13b-REW engine swap questions
 

I have a 05 rx8 AT, that Im wanting to swap with a 13B-REW, and mate with the rx8 6spd tranny, what am I looking at doin for fab? will the 6spd bellhousing fit the the rew? how simple/difficult is the complete swap for an amateur mech? i tried lookin on here for a thread to answer these question, but couldnt find it, so if someone could direct me to the correct thread, that would be helpful.


P.S. im new to the site so idk if i posted in the correct thread.

if you can't afford to dump the AT car and start with a 6spd car instead then this is only a pipe dream

:ignore:

You might want to search for different variables for swap engines such as: 13bre swap, fd engine swap, 13brew. There are quite a few threads, my sig. has my thread, and look under the major horsepower section. Btw, all rotary 13b's have the same bellhousing pattern. TeamRX8, either having an automatic tranny or a 6speed doesn't make a difference seeing that they are both worthless gearboxes. Having the automatic 4port engine is just a tad better knowing that it doesn't have the apv. I have mine connected and just hanging so I could get the traction control system to work.

for what it will take to swap he is better off starting with a 6 spd, but I knew better that to bother responding to this in the first place

your 5 spd is just as worthless btw

The FD 5speed worthless? Hell no. Your comment? Hell yes! So what do you recommend RX8 Guru since you've been there+done that/been everywhere and done everything...

Well, I dunno that the 8's trans is worthless... Seems to me that the fd one has just as many issues, in fact, I know more people that have blown those than the 8's...

keeping the 8's trans lets you keep the geometry of the car a little closer to stock, which in my opinion is better. And if you get Pineapple Racings LIM, it lowers the UIM to were no smashing of the firewall is required. IT also gives you the capability of running 6 injectors. (http://www.pineappleracing.com/xcess...emanifold.aspx)

Also, if you use the front cover off of the renesis, you can use all the stock sensors, and can actually run it on the stock ecu (with accessport of course). The only big drawback is the OPM has to go away, so premixing is mandatory.

I left alot out here, but having seen the swap done, its really not that bad. IMO the threads on here are really too fragmented to be of real use, but then again most people who talk about this are dreaming, and have no intentions of actually going through with it..

^ the truth!

I wish I could get your car on a lift, and photograph the shit of of it. Then we could make a diy and put an end to all the empty discussions and misinformation...

And for the record, though not the most polite delivery, I agree with Team that its easier to start out with a manual, since you will have items at the beginning that you will have to purchase anyway with the auto, such as trans, cluster, ecu, wiring harness (pretty sure its different, I could be wrong) CF drive shaft, etc.

That's gonna cost you! lol

Careful brother remember they crucified Jesus too!

Yeah true. But if it results in the information getting out, then whatever. I mean seriously, the Honda guys do it all the time. An engine swap is one of the basics in that world. And the basics are the same. Make it fit. get it mounted. wire it, make it run, tune. Of course the kid who can't change his brakes shouldn't do it, but a competent person can. (competent being open for discussion, of course). People are seeing way more mystery in this topic than is really there...

trust me, i would love to send this car off and get a 6spd, but seeing as i just baught the car last week, so i could start rebuilding my credit, i dont think sending off the car would be a great idea.

tranny wise, all mazda manual trannies are no good, cant hold much hp/torque, but buying an OS giken internals will take care of that.

wires, sensors, parts, blah, blah, blah. i already know bout that stuff, so what im goin to do is buy a trashed manual 8, so i can pull the parts off that. technically thats the cheapest way.

now here is the thing, i mainly only asked for simple guidence in the right direction to the correct thread for this.

and i really dont want the RE, i want the REW, impo i think the REW is better.

money wise, not worried aboiut it, why i am doin this is because of the experience, and the challenge of the the work to be done.

