No side motor mounts for a V8 deal. There is a lot more to doing this than I think you realize You will have to fabricate the mount on the car itself for the engine to sit into. I have side mounts for the engine and rubber but you will have to build the receiver on the car.

As for the manual trans, if you want to use anything other than a Mitsubishi manufactured manual trans then you will have to have a flywheel built along with the clutch and such to work. We have not used a manual trans behind one, we only run automatics. My brothers truck is manual, but Mitsubishi manual, not the strongest thing out there depending on what you want to do.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com

 

yeah I figured, the reciever portion I was expecting, I did the same thing when I originally did the V8 conversion years ago..

I'd really like to use a GM transmission so I'd prefer an adapter for a chevy smallblock bellhousing. I have zoom performance matching a disk with the right spline count and hub depth to a Evo pressureplate that will work with this application for me, the only thing I might have to work on is the pilot bearing..

 

The GM bellhousing plate is no problem. We have them instock for the old 4g63. When you are sure you are doing this get ahold of me and I will get the plate for the EVO block done. I was thinking about it anyway.

David

 

Told u Jack . The Buschurs are definitely the guys to speak with on this idea. They are some really super cool and honest straight forward guys bar none. David chimed in right away hah, I guess u caught his attention.........oh,oh, I smell another monster comin out of the Buschur camp soon
Dude you cannot go wrong with these guys they are top notch, 100% hardcore racin in the blood type people, good luck brother

 

Yeah, I've actually been considering using that monster motor I've been building in this project and not bastardizing my Evo any more..

In all seriousness though, Buschur was the first person I thought of initially, I had given some thought to doing a starion conversion, but I couldn't find a clean car around here.. Plus I really want something that hasn't been done for one reason or another.

Since the RX-7 has a pretty good following and V8 conversions are pretty common nowadays (I'm fairly certain my v8 conversion done in 1988 was probably one of the first succesfully completed) It just makes sense to take the best of all worlds.. Here's what I have lined up at this point..

1) 1G or 2G Mazda RX-7
2) a true flared widebody kit, not the old SCCA style rivet flares, but the IMSA style kit.
3) Zoom will likely be supplying the hybrid clutch required to work with an Unorthodox flywheel on the Evo engine
4) I plan on calling "Mr Gasket" the company that owns Lakewood about supplying some of the parts like the bellhousing and richmond transmission, or I'll be using a T5 or T56 GM
5) I would like to use some sort of IRS rear axle (so I'm leaning toward the 2G for that reason) however if not, I lined up a Ford 9" housing w/ brackets and axles sized to fit this application

I found my old blueprints I drew for the adapters I created for mounting the old chevy engine (Lakewood solid motor mounts on the Chevy engine) so I can revise that mount I also have a source for the correct transmission crossmember.

I did some calculations and got some of my old calibration info out for the tach and discovered the signal in the stock tach can be recalibrated correctly for the Evo engine.

I need to contact someone about sending me an "Evaluation" Standalone ECU since there's no way I can use an OEM ECU and UTEC in this application. I also need someone to supply me with an engine and chassis wiring harness, I suppose I'll call my friends at mitsubishi and see if they can send me something.

I am trying to keep things as simple and inexpensive as possible.. I'm a hardcore grassroots guy and really can use alot of help, but the most expensive portions of the car are already taken care of, thats the engine, turbo, intercooler, and donor car.

THe only difficulty I'm actually having is finding a clean car now that I've decided on the platform. I'm still undecided on the chassis shop and body shop, but the paint is already lined up. If Buschur were a little closer I'd actually bring the car there to have a majority of this work done.

The only bad news is I'll likely have to sell the Malibu to get the cash needed to build this project.. I actually gave passing thought to using the supercharged 383 engine in the malibu in an RX-7 when I first began thinking of this.. but I think the 4G has more potential in the scene..

 

Once this gets going, I will be putting up a dedicated website to this, since 90% of what I learned working on the Evo will directly translate to this application..

I figure the only real disadvantage is rear drive over all wheel drive.. However the car weighs nearly 800 pounds less than the Evo, and with the flared fenders, we're looking at 10" and 12" wide rubber at all four corners.. Should be a brutal performer (even though this will likely be a show car and street driver)

However, Brembo and Baer offer big brake kits for all generations of RX-7, and hopefully I can line up enough visibility for this car that I can pick up a few sponsors for parts so I can save a few dollars.

I'd like to get the engine in the car and running before I do anything appearancewise, I think I can do that (assuming it doesnt cost a fortune to build the Evo engine and get the missing accessory components I need) For around $10k or less..

I know I was able to do the V8 conversion for $3k ($5k including the cost of the car and ford 9")

I already found the driveshaft, required radiator and brackets, transmission crossmember, rear axle, etc.. available for both the 1G 2G and 3G RX-7.. Now I need to just find the chassis.. a 3G RX-7 V8 conversion kit is out there, but the 3G cars are just expensive..


Someone recently suggested swapping the evo engine and trans/tc into a 3000GT-VR4 I declined that even though he had the car because of the weight, I want to start with something lighter than the EVO..

