I pulled my 12a apart that was in my 83 RX7 and much like when I first looked at it I am a little puzzled. There was no oil cooler on top (and none in the front I might add) even though it was an 83 with a engine mounted oil cooler. And now that I have the engine apart the apex seals measure almost (a hair less) than 8mm and the chrome on the housing is nearly perfect...all on an engine which is supposed to have 179,000 miles. Does that sound right? Is there any way I can check to see if the engine came with this car? I have a gasket set and I think that will be enough for the rebuild. It was blowing coolant into the engine, but I can see where the gaskets were blown. Comments? Ideas?

 

if you are are building, you might as well replace the seals and springs (along with the gaskets). this will save you from rebuilding again anytime soon...

plus.. PORT THE THING... stock port sucks. no reason to rebuild it the same as you tore it down.

the engine should have a serial number on it, but i have no idea if it is supposed to match the vin or not.

 

since it sounds like you were gonna buy some apex seals "surprised sounding that your apex seals are still in spec" i would take that money and get a port job instead "if yours are in spec"

 

Pay very close attention to the housings, i.e. the water jackets. You can get a tiny crack in them and never even notice. This would also be where the water is leaking from. Go to mazdatrix's site and look up their fact sheet on rotor housings. Very informative.
hanman