Rotary Soldier , good luck with your swap , I also wanted to do this, but, being a newb with rotary's , I asked the same question on this forum and was informed it would be a PIA and too expensive as the stock ECU would not be compatible and I'd have to shell out mucho bucks for a suitable ECU and associated bits , so I am now swapping in a new chev 3.6 LLT V6. Again, good luck with the install.

Oh wow man.... here I was trying to give you information without you getting eaten alive, and you posted this.....

I dont understand.. you bought a car to rebuild your credit, but moneys not an issue...?
buying an auto rx8 then a "trashed" manual being the cheapest way? buying two cars to make one doesnt make sense AT ALL, unless both are in peices.....

So you ALREADY knew about needing the front cover of the Renesis on the rew to make use of the stock ecu, or the pineapple racing LIM? I simply DO NOT believe that.

What I was attempting to make clear is that there is not a detailed thread about this swap, in terms of the spelled out manner in which most people want. I normally disagree with Team's abrasiveness on these kinds of posts, but you just proved his point 1000X....

^ OK, good luck!

i wasnt talkin bout u, moneys not a problem because im patient and in the US Army. rebuildning my credit so later on down the road i will be able to buy cars without a co-signer.

the reason why i didnt get a manual is cause carmax was the only place that would finance me and they didnt have any manual rx8's. so im makin due with what i could get.

and buyin a parts car to have actually does make sense because if u think bout it if anything break u already have that part, and here in tx i already know of a couple totaled 8's that go for a few grand.

and ill admit, i did not know about needin the front cover, what i meant about the parts, was for the 6spd swap, not the engine swap. i wasnt exactly askin for a "hold your hand" thread, more of two or more threads to basically give me an idea of what im lookin at doin.

look, im not lookin for a fight, or argument, its pointless. i may just end up keepin the REW's 5spd.

rotflmfaocopter!!

To properly swap a manual transmission, pedal and wiring aside you'll need the pcm and shorter final gear.. especially if you want to keep the 4 port engine for a while.
That alone is a pretty expensive project.

Talking about the swap: what are your fabrication skills? Can you weld properly? Who would do the tuning? Do you have an idea of the price for a complete 13b rew? What's your budget?
This kind of project, if planned poorly, can turn out to be a 15-20k$ sink. Definitely not the best way to save cash!

Just so you know, Carmax will ship any car from any Carmax location to a Carmax near you. FOR FREE.

So if they told you that not one Carmax in the United States had a manual RX8 then you were certainly lied too and you can take your 8 back (within thirty days).

For as much work your about to get into, you might as well import a 20B and go that direction.

ive actually started to look into the 20b, my main thing that im lookin to do is get deployed to afghan cause when i get back i know i will have more then enough money to do all this. now ive found a 20B for 3800 with wiring and all that good stuff, a RE for 1600, and a REW for 1700. one of my biggest questions is if i keep the 5spd, would i still need the pcm? i prolly already know the answer but just want to make sure. now im sure if i do keep the 6spd, and am not able to find the key to that pcm, i would be able to get one made at a dealer, be difficult but worth it. but my other plan is to just keep this car, mod it a lil bit (i.e. coilovers, exhaust, supercharger, etc) and then after i get back from afghan buy a 6spd and build that.

and with the weldin, i cant weld worth shit, but i got a buddy that can hand weld and make it look machine welded. fab work isnt too hard for me considering that ive put a 13b-t in a '90 miata.

carmax does have a couple 6spd manuals, and ive already talked to them about it and it would take a week for the car to get here and not all cars can be shipped for free. im basically just gunna deal with what i have. i can already get the car to do what i want for the moment, so im not complaining.

one thing i forgot to mention was, i wasnt lookin to be able to keep this on the road, im lookin into making this my drift car. ive been drifting nissans for the past 3 years, now im wantin to us the 8. So accessories such as power windows, A/C, stuff like that, its goin bye-bye.

A 20b for 3800$ will require other 6000$ in parts to be properly rebuilt.

Let it go boys, just let it go.