A lot to learn...
 

Looking at Haynes manuals, etc.. I realize I had a LOT to learn about the RX7 engines. I'm sure it'll all make sense once I start tearing it apart.

The car I'm dealing w/ is a bone stock 1979 RX7 w/ a 12a. Where's a good place to start to boost performance on these things, or would I be better just dumping the engine in favor of a 13b?

Are any parts interchangable between the two engines?

Ok the 12a engines are good, but a 13b is better. A 13b swap isnt that hard at all and its a noticeable gain. But the best way to learn, is to open your engine up, once its open and you see whats inside with your own eyes you could maybe have a better understanding of it. Now Im not necessarily telling you to open up your engine if you dont know what you're doing, but if you buy a 13b, and swap out your 12a, open it up. Now there are some videos out there that show you how to rebuild the engine, go to ebay and type rotary rebuild video and see if you find it. The haynes manual is good but it leaves alot of stuff out.

Well, I'm pretty competent when it comes to cars. I did the V8 swap on my Malibu. I also have a nitroused Neon. I've been fabricating parts for a few years now, and been rebuilding engines for about 10. I understand the Wankel as a concept. It's all the little things like ignition timing and a/f ratio that I need to get a feel for.

o ok then. But remember when rebuilding the engine, its easy to misplace things and put thing where they do not belong. But other than the engine itself every thing else is pretty str8 forward. Timing is still corrected by putting it on the leading Which is equal to #1 plug. I mean everything else is pretty much str8 forward except for the actual workings of the engine.

What are the usual bottlenecks/problems w/ these engines?

ok, first of the one main problem that you'll of people complaining on, is the reliability issue. But I for one will tell you that any engine that is abused and not treated right will die unexpectedly. These engines are very reliable as long as you take care of them. Now, one way to keep this engine runing w.o problems, is to control fuel that it receives. Now u wont need to worry about it in stock for, or with mild upgrades. But once you start going with boost and all of that, it becomes a problem. Nitrous is good if you put a wet shot. You could even go into a 75shot using wet injection.

I plan on sticking w/ NA for the time being, to get a feel for the car. I might toss on a 50 shot for the hell of it, but this car is mainly for drift. As light as it is, I don't need much power.

The reliability doesn't scare me. I owned a Jaguar. :)

there was a video some place of a fb doing 9k parked for 9 mins. then the exhaust caught on fire. great vid and great engineering. i believe if the radiator had an overflow of water i doubt it would have blown within 20 mins.

might be parting out a gsl-se motor, tranny,ecu, and diff
 

i will be swapping in a t2 engine and all of the associated components pretty soon, would you be interested in buying these, car has 160000 miles. but i doubt the engine and tranny do. i got to drive my friends 85 gsl-se (with the 13b) and it didnt feel nearly as fast as mine did. it would be a solid engine and tranny to start from. let me know if you are interested

Buying the NA 13b? What kinda figure did you have in mind? Where are you located?