Ruined Fd Rx7 LS1 Swap

Hey guys,
This is my '96 Fds3 type r

After dreaming about owning an rx7 for years i finally managed to find one recently up near standstead
unfortunatly its a rolling shell as this is my only way to get into Fd ownership as the prices of them these days is going up by the day



First thing was to remove the hideous wheels and put my 18" Advan sa3rs on





After a few months of exploring options of what engine to put in i was open to anything
13b engines i saw for sale either had ropey history or needed rebuilding it was an expensive looking minefield
i thought about k20s and sr20s but came across an Ls1 recently imported from new zealand for a reasonable price



its a 5.7L 2006 ls1 from a Holden commadore ss
i offered it up to the engine bay and was horrified at how it didnt look like it would ever fit, absoloutly everything fouled, i started removing bits untill it looked a bit better, sump, engine mounts and most of the brackets off the engine and rack off the car and it slotted in a little better

in the meantime i managed to source some 18" enkei rpf1s off ebay for a bargain





back to the engine, i managed to find a different sump to fit better around the rx7 subframe and also found a pmc gearbox adapter to use a bmw zf box with the engine




bought myself my first proper welder, went for a R-tech mig and tig combo jobby


Made a start on the engine mounting, i didnt fancy paying 2k+ for a swap kit so got some scrap material from work and got cracking











so this is the state of play as of december 18 engines mounted and sits quite well bonnet can close and ive made a start on the gearbox mount

 

So slow progress with Christmas and my mrs being clumsy

Made the gearbox mount and painted the rocker covers

Next is to move the steering rack which I’m dreading

 

Started on the front subframe

I’m using the Mazda chassis mounts to keep the eccentric camber adjustment and to save time

I boxed them off with 6mm plate to add a bit of strength both rears are done for now

Once I box off the front two mounts I’ll join it all together with cds tubing and re mount the steering rack (which is going to be a nightmare)


Also treated myself to a fancy new welding helmet


Happy new year guys

 

Re enforced the gearbox mount t and boxed it in where possible

Made a start on the front subframe mounts plating them with 6mm steel

Plan is to run a cds pipe to link the front mounts and two more to join the rears

Then mount the steering rack off the front bar

From the looks of the test fit I’m going to have to space out the anti roll bars as they’re going to be to close to each other and extend the steering linkage from the rack


The car was accepted to players classic paddock today so I have a nice date to work towards having it finished!