Rotary Power

[chaki]

hey everyone, im curious to know; has anyone done a rotary engine swap into their spider? ive been researching but cant find much info. maybe there's a reason for this...

[racydave]

You are only limited by your capabilities, imagination, or debth of your wallet. Many swaps have been done before, few of them documented. The rotarys are bad-ass little buggers if you can start them, and keep them running. I doubt a Fiat would have much re-sale value with a rotary. Its your baby, you rock it!

[lanciahf]

I always wanted to do an Alfa V6 in a fiat spider...

[htchevyii]

I was thinking Honda s2000, like these crazy Polocks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeeCnMv7d6E
I just found a bug eye sprite with a 1608 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeeCnMv7d6E
or how about a rotary in a bug eye Sprite? this thing is nuts! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeeCnMv7d6E

or how about dual engines & transmissions like these crazy Polocks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeeCnMv7d6E
ok, I've got to quit looking at you tube now!

[ga.spyder]

The rotary engine would be a great fit in the Spider.I owned 2 RX-7s.One was a daily driver,the other an autocrosser.I think the rotary engine is a great performer,and a very easy engine to work on(early ones ,anyway). Good luck on the project and let us know how it goes.
Craig

[spidernut]

I asked the same question several years back. I even called IAP to see if they had heard of anyone swapping the twin turbo rotary into a Spider....they hadn't, but said if I did it to let them know. They thought it was an interesting concept too. From my cursory look at the Rotary and tranny combination, I believe the shift lever would be uncomfortably too far back in the Spider. I never measured it, but it appeared to be set back quite a distance back compared to the stock Spider transmission.

[chaki]

thanks for the feedback. being a big fan of the rotary engine, doing a swap is something im really into and it seems like not many people have done it before.in the spring ill drive it down to the rotary specialty shop and see what they have to say. ( fiats and icy roads are fun and all but... ) If its do-able ill be sure to keep the forum updated and if anyone has any info just keep letting me know! thanks

[SpiderHead]

I saw a Fiat Spider about 10 years ago out at the Fairplex in Pomona, on track day that just didn't sound right.. lol.

It was a rotary conversion. He did pretty well, but not well enough. It would have done better in my opinion at a track day type event (picture a curvy road course). But there, it wouldn't be much of an advantage over the extremely light DOHC fiat powerplant. On a curvy course, suspension wins races. Who needs to accelerate when you never have to slow down?

Was I to do an engine swap, I would put in the 2L nissan skyline and it would be an entire drivetrain swap. The whole thing weighs almost exactly what a 2L fiat weighs... but has about 250hp.

But I have seen RX-7's with that kind of HP, so let it roll! If that is an engine you love, and are familliar with... only God, cash, and fear may be stopping you!

Do It!

-Ryan

[spidernut]

The Skyline swap would be quite a challenge since the carb and exhaust are on the opposite side of the Spider. I own a Skyline GT2.5 Most people opt for the 2.0 for weight and performance reasons. It still has everything on the "wrong" side of the block. I looked at a few other models here in Japan and they all have the same issue. I guess if you're doing a swap, the remaining mods wouldn't be all that bad!