Hey guys, i have decided to do a complete rebuild on my 12A since it has over 280,000 miles on it.

I need to see if anyone out there knows where I can get a new set of Apex seals without it costing me a fortune?

The best I have been able to find so far is either the 2mm for about $275. or the 3mm for $325. does anyone know where I can get a better deal.

I am also curious as to the rest of the kit, it is fairly easy to find a gasket set but I am not sure if it would contain all the parts I would need.

Does the gasket set contain the necessary seals for the rebuild?

I guess my real question here is, What all would I need for a complete rotary rebuild without it costing me an arm and a leg?

I have rebuilt piston engines ut never a rotary.

Please help!

 

Give the boys a call at http://www.selectmaz.com.au/home.htm shipping is a week!

 

Tear her apart and see what you need. Maybe just the soft seals will do. You dont have to change the Apex seals unless they're that worn out but many times they are reusable. While the motor is apart look at the housings and maybe consider a porting.

 

I found a great deal on a gasket set at http://replacement.autopartswarehouse.com, but need to find a good deal on apex seals, unsure if I should use the 2mm or 3mm for my 82.

My car does not have turbo at the current time, but may in the future.

Would you guys recommend the 3mm over the 2mm? If so, where would be a nice place to get the best deal.

Thanks again.

 

You don't have a choice. All 12A RX-7s are equipped with 3mm seals and cannot use the smaller 2mm seals.

 

Thanks, that is good to know. Any ideas on a reasonably priced set?

 

The Atkins seals are ~$250 and I do believe that Rotary Aviation offers a 12A set now as well.

I'd stick with OEM though, price notwithstanding.

 

The cheapest solution (but may be the slowest) is to disassemble the engine and get the specs on all parts to see what needs to be replaced and what doesn't. At 280k, is am sure nearly everything will be worn out. The other advantage of doing it this way is you can see the condition of the rotor housings and irons before buying parts. The rotor housings may be worn and need to be replaced (expensive new, have to look for good used set).

To do a full rebuild, you need more than the gasket set and apex seals usually. There are also springs to be replaced, oil control o-rings, possibly oil control carriers, etc. It gets pretty expensive. You can get a pretty complete rotor kit from atkins for $440 (includes apex seals, springs, etc.). You then need a gasket set, front/rear main seal, pilot bearing/seal. Atkins also has apex seals alone for about $220. You can also get apex seals from rotary aviation for about $200. With Atkins and RA, they each make their own apex seals (not made by Mazda). They still work well, but you may want to search to see what you think is better.

www.atkinsrotary.com
www.rotaryaviation.com

You may be better off buying a used/low miles rebuilt engine. Although, if you rebuild yourself, you will learn a bunch and you know exactly the condition of everything.

Good luck.

Kent

Edit: Forgot to mention. Since it is a 12A, you can get Mazda seals from Mazdatrix for $41 each ($246 total). Out of those 3 choices, I would go with the Mazda ones. 13B seals are like $65 each, so they are quite a bit more expensive than Atkins or RA.

www.mazdatrix.com

 

I just done a rebuild on my 85 gs and went with Atkins seals. But you relly need to take a motor apart first. I had 4 12A motors and 1 good rotor housing out of the bunch. 1 of the motors only had 34K miles on it.

 

http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQs...nsrotaryQ2dcom

here are atkins rotary ebay listings. most of the time it turns out to be a little cheaper

i didnt look for 12a stuff but here are some things

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Overh...QQcmdZViewItem
Overhaul Gaskets
$125.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Overh...QQcmdZViewItem
Overhaul Rotor Kit
$440.00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Maste...QQcmdZViewItem
"Master" Rebuild" Rotary Engine
899.00

 

if a rotary was cheap to rebuild you would see more 7's still on the road. plan on thousand to two thousand for a good rebuild in parts the most important thing is condition of your housings

 

no its not realrealreal expensive to rebuild. mpst of the time it doesnt cost anymore in parts than a piston engine. the reason they dont get rebuilt is almost nobody ever studies how to do it. 99.9% positive that you can never find a normal local shop that can do the work. you can either learn to do it yourself,which most ppl cant because the may not have the tools/equipment/location to use or know how to work like this OR you can send it a rotary expert.
another thing about price rotary ressurection can rebuild the motor for $1000-$2500starting........maybe a little bit more on some conditions.

 

If you participate in any kind of sanctioned racing, be it drag, autoX or track days, you are eligible for a pretty substantial discount from Mazda Motorsports. A full rebuilt 'kit' including rotor and main bearings is just a hair more than the Atkins kit, while retaining high quality OEM components.

 

At 280k, you are in over your head in parts already. Not just the small ones either. Find a good running, low mileage engine and either install it or rebuild it.

 

hey, if you're in the dallas are a, or are anywhere near north texas: look up 'marvelspeed'
they specialize in rotaries, and recently i was talking to a guy who told me that they built a 7 that would outrun his injuected 13b out of a12a. they ported it and polished both ports, then put a 750 ho. then supercharged it-- all labor and install included, costs just short of 2k-- best damn deal on the market for a car that crosses the line @137mph and doing 10.28
.......go figure- if y9ou can get it here, they can do the work.
Since i just got mine out of a guys pasture where it had been for threee years, i had them do the carbeuitator, and i rebuil the rest of the car myself. the guy that tuned my mixture was the one that built this car... my car runs badas now, with a stock nikki

 

btw- to get my carb rebuilt by these guys, ran me 300$-- if you can do the rest yourself , then ist's the cheapest way to go, {that is to rebuild the rest of the feul yourself--fpr, all lines, fp. etc}