ageman

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it! And I was figuring about the same price range for the rebuild (1200-2000).

This might sound stupid, but I might try and take it apart myself. It seems that lots of people have done it, maybe with the rebuild video and the diagrams of the engine, as well as if I take lots of pictures of what I do so I can put it all back together I might be able to pull it off!

Think that's still a bad idea??? :-)

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

As far as rotorhousing damage, one gouge is one too many, and you WILL have at least one. Now, sometimes you can get by with using that rotor if you do a bit of filing on it, or mill them both to 3mm...but I wouldn't PLAN on that, either. Plan on replacing both with parts from another used engine, and if you somehow get lucky enough not to need to, then you just got a bonus.

People don't realize that rebuilding a rotary isn't just taking it apart and cleaning and putting it back together...there is very often internal damage that cannot be repaired and requires replacement of one or more of the 8 major hard parts inside.

ageman

Thanks again for taking the time to give me such great advice. I figued I would have to replace some stuff and not just clean it all and put it back. I just wasnt sure what exactly would need to be replaced. I guess I will figure that out for sure when I take it apart.

Would you be a good place to get these replacement parts?

blackangst

No offense please Age...but it sounds like you are fairly new to the rotary world. I would *highly* discourage you from doing rebuild yourself, especially if this is your daily driver. True, the main block only has 8 moving parts, but the electrical and vacuum lines will make you crazy. Also, there is SO much involved in the tuning (i.e. getting air/fuel mixture correct) you wouldnt believe it. I have had only 2 rotaries, and have done quite a bit of reading on everything from tuning to mods...and I wouldnt even think ONCE about trebuilding myself. I was lucky enough to find a guy who let me come over and watch through the rebuild process so I could learn more. I still dont know that I would attempt it on my own. Just be careful man.

If you are determined to take project on, as far as rebuild kits, videos, etc...all I can say is Google is your friend

Angel Guard Racing Team

RR: These are the simptoms of a seized bearing and also the simptoms of what you are talking about... In the end the engine will have to be taken out and that will be when he will know which scenario happened... Bottom line is time for a rebuild...

jhammons01

Has no bearing on his mechanical capability

This is not his daily driver; I would highly "ENCOURAGE" him to rebuild his own motor.

Vac lines and electrical lines are easy....unless you pull every component off the motor and completly dis-assemble every little part. Your basically pulling off a componenent (leaving any vac lines attached where the are) and laiying it aside until your ready to re-assemble. The vac lines/electrical connectors should still be sitting just where you left them.

Tuning.......again if you just remove the components that make an engine run( and his ran fine....) and then replace the components during reassemble.......who changed the settings on the TPS???? or the BAC??? or the mixture ratio??? All those components that are set properly today will still be set properly in two months when he starts to re-assemble......unless the componenents where broken down to there very core, which, nobody should be doing for a basic rebuild of the internals.

Google???? what do you mean google??? What are you looking at right now?? RX7club.com is exponentially greater in resources than google ever thought about being for RX7 info. I'm not trying to bag on you.....I am not.....really. Just I think your giving poor info.

My take on it???

Yes you should attempt the rebuild.

Yes you should buy the videos that are available, they are great.

You need to look at the archives and read them all twice and you'll have most of your answers (such as where to get parts). You will spend 600-800 on parts for the rebuild but if you don't have extensive mechanic tools you could spend another 500-700 on tools, oils, rags, hoists, stands, special sockets, impact wrenches, etc.

Lastly, once you do this to your car....your will find it hard to think about selling it.

jhammons01

I think Kevin would be a good source for parts. There is also a good amount of parts for sale on this forum. Look in the for sale section for second Gens. There is always somebody taking apart a car that will have the parts you need.

If Kevin is right, you'll need a new/used rotor housing. New ones are $500 aprox. Used ones can be had as cheap as $50 depending on the seller.

If angel guard is right then your going to need a new e-shaft and stationary gear. MOST engine blows do not stem from this problem so those two parts should be easily found.

The Good used rotor housing is the holy grail. that is the one you'll have to search for.

ageman

Wow... okay this is great info! Thanks for the very helpful posts! And thanks for the encouragement on doing the rebuild myself. I definitly don't think it will be a piece of cake by any means but it isn't my daily driver and I'm willing to do as much research and question asking as needed in order for be to do a "basic" engine rebuild.

I'm going to take a chance on it and VERY carefully label everything and take pics and all that. With the help of the video and repair diagrams I'm hoping it's possible!

Also, thanks for the info on used parts etc! Greatly appreciated!

jhammons01

The main thing that you are going to find overwhleming at first is getting the motor pulled out and apart. Below is a word document guide that I used. I made some changes. pring it out.

You'll need to look at "13b rebuild parts list" form Karack in the archives. You need to decide these issues for replacement, look in the archives for titles of disuccusions for the following
PD replacement called "skeptic of the banjo....."
Thermal pellet replacement
front cover housing and oil pressure. Found at www.mazdatrix.com
Water pump replacement
OMP or also called MOP oil line replacements. the old lines are brittle and will break when you try to remove the OMP.
vacuum line replacement, you want nice new supple rubber vac line everywhere.
removing the flywheel and 2 1/8" nut.
You need to search out a thread about 5-6 pages long discussing apex seals from two months ago.
You need to read the treads from felixwankel88 and his coolant seal problems. (about 30 gazillion pages long)

While you are gathering info you need to familiarize yourself with those items listed and why I mention them.

Skip all the stuff about how to port/polish or turbo related issues, Mod issues as they are just a distraction at this point.

I think you'll have fun. If you like learning new things and challenges you'll be amazed during this rebuild.

jhammons01

Double post Sorry.....mods please delete this post if you see it.

ageman

I can't thank you enough... this information will help me out so much! I hope I can have fun too. I'm always up for a good challenege and I do like learning new things... so hopefully all goes well!

Thanks again! I will start my researach on all these topics!

jhammons01

keep us posted. We (I) like to see the progress Felixwankel88 is like a TV show...you can't wait to see what happens next. He post everything with lots of pics.

Angel Guard Racing Team

Have FUN my friend!!!! It ain't that bad... If you need help or get confused at any point, feel free to ask...

ageman

You guys are great! I'll keep you posted and will probably shoot questions at you as they come up! I'll have to take pictures of my rotor housing and rotors and check the damage. Since the car died after two turn-overs on startup, I'm hoping there is less damage then if it happened when it was at full speed! I'm crossing my fingers!

I just posted about getting the rotor housings "lapped" Anyone know much about this... it's new to me? Have you guys got this done when you did your rebuilds?

Thanks!

Angel Guard Racing Team

The rotor housings don't get lapped, it is the side housings. I have never lapped my side housings, I'm not gonna lie and tell you they are not ported but first you must find out what's wrong and buy the parts before thinking of anything else... Pull that engine and find out what's wrong with it...