I'm finally ready to begin reassembly and will almost certainly need some occasional assistance and or suggestions from the willing experienced builders. In fact this is my first engine rebuild of any kind. Although I have turned wrenches before, I'm not what you would call a gear head.

First question:
I do not remember seeing nor have I found a Front Eccentric Thermostat. Another source told me they thought the 20B does not have one. Can any of you 20B guys confirm this?

 

they dont have one

 

Thanks man.




It's my understanding that you would normally replace the rotors in the same position that they came from. I did mark mine F,C and R for that purpose.
Are there ever any exceptions to this when reusing the rotors that came with the engine? My rotor weights with new rotor bearings are below. Given my weights, any reason not to just put them back where they came from?

Front 4368 grams
Center 4373 grams
Rear 4355 grams

 

They are within mazda spec, however its not going to be super smooth.

 

The weight of the seals would throw that off.

 

My engine supposedly had 60K miles on it when I got it.
I'm trying to decide whether to have the side plates nitrated and or just lapped.

Originally I wasn't going to do either but now I'm leaning toward at least the lapping.

1)Any words of wisdom?


2)I was told that after the nitrating the plates would have a dull gray finish instead of the polished/mirror finish they have now. Is that normal, good, bad...?

TIA

 

Re-Nitride Plates
Side plates should be re-nitrided if more than .003" of material is removed or they have been resurfaced before.

This will restore the working surface of the plate back to its factory hardness. This increases plate wear resistance and is a must if you want a lasting reliable engine

Rockwell Hardness Tested


New Mazda plate from the factory no miles on it. RC 38-39

Used plate after lapping /Grinding 2-3 thow deep. RC 21-23

Used plate after lapping/grinding with re-nitride. RC 40

 

Currently plan on using stock fuel rails with overhauled injectors.
Are most of you re builders using the stock fuel pressure regulator and pulsation dampeners?
If not, what sort of adapters if any are needed to make an after market parts work on the stock rails?

 

It's come to my attention that the PD and FPR can't be removed from the stock rails. So any changes in that regard will include changing the fuel rails as well.

 

I am using stock rails with -6 fittings welded to the ends of them. They work fine stock as well but you will want the extra flow and security you get from having decent lines and an aftermarket FPR

 

Do you guys run bigger lines from fuel tank to the FPR? If so how big half inch?

 

Turrentine's DVD shows him installing a rubber O-ring in the groove at the base of the front stationary gear. The exploded engine view I have does not show such an O-ring nor can I find one that's going to fit within my 20B gasket and O-ring set which supposedly has all I need.

Comments?

 

My mistake, it was the rear gear Bruce put an o-ring on.

I do have one rotor installed.

 

I was very careful to install the rotors in their proper sequence in the housing from whence it came and keeping the front of the rotor facing the front of the engine.

I was reasonably certain of having the front and center rotors orientated with respect to each other in phase. But now I'm having second thoughts, as I'm ready to put the third rotor housing on. Once the rotor is slipped onto the e-shaft and rotated so all corners of the rotor are within the confines of the rotor housing is there more than one way for it to fit?

 

rotor position is dictated by the eshaft lobe, you cant get it wrong even if you had 6 rotors.

 

TY very much, I was thinking I had heard or read that somewhere. But I wasn't certain, so I started having visions of an engine that wouldn't start or destroyed components and another rebuild.

 

Making progress.
Checking end play, oil pump and front cover are next.

 

torque settings.

I assuming 90 FT/LBS as in 1st and 2nd generation or is it 200 FT/LBS?

 

Yeah, i would like to know too

And what is stock oil pressure ? like FC or like FD?

 

With the front end parts being third generation and, if I'm not mistaken, the front nut being larger than earlier generations if I have to guess I'm thinking third generation 200 FT/LBS of torque.

I'd just hate to over torque if I'm wrong.

 

Anyone else could confirm all torque settings for 20B?

Tension bolts?
Front e-shaft nut?

Thanks!

 

Front e-shaft nut, and the rear too if it's different from the two rotors.

 

same as 13b's

 

A mechanical (diamond ball or portable ball bounce) Rockwell tester does not test thin nitrided surfaces accurately. The softer underlying material gives way causing a false reading. Nitriding is glass hard, ~72 Rc.

 

info from Dan Atkins :

the tension bolts are 28-30 Foot Lbs
the front hub nut is 90Foot Lbs