V8 RX7 - what's under the hood

A quick walk around of my V8 swapped 1988 RX7 FC.
This video I talk about my FC and show what parts I used and why. This was a very quick video so im sorry for the poor quality. This video does not show everything that was done and I don't list out all of the parts but I get a lot of questions on what iv done with the car so I made this video.
1988 Mazda RX7 FC Base Model.
-1996 Ford Explorer 302 (edelbrock intake, edelbrock carb, MSD ignition system, BBK headers,)
-1985 Mustang T5 rebuilt with carbon synchros
-Centerforce stage 2 clutch
-Full 2.5" exhaust with X pipe (Fart cans)
-5 lug, 4 piston brake swap
-LSD 4.11 rear end swap
-Stainless brake lines
-Modified spindles
-Lowering struts and springs
-No name front swaybar
-Turbo II seats
-Front and rear control arm bushings
-STR racing 606 wheels (18"x8.5" +30)
-225/40R18 tires
-1" spacers in the rear
-Rolled front fenders
-Mustang front lit (2000-2004)
-Custom made side skirts
-PlastiDip fender stripes

[@Zinnshady]

19 rotary purists lmao, so much detail has to be respected! this is an insanely nice build, rotary or whatever, its clean and full of love!

[@Level_Up_Nation]

Just bought a guy Rx7 302 project he got it running, but he got stuck and well now it's my headache. lol 90 Vert. 302, C8 auto Transmission with an 8.8 rear.

[@billramsey3342]

I'll have that you made the whole video and didn't even have to use a bunch of filthy profanity to get your point across. That's awesome. I have an 87 RX-8 and I plan on putting them at 302 in it. This video was so helpful in making my decision for doing that, a yes. Car looks amazing. I'm so glad you left the interior original. I want a cool car but I don't want to strip down with aluminum everywhere and roll bars. Thanks again for the video. Very good job

[@Petrol360]

Thanks man I really appreciate it!! Hope to get a house with a garage soon so I can make some more videos! Really have fun shooting and working on the car!

[@billramsey3342]

Hey thanks for the response. I have subscribed to your Channel, any videos of the car and information would be awesome to watch. It builds my motivation to actually get started on mine. Thanks again have an awesome blessed rest of the weekend.

[@Petrol360]

Absolutely man thanks !

[@lowboosted6663]

Bill Ramsey I Have a 1982 1ST GEN. EX7 FB WITH A 5.0 302 In it

[@billk9628]

I have an RX12 with a Smith and Wesson conversion! Does it sound like a rotary? Seriously? You are a douche! Nobody has an RX8! Made in 1987! You are a douche!

[@chevcam92]

Nice, nice job bro, I love when people think outside the box

[@Petrol360]

Thanks man! Its been a fun build!

[@thercf16guy35]

As much as I love the rotary I plan to swap mine bc I don't have the money to maintain a rotary

[@billk9628]

Not sure how serious you are about the car, but! Joel at Ronan speed works will set you up, if you pony down the bucks! I was part of the original builds of the 8.8 conversion in these cars. Just do it! Back in the day, some of us were working with back yard machinists, and some had access to C&C stuff. My car was LS1 powered with a 4L60E trans, I tried the mazda 929 shafts, and after the letdown, went to the 8.8 conversion. I had 3:23 gears, tire smoking for as long as I wished,,,and ran 12 flat on Hoosiers!You guys do what you will, but this has been proven over and over by V8RX7club, and norotors.com!

[@lesheath6216]

Everyone isn't into knuckle dragging their cars in the 1/4 mile. PS automatics are for women who can't drive a manual.

[@tylerwerner6413]

Love your videos, gives me motivation to finish my 88 that I'm also putting an explorer 302 in!

[@Petrol360]

Do it man! Got to get under the hood and get work done! Make sure to take tons of photos and videos!

[@RoubidouxCreekOutdoors]

I need some help, I have a 1985 RX7 with a Chevy small block swap, 650 Holley , having fuel system issues . How did you run the fuel system? I’m taped into the factory fuel system but it’s not getting the pressure and volume it needs for the v8. Any help would be appreciated

[@acruz40d]

Hello, I’m planning to swap my 1987 gxl Rx7 for a 302 mustang engine; I wanted to ask you if you changed the rear end in your car, and if you did, what you swapped it for?

