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Decided to go ahead and start this swap thread. You'll have to be patient with me as this swap isn't going to happen over night. I have a wife and 4 daughter's, so time can be limited some days. But my goal is to have this completed by March and ready to tune. I'm going to try to be as detailed as I can on this swap for the benefit of others, and I don't want this to be just another dead end thread within this forum (or another forum) with a severe lack of information. Anyway, Lets get this started.......
I have chosen to do this swap using as much Mazda stuff as I can. So this means everything from the transmission back. But I "WILL NOT" be using the Aisin 6 Speed, this transmission is made of glass and I don't need that drama in my life. SO....... What is the next logical step, The JDM 5 Speed Rx8 Gear Box (R Box). This is the EXACT gearbox that the FD Rx7 came with, with some minor difference's. Obviously the push clutch design and the tail housing is the 2 first noticeable differences. On the inside not much has changed with the exception of 5th gear. The FD Box had a 5th gear ratio of .719, the Rx8 Box is .806. Information can be found here : MAZDA RX-8 | ABA-SE3P / CBA-SE3P | September, 2008
If you are on a budget, and want as much strength and reliability as you can get, this is the way to go.
What I will be using to mate the engine to the gear box is an adapter/flywheel combo from PMC MotorSports out of Poland. It is designed to be used with a Automatic 1JZ Flex Plate behind the flywheel(Note, you will need the factory spacer that goes between the 1JZ crank and the flex plate). It will set you back about $900 Shipped, before UPS emails you and hits you up with another $40 in duty charges or they wont deliver your package. The clutch you have to use with this flywheel so far, is another European Special. I have been unable to find it this side of the pond. An interesting side note is that these self adjusting clutches can be rebuilt. No pictures of the clutch yet as it is still between Poland and here (Pics to come). The clutch is from a BMW Diesel SACHS Self Adjusting Clutch Part # 3000-951-952. You have to buy the whole clutch just for the pressure plate as that is all you need. The stock throw out bearing and your choice of Mazda 1x23x240mm clutch disk can be used. I have chosen Comp Clutch Part # 381087-0620 6 Puck Rigid Ceramic. This setup should hold almost 600 Ft Lbs of Trq. The R Box will break before the clutch does
I"ll get back to the Flywheel/Adapter/Clutch stuff when the actual clutch gets into my hands.
The engine is a 1JZ-GTE Non VVTi converted to single turbo. This engine is a front sump which will not work. Among other things that will not work, On the engine is a "Hunk O ****" Chinese turbo manifold that the previous owner decided to weld a T3 Flange on top of a T4. And it looks like PoOoO.........
I have all ready sourced the correct rear sump oil pan. This engine has 1000cc injectors and a Precision 6765
Just got the clutch in the mail today. Also my JZA80 motor mount brackets came in as well. Still waiting on some more parts, but for now, its back to taking the car apart.
Time for a little update. Got the engine and 6 speed transmission out, 5 speed transmission in, cut out the battery tray cross member and removed the majority of the wiring. Also went ahead and dropped the steering rack down as it needs to be relocated anyway.
Pictures of progress :
The Steering and Suspension components needed came from Stephen @ LS1RX8 : More updates and pictures to come on this as I progress.
Oil Cooler : I will be using one of the factory Rx8 Oil Coolers in conjunction with a Circuit Sports Oil Filter Block with built in 180 degree T-Stat. The oil cooler I will be using will be the drivers side cooler as it is the closest to the oil filter assembly on the engine which would require the shortest length of hose to be used. Now the Rx8 oil coolers have built in thermostats, and there is no need to have a 180 degree T-Stat in the oil filter block and a 200 degree T-Stat in the oil cooler. I have gutted the thermostat and blocked off the bypass port in the factory Rx8 cooler. If anyone would like a detailed "how to" on this just let me know, and I will make a new thread on bypassing the oil cooler thermostats. Its pretty simple.
Everything is looking real good. The 1JZ may be one of the most underrated engines and can rev damn near as high as the 13b-MSP engine with twice the torque.
Everything is looking real good. The 1JZ may be one of the most underrated engines and can rev damn near as high as the 13b-MSP engine with twice the torque.
