hotrod_sol Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 does any one have any ideas on putting a rotary engine in an 80's subaru wagon?or in my case, a 70's brat. i think it would make the ultimate power plant. i can find one example on the net, but he had to cast his own bell housing or something. how about a lift kit, rotary engine and it's trany. datson transfer case, and a rear dif up in the front replacing the trans-axle. think it would work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 anything is possible, My dad put a 12a rotary in a 76 audi 100LS nice car then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Almost any transplant from one mfg to another requires having an adapter plade made. The Rotary would be a neat fit. But rotarys are oil burners and pigs when it comes to fuel. What is redline on a rotary, that would be my one concern, if the tranny (that is elderly) can deal with that high an RPM. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 There was a guy who put a rotary into an RX a while back, I think he ran the piss outa it and then it sat down in Florida for a long time, it was for sale not too long ago. It was a Black RX... -Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Pretty sure someone put one in an XT before as well...Georgia maybe, might find some info here or on the XT boards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 (edited) "But rotarys are oil burners and pigs when it comes to fuel" You can have carb or EFI. The RX 4, 13B 1308 cc came with a 465 cfm spread bore Hitachi 4 Bore Carb. If I have that right, and I'm not sure I do. That's a big carb. Edited February 2, 2010 by Quidam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 "But rotarys are oil burners and pigs when it comes to fuel" You can have carb or EFI. The RX 4, about 1198? cc came with a 465 cfm spread bore Hitachi 4 Bore Carb. If I have that right. hehe they are still pigs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumpycam Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 That's funny I was just looking into doing the opposite. Built ej22 into early rx7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 http://athensohio.craigslist.org/cto/1583731605.html I don't see many of these around here. Are those rotarys disposable? I mean, they're not remanufactured. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi subbie Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Seen NA and Turbo rotarys fitted into Leone coupes, Legacys, WRXs. Some were still kept 4wd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 http://athensohio.craigslist.org/cto/1583731605.html I don't see many of these around here. Are those rotarys disposable? I mean, they're not remanufactured. Doug They are rebuildable. they are really simple engines, all that they usually need are new apex seals. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo'J Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Don't they go through those seals fast though? I thought that was the flaw of the rotary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 The seals go bad if they sit unrun for periods of time, and the coolant and exhaust gases degrade the apex seals over time if not primed by running. A rotary needs run wide open also to condition the apex seals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebelYJ Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 If you can do a rotary try and get a Renesis to work. They are found in the new rx-8's and have a 3rd oil injector in the middle to help the life of apex seals last a bit longer. And the new ones are almost much more reliable. I had my RX-8 for about a year and put over 20k miles on it and never once had ANY issues of flooding. They have them tuned for reliability very nicely compared to the first and second gen 7's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 If you're using it offroad... not such a good application for a rotary. Screaming at high RPM's, great application for a rotary. They don't make much torque down low, but damn they're great when wound out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obk25xt Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 I have had this thought more than a few times bounce around in my head. I like the idea of using the rotary and its mated 5speed, hookin that up to a t-case, subframe etc. I think the mechanical and fab really wouldn't be all too difficult and the power to weight ratio is nice. Even the size of the rotary is appealing, I think it'd probly fit under the hood of a soob. With the amount of rpm spinnin through the gearbox/t-case I'm not sure how well a pair of r160s would hold up. Might as well straight axle it.... Then what's really left that's actually Subaru???? A fuel tank and radiator, maybe? I dunno don't get me wrong it seems like a cool thing to do but I'm kind of a purist I guess. Course I'm kinda biased toward Subaru too because I think a bug with any subie transplant is way cool but a subie with any other powerplant seems unfair to the car in my opinion. Guess Im a little weird! On another note about rotarys, I have a buddy whose runnin one in an old luv that he straight axled and is runnin Dana 44's ***/r Mazda 5 speed mated to an np205(I think?). Bottom line is this thing rips it up! It's been rolled like 5 times and jumped repeatedly something like 8-10 feet in the air. Sorry I'm gettin sidetracked. I was lookin under his hood and I noticed a huge sidedraft weber with velocity stacks and NO air filter whatsoever?! He told me he got sick of the thing boggin out when the filters got wet and the thing spins such high rpm that it sucks dirt/water thru the engine so fast that it rus better no filter. I was like "ok dude!" but the thing just keeps on goin an goin. One last little thing about the rotarys is the oil filter setup, most practical automotive engineering I've ever seen, easy to get to and not a drop spilled anywhere.ever. That's all, thanks for reading! Spencer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subynut Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 According to a few mechanics and machinists I've talked to, they don't last down here in the Arizona heat. Most of the daily driven rx-7s last about a year before the seals go and you really can't push them because they have worse cooling problems than the ea82. Besides, it's a torqueless wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Some west coast company (Kenny or something like that) years ago actually manufactured an adapter for the rotary/subaru combination. I even saw one on ebay maybe 8 years ago for sale. That company I think is the same one that still manufactures kits to install Subaru engines in VWs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 There was a guy who put a rotary into an RX a while back, I think he ran the piss outa it and then it sat down in Florida for a long time, it was for sale not too long ago. It was a Black RX... -Bill You can see Pics and a Link about that Black Rotary RX on Post Nº 914 of This Thread: http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53434&page=92 Kind Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Some west coast company (Kenny or something like that) years ago actually manufactured an adapter for the rotary/subaru combination. I even saw one on ebay maybe 8 years ago for sale. That company I think is the same one that still manufactures kits to install Subaru engines in VWs. Kennedy Engineering or KEP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brumby420 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 The basic setup for the rotary engine is actually a very good idea but unfortunately they just go through seals like crazy. It would be cool to see but im not sure how much better it would be then just an ej22t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now