This may sound strange, but I would like to address some of the more expeirenced members of this particular forum.

Now mind you, I am a noob when it comes to projects. I have gathered a good bit of information over years on this forum, but have not had a chance to put the knowlege to practice (and I am more than willing). But I put some thought to it...

Would it be more practical to build your motor and drivetrain first, then select a chassis for it to go in? Or would you be better of simply starting off with your already selected car (FD3S), and drop the motor in later, pull 13B when time is right etc? I am trying to decide which route I am going to go...built 20B then rolling chassis, or running 13B FD3S and build the car bit by bit.

Any criticisms, or advice is greatly appreciated, and this is not just another pipe dream, but someone who is very serious about building a 20B N/A FD3S. After all, I wouldn't stick around this forum for no particular reason.

 

well, i had the same dillemma when i was buying my FC. i went with the latter and decided to get the car first and change the engine later instead of building an engine and throwing it into the car.

now to the point - the problem i ran into with that plan is that rotaries take a lot of money to maintain. i think if i had built the engine first and then got the car, i would not have spent so much money on maintenance and everything would have moved along sooner.

just my .02

-jon

 

Exactly... If you have a little time to spare, you'd be ALOT better off getting the engine and having it completely ready to drop in the car... You'll spend so much money maintaining an FD that the 20B may fall by the wayside...

 

money is knowledge with these cars. if youre to do a 20b swap on your rx7, i would definately get one that runs and tinker with it. research isnt enough with these cars. . . youll DEFINATELY need the personal experience when taking on a project such as the 20b swap. monetarily speaking, buying a rolling chassis and dropping a 20b into it is the right choice. . . but the people doing THAT already have a good bit of experience on their side. building a 20b FD is more than research is what im saying. . . you really do need some background on the whole matter to perform it correctly. . . that way you dont end up spending TOO much money on just the swap or end up having to sell it pre-completion.

 

I agree fully with rotorbrain. What I would reccomend is doing a full engine rebuild yourself, from pulling it to driving it. I thought that all the research I did was sufficient, but as soon as I cracked the block, I just sat there with the rotor and housing spinning it around on the floor as it finally dawned on me how it worked and what port timing and all is. I learned more playing around in 5 minutes than I could've learned with 5 years - literally - of research alone. Until you know what you're doing AND have experience, you won't get anywhere.

Honestly, I wanted a 20b as soon as I read about it, which was about 5 minutes after I put the winning bid on my 7, and thought "hey, I've built V8's before, how hard can it be?" Honestly, now that I know what I do after blowing my engine and rebuilding it, I feel very confident in my ability (and laugh at how uneducated I was before) to build the best engine I can and make a ready-to-run drop in assembally, which is what I'm planning right now. Actually, to be more specific, my setup is going to require some improv in the manufacturing department, like the intake, exhaust, and suspension department. Still don't know if I'm gonna run the full bridge on a turbo or N/A setup, so that's about the only thing in the air right now.

 

Thanks for the responses!

As much as I would like to go the money saving route and simply do the blank chassis plus the N/A 20B, it would only be me shooting myself in the foot in the long run because of the lack of hands on knowlege.

I am going to the follow the advice I have been giving and find a running FD, and see if I can keep up with maintaining the bastard myself. Keep it mostly stockish aside from changes that will compliment the future swap, and collect parts that will pretain the future swap.

Now to find me a money pit.