Hey guys, on a small budget trying to save cash to get my 7 on the road. I have some technician experience, and I am pretty confident. How hard and involving is it to pull a 12a, and reinstall another 12a into my 85? I have never worked on a rotary, and thats why I ask. Thanks fellas.

 

I will let you know on monday

 

Good enough

 

its actually wery easy I pulled myne and got it back runing in one day you just need to make some notes about what goes where its not that complicated there 2 bolts for the motor mounts and I think 8 or so for the trany on of the bolts being behind the starter its a wery long one. My suggestion take everything off peace by peace place it on the table withh all the apropriate nuts and bolt that go to it and once you got your new motor in just put everything back on in the order you got it off and if you got some extra bolts that are left over and the car runs that means you did a good job.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will keep everyone posted when I go to attempt, and possibly do a writeup. My friend and I will be doing it, so I will take pics of what goes where, label them, and hope for the best.

 

Very straight forward. Recommend that you pull the engine and trans as a unit. It makes it much easier to reinstall. I can usually pull one in 35-45 minutes.

Remove your fan and fan clutch. Remove the radiator. Remove the clutch slave from the trans and just set it aside. Disconnect the exhaust from the exhaust manifold and the air pipe tube from the back of the intake manifold. To make it easier to remove the various cables from the carb you can just remove the intake manifold and lift it up. You are going to have to take it off anyways for transfer. Disconnect your fuel hoses. Disconnect your oil cooler lines. Disconnect the starter and drop it out of the way. That will take care of both battery cables. Disconnect the speedo cable. Disconnect the wiring from the rats nest and the connections from the alt and choke switch at the back of the water pump housing.
Disconnect the driveshaft from the rearend. Don't forget to remove the shifter from the trans before you drop it out. Support the trans with a jack so when you undue the 2 bolts/nuts that hold the crossmember in it won't fall on you. Remove the 2 engine mount nuts, leave the cross mound in place. I might of left some small details out, this is all off the top of my head. Recommend that you drain oil before removing engine.

Hook hoist up to the 2 attahments, 1 at the front by the alt, the other at the back where the trans meets the engine. Put the chain at an angle because you will need to have the trans clear as well as the engine.

 

Yea it's easy. Pulled a 12a in 10 minutes because I was only concerned with saving the block and all things attached. It's easy when you can just cut hoses and lines.

 

I also like to put the front-end as high as I can get it on GOOD jack stands. Not the cheap stamped steal. Remove the driveshaft from the rear-end but do not pull it out of the transmission yet (so it doesn't leak too much fluid. Remove the trans cover from the top of the shifter and then remove the shifter from the top of the trans.

I like to leave the intake manifold on and disconnect the engine wiring harnes from the passenger side firewall.

Remove the radiator and shroud, fan clutch, fan.

Remove the power steering pump and AC and set them aside.

Put the cherry picker on the engine a pull up just enough to remove the cables off the carb (throttle, cruise, etc). A load leveler can also help.

This is in no way a complete list but combined with everyone else’s it's a good start.

I can do it in about 4 hours and that's taking my time.

 

Just remembered. A tip for the extension housing of the trans to keep fluid from coming out. Get the top off of a can of carb spray or something similar and insert it in the end of the trans and get a strong rubber band to wrap around it to help keep it in place.

 

Don't let the rotary scare you. An engine is an engine. Removing a fwd unit has more differences than a rwd piston and rotary do.

In my sig line is a link to the online FSMs, etc., etc., etc.. Download the 85 edition for the most detail and best pics/diagrams. Section 1 covers most of what need for R&R. I do find it easier to do the engine and tranny together, not so much when pulling, but on the install.

 

Trochoid is right about the removall being easier by leaving the trans in place. I just like to do them at the same time because I'm in the mood to remove all of it instead of going back and dropping the trans. Since this is your 1st time I recommend that you follow Trochoids advice and pull the motor without the trans. But reinstall with the trans.

One of the most important things is to make a check list of things that you should replace while the engine is out. Also the cleaning of the engine bay should be done while the motor is out.
If you want a list of things that I suggest to replace while it is out pm me.

 

I did mine in two weekends working from the Haynes manual in a car port. It was my first engine swap and it wasn't too difficult at all. Before that the most ambitious thing I'd ever done was changing the timing belt on my mother's Toyota. I didn't need air tools but I got the guy I baught the engine from to swap over the flywheel since the flywheel nut is widely reported to be a son of a bitch.

Here's a thread I did on the swap.
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/diary-my-first-engine-swap-596007/

 

good write up. This is basically what i had to do with mine. Although i dont have a rats nest to worry about. Yes, pull the trans and engine at the same time. WAY WAY easier. The flywheel nut is easily removed with an impact. Forget the size, something like 2 1/4 if i remember. 25 dollar socket so make sure you take care of it if you wanna take it back. the system.