didn't quite get it huh? I explicitly stated I was not a rotary die hard...
My whole post was not about rotary vs lsx. It was about you and your misconceptions. Therefore, that little tirade holds no weight.

You are correct. Flaming you isn't going to do any good, that's why i wasn't directing my comment at you. I was talking to the thread starter.


lol me an e-thug? interesting choice of words.

I indirectly gave you some real good advice there. Sell your car (if it's runing you should get at least what you paid for it) then pony up just a few thousand more and buy an already working no problem lsx FD.

You will NOT finish that project, you have shown that you have no idea what a massive project you are undertaking. Merlin is asking you very explicit questions about support mods and he is just skimming the surface.

I've seen KIDS like you here on the forum before. They go around bashing the rotary and praise the ls-fd's. They start arguing with everybody (sound familiar ) because of their attitude. Soon enough they get their engine and tranny. They post up pics of the engine inside the bay. But is it hooked up? dunno but there a bunch of **** missing.. months go by and nothing, no word. They still post but nothing about their swap other than it's coming along. After a while they just disapear. That's your future right there. I'm telling you again bro: sell your car and buy an already running ls-fd. Otherwise YOU will remember me telling you I TOLD YOU SO.

 

Hmmm, a V8 in an FD. Sounds like someone's trying to compensate for something...and trying to do it for $9,000 . Has it ever occured to you why the shop 'just has it lying around'?

Answer: Because they're not in the business of giving good stuff away!
Translation: Rebuild required
Result:

The whole point to owning an RX2/3/4/5/7/8 is that it has a Rotary engine. The FD is a good car, has a healthy amount of torque and performs well. Why f*ck up a good thing by making it more mechanically complex than it needs to be? If you don't like that, sell your FD and go buy a mustang/camaro/whatever.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I thought about it a great deal today. Looked at various kits and what have you, put prices together. I am thinking of going the lsx.
Now dont get me wrong. I love the rotor motor and have had about 4 built ones with diff things, larger secondary, primary injectors. Up graded HKS turbo, 3 mm seal. Rotors, housings etc etc. Front mount and all that good stuff. Dyno was 530 rwhp. Loved it to death. Love the high reving, the sound it makes. A blast to drive. But I am getting tired of 20 thousand miles = a rebuild.
Now the LSX I can make the same power or greater, have a single turbo made for it, put the pettit flares on the rear so I can run at least a 325 rear tire to hold down the power. Gas miles would be at around 26mph to the gallon. Maybe not with the turbo of course. Would not have to worry about blowing a seal and taking every thing out in the motor etc etc.
Also I love the way the FD looks. Not the way a vette, camaro, etc look. I know you all can agree on that.
SO that is the route I will be taking. To each their own I always say. After all, the car will be built for me. I appreciate every bodys input.

 

Sorry. I must have missed the memo when I joined this forum 3 1/2 years ago. I bought my FD because I loved the look, the physical size, and the lightweight of the car. It had nothing to do with the motor. Motors can be swapped out for something else. It's far harder to find a chassis that you can truly love.

No camaro, mustang, or whatever looks as timeless as an FD, is going to weigh less than 2900 lbs, going to handle like an FD, and going to be the perfect size. Corvettes are close, but also weigh 400-500lbs more, and are quite a bit larger. I've owned quite a few different RWD cars over the years, and the C5/C6 corvette/FD3S RX-7 are my favorites by far. What makes the corvette BETTER than the RX-7, is the engine. What makes the RX-7 better than the corvette, is it's size and weight.

Combine the strengths of the two cars, and you've got yourself a track killer.

 

I have a friend who is doing a fairly straightforward LSx swap which will end up costing about $4500-$5000. That's after he sold his old FD parts. You're going to spend more than that to get similar power through a single turbo upgrade.

 

the look the weight the style of an FD is why you do it.

i have completed 2 LSX swaps on a FD and 3 on FC's

they all come out to be 20k or so for FD's, 15k for Fc's

seems like alot but go and try to buy another car for the same performance.

one i did, with a free car fc, free gear box 6spd, 2300 ls1 from an 02 ss camaro.(when they were cheap) and some good finds at the junk yard. ended up costing me around 7k. not including labor

 

from ur knowledge not knowing that a 323 is an LSx motor, and that u saying the hinson kit will not work, it will need to be fabricated show's me how much u know about the LSx motors.. and the engine is what is used out of a Z71 stock.. the mustang was engine swapped.. jesus christ.. cant u put a little bit of sense on the topic.. and use some imagination.. the 323 is a LSx based motor.. they yanked it out of a Z71, engine swapped it into a mustang.. and the mustang is one of the owners cars.. the guys know there work about LSx motors.. and yes.. the 323 is a LSx motor.. its the exact same engine as an LS1 just slightly smaller pistons, and instead of aluminum heads, there ironheads.. please stop argueing w/ me over this.. go do some research, im not trying to argue w/ any1.. i will have my engine swap done for 9k, thats all there is to it.. stop argueing.. go look at the specs of a 323.. please.. end of case..

 

very well said my friend.

 

according to these guys u cant do an engine swap for under 10k.. =/

 

TT Rotary,
323 lsx motor??! As far as I know the 347ci ls1 motor that came out in 98 is the first of the lsx series.

Good luck getting the swap done for 9k or less. You might be able to do it, but you will have to be very good at finding parts that will work at a reasonable price. A lot of that information can be found on v8rx7forum.com.

Also, to anyone that is bashing the rotary or lsx/v8 swap, think about what you are saying. If you have experience driving both, I say bash away at whichever you choose. Until you have experienced it, you have no room to talk about it either way (other than what you have read here or otherwise). Some of us are rotary purists, some are open to swaps such as the lsx. Regardless, each has their advantages that one person will value more than others. Bottom line, you need to respect that.

