So I've had this car since the early 90's and I'm keeping it. I need a new engine but I'm having a lot of trouble finding one from a reputable source. My shop has some sources but can't find the exact engine that's currently in it. My question is what engines could I get to fit that wouldn't take too much extra work?

What's wrong with your engine that you have in there now, have you thought about a rebuild? As long as it's not a 90-91 4age smallport any of the older large port should be a direct drop right in and everything should hook right up, unless your unlucky and you get the 6 bolt crank 4ag then you will need to get another flywheel.

No, nothing wrong with the 4AGE! But if you insist on going to something different be careful with the weight. With that said, just look at the combos the AW11 community is doing. like the idea of putting a 2ZZ, but have considered
a couple, uh, Honda engines for the swap. I have a Mazdaspeed3 and thought about that engine as a candidate. The MZR is a porker with the trans attached and would require some engineering to get all the sensors working properly. Just the thought of 260/280 hp/tq in stock form is enough to make your right foot twitch! The burned tires will make your bank account cry though. A 3SGTE is a simple(?) install.

ae82hybrid wrote:What's wrong with your engine that you have in there now, have you thought about a rebuild? As long as it's not a 90-91 4age smallport any of the older large port should be a direct drop right in and everything should hook right up, unless your unlucky and you get the 6 bolt crank 4ag then you will need to get another flywheel.

It threw a rod. Poked a hole in the block :c

Hell, just put a new rod and piston in and JB weld the hole shut! Seriously though, the easiest way to do it, and the little FX doesn't need much more than it was born with, is to just replace the engine with another 4AGE. Get a core and have it rebuilt. Bump the compression a bit, have a little head work done and add some mild to midrange cams.
Put underdrive pulleys on the waterpump and alternator and get a lightweight flywheel. You'd be surprised at how much that little bit does in that little, lightweight car. If you can budget it, get a 6 speed trans from a blacktop 20v with an LSD. Unless you want to get silly with the power that will put a smile on your face. The engine I had in my black FX was an early 3 rib for the light internals(used a 7 rib block) with a mildly ported head 264in 256ex cams, 10.5 compression, 7lb flywheel. The computer was some bastard from the factory with an 8500 RPM limiter.
Ran smoothly, got over 30mpg and had no problem climbing the hills I lived in. It was really a great car! Currently looking into a 7AGE for my white FX. Getting old and am broken, so I'm slowing down.

sirdeuce wrote:Hell, just put a new rod and piston in and JB weld the hole shut! Seriously though, the easiest way to do it, and the little FX doesn't need much more than it was born with, is to just replace the engine with another 4AGE. Get a core and have it rebuilt. Bump the compression a bit, have a little head work done and add some mild to midrange cams.
Put underdrive pulleys on the waterpump and alternator and get a lightweight flywheel. You'd be surprised at how much that little bit does in that little, lightweight car. If you can budget it, get a 6 speed trans from a blacktop 20v with an LSD. Unless you want to get silly with the power that will put a smile on your face. The engine I had in my black FX was an early 3 rib for the light internals(used a 7 rib block) with a mildly ported head 264in 256ex cams, 10.5 compression, 7lb flywheel. The computer was some bastard from the factory with an 8500 RPM limiter.
Ran smoothly, got over 30mpg and had no problem climbing the hills I lived in. It was really a great car! Currently looking into a 7AGE for my white FX. Getting old and am broken, so I'm slowing down.

That would be easiest. Just find another 4AGE and rebuild it with some better components.
If you can find a decent smallport to start with that would be even better.