Hey everybody,


Bought my first RX8 the other day to take the track that was recently built that is only 10 minutes away.


Came with no engine or transmission, so clearly I must LS it haha.
Going to put her on the scales too, make sure I keep the balance of the car. Big thing will be handling and reliability...oh and I guess fast.

LS2 - Probably a cam and similar modifications as my buggy. But with Mach pulley setup though, No AC, No PS.
GTO L56 Transmission
Custom Fuel Pickups in the tank
Coilovers and all the fun stuff
Cage
Race seats/Harnesses
Big Brakes
8.8 Eventually







New Home





Taking out the factory underhood relays and fuses and building my own setup in the car. Lots of things I am not going to need.








At least this time, they have a nice, detailed wiring schematic







Bought an extra instrument cluster for Can-Bus tampering.







ABS you are fired, Electric Power Steering, actually power steering altogether you are fired.







All the air bags will be gone, errr, ummm, modified. No carpets or trim other than what is pictured






My Can-Bus project...not pictured is the Shield. I will use this to convert what I can on the stock cluster to work for the new motor. Certain things like the oil pressure will get an actual aftermarket gage...the Yes/No factory gage won't cut it. Maybe a GPS module for speed instead of VSS...idk yet.

 

Awesome. I've got a 5.3 swap w/ 8.8 and t56 that I plan on throwing some boost at. This week will probably be my last to drive it until spring

It was also my intention to do some dev to make my cluster work, but I've been otherwise occupied with other projects lately. I'd be interested in seeing what you get done and then using it myself

Good luck

 

Good deal man, that will be fun to drive! Most I have "driven" mine was pushing onto the trailer and then in the garage.


This will probably a whole bunch of slow progress, but will post up what I find for sure. Last build will be 4 years in April.


But a little different approach...

 

Very nice. Did you fab all of that yourself, or is that a prefabbed frame and such that you just dropped a driveline in? Either way, that's awesome. The first car I've ever done serious work to was my RX-8. I bought it for super cheap with the intention of working rebuilding the rotary, but the LS Swap called to me lol.

I was looking at starting another build after winter. My wants are:

1) 2(4|6|8)0z w/ ls swap
2) corvette go kart
3) a truck

Or more likely, I won't even get around to boosting the 8 and I'll put off another project until this time next year :/

 

That is 100% custom by myself...in fact every inch of it is, only thing I didn't do was the final tune.


I love RX7s, but I think Mazda dropped several ***** with the RX8 rotary and its a shame because all other important characteristics of the RX8 are incredible. I just went with what I know and what I could make powerful, yet reliable.




The Zs are a nice swap candidate for sure. I can't believe how much people are asking for motors now, compared to when I bought my buggy one.


The vette kart would be cool, there was a track dedicated one that was built a few years ago with all the body stripped off and it was extremely dominant on the track.


Trucks are nice to have when you have to haul something or drive through 2 feet of snow.

 

I tried to post in Non Rotary Swaps, from my searches it looks like a 10 post/30 day limit?


Anyways, anybody run their LS equipped RX8s on a track? I am talking road course, not drag. Wondering what the handling is like afterwards.

 

Got my power supply in and was able to power the cluster up, headers, resistors, and such for the Arduino will be here Wednesday...then start deciphering the cluster's commands and functions. Traction control, coolant, Air Bags, ABS, and the tire pressure sensors will be eliminated.