1994 Mazda RX-7 (LS1 engine)
 

Hi everyone! Well I've been driving this car all summer and now fall. It took about a year to put it all together, but it's still an ongoing project. It's a quick little car, and hopefully more power will make it a quicker little car. Not much room in the city to stretch it's legs though.

94 Montego Blue RX-7
Engine: 2000 Camaro LS-1

Performance wise, the only parts that are still stock on the car are the breaks, but it stops very well anyways and I don't have plans to go to a track day anytime soon.

Suspension
- Stance coilovers
- Racing beat sway bar setup, front and rear (I don't know what swaying is anymore)
- Widefoot sway bar mounts (overkill)

Wheels
- 3 piece Volk wheels
- 275/45/18 BFGoodrich KD rear
- 235 yokohama in the front (need new ones)

Engine
- JTR 1.75" long tubes headers
- 16" Borla muffler, 3.5" in and out
- 3" exhaust piping
- MSD Coilpacks and wires
- Mototron 60lbs. injectors
- F13 cam (not installed)

Interior
- It was originally tan, now black.
- Seats: Leather with suede inserts
- Mazdaspeed Miata steering wheel
- Momo shift knob
- JL amp, Focal speakers

Now for the pics

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7299/1002591wa1.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5...2593cg6.th.jpg http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6...2602as7.th.jpg
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5...2596fz7.th.jpg

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/4124/1002600ro5.th.jpg

Now the fun part, the engine. Let me make something clear, it weighs the same as the iron block rotory engine, and it front-mid engine car, just like a Corvette or SLR but it weights under 3000 lbs.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3310/1002603nr2.th.jpg http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/1703/1002604oj8.th.jpg

Interior stuff
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2...2608yu3.th.jpg

Heres some magic
Before
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1...2609ii8.th.jpg
After
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3425/1002610do2.th.jpg

Custom shot
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/957/1002613ny4.th.jpg

That thing looks the part! Congratulations on such a nice and clean car :good:

Well - it's not like ther ehave not been people telling you the LSx series motors are super light weight.

5.7l or 7l - they weigh the same ;)

Looks great. How much did the car cost you all included if you don't mind me asking.

The RX7 was a fantastic handling and looking car and now the only part I hated about it is gone (the engine). Awesome!

I'm estimating the build put me back 27-29, but people do it for lows 20's. I just invested in a lot of stuff that was not cheap like $800 sway bars and $350 sway bar mounts. Either way i'll probably sell it to get out of the debt it has me and figure out my next ride. Thanks for all the comments guys, I really appreciate especially this has been the most frustrating venture I've ever dealt with.

The rotary has an iron block and iron cast intake manifold. It makes sense since it was built to hold boost, but the LS1 is all aluminum and it has a plastic intake manifold. Just different uses of metals for different purposes and it works out great since the RX-7's problem of reliability is not a problem anymore. Thanks for the comments too everso, two more days until we see the Alfa Everso!

Dude, that is one clean RX-7. I think you did a great job with it. I've always had a special place in my heart for those little suckers =)

what an awesome job, i really love what you did to the car! hearing it would surely be something alien :D

:drool: very nice

Awesome car!

I looked into doing an LS1 swap into my 944, but its just too expensive for me to do right now. And considering it is my DD, I dont want it to be out of service for too long.

Did you buy a kit for it? Renegade Hybrids sells kits to do an LS1 swap, which supposedly makes it pretty easy to do.

Awesome car. Big fan of any LSx swap!

Are there kits available for this swap already?

Nice swap! Those are some fat tires you have on the back. 8-)

Definately one of the cleanest swaps ive seen. Very nice! Have you run it on a dyno yet?

Very cool! I, like many, have always loved that car's shape and the engine swap is very well done.

Gotta love that power to weight ratio : )

So what became of the donor Camaro? Was it in an accident? 4th gens are getting old enough that LS1's are becoming pretty affordable . . . oh the possibilities.

Great job with the swap!

Definitely. There are a few who I've seen on other forums that have done it. But it's not an easy swap by any means.. lots of re-engineering and fabrication of parts is needed.

Thanks everyone, the swap is from a kit. There are two different companies that make kits, i used hinsonsupercars.com kit. I got the engine and trans from Flordia out of a crashed Camaro. I would have had it running last year, but the aftermarket cam we got from Futral motorsports and put it in before starting the engine up with the stock cam (big mistake). The car never started after replacing the ignition system and getting the wiring harness replaced. Then we put the stock cam back in and it came to life. Futral sent out a bad batch of cams and never told the people they sent them out to even though they knew. And I've seen LS1's in BMW small 318i, I think that's what its called.
The car is fast as hell though in stock form, I raced a turbo 350Z on accident and the 350z barely pulled away. I really want to track the car, but i'm not sure i can keep it much longer because there's too much money into it and it is my daily driver, mind you i live in Chicago. But the cam is going in before i sell it and........i cannot wait to hear the beast then, i'm drooling right now. I don't know why people don't understand that lightweight is the way to go? People instead put their money into Supra's for 3x the money. It could be the Supra sound...

That is a awesome car ls1 engines are perfect for a mazda rx7.
Do you weight of the ls1 v8 compared to the 13b engine?
:drool:;-)

Gobs your RX7 is really clean. It reminds me of an SRT forums guy did the same thing but I never heard if he finished.

I'll bet it was frustrating, it took me 4 years to build my srt before i wrecked it and all I did was one of the first big turbos in the country (fuck the ECU though I swear).

He said it's about the same.

Holy smokes. . . hahaa, that's crazy. Awesome set up. I've seen people use the Corvette's LS6 too.

And as the car itself, that is great car. I still love that style.

Great job. :-D

I was thinking of getting a LS2 rx7, how much power you have right now? Hows the mileage? Did you have any problems with the rex that didnt involve drivetrain (electrics, heater, etc.)? Handle just as well? These are the things I am interested in, lol

hey you should bring it by our shop sometime before you sell it. We have a 7 that would give you a run for it's money, once it gets fine tuned it will be even better.

I luv V8 conversions... Great job mate! Looks awesome...

I think that can be arranged, and I also need to get some tuning done. What shop are you at?

protege garage we specialize in mazdas. We're in Libertyville but moving out in January to a new place.

I've been trying to find a place that does alignments on RX-7's, does you shop have the ability even though the car is lowered? I've been turned down by everyone I've gone to and the last place charged me $80 just to look at it. :angry:
Anyways, where will your knew location be?

Also, thank you everyone for your comments. :thumbup:

sadly we don't have alignment equipment (VERY expensive for the good stuff) we are trying to save for a dyno. our new shop will be either in McHenry area or Grayslake. we are looking at a few locations we will probably be closed down for a month or so in January. Luckily our Online business is striving. How low is the car? I might be able to find someone to do it for REAL cheap.

How is the car lowered?

I dont understand the many shops who refuse to work with lowered cars.

Unless I have been spoiled with the C5 that has a height adjustable suspension as stock.

The ride height should not be too different than stock. It's as high as it can go, and it runs pretty low stock. I'll measure it when I get a chance. It almost seems like people are just scared to touch the car.