FunWheelDrive's Dark Horse FC RX7 Build

[FunWheelDrive]

A little history, after owned a supercharged 408W Mustang that was setup for drag racing and.. nothing else. I wanted to build something reliable, something that wouldn't break the bank account, and something that was fun to drive around on the streets. Maybe attending some Auto X in the future as well. I always liked the 2.3 Ford SOHC motors. They have a very stout bottom end, they like to see 30psi of boost on a regular basis. With the ability to easily bolt a T5 Ford transmission behind it, made it a great engine for a Rx7 Swap. The goal is to run 20ish pounds of boost daily. Maybe turn it up to 30psi on a race gas tune.

Engine mods:

80lbs injectors
TunerStudio EFI and computer
Engle Race Boost Cam
Holset HE341
APR head undercut head bolts
Ported upper and lower intakes
Ported Big Valve head.


After finding an Merkur XR4Ti for $250 bucks with a blown timing belt, the project began.



What the $250 Merkur looked like.




A few beers later, the motors are none- interference so I threw a new timing belt on and the car ran! It actually ran pretty decent. The only mods on it were a full exhaust. Good enough to do a wicked burn out.


The engine had great compression numbers but she still had to come out. The Merkur chassis was very badly rusted. Wouldn't pass a safety.



And a few more beers later.

[FunWheelDrive]

I was pretty sure the engine had been rebuilt at some point in this cars life. I found updated Ford Head bolts and a few other pieces. The cylinders still have cross hatching in the cylinder walls. The crank was a little scored so I decided to take the crank out to get polished and put all new bearing and seals in.



The block all cleaned up and the transmission bolted to it.




I found a v8 Ford adapter kit forsale on Kijiji. Came with a flywheel, adapter brackets, and a few other odds and ends to put a V8 clutch, and transmission behind the Ford 2.3. This ment being able to run a v8 clutch. 10.5" clutch instead of the much smaller four cylinder one.

[FunWheelDrive]

I found an FC with a blown engine through a friend of a friend. He was planning to do an LSX swap. He never got around to it.






After a few more beers.

[FunWheelDrive]

After doing some research, an intercooler from a Suzuki NPR delivery truck fits in an FC Rx7 almost perfect. I found one out of Empire truck parts. Test fitting:





Test fitting the engine, I got the motor and transmission mounts from a company called Grannies Speed Shop out of the states. I got my buddy to weld them in for me.

Got my exhaust manifold in from a guy who makes custom ones out of the states. Should support my Holset nicely.

[FunWheelDrive]

Alot of people asked me why not go with an LSX? This is why..



My other project is an LSX swapped car.

Got an LS1 T56 combo from the US of A





I picked up some coilovers from Cam who has his 2JZ Rx7 build on here. I also picked up an HKS catback exhaust from him. Great guy to deal with BTW.





An updated engine picture shot.




This is a shot right before the first start!

[Ca_Silvia13]

Damn that is a clean ass FC shell

[FunWheelDrive]

The first start was a success!! I had a few things to tighten up but no real issues. After finishing the cam break in, it was time to go for the first drive.



A pretty big goal for my swap was to have "Everything work" which I'm pretty happy to say worked out. Everything is functional on the car, even the factory gauge cluster, all the gauges work including the speedo. I tested the speedo with my GPS on my phone and it was accurate to within 5km/h.



Drove the car for about an 100km drive, runs awesome. I'm really liking the autotune feature on the EFI. The boost is currently at wastegate pressure of 14psi. Once I get bored of 14psi and get I'll start raising the boost.

The car badly needed a polish and a wax. So a few hours later and even some more beers.

Before:



After:

[tomt64]

Enjoyed reading this, great job!!

[Noremac]

Looking good! Take me for a spin?

[J.M.]

Wow this is awesome!

[EM2FTL]

Both projects look awesome, nice work!

[brucebanner]

SO Awesome!

[94boosted]

What a unique engine choice, nicely done

[KRyn]

Awesome build!
Start a build thread for your other projects! I love these types of threads, beyond needs more of them.

[Lex350]

Great build......can't wait to see the RX8.

[Redlined_8000]

Nice! Looks awesome. Unique, and functional.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I like it, very cool. I get the feeling you don't like rotary engines for some reason.

[FunWheelDrive]

Originally posted by BerserkerCatSplat
I like it, very cool. I get the feeling you don't like rotary engines for some reason.

Not the biggest fan.. I appreciate a well built one. They have their pro's and cons. I love the chassis of these cars tho!!

I did a boost leak test on it last night and found a few leaks. I fixed those up and the car runs the same. Speed density does a very good job of giving the engine the correct amount of fuel for what the motor actually sees. I don't think I'd ever go back to a MAF setup. I'm now working to figure out how to get my no lift to shift, anti lag, and electronic boost controller working.

[ColoDano]

Very cool build, thumbs up!

[ekguy]

I usually hate non rotor swaps in rx7's...But somehow this seems to maintain the idea behind the 7, which is a light car, light engine, good balance.

I'm really digging the direction you went with this!!!

edited to add...

Christ is that ever a clean body on that car. I haven't seen many fc's in this condition...