I'm friends with the owners and workers at a performance shop here in town. They do a great job with with practicly every engine they sell or work on. One of the reasons they do such good work is because they fly to Japan and purchase their motors themselves. They inspect and dyno every car before buying them and sending them back here.

They have offered to find me a strong running Cosmo, cut it and send it back. They said that they would make a video for me, do a compression check on all rotors and give me the dyno numbers. Not too shabby if you ask me.

I'm guessing that the price of them getting me a front clip may run the same as if I were to order a rebuilt motor with a few modifications done to it such as a street port etc...

I'm curious which option you guys would go for. Obviously being able to choose my own front clip is just too good of a deal to pass up. But I can't think of anything that the front clip will give me that I need to install it into my FC. I won't keep the stock twins, ECU or auto tranny. I'm sure I could sell 2 of those items to someone here on the board. Also, I'll be taking the motor to have it ported, pinned, new seals and springs...

So which would you do?

If I go for the rebuilt motor, who would you guys recommend I buy it from and do the modifications? I live in Georgia, btw.

Thanks

 

well since i build motors all the time, i'd just get whatever's cheapest and rebuild/port it myself. if you want to leave the ports stock or don't plan on rebuilding it anytime soon, get the best thing you can find.

 

if you want a used motor that has questionable clearances even though the power output may be ok, than get the best long block you can for your money. I personally would (and have) just taken a motor that has checked out and rebuilt it using new parts so you know exactly the shape and tolerances of all parts so the thing will not need to come apart unless it's because you tuned it poorly or starved it of fuel and it crashed out. But that's me and I don't like to gamble on used parts.

 

i like rebuilding motors just for fun...and i like clean engines. j-specs always have that corrosion on them--looks nasty.

 

I'm not stupid but I am confussed by your answer. So, you're suggestion is to rebuild the motor they find in Japan? No matter which I chose, I would want the thing built to withstand abuse. And I want to insure that it goes in once and doesn't need to be pulled out for a long time. If this is what you're suggesting, who do you think I should have rebuild the motor?

 

I'm saying use the parts that are in spec and replace all those which are questionable such as the rotor housings, and rotors for starters. Reusing the e-shaft and other internals will definitely make life easier as well as having all the manifolds and the steel intermediate and end plate sections. Basically my experience has been use what you can off the old block and as many new parts as you can afford because you know exactly where your clearances are and the condition of the motor from the beginning. I would not have it torn apart and then shipped overseas to you.

I had my local shop rebuild it that work on all levels of daily drivers and performance engines from airplanes to drag tractors to cars and trucks. I do not trust or bother with anyone else after I've found these guys and they are not "rotary" specialists which to me means the "specialists" charge a premium for services that are just as ordinary as engine building anything else when pistons are (in my opinion) a lot harder to rebuild because of the numerous addtional parts and clearances. I think any high-end performance shop can rebuild a rotary but I see so many people on here and in general trying to get by on the cheapest (which normally means used) parts and service and they expect a F-1 engine for $2K. Take a look around here, all you see is "how can I do a 20B for $10K or less?" ignorant questions but everyone wants a highly engineered car that will have a motor making huge power for no money...oh, and it never breaks either. And yes, I do understand everyone has a budget and are trying to get the most for their money, who isn't, but there is such a thing as cheap and frugal being different. Just remember; time, money, quality...pick two.

I like to be close to the shop doing the work so I can see and participate in the build process as much as possible so after a couple really bad experiences with external vendors (no names mentioned on purpose), I want to see everything happen locally with true professionals working on it. I've gotten screwed over too many times by shops who are long distance, do work for you, send you absolute junk and you're stuck fighting a losing battle with your money already spent (my "first" rebuilt 20B...yes, the first one, exhaust manifold, and bumper where the big ones that get me all riled up). Never again will I go through that and that's my biggest lesson learned in the 20B saga.

If you want to know who my shop of choice is PM me as I do not want to irritate the administrators of this board with my opinionated advertising.

I apologize for ranting but it just touched on a hot button for me and I had to vent

 

No problem. I completely understand. This is why I started this thread. BTW, check your PMs.

So, If I'm gonna get rid of parts that are either worn out or nearly worn out, what's the point in buying the half cut from Japan?

To the guys on here with running 3 rotors and those who are close to running. If your motor was rebuilt, who did it and what did they use to replace the worn/broken parts?

 

Drag'nGT, I've PM'ed with you sometime last year about getting some 20B engines.. Never heard back.. Hmm.. Anyhow, I have a builder who's about 2 hours away from ATL. He built his own lap table and has almost 30 years building rotary engines.

He now has 3 x 20B engines.. two of them are mine and one his.
He will have experience building 20B's in by this summer.

Also, I would go ahead and buy that engine.. If your friend finally decide to bring them into the states, I would get it soon. I've acturally talked to a owner of a junk yard in Japan (who barely knew english), told me that they are harder and harder to find.

 

I thought I responded to your PM? Oh well. I did speak to everyone about finding these motors and they weren't too interested it doing it at that time. They still kinda aren't because of the rareness, but also the demand is low. Right now they are known for Honda and Nissan swaps. Being a new business they're going with the trends right now. And since Nissan is doing well in the tuner market they're following that. It also helps having 2 skylines as your company's main cars.

However, I agree with Turbo 3's idea of getting as many new parts as I can in order to minimize problems later down the road. I'm exploring all the avenues that I can.

However, I have to put my search on hold due to medical bills that I recently aquired from my dammed appendix going nuts on me.