Anyone have any experience with the Atkins rebuild kits? I see they supply many parts that they make rather than Mazda OEM. Are they as good as Mazda OEM. Any comments on the two piece apex seal design? I also see that the side seals require "minor hand fitting" Is that just grinding them down to length?

Thanks

 

Great questions, I am intrested in the answers as well.

 

I bought my parts from revolutionrotary.com. The apex seals I bought were 3 piece, but were glued together to make installation easier. As for the side seals, yes they have to be grinded down to fit. I also think revolution rotary is a little cheaper. Personally I would stay away from atkins.

 

i just ordered the atkins cuz their apex seals are supposed to be better for use in used rotor housings as they expand from heat i think. I have heard mixed reviews on the seals though. I will let you guys know how it works out.

 

Atkins seals are better for older rotor housings becaus they are softer. This allows them to break in more quickly. Also, the corner piece is a lot flatter (less of a point) then the Mazda piece, so they won't keep cutting a groove in the rotor housing.

However, the Mazda seals are probably superior due to the hardening process used.

I will be using Atkins seals in my rebuild.

 

The aftermarket viton oil control rings used in the atkins kits are SAE. They should be metric. If you try using the SAE o-rings, the seem to fit funny.

The atikins seals don't seal as well, either. The 3 piece, angled horizontal slotting of the stock apex seals allows a "zero clearance" between the seal and the apex seal groove. This helps prevent the blowby of compressiong into an adjacetn rotor face. The atkins seals do not do this.

The atkins seals will likely not take out a housing under detonation. Detonate with a Mazda apex seal, and you can kiss your rotor housing(s) and/or turbo goodbye.

The teflon encapsulated combustion chamber o-rings are decent, though there are reports of slightly different sizes being put out, and thus some stretching of the rings was required for proper fitment.

Each part had its positives and negatives. I would use thier kit for a base rebuild.

 

Contact Kevin Landers @ Rotaryreserecton.com on Atkins rebuild parts ... he can tell you quality, quirks, etc.
Also ... on Dave Gibson's site fc3s.org they have started sellin the viton o-rings in the correct metric size at a fair price ...

 

Atkins seals are fine and are used by many many folks. The minor hand fitting you say is for their single piece apex seals not the 2 piece ones. All one piece apex seals regardless of manufacturer require hand fitting.

 

Thanks all for the posts. Hypntyz (Kevin) we need your worldly input here! What would be the best to use on any rebuild if money was not a consideration (within reason)