Has anyone purchased a 20 b from ebay?

 

Any positive/drawbacks?

 

Any success stories?

 

You should try to ask all your questions in 1 post. Ebay is fine 4 buying thoses engines. I bought mine back in 2003. You just need 2 know what series engine to look 4.

 

Would that be a C or D series block?

What is the difference between series?

Thanks

 

The only real issue is do they even know what the hell a rotary engine is and is the engine any good. Then what if it's bad? what will they do?

This is why some times it's better to pay a little extra and go through some one like Japan2la who knows rotaries and can vouch for an engine or help you if something is wrong with it.

The big places like Tigerjapan and so are just out to make money and don't give a **** about the customer.

 

I wouldn't risk it for the little savings.

Just use Japan2LA. You support someone that cares about his reputation in the RX7 community. If for some reason there is an issue he is going to back it up.

In doing a swap like this you don't want to come out of the gate with an issue by dealing with someone you have no real world knowledge of. Do they even know **** about a rotary engine or are they just buying something in Japan and hoping it is in good condition when they sell it here? Many places just buy whatever and if there is a problem take care of it after the sale. I want someone to take care of me on the front end not just fix an issue. I don't want an issue..

The ebay feedback scores are not the end all and be all to someone's reputation. Years of working with the RX7 community is...

Japan2LA FTW!!

 

I bought a couple from ebay.
Bad compression on one.
Another one blew up on the dyno during a tuning session with Steve Kan.
Both were pre C or D series.
Bought a D series.

 

Ebay importers are fine as long as you plan on rebuilding the engine before installing it. You should rebuild any used engine you buy, regardless of who it came from. My one rule of Ebay importers is that I do not use any from Canada, the few that I received were far worse than any from US importers. Very rarely do we open up any JDM rotary engine that would have been a good candidate for installation without rebuilding.

 

Thanks,

I think I am going to use Japantola

 

Pics emailed to you...

 

^ This! I personally can't imagine anyone wanting to buy a used carbon infested rotary engine and wanting to directly install it in their vehicle without opening it up 1st. Carbon chunks falling of the rotor face can and will do some major damage. My ebay D series 20b had carbon locked apex seals and zero compression. I could easily tell that my engine had sat up for a number of years without coolant either in the clip it came out of or on the pallet. Sure I did some funky things back in the day to free up the stuck seals (which did work) but it wouldn't have been smart for me to try to install and run that engine. I was lucky enough to be able to reuse all the hard seals and the engine currently makes 95psi on all faces (which is decent for my elevation).