-I did'nt figure you did, Metallic rock.
I just don't understand why people who call themselves car enthusiasts can't just simply be turned on by any engine.
The guy was just bragging, and that's natural. But he could only tell you all the things he wanted to tell you by first cutting on the rotary as an intro to add his 2 cents about all the things he did.

He's weak.
Cars are just cool. I don't care what kind of engine they have, they're just cool. Of course I always want to talk more power, and appreciate power, but go ahead and build up an engine in your driveway...No chassis- just the engine. A nice V-12. Now drive it around the block with no car around it.

Do ya see what the **** I'm getting at, here?

-However, I'm not completely without my prejudices. For example, anything rice has to go! I much prefer the rice-bashing ****-fests on this forum because at least we ALL feel the same way about rice. (Well, the three or four are too afraid to speak up )

Ya shoulda hooked up with him, Metallic. You could park your rexs side by side and hold them @ 7K RPM to see which one blows up first.
-Like who gives a ****, right?
If he's being that much of a jack-***, then chances are he has little to no driving skill, and is looking for straight line speed.

Besides, we all know how cool you really are, Metallic!

 

The 12A in my '82 GSL was tired when I bought it. The chassis had 128 000 kms on it but the motor was from an '81 GS (which I also acquired for parts) that had 190 000 kms on it. The previous owner said the original motor blew at 65 000 kms so he replaced it with the 190 000 kms motor from the '81 which he bought for parts only. I think maintenance plays a big role in the longevity of any motor whether it's a rotary or reciprocating. I babied the 12A as much as I could and finally after three years and 30 000 kms it had enough. CP Racing had a reman 12A that I thought of buying but the price was just too high. The asking price was $2500 which I think is a good deal on what is essentialy a completely new motor, but for much less I was able to source out all I needed for a V8 swap. This '88 Lincoln Mark 7 LSC cost me $700 CDN!



I purchased the motor mounts used for next to nothing from a friend who had a spare set from his conversion. In all I spent about $850 CDN. I still have the driveshaft to modify by a machine shop and a custom exhaust made for it. It is looking like the total cash outlay to get it running will be about $1500 CDN. Don't get me wrong, I liked my 12A, but I just couldn't resist 225hp and 300ft-lbs of torque! The motor and wiring harness to retain EFI adds approx. 150lbs to the car, 100lbs of that on the front wheels. I was already looking into a complete set of coil-overs for the car so getting some stiffer springs in the front to get that one inch of ride height back is a cinch.

As of a couple weeks ago, I came across an '84 GSL-SE for sale with 217 000 kms on the odometer. The owner was asking $900 CDN because it didn't run well. He was saying it wouldn't rev past 3000 RPM. He thought it was the fuel pump. I had him start it and while he was reving it, I could hear one of the coil wires arcing. I didn't say a word and offered him $700. He said he was firm on the price and said he'd fix it. I hadn't heard from him in a while so I dropped by to see if he had changed his mind. Unfortunately, when he popped the hood, there was a new distributor cap and wires and the thing ran well. Good thing was he was honoring his prior price of $900 to me. Of course I bought it! I'm not stupid! Anyways, up and down the road a few kilometers and this car hauled much better than my tired 12A. You can say that I found some respect for the rotary but of course it's a 13B with fuel injection. I asked him if the motor was the original one and he didn't know. I've got a feeling it is but that it might have been rebuilt sometime in its life. Then again, I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, I will be painting it soon and will probably drive it as is until I can afford some rotary mods. Oh yeah, I've seen 300hp 13Bs, but they certainly were not as inexpensive to build up as a small-block Ford making the same hp!

As far as handling is concerned, I've driven in a 302 converted FB and a 327 converted FC and they were not the ill handling pigs that some people think they are. On the contrary, I found them more enjoyable on the road and much more powerful than the stock rotary equiped car. I cannot, however, attest to what a truly powerful rotary feels like as I have never been offered a ride in one. Part of that problem is mostly that they are so expensive that there are so few of them around.

As far as some people calling these converted RX7s straight line only cars, whatever! First, I've been in them and they handled every bit as good as a stock RX7 in the twisties. Second, even rotary guys are always claiming 1/4 milw times! Why? Because it's an easy benchmark. Everybody and their dogs have a G-Tech Pro so all you need is a half mile of deserted road to find out how fast your car is. Do you know how expensive it is for me to get my car on Shannonville for a one-hour stint? Let's just say it would pay for the G-Tech about twice over and that's not including the traveling costs, hotel costs, racing equipement costs, etc... What purpose would it serve for all of you to know how fast my lap times were when 99.9% of you will never get the chance to be there in your lives? One straight stretch of road is just like the next and that is why we ALL post 1/4 mile times, not because that is all our cars are good for.

I guess I will be luckier than most as I will have a converted GSL and a stock GSL-SE to base my opinions on.

Toughguy

 

Live and Let Live.

My 302 conversion is about the same weight as a stock GLS-SE if I remember the specs right. Weight distribution is a little off, but far from a pig.



Here is a 4 min video of my car at Texas World Speedway, its a lot of fun.(easier to save file first.)

http://kags1969.web.aplus.net/video/tws-racelubbock.mpg

Peace,
Chris

 

Yeah, that's definitely more than 80 pounds!! and that's with a smaller engine!!

Cool race footage!!

 

History and fact about the US made 1984-1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL-SE:

Dimensions / Capacities:

95.3 in wheelbase
55.9 front / 55.1 rear track
170.1 inches in length
65.7 inches in width
49.6 inches in height
5.7 inches in ground clearance

2590 lbs curb weight
53.7 front% / 46.3% F-R weight distribution

16.6 gallons fuel capacity

What I'm saying is that my coversion is only 10lbs heavier than a stock GSL-SE... the weight distribution is 2% different but the weight is damn close.

