I have bought an rx8 for less than a tv...
Engine is out and waiting to be rebuilt.
before i shell out for new seals just wanted to float an idea.
Nissan silvia ca 18 engine.
final drive is similar.
I've been researching this for years so im well aware of throwing out the balance etc.
i can make the electronics work and before anyone starts flaming me on price just have a look at tjese figures. ..
For 500 euro...600 dollars ish i can get a ca18
crossmember. Engine .Gearbox .Turbo .Loom Stainless exhaust .Propshaft Gearbox mount. Micro tec programmable ecu .
id have to get engine mounts and a frankenstein exhaust....no problem there.
thoughts.
don't flame me ..and I've done a search. ..
keep in mind ill be less than a grand in ...With a program able ecu

 

Let's say you make the cabin electronics work, which is the hard part in all of this, it's not exactly a step up in power. If you're going to spend the time and money, why not an SR20? The mounting points should be the same and gearbox fitment will be similar.

 

Because i have access to the complete running gear of a ca18...which was set up to be programmed for anything it will go into.
(for basically nothing ).
An sr20 will cost me a fortune. ..which defeats the purpose of not rebuilding the rotary...
and im not in this for the power...
price...
because its interesting and not my msin driver.
Here's my criteria. ..
a beautifully handling unreliable rotary.
or a cheap high powered reliable unit that won't **** itself every 40.000miles...
I've been through 2 rotary engines...and yes...i did everything possible to maintain them
​​​​​​​

 

Out of curiosity how much easier is an sr20 to fit...

 

I dunno, but if you can drop an SR- into a CA- chassis without fabrication, I'm betting it's the same amount of work to fit either engine into the RX8. That's sort of my point, if you're doing to do the same work, may as well do it for a more deserving engine. But if that's not your goal, that's fine too.

Sorry about your luck with the rotaries.

 

I guess you can look at it as a staged roll-out.

Get the fabrication and electronics working with the CA18 and then when you find a good SR20 in your price range then you can upgrade.

My question is why are you doing an engine swap to save money? The likelihood of that working out is a low-probability scenario. It's never as easy as it seems and I wouldn't trust a donor engine as cheap as the one you found that also includes all of those extra parts in working order.

At the very least, the fabrication and electronics will take many hours and have significant hidden costs.

I could see if you were just doing it for the theoretical reliability. You might save money and headache in the long-term by paying a little more of both up front.

 

Worst idea ever. And there have been a **** ton of ridiculous swap ideas.

 

Lol. So.. the CA18 is 600mm high. The Renesis is 338mm high. Hope you like rain in your cam gears :/

 

I feel like this should be an Alanis Morrisette song...

"It's like raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain on your overhead cam!"

 

^ I just sang that out loud. It works.

 

The parts are good. ..no doubt about that...
As you said. ..fabrication of parts will be an issue. ..my friend has an industrial metal working shop so that will cut costs but he hasn't got the equipment to say balance a prop shaft for example.
its reliability and fuel consumption vs the beautiful balancing of the rotary engine. .
im going to be doing heavy work etheir way...rebuild rotary or make a piston engine fit in the bay...so i don't really care once im committed the path i take. ..
im well aware of the fact its a tall engine. ..ive measured the bell housing. And the gearbox tunnel. The rotary more or less sits under the car...
No piston engine is going into that aperture so its accepted a piston engine will sit high.
The reason im drawn to this particular ca 18
is this. .
reliable as hell...programmable ecu that doesn't have security protocol /chipped key ignition that will need a Microsoft programmer to by pass..
The engine in question was set to be adjusted to any car electronically.

 

Ah **** it ill just rebuild the rotary on my bench...i drove another rx8 today. ...forgot about the zero body roll....there's no other car that drives like it...
​​​​​​​ill take the oil burner to work. ..keep the rebuilt rotary beast for play...**** reliability 😂

 

Have you guys seen this rx8 with honda k20 running on standard rx8 ecu...

 

Wow it starts. And no way it is running solely on the RX-8 ECU.

 

So that's why the ECU has tables for VTAKK...

 

lol ...

 

Back in running like a swiss watch
​​​​​​​Just to as an update to the original project i rebuilt the original engine.
pulled it out ...and having read a lot of bad reviews of atkins customer service i chose to have the engine rebuilt by the best rotary specialist in Ireland. .he gets genuine mazda parts at a discount so can charge reasonable prices for rebuilds

 

4 port?

 

its a 4 port yeah...what gave it away

 

hmmm lack of intake runners and clutch stuff lol. im not used to seeing rhd so it took a second

 

id have gone for the 230 but this one was silly cheap and in need of a rebuild

 

its a 5 speed manual btw...
​​​​​​​nearly no rx8 autos in Europe

 

?ó?tek RX8 + Nissan CA18DET - RX po swapie - RX Klub Polska

 

im at the start of a K24 honda swap. I would start a thread for the locals to flame but new people are discouraged here. wonder why the forums dead.

 

Because we'd rather have a few good threads than 10,000 crappy ones?

Not saying your K24 swap thread would suck but there would be tons of the same 10 questions over and over again. Often in the wrong subforums.