[@dudefranco225]

Howd you get all the stock interior wiring too work? Like headlights tailights, wipers

[@johnbrakingground]

Love the Ford motor. So many people use a SBC. The Ford sounds better in my opinion. See the efi vid. I'm doing a similar swap but into a 2009 Jeep wrangler.

[@Petrol360]

Thanks man! Ya the SBC fits in the RX7 better because of the oil pan but I really like the SBF. I was born into a ford family so that,s what I know best. I have not done a video on the EFI yet, but im not as impressed after driving it for a while. Need to get a video out soon.

[@whitebeardadventures9208]

great job on the 5 liter swap...where did you get the small air cleaner, I need one for my old truck...Dave

[@alfonsomolina9143]

i want to to do swap on my rx7 but for now i just want to have it stock i have 13 b engine and i want to put 350 ingene could i used the same transmission from my rx7 fc to the 350 engine they say they have adapter does any body now about that

[@cr1m1na1]

my left ear really enjoyed this! also love the car

[@jeremyc.1822]

Nice. I would find a better air cleaner assembly for it though. That one looks like it would be very restrictive.

[@randyrigsby8907]

You may have said and I missed it but is that your factory independent rear end? My father and I have installed a mildly built 351 Windsor in an 87’ convertible. We still have a lot of work to do but the motor is in, it’s running and drivable but we’ve only driven it out of the shop and down the driveway and back into the shop. It feels and sounds like it’s going to be a very sketchy ride. Supposedly the factory rear ends can handle a solid 500 hp without tearing apart. I just wanted someone to give a second opinion who has actual experience. The plan is to install a narrowed 9” but we just want to cruise around in it now without breaking down and without breaking the bank.

[@Petrol360]

From my experience the standard rear ends are not very strong. I was always worried about breaking stub shafts with a stock 302 (but never did). I kept a few spares just incase. I bought some parts from someone with a 2.3T ford swapped car and he broke a few. But the turbo II rear ends are much stronger and a good upgrade. They have different diffs and axles. But if you are planning on drag racing or being really hard on the car I would solid axle swap it. Also gear ratios are very limited with the factory diffs.

[@chrisgreene573]

Bro...can this swap be done for under 3,000 bucks ...

[@Petrol360]

It can be done for free if someone gives you the parts. I did a lot of supporting mods and rebuilding the trans ect. Any swap can be done cheap and the sky is the limit as far as cost go.

[@זהסודי-ה7מ]

As cool as this build is, I cannot seem to understand the reason that any single owner slaps on a V8 on an RX7

[@rafaelalmo]

Agree... that's abomination... not hating on the engine or the clean build but those swaps for me doesn't make sense on any RX, we need to save all those magnificent creatures from outer cosmos space. "Love for rotary engines "

[@RXKevin13b]

Looks awesome bro!!

[@laurafinley1245]

thats pretty dope ride man, nice job

[@corsicabud]

What slave cylinder did you use?

[@swide2750]

my left ear enjoyed this very much

[@NoSleepRacing]

I bet that filter is killing 30+ hp

[@chrisluthi4804]

my granny kit sits so much higher. im super jelly and it doesnt fit that well

[@Petrol360]

Ya I had to space the sub-frame from the body to get the motor to sit that low. The 302 doesn't fit as well as the SBC does just because of the front sump oil pan.

[@boobsthechemist2067]

Cool car, cool owner 😎 👌

[@hunterross9615]

I am wanting to buy one of these, it has no interior, bigass butterfly air cleaner, c4 transmission, 302 foxbody engine carbed, and I'm just wondering for 5k if it's worth it? If anyone can give me some insight on it that'd be great. I have a 1980 Fiat 124 Spider rn and I definitely need something with more power

[@skyboerema5888]

saw that truck on marketplace

[@badasspearldrummer]

I run nothing but holley.never had a problem with them.and i can rebuild them in 10 min or so. Ive never seen anyone with edelbrock carbs at the strip.but i also dont have experience with drifting.my car goes straight only. I want to do another 59 impala but this one will be a road car.see if i can get these big bitches to corner decently.i grew up drag and street racing in so cal but oregon has alot of fun back country roads where i live now. In due time though. Still got alot to do on the current project.are they ever really done? Lol

[@kennethtasker7089]

do you need a front sub frame for to do the swap

[@Petrol360]

I used granny speeds motor mounts, they use the stock subframe from the rx7. So yes you need a subframe but just the factory one. Hope this helps!

