VQ35DE (350z) swapped FC RX7

The rest of the oil pan parts didn't make it before the weekend, looks like the project is delayed anot her week.

Bummer! I know its been hard to wait on parts for me. I also want to see your dual caliper setup, don't think my car would be a drift car but who knows I could be the next Ken Block! but more than likely ill do a few spins break A axle and decided drifting is not worth the broken parts and time to fix it.

Yeah haha, it's the name of the game... in any form of racing.

So, after installing the rest of the oil pan parts, we lowered the engine into the bay with fingers crossed. Long story short, with the lower oilpan sitting on the ground & crossmember, the engine still sits 2-3" high out of the bay. the plan is to modify the oil pan and unfortunately probably going to have to cowl the hood. Raised the engine, still too close for comfort. Probably going to V band the headers. 2" high, without the upper plenum on.

WOW that motor is massive! That makes my little 5.0L look like a little toy. It crazy how much larger over head valve motors are rather than push rod motors. Looks good though and looks like there is a lot of work to come. Just out of curiosity how much power are you expecting to get out of this build? I know you said you had some friends that were into these motors so im not expecting it to remain stock unlike my build.

Also how much angle do your spindles give you? I have a spare set of spindles and I work for a hot rod suspension shop and we shorten steering arms for some of the older cars and im thinking about doing it to my spare set of spindles for faster steering and if I ever do drift ill have more angle to save myself from completely spinning out.

In reply to Skervey:

My spindles with a 15" wheel will get me 72° of angle.... which is absurd. It's like forklift turning radius. I'm running 18's so I'll have less, but they're low offset so it shouldn't be too bad. Yeah, I was supprised at the size of it too, I plan on staying NA this year and next winter building it. Ideally id like to be around 500hp, or more in the end which is definately doable with these engines. rods are weak after 400hp, but other than that there is not much to worry about.

Motor and tranny mounts are done, I'll just post a couple pics and elaborate later. Both previous pictures are the drivers side solid motor mount. This is the passenger side Passenger side tranny mount Drivers side, almost finished

you chop off the bottom of the pan, weld on a plate of aluminum to cover the hole and shorten the oil pickup tube as needed.

In reply to chiodos:

Yeah, that's the plan. Probably going to be cutting the pan next weekend and starting the wiring. As it sits, the pan is an inch off the ground.

I see why pushrod engines are so good. The low rooflines are no joke with some sports cars. I would suggest looking at an affordable used dry sump from a 350Z racer, but it probably doesn't exist.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

Yeah, I've searched high and low for an affordable new or used dry sump, and so far it doesn't exist. $2500 is about the cheapest one.

Sounds like good progress. I just love how fixing one issue on my build just leads to another. But looks good, can't wait to see the finished product.

Once again the project had to be put on a couple month hold. Its all wired up now, and all thats left is driveline, exhaust, and radiator! The oil pan is still 1.5" off the ground which will need to be addressed.

Sweet! Iv have been keeping my fingers crossed that this project was still going!

So, just thought id bump this as its finally going under the knife again. Life happened and I haven't been able to work on it for over a year. Pictures and info tonight. There is still pleanty of work left, a radiator and driveshaft are all it needs to be running amd driving. Sorry for the 3 year build thread haha!

Hey no worries, Better to have a wait on build threads than to abandon it without reason! Too many that I have read start strong and disappear. Cool project keep up the quality work, also your motor mounts look like they could use more tie in to the frame/unibody but I don't know that chassis, just an internet opinion.

You ever get the oilpan off the ground?

In reply to meareweird: Yeah, maybe the pictures dont do it justice, its pretty damn rigid. I guess we'll see if it can handle the torque...I've been needing an excuse to tube the front anyways ...And all the fabrication credit goes to my buddy Jeremy, he does good work.

In reply to NOHOME:

Not yet, thats part of the reason the project was haulted. I think were going to end up cutting it. Dry sumping is kind of out of the question for now.

Nice this is the 2nd RX7 swap build thread that came back to life tonight! Man I need to get mine back on the road!Really looking forward to hear this car always loved the VQ sound!

Sadly, this is how it sat for the last year or so (on crappy spares)" /> <img src="" /> After trying to work with the sun warped BN Sports (likely knockoff) wide-body fenders, I gave up and sold them. The plan was to just buy some new BN Sports or Shine Auto fenders, but I found that the Ronin Speedworks Wide fenders are still being made. The only problem is that they are 85mm fronts and 80mm wide rears and I dont know if my wheel offset is low enough fill them out, but that's the direction i'm headed. (here is a picture stolen from RoninSpeedWorks.net of the widebody)

First things first though, the oil pan, fuse box, radiator, driveshaft, fuel cell, and hydro e-brake all will have to be addressed before the purchase of aesthetic parts. Since my last update, not much has happened other than interior paint, exhaust, and more parts in the mail. As it is now, and some more parts I've got.... Before paint-<img src="" /> After Paint- <img src="" /><img src="" /> Ron Francis Wiring Bare Bonez Fuse Box- <img src="" /> Ron Francis Wiring Switch Panel- <img src="" /> <img src="" /> AEM Guages- <img src="" /> Slip joint from the header to full exhaust-<img src="" /> Y-pipe- <img src="" />

<img src="" /> <img src="" /> <img src="" /> The exhaust was done by a local shop, we'll see how it sounds... the glasspack back is somewhat temporary, as I might want to muffle it more, and go bigger when forced induction happens, whenever that is haha.

Not sure why some of the HTML is visible when I post pictures either. Just ignore it.

Man that looks like some really good work! That wiring harness looks like a really nice pice. One thing I hate it running wires.

Ya can't wait to hear what it sounds like. I guess it would be similler to straight through? The glass packs don't do that much to the sound IMHO.

Bumping for more progress soon... It's back on the priority list haha!

Very cool!