 

If you're going straightforward, nothing terribly out-of-the-ordinary, I have decided 6-8K is a good estimate. That's if you don't find a 'deal' on an LS1, if you don't get too much for your parts (blown but rebuildable motor, or auto car, for example), if you install AC and PS, and if you have to buy a cooling system (some people are reusing their previously upgraded radiators with great results). Like I said, my friend is landing in the $4500 range, which would be about $5000 if he paid to have the wiring harness done by someone else and if he's installing A/C. Beats the hell out of a single turbo if you ask me.

 

The 5.3 truck engine is ~325cid, there is no 323cid gen III based engine. There is also no gen III engine with iron heads, the truck engines all have iron blocks with aluminum heads. Good luck building a turbo LSx fd

I second the fact that you should not listen to this guy.

 

Okay, let's recap real quick. This 323 "LSx" engine isn't actually an LSx or a 323. The 5.3's do have a similar block, but they're far from being the same, considering the 5.3 block is iron, not the heads. It's also a little larger than 323, if only by a bit. I do know you'll still have to use parts from an f-body like the oil pan, intake manifold, water pump, since the others won't fit, except for the intake which you could cut a hole in your hood for it, if you really wanted to. You'll need more stuff like the front accessories, but I could only speculate as to what exactly. Unless you already have a junked f-body laying around, and you're friends shop might, you'll still have to pay for those f-body parts.

It's really hard for me to tell you what you're going to need and do when you barely know what you're talking about. So instead of me giving you a list of parts and average prices, that apparently you think are high, you give me a list of all the parts you'll need plus the prices. That should prove whether or not you can actually put together this build for less than $9k, instead of just saying, "nuh uh, you're wrong!" What I suspect is really going on is that you might have thought about the idea of doing this, or would like to do this, but you haven't actually planned any of it out or gotten anything together to actually do it.

 

exactly.. there doing everything.. A/c.. p/s.. turbo.. swap.. from key to key.. for 9k, that includes tuning it as well.

 

funny, b/c if i wasnt actually going to do this, why would i have ordered the subframe from hinson.. so ur telling me, i just wasted $1200??

 

I strongly doubt that

 

I also agree with you on that one. I strongly doubt a single turbo rotary would take a ls1 with all the tourqe they have. How about a LS1 with a procharger on it under the hood of the FD.. I think this is the route I am going to take.

 

Ok, so let's see your list then.

 

lets see my list?? list of what?? what exactly are u trying to prove here... im gonna get my swap done for 9k regardless of what u think i can/cant get it done for.. my friend told me.. 9k for the key to turn and start..

 

Ok, sure, good luck with that.

 

wow guys dont start a negative thread.... ANYWAYS i think no ls swaps should be done into FDs. That is why they are RX7 (ROTARY)

Thats my opinion

 

I dont want all this **** talk in my thread. Why dont you guys instead of bashing each other on what one thinks is right, and the other thinks is wrong, call granny or hinson and get the real numbers. Not what a somebody said.
You know what I think I will do that and post some real numbers on what it would take to get a turn key FD with labor done for you. Also with you doing the labor.
I could see it getting done for around 10K depending if you sell some of the FD parts you dont need to make up for the cost. But that is all relevant for now.
If I dont post again today, HAppy New Years to all.

 

I'm not talking ****, I'm being realistic. I don't have to call up any shop to figure out numbers, we're wrapping up my swap now, so I know exactly what it takes to get this done.

 

^^ you HAVE to take me for a ride. ive been waning to experience a LSX FD for SOO LONG!! what are the specs on her?

 

Ok, TT rotary boy. You're a dipshit.

Let's say you can get your swap done for $9k. I gotta call BS on that too, cos I've done quite a few myself, but lets say you can. Now let's get to the dipshit part.

Why the **** do you want a iron block, iron head (yes they made them... very, very rare, but after all the junk yard diving I've done for genIII stuff, I've seen 1 set of gen iii iron heads.) turbo in your FD? Lets take this point by point.

The 325 is not an LSx motor. Yes, it's very similar but the fact is it's NOT. It's an LM7, L53, or L59, depending on it's casting #s. So to say you're getting an LSx swap for $9k is bullshit. IT'S NOT AN LS1/2/6/7/9/15 WHATEVER. If you said, "I'm getting an LM7 swap for $9k," you would be right -- right, but still a dipshit for doing it. No one wants an iron headed LM7. Why do you think they're giving it away?? You said you wanted a show car. You'll win alot of **** for saying, "look, I just put a turd of a 4x4 motor in my 2800lb jap-trap. Only now, with the fatass motor and my fatass in it, it's more like 3500lbs."

The block is 210lbs vs the LS1 block of 92lbs. The heads (bare) are 42lbs each, vs the LSx heads of 19lbs. Then you've got your turbo, piping, intercooler and ****; all that is 300+lbs.



The LM7 heads along with the LR4 (4.8l truck block) had the smallest valves of the geniii motors. Excellent choice for a turbo engine, dipshit.

And, why do you want to cam a turbo motor? Look all over ls1tech and you'll see that the stock cams are some of the best cams for turbos. At least for the LS1s, I dunno about the LM7s.

Are you going to do anything to the bottom end? Those motors have stock, high compression, flat top pistons. 9.9:1 compression ratio. Excellent choice for a turbo, dipshit.

So, basically, you're saying, "I've got a friend that has an shop that specializes in GM ****. He's got alot of stock **** laying around that nobody wants, like an iron headed LM7, so I'm going to give him $9k and he's going to cobble all this **** together AND I'M GOING TO HAVE A SHOW CAR!!!"