lol thanks dave for putting in the good word for me but Ari and chris are just so much closer and there is the peace of mind as they have done work for me since i got my first fd when i was 16

 

Chris (banzai) I was just thinking i should have bought that. we aren't guaranteed that this is the problem. we will see when Chris and/or Ari open it up.

 

here is a pic of the bolt in a spare housing for comparison. the fact that the bolts have larger heads may have saved the housing. MAYBE...

 

I'l be surprised if that is the cause. I get some engines here people have cranked down bolts in those pretty hard.

~S~

 

well I'm trying to stay positive and with manic depressive disorder its hard enough with this the prozac had to go up a dose. I'm hoping the housings are fine too. I sent Ari the bolts because he requested them. he seems to think that the rest of the housings are fine but he said he wont be sure until he opens it up. hopefully they will open it soon. I'm going to call him tomorrow to see if there are any updates.

 

So what's the verdict??

 

I love a mystery. Too bad your 20B is messed up though

My guess is... Foreign object somewhere lurking inside the motor - possibly "stuck" to the rotor with assembly lube or something. Sits in there stuck a while, then comes free and causes your problem. After it gets smashed once, it's now stuck somewhere else.

If the motor is taken apart very carefully - maybe we'll know the answer!

Good luck.

 

I spoke with Ari the other day and he believes that the bolts that were used to fill the oil injector ports were too long and damaged the front housing but not the middle and rear ones. so he is ordering a housing from my original engine builder that is already dowel pinned to match my iron since he did it. it will then have to have the exhaust ports, port matched. the good news is that Ari 99.9% sure that the rotor fixable and that it probably jsut needs a new seal on that point

 

but nothing is for sure till it is apart

 

He hasn't taken it apart yet? You sent it to him what, 4 weeks ago?

 

he should have just sent it back to the engine builder

 

how can you order parts before seeing what happened??? that makes no sense to me.

 

Ari told me that he thought it was the bolts that i used in the housings that at least one must have punched through the steel liner and compromised the front housing. he asked me to send the bolts to him so that he could take some measurements and he believes that is the issue. so the whole thing of going back and forth between him and my original enginer has taken a while I admit. but Rotary Performance has never been a very fast shop in my opinion but everytime I have gotten a car back from them I have always been more than satisfied so I dont complain too much.

believe me I tried.... please refer to earlier posts.

I admit his methods are a little unusual, but I trust him to do the right thing. He believes that it is a bad housing. If the housing isn't the issue I don't think he will charge me for it.

 

Ari is a good guy and a great mechanic so I am sure it will turn out well for you. It's just frustrating that in the rotary world, we accept slow service. Seems to be that way at every shop though. I would have thought Ari would have immediately taken the engine apart to diagnose it and then go from there.

 

Anyone trying to take a shot at Ari is just pissin' in the wind IMO

 

Come on Rich. Like I said, Ari is a great mechanic. However, having the engine sitting there for 4 weeks without opening it up is too long for anyone's shop. Would have said the same thing about Kilo, your shop, or any other shop for that matter.

 

David, to be clear, I wasn't referring to you with my post. Good seeing you this past weekend, and I'm glad you made it back home safely

[soapbox]
A lot of the armchair quarterbacks have no idea what it takes to run a shop. It's easy to sit at the keyboard and sling arrows or spew poison against a competitor or a shop that someone has animosity toward.

I know for a fact that RP is extremely busy with a loooong line of engine builds in the hopper. Why should one engine get bumped ahead of 12 others?

Basically, opinions are like ********, and everyone on this board has one. They're usually uninformed opinions too--- you get what you pay for, lol. I've just seen the stupidity level skyrocket all over this forum in the last year, and it really makes me shake my head.
[/soapbox]

 

I don't think anyone is taking a shot at anyone here. How would you handle it at your shop? Rotary Performance speaks for themselves. They do great work and are easy to work with, but I am w/ David on this one.

 

It's called project management Rich. Don't delay diagnosing the problem. Do this immediately as everything else is predicated on this. Its the critical path and without this info nothing else can happen How long would this have taken to pull apart the engine? Maybe 3 hours max? Then you would know exactly what is going on and you could order parts etc and go from there.

As a guy that built a successful $8 million plus per year company I am always surprised when shops don't do this and this as you basically leave money on the table. No my company wasn't an auto shop but the principals of planning apply here. Having "visited" numerous shops over the past years, including Ari's I guarantee there is much room for improvement in shop flow. Note I didn't say quality as Ari hits it out of the park here.

Off mu soap box now and it was good seeing you too. Wish I spent less time under my car though.

 

I totally agree with you. Step aside from one project, tear apart the engine, get an estimate, go back to other project. I work at a dealership, we have to do this all the time. If I have a car for more than one day, I have a manager breather down my neck. Obviously customer fabrication work takes alot longer so one has to remember that, but you should be able to take care of the quicker projects too. I wish I was as busy as Ari. I'm very suprised with this economy that a shop like this is that busy. I got customers with $200k Mercedes benz declining brakes!

 

3 hours here, 3 hours there, phone calls, customers- this is how things DONT get completed.

I see it all the time in my shop, people want me to drop what I am doing to help them and look at their issues, so its either someone's job aint getting done or I am the ******* working until 11 at night.


anyhow-

How much did you pay for your magnum t56 and where did you get the adapter plate?
Good customer/friend of mine builds those transmissions

 

I think everybody knows Ari's quality (top notch) . I also don't believe David was taking any shots at him either.

Jay I think the reason that rp does so well is because it is a custom shop for 17 year old cars that cost a lot to work on. therefore only owners that really care and are true enthusiasts will be their customers. These people will pay whatever it takes as compared to some wealthy individuals with disposable income who just want a nice car and if it gets messed up oh well. I think the other reason and probably the main one is the economy, California has been hit harder than the midwest. just a guess...

 

did you see my question about the magnum?

 

And as a guy who served as Logistics Officer overseeing the successful wartime deployment of over 650 troops and $120+ million in equipment I think I know a thing or two about project management

Just wanted to mention that RP isn't just Ari, Chris Ott is the other owner and he's just as important to their success and longevity.

Regardless, until RP contacts any of us and offers to pay consulting fees for our informed opinions maybe we're all the ones pissing in the wind

To the OP, your engine is in good hands, and in the end they'll get you sorted out. Keep us in the loop with future developments

 

How longer does it take to open a 20B? It toke me 30 mins to open my 20B at home so I know it would take them less than 20 mins to do it. Not taking shot at Ari I met him 2 times at IFO event and you can't meet a nicer person, heck he's the one that inspired me into rotary. Man this thread is making me go crazy I think I'll go outside and start my 20B