rotary in 914? Options

[Freedom]

has anyone seen a 914 with a rotary in it?

where do you get the kit? if it exists. they are good motors especially with turbo's.


could be something i'd be intresting if possible, they do make plates for the trannies, the Formula Mazdas use a VW case for the trannies and they use (rx-7) rotary, 1.3L i think.

[airsix]

Kennedy Engineering sells the adaptor plate to bolt the Mazda engine to the Porsche tranny. Nobody sells a complete conversion kit.

-Ben M.

[VegasRacer]

There was a guy here in Vegas who had a 914 auto-x car with a rotary engine. I don't know much about it other than it was red and sounded like a swarm of angry hornets.

[indydad]

Wait long enough and the guy at Grassroots Motorsports Magazine will put one in a teener.
Ro-Spit, Ro-vette, Ro-caddy, Ro-porsche.....all the same.
Old dad in INDY

[Freedom]

well think about it, they make great power, especially turbo, and they wouldnt upset the weight of the car.. i think it might be awsome.. ohh yeah and you can get a rotary cheap..

[Dave_Darling]

Red Dawg Racing has a kit. Or did; I don't know if they're still around or not. It sounds like they built up a cradle for the motor and bolted that in. A Google search might turn something up. They weren't great on details, but wanted you to buy a video of their stuff, I think.

Note that a Rotary needs as much cooling as a healthy V8. So you'll need the Renegade radiator setup, which is expensive but seems to work the best. I personally would love to see someone (who is not me!!!) try the rotary thing with the radiators in the engine bay, just to see if it would work.

Another tidbit from Ludvigsen--someone in Germany did a rotary swap back in the 70s! They used a twin-rotor engine from the NSU Ro-80, and even used the automatic transmission from that FWD car.

--DD

[MRM4418]

Clickly Clicky

Thats the only site on the web about it. Biggiest problem is probably cooling (rotaries are HOT), so you would probably use the same cooling set up like a v-8 swap. Also, rotary engines have a oil injection system that goes into the combustion chamber, the guy in the webpage posted above doesn't use it, but he put oil into the gas every time he fills up (which is a bit sketcky).

[bob174]

I've got a contact here in Houston that's done one. If you're really interested I can put you in touch with him...

[aufaber]

Do a search, it's been discussed extensively here.

[Dave_Darling]

There we go... It doesn't come up on the search engines very well...

http://www.reddawgbytes.twoffice.com/

Ugh... Spelling and typing are evidently not their best skills. And the website has not been updated that I can tell in about six or eight years. But there is one pic of a "rotory" in a 914...

--DD

[MRM4418]

red dawg answers emails pretty fast

[soloracer]

I'm sure that everyone was wondering when I would respond to this thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm putting a Mazda 20B Twin Turbo 3 rotor in my 914. Read the thread here:

My 20B Thread

[Freedom]

thanks alot for the info... its something that i think i'll try oneday, i just dont want to spend money twice. and the rotary is very apealing to me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[morph]

this is experince talking here
i helped a friend install a 4 rotor motor. it was based on a 13b.the low end sucked on the open hwy omg it was flying low. this is the big problem it ran very!!!!hot he blew several motors due to heat (rotarys are not pretty when they blow)
it used dual del side drafts. and the kit was from kennady.very simple kit easy to install. the performance was great. the heat it genarated sucked in the summer.in my opinion over kill on the cooling is best.

[Chris914n6]

There was a guy here in Vegas who had a 914 auto-x car with a rotary engine. I don't know much about it other than it was red and sounded like a swarm of angry hornets.

Used to be a local company Hybrid Cars. Quit ~10 years ago but I kept the brochure.

pics

[tesserra]

I was close to buying one already built but not "developed". It was a beautiful car with all the 911 type brakes etc. The thing that turned me away was the exhaust temp was melting the clutch pulley! I am sure that someone could figure something out to fix it, but I have heard wierd things about rotary exhaust on factory cars and it wasn't ready to learn that much about it.
Having said that, it was a very nice package that fit well in the car.
BTW his price was $6000 and it was running.
I now own a v8 914 and love it.

George

[bret]

I have been working on a 914 / N/A13B conversion for a couple years. Progress is slow. I want to join in on any ongoing threads on the topic.
Can anybody direct me to such threads? or sources of info?

