Mobius

Finally my engine is running! And get this...It drives too.

This thread is for the novice rotary rebuilder:

Talk about a bitchdog of a first engine rebuild. I have never rebuilt any engine before. I also decided to turn this automatic into a manual five speed too.

There are a variety of reasons why not to go the route that I did. I'm kinda weird in that I wanted to do this for fun and edu'maction. Well, funs over.

I've seen thread after thread that says. Fresh rebuild but Engine won't start.

Why won't the engine turn over?

#1 The stationary gear bearings. Did you get new ones? Did you put them in yourself? Appearently the the stationary gear bearings are very touchy. Think about it this way. The eccentric shaft goes in fine. But its slighty off, EVER SO SLIGHTLY out of spec. Your eyeballs tell you they're cool. When you tighten down the tension bolts, 17 times mind you, you magnify this error. the Bearing will actually grip down, or bow the eccentric shaft from one end to the other. And if you screw up putting both bearings in each stationary gear, that's Error X 2. Yes that's right! That solid steel eccentric shaft will actually bow just enough (.001 mm) to cause a lot of unecassary stiffness. Hence hard starting and eventual premature bearing failure and other nasty things even if it does start.

Have a shop put in all bearings. That's what I would do right off the bat next time.

#2 Also, the oil seals. They can also contribute to hard starting and stiffness. Again, in the land of specifications, you want to make sure that your seals are sticking out of the the rotor faces to all measurements called for. You cannot eyeball anything in a rotary. Let me say this again. I, King of the land of Eyeball, assure you that one cannot eyeball anything in rotary. Especially a novice. Don't have a micrometer> Don't rebuild your engine. That simple.

Try this. First put them in yourself, measure it up and call it good. Get wise. take all the components out of the rotors, take them to a shop with the stationary gears and their bearings, and have them put in. Then when you get them back see how different it is.

#3 Sometimes the needle bearings can also cause a similair problem. If you're lucky. That's alllllllll you messed up.

#4. You cannot just torque hard on a flywheel bolt and call it good either. One must always go with spec strictly on this. NO EXCEPTIONS. I actually did do this correctly. But I say this to any future crazy rebuild novices so that I can mention something about the kinetic force being applied to the flyweheel.

It is an energy weapon.

If that flywheel comes off when the engine is powering it. It will explode. Kind of interesting when you think of a Metal Explosion. It will travel through the bell housing, then through the fire wall, then your head, then through the roof, through the person walking their dog, though the dog....get the picture. Torque it down correctly. The least that could happen is, well, it could saw your feet off. Not like knife though hot butter. More like a really fast spoon through cold icecream..


What I learned from this project was alot. I mean alot. I have more teardown, rebuild tear down, rebuild tear down, scream and scream, rebuild tear down....than I ever will seek again.

May the Force be with you