Dustin Kassman says:
>
> When I was at the Portland All British Field Meet over Labor Day I saw a
> MGB-GT with a Mazda rotary engine/tranny in it. Very neat installation.
> Looked like it pretty much dropped right in with new motor mounts. Does
> anybody have any experience with this conversion. Seems that the rotary
> reliability would take all of the fun out of owning a British car :-)
>
Well I guess I'm probably the most experienced person I know with respect to
roataries in brit cars. Frankensprite is doing pretty good so far, and I
think that I have ironed out most of the problems.
To refresh memories:
Frankensprite is a 1963 Austin Healey Mk II that is getting a rotary engine.
Why MkII? Well I really couldn't justify vilifying a bugeye that way, and
I like having a trunk and extra room in the cockpit. The Mk II's are pretty
light and the coil over kits for the rear suspension are better for the 1/4
elliptic than the 1/2 elliptic. Plus Jeffie had a really nice rust free
(almost) roller that was taking up space in his backyard/salvage yard.
Here's the scoop: (my example)
Use RX7 stuff:
engine (12A with 6 port street port, IMSA GTU carb, free exhaust == 175 hp)
transmission (5 spd from 84 GSLSE)
rear transaxel (83 GSL for disk brakes and limited slip)
Use sprite stuff:
Trick racing suspension (coil over rears, tube shock fronts, anti-sway
bars f & r, etc)
gauges
interior
exterior
Fabricate stuff:
wiring harness (using a Hot rodder fuse block)
hydraulics (tilton and I have come up with a good set up I think)
roll cage with engine mounts/suspension mounts
narrow rear end to fit
custom drive shaft
spitfire disks in front with mgb calipers.
Currently Frankensprite is waiting for me to collect the $$$$ for the rollcage
to be installed, I have most everything else I need to bolt things in, except
for brakes and clutch stuff, and some wiring.
There used to be a company called Sprizda that made a kit to pop in a rx-2
engine and tranny into a sprite, but they didn't work on the rear end or
do suspension work, and the cars handled like pigs and snapped axels. This was
about 12 years ago and they are not around anymore.
The place that helped me build my rx-3 years ago called tripoint engineering
in Canoga Park has made about 5 conversions over the years. They just sold
a rotary bugeye to someone in North Carolina for something like $20000. They
do nice work, but are expensive. I figure that Frankensprite will cost me
about $5000 plus my labor (lots of it).
If anyone wants even more info that this call me or send email, I'll be glad to
stool pigeon for ya.
--
Miq Millman -- miq@sgi.com or {decwrl,pyramid,ucbvax}!sgi!miq 415 335 1041
|