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Keisler Automation assembled my car for me two years ago from a 2005 Shinka and 2013 Camaro both of which I bought from Copart. His labor rate was ridiculously low, and he only lives a couple hours from me, so I decided to go with his turnkey option. The 8 had about 115k miles and had destroyed its *third* rotary according to the service history. The 75k-mile Camaro was in a front end collision that broke the main lug in the fuse box; I was able to reconnect it and get it running without issue. I dismantled the Camaro myself and brought Andrew a truckload of parts. Others have done a great job of describing the process with Andrew so I won't bore you with that, but I did not want to attract any unnecessary attention on the road with my build--there are cats going into the stock exhaust, factory Shinka wheels, Tein coilovers, and no track pack. This weekend was the first time I've had it out on a road course... what a blast!
How do you like it and what did you end up paying for the camaro and or drivetrain. If my engine ever goes this is the what I will be doing as well.
I only paid about $2200 delivered for the whole Camaro since it wasn't listed as "runs and drives." It's an incredible car and superior in every way to my Mazdaspeed MX-5, but the turbo somehow makes that one more fun (even if that's WAY more fussy, especially with a Megasquirt). The gauges all work, redline is in the right spot (was an auto RX-8), it passed TN OBD-II emissions as a Camaro, it's comfortable, effortlessly accelerates, feels perfectly balanced, and doesn't attract attention until you open the hood. I'm not a fan of the clutch engagement and dual mass flywheel, but I've gotten used to it. It's not V8 power, but it doesn't need to be. I haven't driven a rotary since a friend had a new one in 2004, so I can't compare to a stock car.
Originally Posted by Laminar
Awesome! Have you personally gotten the car up on some corner scales?
I have not; this is more of a daily driver for me. The track day was an untimed charity event.
This is an interesting conversion story and how you managed to come about it, thanks for sharing. There are a few other Kiesler LFX swaps here. Some are more track oriented and posted in the racing forum.
My own experiences with Andrew Kiesler regarding information and parts purchases have always been exceptional and satisfying as well.
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Looks great! Long time rotary guy who decided to come back to the platform if not the engine. I just brought an 06 Shinka home yesterday and am planning to do the same swap myself. I'll start a thread if I can get approved to do it.
It looks like you went with a center exit exhaust which I was considering. Do you have any videos of it? I'm curious how loud it is with just the two smaller resonators and the one larger one in the back?
It looks like you went with a center exit exhaust which I was considering. Do you have any videos of it? I'm curious how loud it is with just the two smaller resonators and the one larger one in the back?
I actually use the stock muffler out through the stock tips, and the bulges before the Y are cats--not resonators. From the back it looks totally stock and doesn't attract any unwanted attention. Andrew's suggestion was for him to put a larger hole/flange on the muffler and use it as is, and I couldn't be happier with it. Unfortunately I don't have any videos of it in action though.
It looks like you're easily within driving distance of Andrew. His labor charge is so low that I couldn't justify doing the swap myself even though I do have the shop/knowledge to do so. I'm not usually one to recommend paying someone else to tackle projects like this, but in my case, it was worth every penny to have a turnkey monster I can just enjoy.
It's definitely reasonable what he charges. The two issues are that I'm trying to maintain a budget and I haven't had a project in a long time. This is something I can try to involve my son in.
Have you had the setup on a dyno? Just curious how that stock muffler affects power.
07-14-2022, 01:21 PM
