ford capri , rotary powered ?

[gumpy]

hey guys , i was wondering if a total rotary newb can get some info from you guy ?

i have a mk3 ford capri and after much debate have decided to go ahead and fit a rotary. but, i havnt a clue where to start looking so decided to sign up here.

my questions ,

has anyone got any info/build threads of a rotary in a ford ?

what are the diffrence in the rotary engines i see 12a 13b ,pp ,fd and have no idea what they are lol

how much am i looking at for full running gear , engine , ignition etc

and would like to run carb but is the efi easy enough to wire.


hope i havnt chucked to many questions at you , and if you could answer them it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks gumpy. :cheers

[RobMatthews]

Hi gumpy,Welcome to the club.
There are a few rotary into other car projects on the go within the club so check out the builds section.

Silverstone autosport run the rotary in their mk2 escort race cars, so starting with them might be a good bet, as to which rotary engine you decide to run, well any from the early carb\'d engines to the turbo\'d engine out the 3 gen rx7-fd3s will prob fit, all depends on your power goal and fabrication skills or the depth of your pockets if your looking to pay someone else to do it.

Anyway sounds like a sweet project so get a build thread up with plenty of pics on your progress when you do go ahead :-)

[Grant Monkhouse]

13B is a bigger engine than the 12A and much easier for parts.

PP is a type of porting, a peripheral port, on the periphery of the rotor housing rather than the standard side ports.

EFi isn\'t too hard to setup, just depends what you are after?

Turbo or non turbo?

What kind of HP do you want?

What sort of cash have you got?

Some standard carb setups can very very good, even only with 140HP. But that\'s in a very light Mazda, I\'m not sure on the weights of capris.

For a powerful 13B you could be looking at 300fwhp non turbod and carb\'d.

What sort of noise levels can you cope with? They can get very noisy with different porting.

[gumpy]

thanks for the quick reply.

id be happy with N/A if im honest with a nice carb setup.

noise i dont care its my weekend thrasher .
its very light as its stripped and has a complete grp front end .

cash wise be nice to get it running for less than a grand.

cheers gumpy

[Grant Monkhouse]

I don think you could find a second hand engine for that price, let alone get a radiator, oil cooler etc.

[RobMatthews]

Im sure the best route is to find yourself a donor, check out the first and second gen rx7 as they are used for swaps into kit cars etc as I dont think the are to complicated,
You may have to pay out a bit more for a car but then make some money back selling any good panels seats etc that you dont need...

Can you do fab work such as engine mounts and exhaust yourself?

[TiddlesRX7]

There is a 2nd gen EGI on Ebay at the moment going for pennies. The shell is goosed but the add says the engine is ok. Being the EGI its not run off carbs but you\'d have everything there to swap over to get it running in the Capri.

12a - Is out of a 1st gen RX7 (runs using a carb iirc)
13b - Is 2nd gen RX7 onwards ( but refers to the NA models or EGI\'s)
13BT - Is 2nd gen RX7 again but the turbo version
13b REW - Is 3rd gen RX7 with twin turbo\'s as standard
13b Renesis - Is from the RX8

[gumpy]

cheers guys , yes i fabricate for a living so mounts etc is no concern.

whats the bhp figure for a stock efi 13b?  and are they as prone to rebuilds as everyone says they are or is it people who never had one just hating ?

my main worry is buyinbg a duff engine and not knowing what im looking for.

thanks again for the replys :Thumbsup!

[Will66]

Stock 13b EFI as found in an RX7 is about 160 bhp from the factory however you can improve on that quite easily.  With a carb and a tubular exhaust you\'ll see good gains and great simplicity.

[gumpy]

Stock 13b EFI as found in an RX7 is about 160 bhp from the factory however you can improve on that quite easily.  With a carb and a tubular exhaust you\'ll see good gains and great simplicity.

brilliant thats good news , as im scared of efi witchcraft . prefer good ol\' carburettors .
whats the crack with ignition side of things ? is it a distributor and coil ?

gotta get out of the piston engine habit

[600gaz]

All the haters will say they are unreliable but it\'s all down too set up (especially with turbo engines) . Run them lean or with any DET/pinking and they pop the rotor seals and it\'s game over . If set up properly by a specialist tuner then they are fine .
I would buy a complete car and use all the bits into the Capri but use the Capri Atlas axle . Anything cheap you buy will need a rebuild usually so allow that cost into your budget .

[B.Martin]

A 13B N/a can expect to last around 100k+ as long as its well maintained, regualar oil and filter changes etc. I\'m not sure about rebuild costs on a N/A 13B i\'m sure someone will be able to point you in the right direction though.

Oh and welcome!

[gumpy]

thanks for the warm welcome and taking the time to answer all my newbie questions , yes i will be using the atlas diff and getting a hybrid prop made from a local company. i was actually hunting fro a ford type 9 bell hosuing adapter but had no such luck , then figured the ford type 9 probaly isnt te best box to run at high rpms. looks like i probaly will end up buying a rotten rx so i have everything ready , i take it carburettor is a aftermarket upgrade ?

again cheers all :cheers

[Casey]

If you want to keep it simple and cheap, then pick up a 1st Gen (early 80\'s) with a 12A engine. These models have a very simple engine/carbs/ditributor setup. I think about 100bhp in standard form, but you can get more with some tuning to intake and exhaust. Cars with running engines but rotten bodies can be had for about £200 or less.

Good luck and keep us informed of progress; oh, and we love pictures too

[gumpy]

If you want to keep it simple and cheap, then pick up a 1st Gen (early 80\'s) with a 12A engine. These models have a very simple engine/carbs/ditributor setup. I think about 100bhp in standard form, but you can get more with some tuning to intake and exhaust. Cars with running engines but rotten bodies can be had for about £200 or less.

Good luck and keep us informed of progress; oh, and we love pictures too

thanks for the advice , i will be sure to start a project page on here as soon as i get the gear to start :3gears-rh