C
clodico
Has anyone out there had any experience with putting a mazda rotary engine/driveline into an Alpine?
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Hi Clodico,Has anyone out there had any experience with putting a mazda rotary engine/driveline into an Alpine?
Hi Clodico,
I would be leary of any advice Jim Leach might give you, because he talks a lot about things he doesn't know. He was the one that when I moved to the Seattle area with my V6 converted Alpine, was tellinbg all the guys that to do the V6 swap like I had, the complete steering system had to be changed. He also said a lot of other things about the swap, that weren't true. He had never even asked me how I had done it, yet he tried to pass himself off as an expert on the subject. I would be careful about him saying that the rotary swap can be done in a week end. I seriously doubt that a correct conversion of the rotary, would take so little time.
Jose
I have a friend with a rotary in a Sprite (he used the entire Mazda drive train) and while it was a fairly simple conversion (aftermarket, competition and stock header options are readily available) there are a few things you must consider: just about every rotary engine you might find unless it was VERY recently rebuilt will probably need to be in the not to distant future. Also with a single weber 45dcoe or holley carb your looking at MPGs in the low teens at best and they will use plenty of oil.
An aftermarket radiator with electric fan and oil cooler should keep you from getting to hot and any decent muffler shop should be able to fabricate an exhaust that won't get you any fix-a-tickets.
The good news is they're tiny, light and can be mounted nice and low. Well tuned and carbed you can look for 160hp without a turbo.
I have another friend witha Datsun 510 with a rotary and it's a seriously fast car.
Eric
'62 SerII
Vick,Jose,
I guess that the subtle irony of my post escaped you, the 'weekend swap' was in inverted commas - and I assumed that anyone who has thought about these things would know that the only true weekend swap for non-professionals is likely to be swapping an identical motor.
To be more specific, as others have said, it is not a difficult swap. There is no cutting of firewalls or changing of steering gear, no reinforcing of chassis rails. You can even use a Rootes radiator - the Hunter/Arrow rad will bolt straight into an Alpine, and its inlet/outlet pipes are on the correct side for a 12A. I have exchanged emails with someone who has done it and there are few problems apart from fabrication of the appropriate engine mounts, getting the cooling right and finding space for the muffler. Unfortunately, time and the vagaries of Microsoft have erased those emails.
As to your comments regarding Jim, No doubt you have had some personal conflict with him, but I don't believe that is reason to besmirch his name in a forum where he not present to put his side of the case. I can only say that over several years I have found his advice honest and reliable.
Cheers, Vic
Has anyone out there had any experience with putting a mazda rotary engine/driveline into an Alpine?
If you have a numbers matching car, and you are reticent to modify it, I really recommend not converting it. There are very few Alpines with matching numbers, so you might want to keep it stock. Having more power and reliability are nice, but not everything. Peace of mind is worth a lot more.Thanks for all of the replies. I was just trying to get a feel for what info is out there for this swap. I did not mean for anyone to get into an argument over it. Thank you all for the leads.
My series V is a numbers matching car (it runs pretty well) but I think I would like more power and more redily available aftermarket sources. I would like a V6 conversion, but I do not think that I want to cut up any part of my car in case I decide to restore it at a later time. Thanks again
Has anyone out there had any experience with putting a mazda rotary engine/driveline into an Alpine?