Vh45 Rx7, swap assistance...

[asmcnally]

So, here's what I have going on.

I picked up an 85 Rx7 with a VH45 in the chassis. The motor was actually put in by a local member here, I've seen a few of his posts. Anyways, right after the motor was put in the vehicle developed rod knock. BAD knock. My buddy who had the car was so over the project that I took it off his hands.

So over the last few weeks I have been tearing into it. I've discovered a few interesting things. Like the transmission (300zx 5 speed) bracket is welded over the bolts, and the spackle from the sloppy welds actually welded the bracket to the chassis of the rx7. Same thing with the exhaust...to the chassis. The motor mounts were not even bolted in; the only thing keeping it in there was the weight of the motor and the transmission, which was luckily reinforced by poor welding. The oil pan was almost split because it was resting on the steering rack, and grinding into a bolt or two. The radiator was held on by one bolt and a coat hanger that was tied to a radiator line. Every motor mount weld was cracking apart and rusting. Some of the vacuum lines were not sealed at all, just crushed together and melted. Coolant lines were pinched and could not flow coolant properly (over a 90 degrees rotation in 2 inches, on a 1/4" ID hose...)

The motor only had lasted a hundred miles or so after the swap because it had a TON of sludge. I tore the engine apart after I pulled it, knowing well enough that the knock was so bad that it wasn't going to be something I was going to rebuild. Something had been seriously wrong. Which was pitted bearings on all the rod caps I've been able to remove, the rest had been seized on. I cant even turn the block into a glass top table, which was a big buying factor for me!

But, to sum it up, the motor I was informed was from a 93 Q, wweeelll, it turns out it wasn't. I picked up a vh from a local yard and began prepping that one to go in. After cleaning up all the loose emissions and various items I don’t plan to use I came across a startling difference that I didn't think (yet should have done more research on before diving into a project that uses a motor I'm not familiar with. I never should have assumed the info I got was correct). The cam angle sensor...it's different. A lot different. Oh crap, the valve covers are different. Originally, I was just going to swap over the valve cover the upper timing chain cover. But, that won't work after I tore a good chunk of the motor apart to discover.

So, I'm stuck with a 1996 motor (I ran the part # for the CAS). And a 93 from a junk yard. The pro side is, I know don't need to worry about buying the improved chain tensioners (yay!). The down side is, I've got to figure out how to make this work.

Easiest thing I have come up with so far - get a 93 harness and ECU? I don't need to feed anything into the loom of the chassis.

Anyone else know if this will work or if there are better options for me?

Oh, and hi cragsztoys! Not sure if you told my buddy the wrong year or if he got confused, but everything else man...just wow. I pray that you don't do that kind of work on other people's cars.

[donandal]

Wow,
I'd like to see pics of that crap
unbelievable
good luck

[asmcnally]

I have corrected a lot of the misc items on the junk yard motor already, I'll see if I can get some quality shots to show you some of the other stuff. I actually was looking through your build thread, and I've decided you should come do some welding for me

I've been thinking about the simplest way to riase the motor about 1/4" and what I came up with so far is to just lay down a 1/4" flat bar on the current mounts, that way the pan does not rub raw. If I do this, I can clean up the current welds (the motor mounts are by far the best, probably because of the open area) and not need to tear out the sub frame from the vehicle.

Then again, I am considering redoing the entire mount so that the engine removal is easier in the future. If the mounts were welding facing towards the front of car, which makes sense because that would actually strengthen the mount against torque the motor would be nightmarishly easy to remove, however the mount is open towards the rear, and covered by the headers. The problem I've come up with is what to do for dampening. I am debating finding some metal sleeve that is about 2.5" in diameter, and placing a smaller sleeve inside of it that fits snugly around a nice sized bolt and filing it with poly to create a motor mount that is not only stiffer, but taller. It