And that weekend was an absolute blast.

Chris

 

i personally i dont have nothing with people that put V8 or any kind of piston engine on their rexes, but theres a few that dont think and start talking stupid **** about rotary. rotary can last a long time like piston engine with the proper mainance i seen alot of rx3 ,4, 7's over 200k miles. but like any other engine if you abuse it it wont last. my self if i had to chose betwen rotary and piston, ill stay with rotary because im alway a rotary guy, i dont talk **** to piston guys about their cars

 

Hey that's nice!!! Cool that you could really open her up on a track.

I've always liked your particular V8 swap. It appears very well done.

You weren't able to keep the stock hood?

 

That video is ******* cool,,, man. the car seemed very stable and the steering didn't look like work, must've been fun !

 

We're talking about a different beast...12A, which is lighter than the 13B and only 14.4 gal capacity tank....so, again, the conversion is adding at least 80 lbs and we're back to an almost 50/50 weight distribution of a correct, good RX7 vs. 5% of 2600 lbs extra up front for the PX7... and PM Suganuma about rotary power...he has an ten second FD that spanks modded LS1 a$$ on a regular basis down here in the Metroplex...

 

RX stands for Rotary Export , and the 7 is 7th attempt.

Well anyways, only really nice thing about a v8 over a rotary is the warning you get before it goes. A v8 will go on for a while making noises etc, and a rotary will leave your *** stranded with no warning. But thats about it, id imagine I could give him a little run LOL

 

Not at all. In fact they skipped a number or two, because some numbers make better names than others - and the car was sold in Japan, not just for export.

While we'd like to think that we have some secret knowledge of the coded information in the name RX-7, the mundane fact is it's just a name. Not Experiment, or Export, but just X. And the Japanese have a fetish for slapping 'R' in the name of many sportscars from many manufacturers, rotary or not.

Read Jack Yamaguchi's books for the inside scoop on the RX-7's development including naming, trim level decisions, styling decisions, etc.

 

1 - R100
2 - RX-2
3 - RX-3
4 - RX-4
5 - RX-5 (Cosmo)
6 - REPU
7 - RX-7
Yes, the numbers are for the "attempts". The RX-7 is the 7th rotary vehicle that Mazda exported. I apologize if I mixed up the order between the Cosmo and the REPU, but I think that's correct.

No idea what the X stands for, but yes, the R is for rotary.

Zac

 

So a CRX and RSX are both rotary too? And successful production vehicles, with hundreds of thousands sold are 'attempts'?

Nope.

The Mazda MX-03 (1985) was powered by a 3 rotor. No R in the name.

The Type L10A and L10B Cosmo Sport, both production vehicles that predate the R100; If anything, these cars should have been called the rotory experiment, yet no RX.

(the designation RX-6 was skipped intentionally - eks and six don't roll very well on the Japanese tongue)

 

I actually always thought RX stands for rotary expieremental.... and I'm still sure that is what it does stand for. I'll speak to my mazda dealer tomorrow but myself and everyother rx driver I've ever spoken to were on the assumption that it stands for that.

Maybe it's a nasty, vicious rumour??!!!

As for the whole v8 thing..... both have pros and cons...let's just leave it at that.

 

and a lot of Chrysler drivers say that Ford stands for "******' old reconditioned Dodge" - but it doesn't

although it may be true that Chevrolet does, in fact, stand for Condition Hopeless: Entire Vehicle Relies On Leftover Engineering Technology"

 

i can confirm that RX actually stand for Rotary Experimental. 7 is 7th generation of the experimentals...

 

so you can confirm something that Mazda, and detailed books on the subject, both say is false?

Experimental is a term used for prototypes. A sportscar selling 400,000 copies in just 6 years is not 'experimental'.

 

Those aren't made by Mazda, so that's an apples and oranges comparison....BTW and FYI....

 

..used as an illustration of the Japanese penchant of using 'R' and 'X' in the name of vehicles, amigo

 

I like for Chevrolet- Cheap Heap Enjoys Visiting Repairman Over Little Engine Trouble

GMC- Got Mechanic Coming

Ford- FUked Over Rebuilt Dodge, Found On Road Dead, (backwards) Driver Returns on Foot

Dodge- Dim Old Dudes Go Everywhere... (yeah, I thought that one was stupid, too)

Toyota- Too Often Yankee Overprice This Auto

Mazda- don't remember that one, but it had something to do with "Zoom" thought it was kinda cool

 

Mantis is 100% correct...
All of you disputing him, cite your source.
I'm hearing a lot of "well, everyone says it stands for rotary experiment/export", or "my uncle's, brother's, roomate's cousin works for Mazda and says so..." but no actual source for facts.

The average American tends to think that Henry Ford invented the internal combustion engine and the car, but that doesn't make that true either, does it?

The average american tends to think that an SUV is a safer vehicle to travel in then a sedan ir minivan, but that's not true either, is it?

I know we'd all like to think our car's name has some cool secret meaning, but unfortunatly, it's just not true.

 

Ford - Fix or repair daily.

 

all those were just off the top of my head!!! I had a list a while back of every possible combination for just about every pos car out there... Yugo was funny, but.... dammit, I need to find that...

 

http://www.hotrodscustomstuff.com/humor-09.html

thats it.

 

I didn't say V8 Rx7's wouldn't handle. I said they would NEVER handle as well as a rotary Rx7......... with all suspension mods being equal. And to me that is a big part of what I love about my rotary sports car. I could care less how many V8 swaps are out there and who says they're better, faster, or more reliable. In all actuality it is definatly cheaper to build a 400hp V8 then such a rotary. But it will NEVER handle the SAME!!!

cheers