KL04

Hey everyone,

New to the forum and new to the rx8, I bought a 04 6 speed last week. I bought it cheap, it has low to no compression and doesn’t run.

I guess I’m looking for advice as to what direction to take the car. It would just be a street cruiser/ fun vehicle, not looking for a daily driver out of it. I wouldn’t be really competitively racing with it either, however more power certainly means more fun to me. An engine swap seems tempting, however the rotary engine was a factor in wanting the car to begin with. Rotaries have always intrigued me, definitely an interesting design.

The good news is, I’m putting in for a promotion at work, the bad news is I would have to relocate if I get it. So right now, I’m simply getting ideas in mind, I’m not going to spend money on anything just yet.

This is a loaded question to be sure, but what’s your opinion on a swap, good, bad, fools errand? Ruining the handling of the car? A swap would kinda those triangles everywhere on the car just seem silly. Thoughts?

Loki

iTrader: (1)

A proper swap done properly is nothing to sneeze at. That's kinda the rub though. V8 RX8's are a well travelled road, you just need to understand what you're getting into and budget appropriately.

Welcome to the addiction

You can also swap an RX7 FD engine in, it's a bit more compatible, but either way, none of these are cheap options to do properly.

KL04

Thanks!

Yeah, and sometimes my ideas don’t always line up with my budget too. I think maybe a good first step would be to get the engine pulled, taken apart and see how bad the carnage is. If the housings, irons, rotors etc look decent, it would make a rebuild look like the logical solution.

CaymanRotary

Unless you have experience in rebuilding, it's far easier and possibly close to the same cost to just source a rebuilt engine. A professionally built motor will make close to stock power around 200hp to the wheels.

KL04

I’m well versed in piston engines, however I’ve not yet had any experience with a rotary. Thanks for letting me know I’ve been checking into it. I found Banzai racing, they are only about an hour away from me. The prices they have on their site are quite reasonable, it does make it a bit hard to justify doing it myself.
I got the engine pulled out, and found coolant in the exhaust ports on the 2nd rotor. From what I’ve read I probably have a blown inner coolant seal and it likely corroded out the water passage?
Im going to leave things sit with it for the time being until I get some things figured out with work.
Ive definitely been eyeing 13b rew swaps, that would be awesome. The good news is, if I don’t get the other position at work, money I’ve been putting back for moving expenses would suddenly become available. Time will tell

CaymanRotary

one thing you can consider if you have the budget is an LFX swap. It’s not a rotary but it will achieve the goals you are setting. If you aren’t familiar with this engine, but want the look of the RX8 with modern performance it seems like the best option out there. Its a swap that I’ve been considering lately because I like the idea of it. Of course it’s much more than an engine swap, but even with a rotary, at some point you will need to upgrade stock components anyways.

https://www.keislerautomation.com/

UnknownJinX

I am not sure how I feel about this swap.

IMO GM's true core competency is exactly at the small blocks. It's only marginally heavier than an LFX, but you get a much wider torque band(the torque you get at 1000 RPM on an LS3 can match or even beat the peak torque of LFX) and the centre of mass is lower(only 1 cam at the bottom vs. 4 cams at the top). It's not "creative", per se, but there is a reason why so many people do it.

Then again, I suppose an LFX is probably a bit cheaper than an LS3 and the running cost will be lower. It's more eager to rev which can be important to some.

I dunno, with an RX-8 I would personally stick with rotaries. Getting a REW swap to do LFX power nowadays shouldn't be a challenge.

CaymanRotary

Agreed. For me it really will be between this or a REW swap. I like this idea better though as it fully modernizes the whole drivetrain. You are using 5 year old parts and engine so I would think reliability and MPG would be a lot better than an old REW rotary engine design. Seems cheaper too as REW engine blocks will need to be rebuilt before installation unless I spend more for an already rebuilt one. Not to mention all the mods that will be needed to get it to work within that $13k budget which I am comfortable with considering I will be DIY'ing it with a mechanic friend of mine. On top of all this, the LFX was widely produced by GM so replacement parts are plentiful and cheap.

UnknownJinX

Yeah, I suppose it makes sense for a more budget-friendly swap as parts will likely be cheaper than a REW or LS3, and well it gives you better torque than RX-8 so that's still something.

CaymanRotary

For me, I'm not super interested in making high horsepower. I'm really looking for a good daily driver build with some extra power and torque. For my budget I think this would fit the bill. It really depends on the application of the car, budget and what your goals are for the swap.

UnknownJinX

Now that I think of it... What about an LS1?

If you are using the car as a daily, having good low-end torque is beneficial. I would imagine the cost would have come down now as well given the age of the engine.

CaymanRotary

Haven't really looked into it as much as I should but also a possibility. Something I'm looking at doing near the end of the year. Of course if I do go this route you can look forward to a build thread.

KL04

There’s certainly no shortage of options that’s for sure. I’ve also entertained the thought of a 2jz Gte swap as well. Plenty of power potential that’s for sure.