• engine swap

    Engine Swap Of The Day: NASCAR-Spec Chevy Small-Block In Mazda RX-7

    We're not saying we don't like the Mazda Rotary, but it's hard to say anything bad about an RX-7 that can spin the tires in fourth gear. Jack Baruth, aka ViergangFuchs, ran across this 543-horse beast when he stopped by Matt “Tinman” Johnston's shop to pick up his new NASA Neon ACR (the previous one having been garbooned in an unfortunate car-versus-wall encounter) and gave it his unreserved stamp of approval.


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    11:00 AM on Fri Nov 7 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    4,020 views, 60 comments

    Most discussed oddboxalfa: Might be a bit nose heavy? more »

  • project car hell

    PCH, Budget Engine Swap Edition: Chevy V8 RX-7 or Nissan V6 Corona?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Last time around, we saw the beat-to-hell Dodge Colt Turbo take the win over the totally trashed Chevy Sprint Turbo in the Choose Your Eternity poll. That's great, but what if you want a cheap Japanese car that doesn't rely on turbocharging to give you the power needed to set your town's all-time record for Exhibition Of Speed tickets issued in a single week? You'll need to go the engine swap route, of course, and everyone knows the best way to do an engine swap is to take on someone else's partly-finished project! See, that way someone else screws up performs the dirty, sweaty part of obtaining the engine and getting it into the recipient car's engine compartment, leaving only thousands of a few maddeningly difficult easy tasks remaining to complete the job.
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    5:20 PM on Tue Sep 23 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    3,417 views, 45 comments

    Most discussed beercheck: Steampunk pulleys. Subtle. more »

  • down on the street

    1985 Mazda RX-7

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We've had a real Mazda shortage around these parts, probably because the early rotaries tended to blow out the apex seals and/or suck gas and thus didn't weather the decades quite as well as their piston-engine competition. There's been an '81 RX-7 (plus one non-Wankel '82 Mazda) and that's been it until today. I've decided to go deeper into the 80s to enable more RX-7s to qualify for this series, because they were great cars on the street (and on the racetrack) and deserve our respect.
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    9:00 AM on Fri Aug 22 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    2,670 views, 51 comments

    Most discussed Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy: @16X4ME: That was and is my second car too, with the same grey interior and 5-speed: more »

  • project car hell

    Project Car Hell, LeMons South Edition: RX-7 or Caprice?

    Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! We had what may be our all-time closest vote yesterday, with the 4x4 Econoline beating the lowrider Econoline 202 votes to 200. Today we're going racing! We've had Arse-Freeze-A-Pa-Looza LeMons PCH and the LeMons San Francisco PCH, and now tradition dictates that we have a LeMons South Edition PCH. Just in time for teams still hoping to make the deadline for the Yeehaw It's Texas LeMons event!
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    5:20 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    3,137 views, 49 comments

    Latest by mustang5507: 1994 was the first year of the LT1. The 91-93 used the original 5.7L that only made 180hp or so. more »

  • 24 hours of lemons

    45 Minutes To Go, RX-7 Still In First, Caprice Somehow In Second

    Can a dead-stock LT1-powered Caprice cop car keep up with a bunch of speedy imports? Probably not, but the Punisher Racing Caprice is holding a close second place behind the She Got It All RX-7. Stay tuned for the exciting finish!

    3:00 PM on Sun Jul 27 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    3,241 views, 30 comments

    Latest by avarno: @StewL67: I just sold a set of 5 Impala wheels for $300. I'd say they were B+ condition compared to more »

  • engine of the day

    Engine of the Day: Mazda 13B

    Here's an example of an engine we couldn't really include in the Workhorse Engine of the Day series, because in spite of its incredible power-to-weight ratio and overall screamin' glory, the rotary engine is just not bulletproof enough to be considered a true workhorse. All that's changed with the new EOTD series, however, and we can now celebrate the nonreciprocating awesomeness that is the Mazda 13B. In truth, all the Mazda Wankels are variations on the same design; we just selected the 13B as the flavor that was built for the longest period, 1973 through 2002. Cosmos, RX-7s, 7-second Starlets, you name it, the 13B has powered it. Make the jump for our favorite hypnotic GIF animation. [Mazda, Wikipedia] More »

    5:40 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    32,967 views, 79 comments

    Latest by Jake: @Towhook I would imagine not. That motor is obviously built for drag racing, so it probably doesn't matter that much either more »

  • 24 hours of lemons

    Move Aside, LeMons Teams: Evil Genius On Board!

    So the official list of teams accepted for the 24 Hours of LeMons race at Altamont is out, and my team made the cut! So we'll be out there on the track with the Porcubimmer and some other Jalopnik-related teams you'll be hearing about over the coming weeks (including the Carpet Pissers, who were also accepted for Altamont). And, you know, I actually feel sorry for those other teams. By God, I do! You see, we've got a new guy on the team, and he knows a thing or two about racing...

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    2:30 PM on Fri Mar 7 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    2,885 views, 32 comments

    Latest by sajeevmehta: Alright Mister Martin, I gotta know how much that tank weighs. Hot Rod Lincolns Rule! :) more »

  • gossip

    Could This Be The 2012 Mazda RX-9?

    The illustrator's over at Winding Road have been having fun with a possible future RX-9 based on previous concepts such as the Mazda Nagare. Their guesstimation picks up some of the Nagare aft of the A-pillar, with a modernization of lines from the current generation RX-8 and last generation RX-7 in the rear. As for under the hood, guesses range from a modified Renesis to something as out-of-character as a V8. But before you rotorheads get up in arms, remember this is all just educated dart throwing. [WindingRoad]

    1:30 PM on Mon Dec 31 2007
    By Matt Hardigree
    5,984 views, 31 comments

    Latest by crevans: How about we make a 2 stroke and burn MORE oil? 11,000 oil burning RPM would be a wonderous more »

  • thunderhill lemons

    The LeMons Casualties Mount

    Now we're starting to see more and more cars limping- or being dragged- into the pits for hours of frantic repair work. In some cases, it becomes clear that the car is finished. Here's one where it's too early to tell: an RX-7 gushing smoke from the engine compartment, surrounded by worried team members. A while back, we heard plaintive calls over the PA for someone with an extra Honda Civic transmission, followed by pleas for a BMW alternator.

    11:00 PM on Sat Dec 29 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    343 views, 2 comments

    Latest by camp6ell: i love the community of sharing - it's like a freecycle race. more »

  • down on the street

    Mazda RX-7

    Here's another car for which I am unable to provide an exact model year; judging from the side moldings and air dam appearance, I can say it looks like a first-generation car from the 1981-83 period. Mazda rotary fanatics (are they known as Rotarians?), feel free to weigh in with your opinions on the topic. In any case, what we have here is a type of car that was once quite common but is now regrettably rare. More »

    9:00 AM on Thu Oct 18 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    3,644 views, 59 comments

    Latest by bodquacious: [www.regtech.com] another rotary engige--maybe for me lawnmower. more »