[@bbgbeast7444]

i port my own heads

[@xmassol-_-pr1438]

Sounds about white

[@jordanlong269]

I see it for sale on Facebook lol

[@Petrol360]

Yep time to move on from one project to another.

[@Tiltymilk]

why is this in my recommended 😶

[@bbgbeast7444]

built my motor

[@Garagehiroko]

How much travel does your clutch fork have? I just installed mine and it seems like it only moves about an inch with the clutch fully pressed in. I have the same Master you sent me and a 7/8 slave. Do you think that will be enough to disengage? Sorry I lost the email thread lol

[@Petrol360]

Ya there is not a whole lot of throw on the clutch fork. I used a bolt and washer to move my push rod more to the center of the clutch fork so it would give me a bit more throw. It was just enough, I was just under the car the other day adjusting the clutch because I could feel it dragging a little. Wish I could have grabbed a pic for you. Make sure the slave is 100% bottomed out so you can use all of the throw, move the push rod more to the center of the fork, Make sure you have all the clutch pedal movement that you can. That should get you in the ball park.

[@ChickenJoe50]

Are you located in N.C.? I like to visit for an interview

[@frankhunt9006]

I love the car... good job bro

[@Petrol360]

Thanks man! Its been a ton of fun and its only going to get better from here!

[@epoxeclipse]

Nice swap, maybe go efi later and that would be perfect.

[@mooch9989]

hi, cool swap, but i have a question. how did you wire up the engine to the car? i'm planning on doing a taurus SHO swap on an FC someday but the bigges PITA is gonna be the wiring harness. the 5.0 and SHO use the same computer system, the EEC-IV system. is there any compatibility at all or was the harness all custom work? thanks, please respond.

[@Petrol360]

I didn’t use the factory ford efi, i ran a carb and then a fitech efi system. But grannyspeed shop sells motor mounts, trans mounts ect for the swap and the detail how to wire the ford motor to the mazda pretty well definitely check them out they are an amazing reference.

[@mooch9989]

@@Petrol360 thanks man

[@tylerwickenhagen7209]

So what kind of problems did you run in with the motor mounts ?

[@sideekatahir]

👌💯

[@Qaasim830]

Nice video! Loved it man keep it up answered my questions about this illustrious car, I think it's funny I have the SAME situation you had with your car about getting a rotary with a bunch of missing parts and just ripping it out to go v8 and my v8 didn't include the electronics so now I have to go carb'd hahaha. Also what's with the mounts not working you're not the only person to say that. When i jump on the forum and look up info on the swap from people in the past they said they don't fit properly, what happened with your build that required a bit of modification?

[@Petrol360]

So the motor mounts that granny speed said would fit did not, there is two difrent style of that motor mount for the 302. Neither fit so I had to use one of each and then it fit. I could have drilled out the motor mounts and made it work but I didn't want to. The trans mount however was way off and took a lot of drilling to get it to fit. But I think there T5 mount is for the sn95 T5 which is a bit shorter then all other T5's. The carb isn't to bad but im going EFI really soon and im going to do a video on that as well.

[@randyrigsby8907]

Granny’s Speed Shop has motor mounts but you have to know which motor the mounts are for. We used some C-channel steel we had laying around and a little tubing and made our own mounts for our 351 Windsor. It took some time but ended up perfect. The biggest reason we fabbed our mounts was for clearance and not finding what we needed. With a full size air filter the hood will close without having to cut a scoop into it. Although it doesn’t sound like a sleeper it appears factory, apart from the 12” rear tires. We also fabbed flares in the quarters just for those wheels and tires. The wheels are the American Racing 5 spoke. Still debating on flaring the fronts so it looks like wide body but it’s also more work added when we are trying to finish it.

[@Spaklyworm13]

Is it worth buying the granny speed kit or should I just make my own mounts. I have an FC with a 5.0 i would like to swap into it as well haha

[@Petrol360]

If you have a welder and some steal and you know what you are doing I would just make my own. But the granny speed kit is really nice it just didn't fit with the motor mounts that they said it would. So something was bent or in correct somewhere. Also the power steering lines have to be moved and it was a bit of a pain.

[@lesheathjr4494]

You're better off buying a Ronin Swap kit and put an LS based engine in it. The 4.8 engine starts off at 270hp.