So far I have fabricated an engine mount (requires a custom oil pan which I have cut but not welded yet. I need to find out if my design is flawed due to the lack of a oil drain in the flywheel end of the baffle plate. It lookes like racing beat's oil baffle minus the one drain hole) I am am doing extensive work on the "Frame" of the 914. I cut out the entire floor and fabricated a new center tunnel and hanging pedal assembly mounts for tilton pedals(shift linkage seemed to work out but I never shifted a 914 so I don't know how it is supposed to feel). I cut out the front strut towers, refabricated my own (hope they are in the right plane). Raised the spindles on a set of bilstiens (may be damaged from burn thru when welding). I have about 60 feet of 1 5/8 X 0.095 and 40 Feet of other size chromoly tubing and have about 1/3 of the role cage bent and fit but yet to be welded.
I have plans to make one peice front and rear clips from fiberglass. I went and bought four corners with 9" and 7.5" flares but the quality is not there so I am hoping to use them to make my own molds. Lots of work... I barely know where to begin, but it probably won't be pertainate until 9 months later or maybe 9 years later.

Curently I am calling around to find a good radiator. I wanted to go as big as possible... but the standard 19" X 31" chevy just seems a tad big to fit between the headlight buckets (I want to keep the lights) THe fuel cell also takes up space right between the strut towers (RCI 30"x 12" X 9" 15 gallon)... I have also been trying to decide what coolant pumps to use. Mechanical, mechanical and electric, or just electric... and what size lines... Use AN fittings or hose clamps. I don't really want to spend $500 on a radiator and have to cut and weld on new fittings when I find out mine are too big or small. Thermostat or no thermostat.

In the future I also hope to set up my own supercharger system on the N/A 13b... so I am choosing to upgrade the fuel system in preperation. By the way, I have the entire fuel injection and wiring harness from a 87' rx7. I hope to use it and make use of the fuse box too. I am gonna ground wire everything back to the battery which I plan to put right behind the drivers seat since the rotary seems to be weighted or tilted more to the passenger side of my car (I hope I mounted it fairly straight... it doesn't look like it though) and the exhaust is on the passenger side. The only components I plan to put on the passenger side would be some of the fuel injection and a possible intercooler in the wheelwell area.

Last but not least I am constantly wondering if the 901 transmission is gonna suite me. I am really finicky about smooth shifts. I hate to force shifts. I brought my tacoma pickup in to service about 5 times because 2nd doesn't engage smoothly at low rpm. They never solved the problem despite their efforts (changing 2nd gear and all the syncros.)
I got the kenedy adapter plate, 9" flywheel and 2nd stage pressure plate. I plan to try using hydraulics to actuate the clutch release since the tilton pedal assembly has clutch and brake pedals. Have to make a mount for a wilwood slave cylinder. Any suggestions out there? I don't know if the throw on the wilwood is sufficient.

Well that is my story. I am just trying to complete this project the best I can before the rusty mess really does rust to the ground. At this stage it is an ugly sight... but the rust and the half removed paint is only skin deep... (that is what I keep reminding myself).

[Bleyseng]

Rebuild the 901 completely and it will shift smoothly, not speed shift but smooth. Most 901 are worn out....

Seems to me you have cut the heck out of the car, post some pics. Rotarys work fine if you get the cooling issues solved when you build the radiator setup. Not that much hp in a 13b NA motor, get a turbo13b.

[scotty914]

welcome bret that was a hellava first post.

and to Freedom dont jump t rotays yet there are many other motors that work very well in these cars, you got chevys you got subys you got raby motors and porsche 6.

there are benifits to each, the chevys get high hp 300 + and highly devolped support and help. the suby engines are reliable and fit well, have great hp and torque ratios for a daily driver with 220 hp ( or more turboed )possible. the raby motors give you an upgrade in hp and torque but bolt right in with up to 160 hp with a decent life span. the porsche 6 can give you up to 300 hp and help the resale price of the car, but cost as much as big raby 4 as in 6 to 10 k.

just so you know where i am coming from i am doing a suby 2.5 install with about 170 hp and it will be a daily driver

and before you decide where you want to go look at what might need to be done to the tranny. things like bigger cv joints and regearing can get costly too.

[SirAndy]

QUOTE (Freedom @ Feb 29 2004, 10:19 PM)

has anyone seen a 914 with a rotary in it?

Prof. Wankel himself ...