Very nice! Is it running yet?

 

Thank you. I've benifited a LOT from the stuff I learned reading your site. I really appriciate it.

It looks like sometime in middle May I should be up and running. The last major part I'm waiting on is the wiring harness from Speartech. That should be here by May 1st.


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by John B:
<strong> Very nice! Is it running yet? </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

http://www.irondonut.com/personal/be.../beefprep.html

400hp @ 2800lbs <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

IronD.. thanks for the inspiration(custom hoses, fittings, etc), and FINE JOB on your Mazda! Like you, I also thank site members & John B. It's kinda like an "LS1 for dummies", like me! Ya just can't fail.

 

Hey, that's what we're here for...to help!

 

Thank you! I'm so close to getting this thing running! I'm waiting on suppliers at the moment. I'm waiting on some custom fabbed brackets to connect the T56 to the Mazda rear end, driveshaft, clutch master cyl, modded wiring harness, radiator. When all of this stuff comes in I'm looking at a solid week of work and it should be on the road.

3rd gen RX-7 is one of the best sports cars ever made. It's going to be great to mate the awesome chassis to a proper engine. The stock rotary was a total POS.

You ever wonder why some of the import makers spend all kinds of time and effort to make a wonderful chassis, great suspension, good looks and then put in the worst possible powerplant?

This thing is going to be nutty when I'm done. If you think an 3400lb F-body is quick, think about the same power, vastly better chassis and suspension, better brakes and a 600-700lb weight loss.

What are you building?


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by gmag:
<strong> IronD.. thanks for the inspiration(custom hoses, fittings, etc), and FINE JOB on your Mazda! Like you, I also thank site members & John B. It's kinda like an "LS1 for dummies", like me! Ya just can't fail. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

I'm really digging these conversions, and Brian Hinson went like 11.4@120mph with his stock LS1'd RX7 on ET Streets.

 

Great job. Keep us posted. Somwhere there is a guy putting an LS1 int a miata. I saw the pictures but forgot the links. That car will be insane as well.

 

Yeah that is a problem. If you think about the cost of the car and the cost of a conversion you are close to the price of a used Corvette. I like the look and feel of the RX-7 better than the Vette personally. I see 30 Vettes a day here and about 1 RX-7 a month. (The Z06 is so nice tho....)

Assuming you get a running RX-7 you can part out the rotary stuff you don't need and generally get rid of it quickly for $2-3k. The nice thing about these rotaries blowing up all the time is there is a very healthy market for the used parts. The other alternative is to look for one that was involved in a minor engine fire. The complex and poorly designed turbo system on these cars is a fire time-bomb. It's only a matter of time before either the engine blows up or it catches on fire. So if you wait long enough something will turn up with some easily reparable damage for 6-8k.

I already had one sitting in the garage dead (apex seal failure) and I was so pissed off with the rotary always breaking I was just ignoring it when I got the bright idea to look for engine conversions. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Pro Stock John:
<strong> Problem for me is that those RX7's are always like $12K up here, are their any broken ones for sale online? </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

Believe it or not the LS1-T56 fits in the miata. I have seen pictures of it. The guy doing it has a web site. Of course I can not find the link to see how he has progressed. I was hoping he would find his way to this site.

Did you use Hinson's frame structures? Someday I would like an LS1 RX7 myself. Unfortunately like you mentioned the pricing is high for those cars.

 

Miata is what 2200lbs? With the LS1 maybe 2300lbs? If you could get traction that would be insane.

I used Hinsons subframe, ordered his torque arm, trans brace and driveshaft.

Speartech is doing the wiring harness and most everything else I'm doing myself.


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by wm_sorg:
<strong> Believe it or not the LS1-T56 fits in the miata. I have seen pictures of it. The guy doing it has a web site. Of course I can not find the link to see how he has progressed. I was hoping he would find his way to this site.

Did you use Hinson's frame structures? Someday I would like an LS1 RX7 myself. Unfortunately like you mentioned the pricing is high for those cars. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

My theory on the RX7 is that since it burns oil, people let them run dry (not realizing they need to add oil on a regular basis). Dry engines fail. Especially turbocharged ones.

So, there end up being quite a few of them around with bad motors. Check your local wholesale auction.

Personally, I suffer from some kind of wierd OCD thing lately - every nice looking car I see, 944, Galaxy500, old trucks - "that'd be killer with an LS1 in it". I'm starting to annoy myself (wife is way past annoyed).

 

It's a nice theory but it isn't correct. The reason for the massive number of 3rd gen engine failures is simply bad engineering on Mazda's part.

#1) They attempted to extract more horsepower than the engine was reliably able to produce. They turbocharged an engine that can't under any circumstance tolerate detonation. One serious ping and the apex seals can be broken. Tell me how smart that is.

#2) They didn't stick with a simple well thought out design. The turbo control system is hidiously complex and failure prone. It can fail operationally (so that it just doesn't work) or it can fail catastrophically causing an engine fire. They put lots of rubber coolent lines and oil piping within an inch of hot exhaust manifolds. They also put the fuel rails within inches of hot exhaust parts. Compounding that problem rotary exhaust is about 500F hotter than piston exhaust. 1800F with rubber hoses holding flammable liquids with in an inch? Are you kidding?

#3) If you even mildly overheat one of these engine the tiny rubber?!? coolent o-rings that seal the combustion chamber from the cooling passages will fail. Can you imagine rubber head gaskets? Thats what Mazda did with the rotary.