 

Malibu,


This seemd pretty neat, but ALOT of wok,time, and money. SO are you done on your stroker for your evo yet?

 

Hey Jack. Before I had to sell my evo and 2 starions, i was thinking of pulling an evo motor and fitting it into one of the starions. One concern i had was that was the steering and turbo would've been on the same side..... more fab work. Anyway, good luck!

 

Yeah, that actually occurred to me also, the RX-7 uses rack steering, I don't recall how forward it is, but without power steering I should hopefully be able to snake the steering shaft around the turbo, at the worst I could get a RHD rack, dash, etc (Trust me, this is not something I even want to entertain) I figure I'll address it when it comes up.. Surprisingly the RX-7 has tons of room under the hood, you can swap a v8 in there with no trimming so there should be room to fit the steering components.

The starion on the other hand was another V8 attempt I had done in the later 80's for a friend, the engine bay and crossmember were too narrow to fit the V8 and the fenderwells and strut towers would have had to been relocated to clear the valvecovers.. so I can see the dilemma you would have been dealing with.

I just remember the days of doing this and getting alot of abuse from hardcore muscle car fanatics.. they used to ask me why I would want to bother? I used to tell them "Power to weight" They would be driving their camaros, Nova's and Chevelles, and make fun of these cars I was building with friends.. Until we finished our first project, a v8 powered first gen celica (76 or 78??) Which was real quick in its day and we basically used a stock engine.
I just remember 12's and 11's on a street driven car was just downright rare.

I really should have stuck to doing things like this as a career and not gone into the computer field.. I think I could have a really nice thing going at this point..

Well, what it comes down to is I have no problem taking a risk like this, its the support that I get from others that will help the project be successful.. I don't get excited about this stuff anymore until I actually get the project underway, but this one just got me thinking and reminded me about what this whole industry is about..

I'm getting a bit tired of the bickering and one-upsmanship, everyone goes in the exact same direction, getting the exact same results.. Once the first few cars are built with new ideas, the innovation seems to go away.. and I'm starting to see that now.. Everyone takes one particular path and doesnt research the alternatives.. I'm all about the alternatives and will make a concerted effort to do something that others don't want to attempt.. This is just another example of it.

I'm also a little upset because my old/new GTO project fell through a few weeks back after all the time I spent on sketches..

 

The motor is likely going to go into this car if this project ends up progressing quicker this is in the planning stages.. But no, its not done yet, there's a long wait for Crower Stroker kits at the moment and I wanted to try to use their billet crank if possible..

You would actually be surprised, if you start with a clean car that has alot of documentation and aftermarket support for swaps, most of the difficult work has already been done for you.. I already know what parts swap, the work for the swap kits has already been done by others, the two difficulties I will have are specificially engine related since this is a fuel injected car wiring and electronics will likely take the most effort, and I do all that myself.. My goal is to get the engine physically in the car, transmission and everything else bolted up, that should take a month or two once I have the parts I need.. The remaining time would be the electrical, and then going to the body shop and paint.. I figure if the cash is available it should take about a year.

There's no guarantees in life, so this may not go anywhere, but I will do my best to find a chassis to start with, once I do that I'm committed and will at least try it.. My Honda Civic is leaving the stable soon to go to my Fiance' and I'll have the room for it.

And don't worry, I'm not "Done" with the Evo, just rethinking what I want to do to the car and the compromises I would need to make (Downtime, etc) since I've been waiting 3 weeks for a stupid retrofit on an upper Intercooler pipe, I'm a little upset with the lack of responsiveness that I get when I need things done for me. I just can't have that sort of downtime on my daily driver. Heck I'm glad I had my Honda Civic in my driveway (A car I was fixing up for my Fiance') for the time being, but I miss driving the Evo, and the malibu is just too radical to drive every day.

 

There have been a few chassis options I was researching that I've mentioned to a few people over the past few months.. I considered the honda civic HB (since I had it already) with an Evo drivetrain, then I did some research on a 97 Mitsubishi Mirage 2 door.. The biggest issue is finding the AWD components for a reasonable price and in the case of the mirage, finding a car that was affordable. I finally came to the conclusion that a rear drive platform was my most realistic option. At first I was considering the Mazda Miata, and depending on chassis availability it may still be an option.. THere were a few other cars that were talked about, but I already had the experience with the RX-7 and knew the ins and outs of the car intimately..

Right now, this thread is what I call mind mapping.. Its laying out my ideas and plans for other people to provide ideas and input, maybe even inspire a few people in the process, its also to get a little visibility for it since I generally keep stuff like this quiet until the project is done. Only in the past this has been a little counterproductive since I don't have any visibility, I'm left to my own devices for funding, parts, mistakes, etc...

Oh well, enough blabber for a little while.. I need to make a few phone calls..

 

One thing: If your going widebody, wide tires and big brakes - don't ruin it with a solid rear suspension.

 

Yeah, That was my thought too.. if its a 1G car, I'll likely use some form of independant rear axle, possibly from a 2G..

 

Wrightouch used to have a bellhousing to bolt the old 4G63 to the W58 mk3 Supra Turbo tranny. I had seen it run in Starions and Corrolas.

 

4G63(EVO 8) on 240SX or Supra