Rx8 engine swap and rebuild
Posted by LitlENick403@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 52 comments
This marks the beginning of my rebuild and engine swap I will be pulling the 4.0L 6v engine from a Nissan Frontier I'm looking forward to the lessons I will learn along the way I already know this is going to be a batch and a half my goal is to hopefully get it done in time for my senior project next year
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
I gotta ask, why the frontier engine? I cant find anyone who makes any parts or tuning support for the swap. Its just making literally everything harder than it needs to be for a mediocre engine.
I mean if you want to keep a v6 there are better options with the chevy LFX or the Nissan vq35/37 family, let alone the 4 cylinder and v8 swaps. At least those engine swaps are supported by enthusiasts and offer solutions, a huge knowledge base, and thousands of available parts. Let alone wiring and tuning solutions.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
That's part of the reason the challenge of it is what I'm looking forward to also the cost I'm dirt poor and I already have it plus imagine what I can do with everything I will learn from this I'm not so worried about the wiring harness or electrical side of it more getting the transmission and engine to fit properly but if someone can get a coming engine to work I'm confident in I can get it to work But mainly the challenge I thought about doing something more basic like an LS but this is more unique and I learn much more by doing it I know how to weld wch will make modifying stuff quite a bit easier
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
Dude, the cummins is one of the most popular engines in the world with thousands and thousands of parts made by hundreds of enthusiast companies.
They can make it run in anything because it has support from enthusiasts and the aftermarket companies.
I say this with all seriousness. Pick a different engine. You can buy or make custom engine and transmission mounts for any engine combo, but if you cant get it started than nothing matters.
Are you really gonna reverse engineer the rx8 ECU and canbus system to handshake and work with the proprietary ecu software from the frontier?
If you were swapping a Lamborghini v12 or something custom and special this could make sense and it could be figured out, but this is going to be nightmare just to never get a 240hp v6 from a pickup to work.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
Oh it'll work I promise you that I don't care how long it takes it'll be a year or 2 before it's road ready anyway so I have the time I don't need it to be working and driving down the road for senior project all I need to do is prove I learned a new skill and It being a pain in the ass is kinda part of the whole plan
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
My man, any engine swap will be a pain in the ass. The point is doing one that is possible with the shit ton of work involved. You will learn new skills with any other engine.
Just grab any of the supported engines that get swapped into the rx8. You can still make everything to swap an LS for example, but you can also just grab an ecu that works with the LS and the rx8 chassis.
Hell even the 4.8 vortec would be a better idea or even a carbureted sbc would be easier.
cheeseshcripes@reddit
What the fuck are you on about? The VQ platform has tons of support, it's been done many times before, it's hardly the hardest thing to do, you're just being super weird. And the engines you are suggesting are just as unsuitable as the one he has planned or even more. You don't seem to have the slightest clue what you're talking about so just stop.
frogsRfriends@reddit
lol ls swaps on these are almost off the shelf and I haven’t even dug into it that’s just from what I’ve came across in the wild on forums and places like here
Darthdickingson@reddit
LS swapped RX-8 is literally just a C5 Corvette feel wise. What's the point? Other than to point to your RX-8 and go "HAH! GUESS WHAT ENGINES IN THERE?" While we all roll our eyes and go "Could it be an LS-1?"
Arbsbuhpuh@reddit
The point, other than way more power and torque?
ShaggysGTI@reddit
I’ve been tempted to do the 3SGE BEAMS personally.
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
Yeah crazy me literally suggesting engines that have swaps kits/parts already and already proven to work in the rx8 chassis.
Silly me.
Arbsbuhpuh@reddit
Mf is from the Forza generation. Once he strips all the wiring out and hits the chassis with the sawzall to make the engine physically fit, he's going to just sit there scratching his head wondering how to reconnect everything.
ZaMelonZonFire@reddit
If you truly are dirt poor, sell this and out anything you make towards reliable transportation.
