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So I ran into a snag.
I had pulled the rear housing on my motor, and was impressed by how clean it looked. Then left it sit for awhile.
Pulled the rest apart today, and found corrosion in the front.
The plating on the front rotor housing is toast!
Now this motor was hard enuf for me to find. Can this **** be repaired, or am I hunting for a new housing?
Ideally you need a new housing but it would work. The compression wouldn't be as good as the other one. From my experience, most used 12As out there only have one good housing. So if you can score one more 12A, odds are you will get the good housing you need. Look in the classified for 1st gens and the classifieds section for your local area as well. I bet someone has a 12A or housing to get rid of.
Ideally you need a new housing but it would work. The compression wouldn't be as good as the other one. From my experience, most used 12As out there only have one good housing. So if you can score one more 12A, odds are you will get the good housing you need. Look in the classified for 1st gens and the classifieds section for your local area as well. I bet someone has a 12A or housing to get rid of.
Ya I found another motor this morning. Hopefully it's ok?
Same deal though. It's been sitting for some time.. Only I get a whole car this round. 79' RX7. Don't know all the details about it? But it's not worth saving..
Originally Posted by t_g_farrell
So is this still the project of putting this in a FWD VW?
I couldn't find a transmission I liked, and the cost of the adapters scared me off to. So I sold the VW, and bought a 91' Mazda b2200 to drop the motor in. Thought it was boring, and sold it to buy the 78' Datsun. Now I'm finding out the housing in my motor is toast..
I just can't win I tell ya!!
Well I'm gonna score that car, and strip it down.
It'll give me lots of spare parts. Maybe that motor will be in better shape. I could get lucky?
But if it comes down to it, I have a better understanding of how to make it work.. Even if it's not perfect. I thank you all for that.
My other housing has some corrosion to. Right on the edge where my finger is. But it's not as bad. I was gonna run it anyway.
So this might sound really stupid, but has anyone ever done a DYI ceramic coated housing??
I have been looking at some fancy products, and feel that one might work.
It's called cerakote. Its abrasion resistance is supposedly really good, and can be sprayed up to .020 thick. But I'm just guessing that it could work?
I did some light reading on Cermet. Cerakote is basically the same stuff, it's just applyed differently..
I figure if you had a good housing that was just tired, and took your time. You could spray this junk on there to cover minor imperfections?
You might have to get it machined first though? Just to start with a level canvas.
but you could call Goopy, last i heard they had finally gotten to the point of replating the housings.
So just after I posted that last comment, I got an email from Goopy Performance.
This is what it said:
Hello
Our Re-chrome rotor housings.. Its been a 10Year R&D project and we now wrapped up to where we can sell to the general public oh and its not the same as our re-furbishing.
A. (Any housings you wont fix? ie: scored) The Re-chrome can repair almost anything except deep cracks near the spark plug area that go to deep into the thread.
In other words housings that our re-furbishing could not repair this can.
We have plenty of 12A and S4..but low on FD and RX8 due higher demand..
So please dont toss your old housings as now they will be candidates for Re-chroming
b. (Price and or discounts ?) ..Each housings is $575.00 but you get them at $550 when you buy a set of Apex Seals.
The re-chrome housings are offered as a Performance upgrade with no warranty or guarantee implied.
That's great news if they hold up. Id never try to coat them myself, the heat alone would destroy most coatings.
Well that coating I looked at is a thermal coating. It's good to 1600°.
But I don't think it would hold up to the abuse from the Apex seals..
I'm gonna buy from Goopy though. I think that's a pretty good deal.
Both of those housings would be considered toast in my book. Just my opinion though.
I have multiple 12a housings that are going up for sale in the next week, would be a much easier solution to your problem and significantly cheaper.
As far as the coating goes, my engine builder did a Cerakote coating on a set of REW rotors that are being used in a Semi-Peripheral Ported engine that'll make around 600rwhp on a conservative tune. So to answer your question, the rotors should be able to be coated but the housings I wouldn't dare. Talk about causing compression issues and chipping off large parts of coating and chrome...yuck.
Both of those housings would be considered toast in my book. Just my opinion though.
I have multiple 12a housings that are going up for sale in the next week, would be a much easier solution to your problem and significantly cheaper.
As far as the coating goes, my engine builder did a Cerakote coating on a set of REW rotors that are being used in a Semi-Peripheral Ported engine that'll make around 600rwhp on a conservative tune. So to answer your question, the rotors should be able to be coated but the housings I wouldn't dare. Talk about causing compression issues and chipping off large parts of coating and chrome...yuck.
The housings you have. Are you gonna sell at a reasnable price? Most used housings go for way to much.
But I'm a cheap *****.. lol
I thought $575 for a rechrome was decent. But still a bit steep.
The housings you have. Are you gonna sell at a reasnable price? Most used housings go for way to much.
But I'm a cheap *****.. lol
I thought $575 for a rechrome was decent. But still a bit steep.
Most used housings are in way better shape than both of yours though
I am new owner of a 12A FB, it runs, but my concern with rebuilding was the lack of availibility of 12a housings, if they can rechrome them, I will try this.
:edit
REC has a great video on their website on their rechroming process, they have a special right now for $69 a Housing for rechroming a pair. I think i will be doing business with them in the future.
Last edited by RotaryRoadkill; Jan 19, 2018 at 12:29 PM.
Reason: Checked out REC
That's just a refinish.
They just clean them, and resurface them. It involves removing more chrome. Its not actually a rechrome...
Goopy performance is about the only company doing rechrome right now.
Its $570 per housing.
I looked at their website, it looked good, I have a 12A FB that i want to rebuild, i found this thread about rechroming housings, It looked good in their pictures on the website.
