SP Engineering's 2JZ-Powered Mazda RX-7 - Supra-7

One of the first things a newly opened tuning shop does is build a shop project car. The car is used to illustrate the fabrication and tuning prowess of the shop to customers and industry insiders. Many shops get their first (sometimes only) magazine exposure with the shop car.

SP Engineering is an exception to the rule. The company has been featured extensively in Turbo magazine (garnering no less than three 2001 covers) but all of these cars have been customer cars, which says volumes about the quality of work coming out of the shop. SP Engineering didn't even have a project car...until now.

With a shop project car, there is no customer tapping his toes in the waiting room, drooling in anticipation of dropping the hammer of his newly modified ride. Time is not a factor and crazy-sick things can be incorporated into the project without blinking an eye.

With a reputation like SP Engineering's, a shop project has to be something special. When a shop has forged its identity building 600-plus horsepower Supras and wicked-looking RX-7s, standing out from customer cars is no easy task. What do you do? Build a Supra or an RX-7?

The Speed Pride crew decided to not decide; it built both. The result has been dubbed Supra-7. An RX-7 with the lines and lightweight of the Mazda, but piston power in the form of a Supra 2JZ-GTE engine built for extreme power production.

The RX-7 has been in Alex's possession for some time but he says, "I just like boost way too much. The car would run for a couple weeks then Blaam! Twenty psi just doesn't do it for me. I have no patience and that's a catastrophic combination when dealing with a 13B rotary." Alex knew the Supra's 2JZ-GTE powerplant could stand up to his insatiable lust for boost but how would it be secured in the Mazda?

A Wired World
Using the engine's mounting points and the Mazdas's mounting points, Eric Toyoshiba from Advanced Design Fabrications (ADF) created a cradle that provided the engine with a comfortable place to nest while ensuring that the transmission and driveline could be properly joined. Making the motor sit in the Mazda body was one thing, wiring the engine up and making it run is another story. Knowing that the wiring set-ups from two car manufacturers are different, a new wiring system or scheme was developed. After a lengthy brainstorming session, SP Engineering decided to use the Painless Wiring 12 circuit race fuse box. Most of the Mazda wiring system was completely removed to install the Toyota wiring system in tandem with the Painless box.