Trying to swap at frontier motor because it’s hard is not only going to be extra difficult, it’s going to be more expensive than you anticipate. And it will be slow.
Arbsbuhpuh@reddit
Stop trying to make him see reason, he'll be able easily sell this as a half-finished project that "just needs a few sensors connected" for $500 in a year or two.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
I already have a dart this car had been sitting for a few years and it's just something I want to do for senior year I'm going to be working my ass of this summer for the funds to do this thankfully I'll have work study next year so I can still work more hours during the school year
MCXL@reddit
I don't see any reason to put this kind of work into putting such a mediocre engine into this car. This would be like buying a classic muscle car and then swapping in the inline four from a regular Ford focus. A completely pedestrian engine.
You are going to have to do so much custom work and ruin the chassis in the process, lots of non-reversible changes, all to mount a engine that has nothing really going for it.
If you had some sort of specific emotional attachment fine but you're a poor college student? This makes no sense on any level.
frogsRfriends@reddit
If you haven’t done this kind of work before this is like a 3 year project absolute minimum, I respect your determination and the dream but this is something I’d hesitate to consider even if it was my dream build and I’ve been wrenching pretty heavily for over a decade. This would be like 40 hours of wrenching or learning how to fabricate, wire and program a week and there’s so many little bits of skill and knowledge to build before you’ll have the skills needed. If you want it done right or even functioning you’ll have to be at master mechanic level of skill to pull this off. If you are really set on this car an ls swap is the way to go.
TealPotato@reddit
A lack of budget is just going to make doing a unique swap even harder.
Don't underestimate how much time/money/effort the electronics side of this will be. Have you looked into if the stock frontier ecm will need the immobilizer dealt with? If going aftermarket, do you have a standalone ecm? Do you have a throttle setup (if the frontier is drive by wire)?
What about adapting the frontier motor to the rx8 trans?
A plan for the exhaust?
Honestly, just sell the frontier engine and get something that is supported, or even just another rx-8 engine.
Is rebuilding the motor that's currently in it out of the question? I would imagine that would be most economical.
I'm not trying to hate here.
It's expensive enough for a young person to keep a car on the road these days, do what will give you the best chance of success. A running and driving car will make you happiest.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
As of right now I'm looking at 6 grand for every issue I have currently found and know of its suspension needs replaced for sure and yeah rebuilding the current motor in is pretty much out of the question now if it was the Wankel hell yeah I'd keep that and rebuild that but the Rx8s not so much don't get me wrong it's still decent
YawnY86@reddit
6 grand isn't going to get you far.
cheeseshcripes@reddit
I've swapped many vehicles for less than 6 grand. Far less. You just have to be clever.
TheBupherNinja@reddit
Putting an engine in a chassis is easy.
Making the engine run in the chassis is harder.
Getting the swapped engine to integrate with the OEM electronics is hell.
velowa@reddit
An RX8 has a Wankel engine.
N0Tbanned@reddit
Triple that number
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
Dont forget to add $1500-$2000 for a custom bell housing adaptor.
sunr1se79@reddit
Money is an issue, so you're taking the more expensive route?
rythejdmguy@reddit
Everyone who has never done an engine swap thinks they're easy. Don't bother tackling this unless you're willing to drop close to 15k.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
I'd assumed it was going to be difficult wich is why I want to do it
Alogism@reddit
Congrats on your project car soon becoming your first rusted out pile of scrap in the yard. Because with all the advice you’re ignoring, that’s where it’s headed.
Reddit-mods-R-mean@reddit
Your starting off with a mistake, this isn’t forza motorsports.
You can’t just put a random engine in a random car, anything is possible but the work will kill you.
How do you plan to attach the donor engine to the rx8 transmission?
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
I was talking with my dad about it witch he will guide me through it I don't remember exactly but It requires a shit ton of modifications to make it work and as for the there being a lot of work that's the whole reason we settled on the engine it'll be a bitch but a good experience
Reddit-mods-R-mean@reddit
Does your dad smoke meth?