I agree. I will have some more updates and pictures coming soon. Everything has been real slow rolling due to the holidays and waiting on parts. I have run into a slight annoyance (To Me Anyway). Now that the engine is bolted in place permanently, I have found that the Rx8 5 Speeds shifter is not offset to the left like the Aisin 6 Speed is. So even though the transmission is in the exact position, the shifter does not sit dead center in the car. It sits about 3/4-1in to the passenger side. So shifting through the gears 1-4 are just fine, but shifting into 5th, Your hand will foul out on the Emergency Brake preventing you shifting into 5th unless, you use the palm of your hand to put it in 5th. The only explanation i can think of is, since this tranny was only in a RHD car, Mazda just said F it, good enough. Because sitting in the passenger seat and shifting it from there, you never notice.
I think you may be overthinking it. I have the 5-speed and my 5th gear gets about 1 inch away from the emergency brake when shifting, but rests about 1.5 inches away once in gear. I'm sure my hand scrapes against that lever every time I go into 5th, but I have never literally given it a second though until just now..... I didn't even know there was a difference... Damn You!
Last edited by strokercharged95gt; 12-05-2018 at 04:59 PM.
I think you may be overthinking it. I have the 5-speed and my 5th gear gets about 1 inch away from the emergency brake when shifting, but rests about 1.5 inches away once in gear. I'm sure my hand scrapes against that lever every time I go into 5th, but I have never literally given it a second though until just now..... I didn't even know there was a difference... Damn You!
Sorry lol. But yes there is clearly a difference. Its just one of those things that once you see, you cant un-see.
The picture of the 5 speed isnt as good but you get the picture.
Im sure there is a real fancy extended length short throw FD3S shifter that would fix the issue, but I have bigger and better things to worry about at the moment than the shifter. It will probably be the last thing i worry about, like, once I start driving it again and it starts to annoy the **** out of me.
Sorry it has been a while on an update. The engine is finally bolted down permanently, so here are some pictures of the motor mounts. I had to slightly modify what I got from Steven at LS1 RX8. Something from his setup vs mine was different, and it would not sit on the mounts correctly. Mine set about 1.5 or so further back, reason is still unknown at this time.
I have my reservations on the motor mount setup. The motor mounts are made of Delrin and my thoughts are that its going to be extremely harsh. Once it is all said and done, I may have to go back and make some changes. Anyway, I have been mostly focusing on wiring the last couple weeks. But in that time I did figure out my throttle body solution. I was hoping to use the RX8 throttle body in the beginning, but the more I looked at it and tried to adapt it to the 1jz intake manifold, it just was not a feasible solution. The 74mm Rx8 Throttle body is just to big to try to make work on the 1jz intake manifold which is 60mm. So, back when i used to do the Subaru thing, I remembered that the Forester/Wrx shared the throttle body connector 06-09. So i purchased a 2007 forester throttle body to give it a shot. Here is a picture of the 2 throttle bodies.
The Subaru throttle body lines up pretty good with the 1jz intake manifold all things considered. There is still some port matching that needs to be done on the intake manifold, which isnt an issue as the 1jz manifold as plenty of meat on it. The top bolt hole on the Subaru throttle body will need to be drilled out to fit the 1jz throttle body studs, and will need to drill and tap the manifold for the lower 2 bolts. Also, a spacer from torque solutions will need to be used as the the throttle body electronics will foul out on the manifold and not sit flush without it.
You can see the top holes have been drilled in the spacer, and there is some port matching that needs to be done. Port matching complete. Just need to drill and tap bottom holes. Done and installed on manifold.
Nice build thread so far. In regard's to Stephen's swap mounts...
I was under the impression that his mounts would only line up with the engine appropriately if a R154 gearbox was used in the JZ swap. Perhaps this is the reason why the mounts didn't end up working out perfectly for you.
Or perhaps he makes special mounts for swaps using the RX8 transmission? Please let me know. I've been researching this swap and I think I'm going to be following your method a bit here.
Nice build thread so far. In regard's to Stephen's swap mounts...
I was under the impression that his mounts would only line up with the engine appropriately if a R154 gearbox was used in the JZ swap. Perhaps this is the reason why the mounts didn't end up working out perfectly for you.
Or perhaps he makes special mounts for swaps using the RX8 transmission? Please let me know. I've been researching this swap and I think I'm going to be following your method a bit here.
