80s. The look on the faces should be worth the price of admission. Also due to the lack of emissions I plan to eliminate cats, and put a beefier cam in. Maybe heads too. And I will probably swap to an OBD1 setup so I have an easier time without cams, and I can update the tune online. Any thoughts on this will be appreciated. Anyhow, I will begin posting pics later this week. Feel free to share tips, advice, insults, whatever. I hope to have it going by sometime this summer.

Sounds like a good plan.  You can make north of 400 at the wheels with some simple porting/polishing and an aggressive cam.  Check out http://www.Elliotportworks.com and http://www.advancedinduction.com/ for some experienced porting.  Golen engine service also offers CNC'd heads. 

[clocker]

As far as the emissions go, you can get rid of pretty much all of it and prune the engine harness down to just the injectors and the sensors (AIT, MAF, MAP & throttle position).
Move your coil and ignition box off the stock location on the head...heat will kill them.

The Optispark is going to be your weak spot, hope you get lucky and don't get it wet. You're going to end up hating it no matter what but the options to replace it are expensive, so deal.
Your '97 should have the vented version, make sure you get it hooked up properly.
All of the replacement wire kits fit like crap, save yourself the aggro and buy a "make your own" set. You'll need the special Optispark add on kit (naturally) because it uses weird non-standard fittings and boots.
Sigh.

When you reinstall the intake use new gaskets and a sealer called The Right Stuff (I found it at Pep Boys and hear that GM dealers sell it as well).
The rear of the valley is particularly prone to leaking (of course) and can be hard to trace but that's probably where it's coming from.

Relocating the alternator is pretty simple, there are bracket kits all over eBay that can do it.
I think ours was sold as a Corvette part and required some shimming to seat the pulley right but it's not a big deal.

The LT engine is kind of brutishly handsome if you clean it up and detail the intake manifold but it's also tall at the front where the throttle body sits, not sure if you can squeeze it under a stock hood (I know it won't clear a FD hood).

[Darth Viper]

As far as the emissions go, you can get rid of pretty much all of it and prune the engine harness down to just the injectors and the sensors (AIT, MAF, MAP & throttle position).
Move your coil and ignition box off the stock location on the head...heat will kill them.

The Optispark is going to be your weak spot, hope you get lucky and don't get it wet. You're going to end up hating it no matter what but the options to replace it are expensive, so deal.
Your '97 should have the vented version, make sure you get it hooked up properly.
All of the replacement wire kits fit like crap, save yourself the aggro and buy a "make your own" set. You'll need the special Optispark add on kit (naturally) because it uses weird non-standard fittings and boots.
Sigh.

When you reinstall the intake use new gaskets and a sealer called The Right Stuff (I found it at Pep Boys and hear that GM dealers sell it as well).
The rear of the valley is particularly prone to leaking (of course) and can be hard to trace but that's probably where it's coming from.

Relocating the alternator is pretty simple, there are bracket kits all over eBay that can do it.
I think ours was sold as a Corvette part and required some shimming to seat the pulley right but it's not a big deal.

The LT engine is kind of brutishly handsome if you clean it up and detail the intake manifold but it's also tall at the front where the throttle body sits, not sure if you can squeeze it under a stock hood (I know it won't clear a FD hood).

Granny's entire argument for the LT1 in FDs is that it does clear the stock hood unlike the ls1?  They have several cars on their site that illustrate this? 

Edit: I just verified with my friend who has an LT1 FD and he said it fits fine with a Granny's kit and 69 Camaro motor mounts.

As far as the look of the engine, here is my LT1:

[clocker]

Hmmm, our car came with the hood already cut/modified, so I'm not sure but it sure looks like it wouldn't fit without cutting.
He has a FB, so the point is moot anyway.
Here's ours...

[Nyt_Muves]

I actually called Grannys.  I am told that with their kit it will fit under the stock hood IF I relocate the Alternator as it is the highest point on the engine, and I will need to cut some of the bracing under the hood out.  That it is tight, but it will fit.  He said that the hardest part will be mounting the radiator as the LT1 has the gear driven water pump that sticks out.  I asked what radiator to use, he suggested the stock Trans Am radiator, mounted in front of the cross member in front on an angle.  I figure this should work as the radiator is mounted on an angle in the TA anyhow.  I also have the fan stuff. 

So if I eliminate most of the emissions garbage, can I cut down on the vacuum crap running all over too? 

Fortunately I have the entire car to pull what I want from, so I am thinking of transplanting some of the electronics as well.  The remote to unlock and such.  I am probably going to switch it to an OBD I computer since tuning it will be much more economical, and it will eliminate the need for the rear O2 sensors, and I do not plan on cats on it. 

You guys that have done this engine, where do I start to pear down the unnecessary garbage?  I would like to have functional AC and cruise as the car will be making its way to Phoenix on occasion.  I am hoping to get rid of the Power Steering pump as I have a manual rack in the Mazda, and I don't see the need to convert.  I was kind of hoping that I could move the alternator to the P/S pump location... 

As I have the entire fuel system and lines and pump, I am hoping some way to convert it to the stock fuel tank on the Mazda.  Not sure how well that will work as it does not have the injected tank.  It is a GLS but it was the carburated  version.  I am told that there is a tank difference.  As I think the injected car was relatively rare, I am not sure how easy one of the tanks would be to find, and I am not sure if it would even fit in the stock location of my car.  Any guidance is appreciated. 

I will probably have a lot of questions as I progress, so I hope you don't mind.

[clocker]

There was a swapped FD for sale on this forum a few months ago that used the donor car's (Camaro) fuel tank (plastic) and the gauge cluster (actually he used a Firebird cluster...essentially the same thing).
Seemed like good ideas, especially the gauges as it eliminated all the adapter boxes (Digital Dakota?) and everything worked perfectly.

Not sure how difficult this might be in a FB though.

[Nyt_Muves]

That sounds like a great idea... I wonder how they adapted the tank...  It is about the same capacity as the original RX7 tank.  I love the idea of using the Trans Am cluster...  I wonder how I can get it to mount in there...

[clocker]

I don't know exactly how he did it...there was no build thread, just a sale listing.

I'm not really familiar with the specifics of a FB but the Camaro/Firebird gauge cluster looks like it would be real simple to install nicely in a FC.

[RX7V8Builder]

A friend of mine (who actually got me into the RX7/V8 world) did an FB with an LT1 using Granny´s kit.  The alternator was left on the accesory drive in its stock position.  the hood cleared no problem.
Take a look at the following pic:

[Nyt_Muves]

Thank you very much for that pic! 

Due to family matters (mom had brain tumor) I got sidetracked. I'm getting back to it today!

I have the firebird gauge cluster as mentioned above and I will be seeing how easy/impossible it will be to mount it in the FB. I am planning to complete the removal of the stock rotary this weekend.

[Nyt_Muves]

My buddy helping me with the build and I have started some interesting discussion. We are thinking of swapping the rear subframe from a C3 vette. It would give a better lug pattern, an independent rear suspension, bigger brakes, and many more choices for ring and pinion combos.   Toying with the front subframe as well. Again, bigger brakes, better lug pattern, etc...

I know it will be a lot of fab work, but I think it could be really cool if done right. In a world of bolt on modification, this would be truly a build, and definitely one of a kind.

[Bryrich]