OK I want some opinions: We have access to a 185 HP rotary and 5 speed box , so naturally I'm comtempalting this vs. my current A12GX which was to be replace by an A14 I have.

I want to hear pro's and con's. I can still run the car at vintage races in exhibition class and since Datsun did have some rotary prototypes I'm not put off by the non OEM conversion. Also the thinking is as the A14 will only be pumping 100-110 at most, the rotary will be waaaaay more fun. My only cost will be the modded driveshaft & misc metal (I can have the engine if I want it).

Tom

I can't think of any reason NOT to do it, the power/weight is through the roof on those, they're known to last seasons without rebuilds, can be overheated in emergencies and not hurt the engine.

the top end on those things is 10 - 14K, so the transmission will be doing a lot more reduction.

He man, I think it would be great if you where to put a rotary engine in a Datsun. My friends father has a Datsun Ute with a 13b rotary eangine with carefully selected parts from racing beat. It has a RX-7 diff and runing Mickey Tomson rubber and Crager race rims. Now, it is one bad Datsun. I got in it one and it was scary and fun at the same time when you want to do a burn out and instead you wind up doing a wheelie 4 feet in the air. All in all it is a good thing.

B210sleeper - are you being sarcastic?

Rallytwit - rotaries are great bang for your buck motors. They offer excellent power potential for a relatively small outlay. The fact that the one on offer already has 185hp is an even better reason to grab it. Rebuilds are cheap in comparison to a piston motor which is good because they require them more often in racing situations. Rebuild regularity goes up in direct comparison to how hard you rev them. Yes, they love revs but if you talk to most circuit racers who are competing on a budget they wouldn't even contemplate using 10,000rpm let alone 14,000rpm as this will get really expensive really quickly. Also, they do not like to get hot. You are less likely to get away with overheating a rotary than you are a piston motor. If you decide to go the rotary path budget for an oil cooler set up and a bigger radiator.
Good luck and make sure you let us know which path you choose.
Regards Matty

Most of my fellow local SCCA racers ran RX7's and RX3's so I'm real familiar with the do's and dont's of them. Motor will not be seeing more than 7-8K.

One more question........to do the RX7 box is this going to require tranny tunnel surgery??

Tom