I agree the 944 turbo is has a supurb chassis, great brakes, awesome balance and a still fairly good looking. 944 Turbo motor isn't as flawed as the Mazda but it's close. Zero throttle response and no power whatsoever below 3200rpm and has timing belts that fail at 40,000 miles resulting in bent valves. My dad has one of these sitting in his yard with weeds growing up in it. I may make this my next project.

I was thinking that the BMW M3 1995-1999 would be a great choice too. There is basically nothing still that out handles it. 3200lbs, sleek sleeper sedan, brakes the size of pizza trays. It comes with an excellent, powerful and reliable inline 6 that is basically flawless but less powerful than an LS1. Little on the costly side to convert tho.

I like the muscle part of american muscle cars but I don't like the "car" part. I think the only American made car with a decent chassis is the Viper and C5 Vette. Once you drive a nice IRS setup and a great chassis an brakes it's hard to go back. Just add muscle.


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by jeromio:
<strong> My theory on the RX7 is that since it burns oil, people let them run dry (not realizing they need to add oil on a regular basis). Dry engines fail. Especially turbocharged ones.

So, there end up being quite a few of them around with bad motors. Check your local wholesale auction.

Personally, I suffer from some kind of wierd OCD thing lately - every nice looking car I see, 944, Galaxy500, old trucks - "that'd be killer with an LS1 in it". I'm starting to annoy myself (wife is way past annoyed). </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

That is one awesome project car! If Colonel sees it, he may go bonkers and either swap one into his RX7 (same body and color as yours) or he may try to buy it! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

Tony

 

His was close to stock. He is running B1 cam from MTI, aftermarket springs and retainers.

He ran that with the stock 6200rpm redline tho.

I'm going a little more agressive. I orig ordered a C1 cam from MTI, they jerked me around a little so I canceled the order and got a 230/111 cam from Thunder Racing. Comp springs and Ti retainers. Going to keep everything else pretty stock. If you have 400hp @ 2800lbs I don't think there is much need to risk reliability issues for horsepower you can't realistically use in any sane situation.

The Miata would be nutty. I didn't think an LS1 would fit. Thought that was the domain of the Ford 5.0l.

RX-7 is one of the best examples of a pure sports car ever made. It just has some "issues" under the hood.


</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Pro Stock John:
<strong> I'm really digging these conversions, and Brian Hinson went like 11.4@120mph with his stock LS1'd RX7 on ET Streets. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

Problem for me is that those RX7's are always like $12K up here, are their any broken ones for sale online?

 

very sweet.

I too love the idea of a gen 3 SBC in a 3rd gen RX7, best of all worlds

Funny you say you only see one a month or so, as im the same way. but this past weekend i saw 4.

however, it was at the skip barber racing event at daytona international speedway... so i think the racers like the handling of these cars too.

umm... LS6 + RX7 + wide tires...... Mini viper. <img border="0" alt="[evil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" />

 

The LS1 Miata project was dropped, guy moved onto another project with BMW's apparently.

I think the RX7 makes a far better platform personally. Its a bit beefier and can handle the extra power and torque, we worry about breaking things with 300 peaky hp and not a whole bunch of torque on our turbo Miata. I can just see everything falling to pieces with a V8. There are the conversions for V8 Miata's, in fact one guy is running a SC'd 5 liter, 135mph in the 1/4 spinning all the way but he had to replace so many parts that its really only a Miata body, the car itself loses alot of its appeal in its handling and light weight.

I keep kicking this idea around...I added it up and buying a used C5 or building one of these is about the same and I'd rather have the RX7 personally if it really does handle like stock after the conversion.

Keep us posted, that is an awesome project...hell with the right car it might be cheap enough to throw in a 422 in an RX7.

Whats the biggest tire on the rear you can go BTW?

 

I know there are a lot that like the Corvette on the forum. I know I do. But I like the RX-7 more. I see 15 Vettes a day on the road and about one RX-7 a month. I like the tighter lines of the RX and the fact that it doesn't have a giant flat ***. You are right tho the RX-7 conversion assuming you didn't already have the car would cost about the same as a used C5 Vette plus a huge amount of labor on your part.

The Miata has no appeal to me really. I think it's too small a car to support a v-8 and it wasn't designed with performance in mind to begin with. With the weight of the miata a v-8 would have to make it nose heavy.

The biggest tire you can fit on the RX-7 is a 285/40/17 rear and a 255/35/17 front.

Just put some updates on the project online:

http://www.irondonut.com/personal/be.../beefprep.html

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by NoOne:
<strong> The LS1 Miata project was dropped, guy moved onto another project with BMW's apparently.

I think the RX7 makes a far better platform personally. Its a bit beefier and can handle the extra power and torque, we worry about breaking things with 300 peaky hp and not a whole bunch of torque on our turbo Miata. I can just see everything falling to pieces with a V8. There are the conversions for V8 Miata's, in fact one guy is running a SC'd 5 liter, 135mph in the 1/4 spinning all the way but he had to replace so many parts that its really only a Miata body, the car itself loses alot of its appeal in its handling and light weight.

I keep kicking this idea around...I added it up and buying a used C5 or building one of these is about the same and I'd rather have the RX7 personally if it really does handle like stock after the conversion.

Keep us posted, that is an awesome project...hell with the right car it might be cheap enough to throw in a 422 in an RX7.

Whats the biggest tire on the rear you can go BTW? </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">