I have spent quite a bit of time talking with Steven on FB Messenger and Via phone on this matter. The first time we talked before I ever bought anything, he said that everything should fit. Got the kit and it was not quite up to snuff as far as fitment. He didn't know why it didn't work correctly, according to him he used the same adapter as me ( I know he did because he sent pictures) to mock up his mounts when he first toyed with the 1JZ. And i know he swapped to Supra/Soarer mounts somewhere down the line. There could be allot of reasons why. But what matters is, Steven did his best to make the situation right, all the way down to making me new sub frame mounts trying to get it to fit correctly. He made mention of building another 1JZ car like this to solve any future issues. In the end I ended up modifying the first set of plates and stands he sent which was really no big deal at all. Only thing that I'm unsure about at this point is the Delrin mounts that come with the kit. Well....LOL, with just the starter turning the engine over, you can hear it vibrating/resonating loudly in the cabin. I can only imagine what it would be like running. Im currently working on a Poly Solution to dumb things down a bit. If that is unsuccessful, then Ill go another route.
I have spent quite a bit of time talking with Steven on FB Messenger and Via phone on this matter. The first time we talked before I ever bought anything, he said that everything should fit. Got the kit and it was not quite up to snuff as far as fitment. He didn't know why it didn't work correctly, according to him he used the same adapter as me ( I know he did because he sent pictures) to mock up his mounts when he first toyed with the 1JZ. And i know he swapped to Supra/Soarer mounts somewhere down the line. There could be allot of reasons why. But what matters is, Steven did his best to make the situation right, all the way down to making me new sub frame mounts trying to get it to fit correctly. He made mention of building another 1JZ car like this to solve any future issues. In the end I ended up modifying the first set of plates and stands he sent which was really no big deal at all. Only thing that I'm unsure about at this point is the Delrin mounts that come with the kit. Well....LOL, with just the starter turning the engine over, you can hear it vibrating/resonating loudly in the cabin. I can only imagine what it would be like running. Im currently working on a Poly Solution to dumb things down a bit. If that is unsuccessful, then Ill go another route.
I've been aware of Stephen's products and was always under the impression his parts were underwhelming for the price you pay for them. If you were to redo this again, would you have had a fabricator make the parts you bought from him? I mean, for 550 bucks, he better send a proper motor-mount.
I was planning on doing the exact same thing you've done, minus outsourcing the work to a fabricator when it comes to motor mounts and possibly the suspension modifications. Right now, I'm pretty convinced I'll be going with a custom mount but would like to know what you think of the suspension correction parts that Stephen provides.
So here are some pictures on the steering components installed. I made another adjustment to the steering shaft extension because I just didn't trust it (And I may be a tad OCD).
Needed to drill the top 1/16th of an inch of so the new tie rod would fit. This steering adapter was not a direct bolt on. The extension shaft was cut to fit, Didn't Trust the Allen screws so it got some welds once it was the right length.
I've been aware of Stephen's products and was always under the impression his parts were underwhelming for the price you pay for them. If you were to redo this again, would you have had a fabricator make the parts you bought from him? I mean, for 550 bucks, he better send a proper motor-mount.
I was planning on doing the exact same thing you've done, minus outsourcing the work to a fabricator when it comes to motor mounts and possibly the suspension modifications. Right now, I'm pretty convinced I'll be going with a custom mount but would like to know what you think of the suspension correction parts that Stephen provides.
Well, there was more $ involved than $550. But, looking back, as far as the motor mounts are concerned, I would have just bought the Sub-Frame Plate Kit and made my own mounts (And I still may). They are pretty well made and cut on a water jet, so they look nice. But when he fixes the fitment issue, it should be a non issue. They steering kit was okay. I personally didn't care for the angle it left the sway bar links in, and ended up going to some adjustable ones and made some supported extensions for the control arm side, which I'm still not to fond of, but it will have to do for the moment (I'll add some pictures soon). And the Steering Shaft Extension I ended up welding because I did not trust the Allen screws.
10-21-2018, 08:21 PM
. The clutch you have to use with this flywheel so far, is another European Special. I have been unable to find it this side of the pond. An interesting side note is that these self adjusting clutches can be rebuilt. No pictures of the clutch yet as it is still between Poland and here (Pics to come). The clutch is from a BMW Diesel SACHS Self Adjusting Clutch Part # 3000-951-952. You have to buy the whole clutch just for the pressure plate as that is all you need. The stock throw out bearing and your choice of Mazda 1x23x240mm clutch disk can be used. I have chosen Comp Clutch Part # 381087-0620 6 Puck Rigid Ceramic. This setup should hold almost 600 Ft Lbs of Trq. The R Box will break before the clutch does 
