Good to know. I figured they weren't neccesary as my engine ran fine without them.

 

Are those plugs the rubber pieces in the corner seals?

 

Yeah

 

So, can you soak other parts of the engine in the purple power, too, or just spray degreaser on the outside? BTW, I foudn a big jug of it at walmart for cheap.

 

I dont think I'd put aluminum in it, but anything else should be fine.

 

Ok, thanks. I'll stick it in for a day and see how things are coming, and put in in for another day if needed.

 

It oxodizes and corods aluminum.

I clean my housings in my parts cleaner with mineral spirits. Well and the Irons to, there ushaly clean enough.

The rotors I cleand so far with purple stuff spray on unless replacing the bearings. Clean the housing exhaust port with purple stuff spray.

Going to try carb cleaner on another one of my motors and see thx sureshot.

 

So is the purple power ok for the rotor bearings? I assume it is for a day or two, but just making sure.

 

Dude, this has been gone over. PURPLE POWER EATS BEARINGS AND ALUMINUM.

 

You might wanna consider getting solid corner seals when doing your rebild. I once worked on an engine like that (two years without running) I was able to remove all seals by spraying wd-40 letting it set then I used the method described by RR to remove them. I ususally clean everything with gasoline and a plastic thread brush. Next time when you leave the country for a long time just pour some oil into the engine and crank it a few turns. It will smoke like hell for a while when you come back but it should not have any stucked seals...

 

Sorry, but from your post it sounded like it was ok if it wasn't left in it for too long. I was just making sure, because that didn't sound right.

 

The bearings are okay if you only leave them in for a few hours. More than 1-2 days and they get damaged. Aluminum would likely get damaged immediately.

 

Yeah, I wasn't really thinking about the aluminum. I think I'm just going to set the rotors in a bucket and only fill it to just below the bearings, that way I can soak one side at a time and not damage the bearings, as they are pretty new. Thanks for all the help. I don't mean to sound like an idiot, I just like being very sure of things before I do them the first time.

 

Well, I got the rotor all cleaned off, but I haven't gotten some of the seals out. Gonna soak that rotor so more just on the tips. After getting the loose surface stuff off, it appears that the front rotor actually had much more built up carbon on the rotor itself, which is weird because the seals popped right out without even using a tool on that rotor. This thing has got me so damn confused.
Also, what kind of mineral spirits did you use, Iceblue? Or do any of them work.

 

running super rich/flooding = super carbon. you had bad injectors... 2+2 man.

 

Well, according to the flow bench they actually had reduced flow, which is what is confusing me.

 

Well, I finally got all the seals out. Even after several days of soaking the tips, two of the apex seals still wouldn't come out so I had to pry it out carefully. Sideseals came out in between 4 and 7 pieces each, and all the corners broke in half. Damn this thing was carboned.
Also, theres nothing aluminum on the rotor housings right? I can't think of anything, but I'm just making sure before I soak them in purple power. Hopefully it wont eat the stuff pluging the extra coolant passage in the turbo housings...

 

uh...

the entire rotorhousing is aluminum, with a chrome inner liner and steel exhaust sleeve. you're gonna wanna not do that.

clean the mating surfaces with a wire brush on a drill or die grinder, or even angle grinder. dont stay in one spot too long. they should come out pretty shiny, flat, and free of contaminant.

soak the housing in a solvent like mineral spirits (or at least spray some on) or a safer degreaser like greased lightning. This will loosen the buildup. After this has soaked a while, pressurewash it, outside and in, especially through the passages. Lay the housing flat on a smooth section of driveway for this part, perhaps even up against something like a car wheel or the corner of a building to keep it from sliding around.

 

don't touch that stuff, i would only use a solvent like gasoline, carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner or kerosene to clean parts with. i like to use a handheld sanding planer to clean the mating surfaces, it keeps them nice and even and square but like Kevin said you have to use care and not clean one area too much or it will leave an uneven surface.

 

Not to hijack this thread by anymeans... But I am at a similar point as sideways 7. Here's the jackass stunt I pulled. Knowing the the rotors are solid and hae no chance of chipping, I tool a angle grinder with a whiz wheel on the end. Cleaned the flat surfaces great, but around the apex's slots, it left a nice little lip. Can I sand this smooth with a high grit, or did I shoot myself in the foot?

 

The FSM describes how to check apex seal groove wear.
Just deburr the edge so the new seals slide in smoothly.

 

there generally is a machining burred lip on the rotors, so long as you didn't take the grinder inside the apex seal groove i would think it is still fine. you will find out once you measure the clearances though.

 

Wow, for some reason I had it in my head that the rotor housings were iron. I feel like an idiot. I guess the color doesn't really make sense now that I think about it. I'll just keep using the mineral spirits Iceblue recommended, its been working pretty well, as seen.

 

Well, I got it pretty much cleaned up and was looking over the housings to make sure they were in good shape and noticed a nice big scrape, for lack of a better word, down the outside edge of the front housing. I didn't notice it before because I mainly concentrated on the rear housing since the front rotor looked fine. Needless to say I'm not happy. I spent the time to clean them up, plus thats another 700 or 800 on new housings. Damn.
It doesn't show up to well in the pics. Its on the bottom side of the housing.

 

Chrome flaking on the rear edge of a rotorhousing as it nears the exhuast port is normal for any used housing, and does not rule out the possibility of a good rebuild. From what I see they look fine...take pics from the other side.