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Re: engine swap in 93 RX-7

To: Dave Hardy <dave2020@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: engine swap in 93 RX-7
From: David Disney <disney7@icx.net>
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 08:05:17 -0400
Dave Hardy wrote:

>IT SUCKS!!!  Actually I haven't messed with a 3rd Gen, but I changed the
>motor in a non turbo 2nd Gen (89) and it was evil.  That engine swap was
>worse than the other 6 put together.  I doubt it gets any easier with 2
>turbos and more stringent emissions standards.
>
>Much of this is due to the fact that there was not a separate engine
>harness.  It was part of the chassis harness.  This meant that the entire
>engine had to be unwired before it could be pulled.  And there are a lot of
>wires.  We labeled all of the connectors and vacuum lines we removed, and
>there were ~90 of them required to pull the motor.  Part of what complicated
>it was the fact that the Intake Manifold was "S" shaped, and bolted together
>in 3 separate pieces with wiring and vacuum lines running in the recesses of
>the "S".  For your sanity's sake, I hope they separated the chassis and
>engine harnesses in the 3G.
>
Eh, all you have to do on the 2nd or 3rd gens is unplug the four 
connectors at the ECU, remove a
bracket holding the harness on the inside of the car, and pull the whole 
harness out (firewall grommet
and all) with the engine. Then you can mount it on a stand and take your 
time moving the manifolds,
wiring, etc, over. Be careful with the oil metering pump lines. They 
tend to get brittle from the engine
heat and will break easily.

This is covered in the Mazda shop manual. You can get the manual from 
Mazdatrix or several other places
for about $50. I highly recommend it.

I can swap a 1st or 2nd gen (non-turbo) engine in about 2.5 hours. The 
3rd gens do take longer because
of the turbos and related pieces. If I take my time it usually takes a 
whole weekend to do one. Also, I
usually also drop the transmission on the 3rd gens as it doesn't take 
much more time and it seems to make
things go easier.

Also, if you're going with a Mazda remanufactured engine they seem to be 
holding up well since Mazda
reamped the rebuild facility a few years ago. I would recommend removing 
the oil pan, cleaning the
surfaces well, and resealing it with RTV (use no gasket at all). They 
all seem to develop leaks if you
don't to that.

   - Dave Disney

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