This is a stupid fucking idea and that’s a dogshit engine to put in a rx8. We’ve seen a million 17 year old day dreamers like you here.
Good luck kid.
frogsRfriends@reddit
Damn dude no need to be that much of a dick you can still get your point across
BelongingsintheYard@reddit
Just sell it to me.
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
Its going to be a shit ton of modifications to make it work using an engine with support to fit in an rx8 already.
Doing it with an engine no one cares about or makes parts for is just foolish.
giibro@reddit
Maybe this is the dads way of keeping his kid from actually driving. Reverse psychology, hype the kid up to think it is possible lmao
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
He is effectively stuck using the transmission that came with the truck engine. Maybe and I mean maybe the bell housing is close enough to the cd009 from the Z's but thats a long shot.
He would be WAY better off doing any of the known documented swaps, or at least picking an engine that enthusiasts support.
cheeseshcripes@reddit
It has the same bolt pattern as the later vq35hr and vq37hr, so the manual transmissions out of the 370s and g35/ g37 would work. But the truck trans would work just fine too.
MCXL@reddit
Remember we're talking about a broke college student, buying a manual transmission from a 370 adds significant cost to the project.
Tronkfool@reddit
If you have 3 years and 30k to burn, have at it.
XZIVR@reddit
Go to the junkyard, get a k24z3 out of an 08-12 Accord. It'll be dirt cheap and so much easier to do. Don't get me wrong, it'll still be a lot of hard work, but it's doable. The exhaust comes out the same side and it's got a collector in the head so you don't need to fab a weird header. Companies make adapter kits for the rx8 transmission to the k series engines.
Or hell, grab a wrecked Nissan Leaf and ev swap it.
As someone who has done swaps before, starting with a vq40 is shooting yourself in the foot. I know you don't want to hear that but please consider what people are saying and think hard about it.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
With the actual engine swap I'm doing it with my dad which he has done a few the only thing I am doing myself is other mechanical work and any welding that may end up being done so it's not like I'm going in with no experience or help. Any work my vehicle in the past has needed I have already done before
imightknowbutidk@reddit
Don’t let people beat you down. Anything is possible, you are young so you have time. Keep at it and don’t let it go unfinished
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
Thank you the sheer amount of people that just seemed to just come in here to say that won't work or that's stupid is honestly surprising but eh just more motivation to do it and 0rove em all wrong not saying they don't know there stuff but damn
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
People only give advice from their negative and positive experiences. No one wants you to fail, thats why they are trying tto steer you to better more proven paths.
Id steer you toward a LFX v6 swap to meep it unconventional. Thing is LFX swapped rx8s are faster than LS swaps around tracks due to weight savings and better balance while still making power. Cheaper LFX swapped rx8s have been proven to hang with supercars and be faster than many. Not bad for a $500 aluminum engine.
JP147@reddit
This kind of thing would take years and $10,000s to pull off and you will be left with a mediocre car worth its weight in scrap metal.
No-Locksmith-9377@reddit
Which is weird cause we live in a world of dirt cheap LS swaps. I have helped my best friend finish a $2,000 LS swap.
It is ugly, its mostly home made solutions, especially the stripped and remade oem wiring harness, but it runs good. Nearly everything came out of a wrecked copart truck, which we sold for scrap when it was picked clean like the noble buffalo.
JP147@reddit
While it wouldn't be my personal choice, and LS swap would be a much better idea than a Nissan Frontier engine.
Lots of information and parts available for the swap, many engine variants and aftermarket support, plus the finished product might even have some value.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
I appreciate it
BelongingsintheYard@reddit
Depending on where you are I’ll buy this car for more than you bought it for.
LitlENick403@reddit (OP)
no
YawnY86@reddit
It's never gonna happen.