chedda_j

I just picked up a fair bodied SA with a blown motor, well he says its blown, well HONESTLY he said that he thinks that the apex seals are gone because everytime he changes the plugs they fowl and the car only runs for a short time. So im thinking its actually a different problem BUT! Thats becides the point. The body is nicer than mine actually, the only discoloration is the fender where the paint is peeling and the room has sanding marks in it. To get to the point.

I have a 84 Fb, strong motor, dented body... lots of dents.
I have a 81 SA, blown motor, good body, shitty interior, lots of missins pieces...

What should i do? Should i go and swap the motor into the sa and drive it instead of the fb? The Sa does already have the FMOC, and i could swap over everything else from my car including stereo. I think its my best bet to tell you the thruth. The SA also has a bran new windshield. Btw, how hard is it to swap a fb 12a into a sa? Just a straight swap right?

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

A 81 and a 84 are both FB's.

Rogue_Wulff

As Doc pointed out, the SA is only the 79-80 model. The 81 should look almost identical the to 84, on the outside.
Swapping the engine from an 84 into an 81 is actually pretty simple. The only major difference, is the oil cooler, as you have already mentioned.
The clutch is different size, so leave the 84 clutch in place. Remove the beehive, and use the 81 oil filter adapter. Pull the short bolt out of the bottom of the rear iron, and the FMOC will hook up same as it does on the 81 engine.
Other than that, you may need to use the starter from the 84.

First thing to do, is do a thorough rust exam on both cars. Use the better body. Suspension parts can be swapped between the 2 years, but the strut housing and rotors must be from the same year, as 84-85 wheel bearings differ from the earlier ones. Rear axle assembly appears identical, but the units have almost nothing interchangable between them, must be swapped as a complete unit.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Before swapping anything on the SA, I'd go through the carb, check the ignition, etc. Sounds more like a lack of maintinance than a blown engine.

chedda_j

i agree thats what im planning on doing first. Im just going to take all the basics off my car that runs and do some tests to check to see if the car is actually toast.

Sorry for my mistake it is actually an 80. I didnt mean to put 81. I just knew it was the last year for the sa and i accidently put the wrong year. There is no rust on the sa and there is a few little spots on my car. A body is alot harder to fix than a blown engine so im going to do the swap. The best part is that it wont cost me anything to change it over. Becides some labour, some new crush washers and a few little other things. But that will all come down to less than 20 dollars. So everything will swap in eh? Good to hear. Now i just need someone who wants to help me. haha.

Btw, the car is going to have a black hood for now untill im finished the functional hood scoop.

Rogue_Wulff

To swap into the 80, the dizzy has to be considered. 1980 used electronic ingintion, but the system is totally different than the 81-85. 1st thing you will see, is the lack of ignitors on the dizzy. Closer inspection will reveal an ignitor box on the strut tower. Sticking to the stock setup requires swapping the dizzy. You can rewire, and use the 81-85 setup, but there is no performance benefits.
Exhaust is another issue. The SA used a thermal reactor.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Rogue, on the distributors. If he swapped the Fb motor into the Sa he could just use the Sa dist. They all interchange in the motors.

If he swapped the Sa motor into the Fb, you just use the Fb distributor.

chedda_j

Thanks, every little bit of info helps. Btw.

I got workin on the sa today and i found out that the car does run. I used the brake fluid deal and then i used an ounce of oil to reseal the apex seals and the car ran but it smoke a little still even after about 10 minutes of running. Then i tryed to give it a couple revs and it really didnt want to go up into the higher revs like it was just laking, pushing blue smoke out behind the car. The engine was remand btw. The must have fucked something up. But it was running fairly well untill it just started to die on me, i looked under the hood and seen that it was smoking from the engine bay. i went to shut the car off and it started to stumble and choke so i turned it right off. Once the smoke had cleared i looked under the car and there was a puddle of black oil laying underneath the car. Like atleast a liter of oil . I dont know what the hell is going on...

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

See if it is pushing oil out of the dipstick.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

That, or start it back up with the oil fill cap off and see it it's smoking from there, also check the fmoc oil lines for leaks.

chedda_j

I did have a look when it happened all the oil was directly below the car, starting on the top of the engine, near where the trany and engine meet and all the way around to the passenger side. Like its almost squirting out between the two or something. Main seal?

chedda_j

btw, it was almost like it was only blowing the oil out of the auxilary exhaust tube, the third one that runs becide the muffler.

chedda_j

btw, can you take out the fb dash and swap it into the sa? How hard?

Midwest 7's

iTrader: (4)

hard. if the dash is cracked there is a cap/cover you can buy.

Rogue_Wulff

Yeah, that's what I was attempting to say. I just didn't make it quite that clear.
While the FB dizzy could be wired up, there's really no point, unless the SA dizzy or ignitor is faulty.
Though, the SA electronic dizzy is a better choice when going to the GM ignitors.

One other point I stated earlier is now also not completely accurate. The SA strut housings and brake components are different from their FB counterparts. But, they can still be swapped as a complete unit. I just cannot remember if the 80 used the odd thread pitch brake lines.

chedda_j

thanks for the head up, yeah the dash was essentially ripped out. But all the steel is still there. Where can i buy a coveR? I would need door panels later on too.