So I went to the local RX-7 (And Miata) tuner shop (Rotary Performance of Virginia... Not Texas) to pick up my latest E-bay winning. (Urethane Front Air dam) And I inquired on the price of a rebuild, or if I rebuilt the engine in my garage, a street porting and lapping. I was told that I would need new rotor housings because my milage was too high. (175K miles.)

Anyone ever reuse such old housings before? Any luck? I just figured I'd pull the engine apart and check for missing chromium coating... If there are no empty spots or no flaking, then it's good...

Also, today, I went junkyard shopping. Asked the price of the dizzy, $150 So I just took the ignitors... $5 for both, plus the oscilator relay. SCORE!

I took em from a 1983 GSL... Just for gits and shiggles, I prodded in the rear wheel wells (No wheels)... NO RUST!

I'm wondering if I should just trade them cars... Theirs for mine...

Damn.. I just remembered that I forogot to check the milage.

 

I was at the junk yard the other day and I found an 83 RX-7 there with 210K+ on the odometer, but the engine looks DAMN good. Like clean and everything...Im thinking maybe there was a rebuild involved at some point in time...I dont really know though. It was rearended pretty hard, so Im sure thats why its there, not because of the engine. I was thinkig of buying the engine core from them, and tearing it apart to see if its in good shape and worth porting and rebuilding again...With their prices, I could get it cheap ($16.50 for a super or turbocharger, $8.50 for a starter, $10.00 for an alternator, $21.50 for a door, $21.50 for a fender, and these are standard rates for ANY car) and then after I had it, I could go and rebuild it, port it, and drop it in my car .

~T.J.

 

Pele - KD Rotary told me the same thing about the rotor housings - get them replaced. IMO, if they're good, keep 'em! I think the Chilton's manual has a section that explains how to check if everything is still within tolerance. Might be worth a look.

RotorMotorDriver - WOW! Hook me up with that place!!

 

Actually, now that you mention it... I forgot to say someting about the 83...

Dizzy cap, rotor, and plug wires were new(ish... They had been sitting out there for a bit.)

I popped the radiator cap and the coolant was under pressure... Because the seal under the spring loaded part of the cap was swollen up... But the coolant was all there... And since it was under pressure, the cooling system musta been intact...

Then I sniffed the oil... Gassy smell...

I think it was there because it was flooded... But it's $500 For the engine.. That seems a bit much for a core... And it's too much for me to gamble on.

But if anyone's in the NoVa area and wants a seemingly rust free 83 GSL... its there. Cept for the rain in the carburetor and missing driver's fender.

 

$500 for a core! Holy moly!


Thats way too much for a core!

Hell I could pull one and ship it to you for less than that... well... just about I think.

 

hey pele, where is rotary performance of va. at? and you got there phone no. or website address??

 

I bet I could get the core from this place for like $100. they have a standardized price list for cars and then another one for trucks/suvs. Its really nice though...They dont base part prices on the actual market value (like other places that look up a new one, and seel you the used one a little cheaper), they just price it as a used part. I LOVE that place .

~T.J.

 

It's something like 9383.. or 8393... x3y3 with x and y being consecutive numbers...

Euclid Ave. Unit H
Manassas Virginia... I forgot the Zip code.

Take I95 North to the Prince William County Pkwy exit... I think West... Towards Manassas... Away from Woodbridge. If you find Route 1, you went the wrong way.) Take the Pkwy several miles to Liberia Ave. Turn right. Take that to Euclid and turn Right again. You'll pass Eastern Automotive, huge used car outlet and Liberia antique mall at the intersection. COntinue down Euclid, you'll pass Merchant's Tire and Auto Co. corperate HQ, and shortly there after, a High School on the right... Keep going... You'll come to Manassas Ave. Keep going striaght, and it's about half a mile down on the right... The sign is hidden by a bush... It creeps up on you. If you pass a middle school on the left, you went about 500 feet too far... The road severely narrows and changes name at the middle school.

I'll get you better info later.. I left the invoice out in my car.

EDIT:
Damnit.. I'm an assclown... I just won an e-bay aution from them... All that **** is in my e-mail.

E-mail them at RX7parts@aol.com ... Their website is http://www.rotaryperformance.com/

 

Junkyards in this IMMEDIATE area are all under the same management, and are linked. While this is good because they have computer inventory of cars and can access each other's inventories, plus delivery of parts for free, they suck because the pricing is high...

I've gotta go for an hour of driving before getting to any other junk yards... And I dunno what their prices are like.

 

if you're just going for a simple, bare-bones rebuild or you're just practicing to see how good you'd be at rebuilding, then fine ... use them.

if you're building a serious motor for any increased performance you'll be much better off getting new housings (or used ones with much less mileage) - trust me. besides, they may start flaking when you do the exhaust anyway ... so they may force you to get "newer" housings themselves ...

 

rotormotordriver, WHERE IS THIS PLACE??? I'm in WA too... cant be too far from here.

 

I'm not building some kinda bridgeported monster... No.. But I would like a good engine... So it looks like they're gonna have to be new...

What about the side housings? Can I reuse them since they're iron? Do the rotors themselves wear out? Like where the apex seal slides in and out?

I'd really like to say I rebuilt this engine myself, but it's looking like it's gonna be cheaper to buy it built already...

 

generally speaking ... the side housings last longer than the rotor housings ... however, don't take this as a rule. i'm just speaking from my experiences thus far.

everything will wear out given enough time and friction. that's just life (and physics ) but the side housings can usually be lapped a few times before you have to discard them. obviously i'm not there ... you'll have to judge whether or not your side housings can be reused. when rebuilding, i usually follow this simple rule ... "if in doubt, throw it out" - the cost (and waiting time) may be bite you hard at first, but it sure beats tearing the motor apart a week later because something broke! it's also cheaper ...
for the rotors ... the best thing i can say is check your clearances, and even if you decide to re-use things like side seals and corner seals ... get NEW springs for them. however, always, always, ALWAYS ... change the oil seals.

 

Well, my original rebuild plan was just lap and port the side housings, port the rotor housings, put all new Apex, side, and corner seals with springs, all new oil control rings, front and rear main bearings and seals, and obviously all new gaskets.

Hardened stationary gears were gonna be an option if my budget would handle it...

Being that I'm laid off now, my budget can't handle ****... Right when I got together a few thousand dollars too.

I may as well just get a brand new engine... But I gotta pull it apart to get it ported, then put in all new gaskets...

 

dude ... that was me for the last 6 months! good luck

 

Thanks... It's not so bad... I'm concentrating on college mostly... If I keep full time in college, I don't have to pay my parents rent, which is a good thing...

Problem is, 13 credit hours don't pay for parts.

It's been sitting since June when I wrecked it. It hasnt been started since last year when the ignitors died. Hope the MMO I poured down the carb holds up till I can put the newer ignitors in...

I feel bad for my car. I need some kinda better storage than under a tarp, behind my church...

 

Thats the funniest thing Ive heard all week

~T.J.

 

Hmmm...Just went o the Rotary Performance website...Interesting how they are using Racing Beats pictures to promote their site...

~T.J.

Look familiar to anyone?

Heres a hint...Far right