Well I never said much about my intentions when buying my RX-7, probably would have been another newbie throwing himself in the campfire. But my intentions were to rebuild, well overhaul the whole car, and start from a fresh clean slate. I started a few weeks back, pulling the motor, the entire interior, swapping from 4 to 5 lugs. Well now its time to clean things, and break down the core(when i get my hands on a 54mm socket that is). So heres where I'm at and im looking for advice now, on what Apex seals, i hear the OEM mazda's are expensive but the best, just simple advice that I really need, since im lacking the experience....well any way heres some progress.

This is before my intake manifold was put in my new sandblasting cabinet(anywhere near poughkeepsie, need to sand blast something? PM me, i'm willing to help people out) This is after wire brushing and royal purple, and I thought it was acceptably clean, damn......


well i sandblasted the hell out of it, this was the first run with a large tip, i eventually ran smaller tips, slowly and slowly, 3 sessions later, it looks better then the below....


during all this i was pondering the best method of mounting my engine, the best, well that would have been calling Mazdatrix and buying their adapter but im a cheap *** and i own an Arc welder.. So heres what i came up with, if you can't figure out how to make one, or so on, i can explain in detail another time


well it worked thank god now its time to tear down this good ol' 13b...anyone know if i can get away with sandblasting carbon off the rotors(im using a very fine grit) or if its not worth it?...but heres my stand in action


well considering this is my first car i could be going overboard with it, but i need something to keep me busy untill i get my lisence, im hoping to get at least the engine bay painted before the month is over. but again, any advice would be great
Thanks,

Sean

 

DO NOT sandblast the carbo off the rotors...... You'll ruin the rotors. Soak the buggars in a bucket of carb cleaner for a day, scrape the carbon with an old apex, side seal, or cheapo screwdriver, soak 'em again, scrape again and keep doing htat till there is absolutely NO carbon in the grooves (if you miss even a little scrap, it'll come back to bite you one the *** later)

Nice job on the stand, next time you might want to get the center of gravity a little closer to the stand, thats sticking out quite a bit, ,but as long as it doesn't break, its kosher.

 

thanks, yea i have a parts cleaner, i figure some indutrial powered cleaner could take the carbon off quick, thanks

 

ok now its time to figure out what I do for seals, im looking at the racing beat OEM kit, but it is $1,000, Im willing to spend it, im not reusing anything, but is it worth it or should I pick up bits and pieces?

pics are down..sorry
you can go here for the pictures
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...elected=950897

 

anyone have advice, im new to choosing internals, and really want to order the stuff ASAP

 

kinda off the topic but can you reuse your apex seals and springs and stuff?

 

Yea, you can. You'll want to check their dimensions against the factory specs & such, and make sure you label where they came from, so they go back in the same slots.

However... why? While it's apart, why not just put new ones in? Side seals hold up fine, apex seals are wear items, and when they wear enough, they sort of roll out of the slot, and rip things up (replace rotor & housing).

-=Russ=-

 

Rotary Aviation apex seals are suppose to be really good, they claim they're "unbreakable" but i doubt it. Still, they're pretty cheap and I haven't heard of problems from them.

 

ive heard NOTHING BUT GOOD about ianatti ceramic seals. You can reuse them over and over again, and theyll even take mild detonation with a smile. If your gonna stick with rotaries, its DEFINATELY a solid choice.

 

How do your rotor housings look? Are they reusable? "As long as you are at it..." I would replace them. Have the side housings lapped.... then rebuild. The engine stand is correct. If you center the mounting as another suggested then you can't re-stack the engine for reassembly.

 

im thinking, half bridgeported housings

i can't find how much it costs per apex seal(ceramic)
im very interested as this car isn't going anywhere for a long time

 

ok about $1,100 for 2mm one piece, my dad has agreed that this is a rather good idea, seeing as this car is going to be in my hands for at least another 5 years, now my question is

A.) one Piece or 2-Piece?
B.) How much of an advantage is it to be able to set the spring at a higher rate
C.) Should i get the Racingbeat OEM kit, and just sell those apex seals and buy the Ianetti ceramics?

 

I just got done with my rebuild--I bought the racing beat rebuild kit --it was nice and very complete but EXPENSIVE-- if i was doing it over I would look into the Atkins Rotary rebuild kit they make there own apex seals, Viton oil seals and they make a thermal pellit and a "MUST HAVE" video if your new to the rebuild process. I can definitely recommend them

 

got the video

but the thing is from my point of view, im 16, the car will be seeing autoX time and some 1/4 mile time, and it will be driven pretty hard, if i dump 5 grand into it now, and don't have to rip out the engine and rebuild it for 5 years or worry about blowing an apex seal(as it will be bridgported with a PROPER supercharger, after throttlebody) so im thinking price doesn't matter here, getting it right does, i will look into the atkins kit, and your right, the video is great, however im already purchasing Ianetti ceramic seals, not sure on one or two piece however...and Thanks for the help, if the atkins kit seems like a good buy, then you just save me some money