[@jackperry9369]

Nice build man love it

[@trexler666]

i hit subscribe button for golden rims

[@mikegiles5038]

Nice ride man

[@Petrol360]

Thanks man! Its been a ton of fun to build!

[@mikegiles5038]

Petrol360 I'm a big fan of anything different..Go on Speedhunters search bar..and put in Fc rx7 Ford swap.. A nice on was featured years ago... Nice car keep up the good work man.. 👍

[@Petrol360]

Ya the purple one? Iv talked to the guy a while back. He doesn’t have the car anymore but was cool to talk to him.

[@mikegiles5038]

Petrol360 yeah I saw he was selling it years ago.. Great car though.

[@venom17a]

no room for a fan for engine I C, wicked tight in there! giant turbo now to side :D

[@Petrol360]

There is a 12” fan on the back of the radiator. But you are right not much room. I can make a lot of room but don’t want to cut up the car. Trying to keep as much of it there as I can so someone could take it back to rotary if they really wanted to.

[@slimthedipp8280]

Find a turbo 2 hood it can help a little with engine temps

[@mikewalker6016]

Smashing the car head first into a tree will also help

[@_Shotbyrick]

How did you get your speedometer to work? I have 302 build and want to know how .

[@Petrol360]

I used a mustang cable and fed it into the back of the mazda gauge using a hose clamp. The mustang cable slides over the threads of the mazda gauge and i cut a slot in the speedo cable so that I could pinch the threads with the hose clamp. I used cj pony parts to calculate what speedo gear I needed and it worked great for 10,000 then my speedo died. Don’t think it was to blame on the cable iv heard they tend to die when they get old.

[@_Shotbyrick]

@@Petrol360 thank you

[@lowboosted6663]

I can't get mine to work eather I got aftermarket Oil , Temperature & My Rpms Gauge (all Working well but just can't get my speedometer to work) (I have an 82 FB WITH A 302 5.0)

[@Petrol360]

Try a mustang cable, it won’t fit the stock rx7 gauge you have to modify it a little but it was an easy job and worked well until the speedo died.

[@Garagehiroko]

I've watched all of your videos man! Very well put together as always. I've been waiting for this for a long time lol. I've been slowly building a 91 s5 with a 90 302 EFI for about 6 months. I have some questions for you. I plan to drift mine exclusively though.

[@Petrol360]

Man I wish mine was an S5! What kinda questions do you have?

[@Garagehiroko]

The first one I am worried about it the oil pan. I was told to get a baffled oil pan for drifting like a canton or something but i want to know if its necessary or if you run the stock oil pan. Also will a canton or the stock one I have even fit the Granny Speed shop?

[@Petrol360]

A canton pan may fit the only thing you have to worry about is the front sump thats where the clearance is tight. I don't run any baffles in my pan. NCHoonigan drifts a foxbody a lot and I don't think he runs one. Shoot him a comment and ask he is good with helping people out with questions. I am planning on running an oil cooler. My motor seems to get heat soaked and I start to loose a bit of power.

[@Garagehiroko]

Right on. I also was wondering if you'd do a video on how you converted the clutch to hydro. Was it easy? I want to do a hydro clutch too. And did you get the driveshaft from Grannys too? I'm planning on getting a kit with the driveshaft.

[@Petrol360]

I don't know if ill do a video on it any time soon. It was pretty easy, just a wilwood 1-1/8" master cylinder and a toyota truck like 91-93. You have to weld a bracket with the toyota slave but a miata slave also works and may be easier for you. If you want I can email you some photos of what I have. My drive shaft was kinda funky, I actually found a used one from someone that was running a ford 2.3 turbo and a t5. It kinda worked but it was to short so I ended up having to take it to a shop and have a custom one made. I would call a shop and get a quote and see how much they charge vs just having a custom one made.

[@jmen14yt94]

yo I'm also doing a v8 on my rx7 fc

[@tommygibson9515]

Gave ya a thumbs down out of principle, but nice ride tho, bet it's fun to drive and probably saved your self a shitton of cash not going rotor.. but still rotor all the way

[@RXKevin13b]

First! Lol 😂

[@Petrol360]

You win!

[@proficientbeezy]

Can I get your email for some questions about to do this exact swap

[@Petrol360]

Hey man iv got my email on the about page on my KZbin channel page. Shoot me an email id love to help!