Hello all,
My coworker is giving me a decent conditioned 84 or 85 B2000 pickup truck for the small fee of some beer and dragging it out of his yard. The engine in it needs to be rebuilt and i had the crazy idea of instead putting a rotary in it.

There seems to be less love for the 13B MSP in general and long blocks/ wrecked Rx8s don't seem too expensive. I however have never attempted something of this magnitude and am at a loss of where to start.

The rough plan:
Seasonal daily driver, I live in Alaska and driving during winter RWD is not an option lol. Under 5k a year. Looking to build a fun summer truck to rip around in at rotary level RPMs and sounds.

13b-MSP - no performance upgrades planned
MT - (5 speed? 6 speed?)
solid rear axle - (ford 8.8 inch?)
aftermarket exhaust
mazdaspeed b2000 emblems (+10hp each easy)

Questions:
Are ebay JDM motors a decent deal for such an endeavor? 2-3k plus shipping to AK

How well would a 13B-MSP deal with the rotational mass of a solid rear?

Should i plan on installing the whole rx8 front subframe?

Am I out of my mind with this build?

Any help, advice, or links is welcome! Thanks!

 

I dont think the Renesis is a great option for this. I would go with an older rotary, maybe one that is carbed for ease of swap. There are too many sensors needed for the Renesis and too many known issues. You also run the risk of a bad engine with a wrecked RX8. I would guess 80%-90% of those cars have bad engines.

Just my two cents.

 

Something like a NA 13b? or even older down to a 12A? Looking around the internet real quick it seems harder to find those engines. As for local sources every once in a blue moon I'll see a NA rx-7 FC around here on Craigs list