My name is Bart and I have been a member for a while, but have only posted to sell parts from when I sold my 99 LS1 Camaro. I sold it because I finally decided that I needed a reliable automobile first and a fast car second (growing up sucks).

I sold some parts to guys on this forum and they were they were all good people and that seems to be the norm here.

Well now I have my new project:

I bought a 85 RX7 for 300.00 and traded a Mongoose mountain bike for a Vortec 350 that was pulled out of a 96 or 97 Chevy truck (my buddy really wanted the bike). The reason I am here is that this is the best forum I have found for the guys running small blocks and they guys seem to get along really well. Now here is a little info on my project

-Block is being punched .030

-Port the Vortec exhaust side of the heads.

-I am looking into running the LS1 style rods since they are a "on center" rod (and I already have seven of them laying around so I need to buy only one rod instead of a full set) and they are would improve the rod to stroke ratio. I may not do this due to how much I will spend on machine work to run these rods and the extra cost in pistions......I will see what happens.

-Professional Products Hurricane intake for the Vortec heads.

-9.75 Compression

-Looking to Wiseco for pistons

-Stock Crank

-Demon carb not sure what size yet probabaly 750

-100 shot of nitrous

-Comp Cams XR282HR ground on a 114 LSA

-1 5/8 headers 2.5 inch collector with primarys approximately 24 inches in length (chasis is the limiting factor here)

-700R4 Tranny 3000 stall

-Ford 8.8 rear with 4.1 gears

Final weight of the car will be around 2600 with me in it, so it should run decent .....The car will not be a daily driver.

Please feel free to critique (spelling??) me and tell me about anything you think I might need to know.

Glad to be here,
Bart

 

Two places you can go since you're putting that into an RX7 is here

V8RX7.com

and click on the forums from there which will take you to the V8 Swap forum for RX7's.

A guy in our local club is running a 302 from a Mustang in an '88 RX7 and he's still running the stock rear with 3.90's in it so you may not have to swap the rear end out.

It takes the punishment and runs 8.50's at the track in the 1/8th.

 

This site might help a little too it has alot of info on the swaps.
http://www.rx7v8.com/index.htm

 

Forget about using a Ls1 rod in a 1st gen small block.
You are wasting your time and money. they are two completely different motors. None of the parts swap over.
Where did you get this idea? Stock small block rods with good bolts are more than enough for your needs.
Stick with a dual plane hi rise manifold like the new PP's RPM knock off (vortec). The hurricane single plane manifold is a good high rpm racing piece but will want a lot more rpm, head flow (porting)and cam duration than you have plans for.
its too high too. You'll need a huge hood scoop to cover it.
Will make your Rx7 look pretty gay IMHO.

if you want a lite RX7 then skip the th700r4 and go with a th350 or a th 2004r.
A 2600lbs car will not need a high rear ratio so a overdrive will be of limited benefit. A th350 matched with a 3.08 to 3.5:1 ratio in a RX7 will perform well with your motor.

 

Why will they not work? They have the same pin diameter , they are 6.098 length (have seen many use up to a 6.2 rod), they are an improved design (on center loading), and are the strongest rods ever installed into a GM. The biggest problems are finding a piston (looking into this one) and have the cracked caps machined. Also it is common practice to use a 6.1-6.125 Gen I SBC rod in a LS1 because of the extra price people charge for the on center rods.


And the scoop is not optional on a RX7 with any SBC intake. No matter what intake you run you have to have some sort of scoop, I wish I could hide it but I have an idea of what to do to make it unique.

 

Just throwin out ideas here but maybe you could do some sort of a shaker setup, Also I have seen some rx-7's that come factory with a small hood scoop on them, I dont know for sure if they would be big enough though.

 

Even if you could make a LS1 rod fit a 1st gen you'r throwing good money to bad.
at the power level and rpm your planing for a 5.7 chevy rod is just as good and plenty strong.
No benifet here. Just a lot of eye wash.
Go the the Rhener and Morrison site and read about connection rods and length. These guys know loads about making power.
As far as he is concerned a connecting rod is for attaching the piston to the crank. Little more.
The modern prostock motor with its short rod to stroke ratio blows all the long rod bull all to h****.
the power is in the cylinder heads.

There is an intake that will fit under your hood and make great street power. Edelbrock's new dual plane low rise dual quad C-26 for vortecs (new) check it out.
Match with a pair of 500cfm edelbrocks.
At worst case it will need a very small scoop. Just right for a sleek lil V8 Rx7. You'll never get a run at a stop light with a big prostock scoop on the hood.
Its all about not showin' what ya brung.

http://www.rehermorrison.com/