New guy and his dust bucket.
 

Hello all,

I didn't see an introduction forum so this is my hello post.

My name is Chris and I live in the Twin Cities area MN. I have been looking at FC's for a long time and used to own a Nissan 240sx. I had a lot of fun with that car but have allways looked at the rotary with a lot of interest. I posted a thread about my new car (see pic of it's dustyness below) over on NP but it gained no traction.

I need to rebuild the motor as the previous owner is fairly sure that it needs side seals. I am planning on buying the Atkins rebuild kit and getting into it next month. What I am wondering is this; Is there anything else that I should absolutely be replacing during a rebuild that isn't going to come with the kit. I know with some Nissans for example, you should replace the timing chain guide.

I am hearing that I should do the oil pellet for sure. What else is there??? I want to be sure that I am doing things right.


And the car... It is dusty because it sat in storage for a year prior to last week. When it gets above freezing for a decent period of time, I will wash it and take proper (non cell phone) pictures.
https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/...mage024zg4.jpg

....you certain it wont run? you did a compression check? not saying you cant do it or anything but you do realize whats involved in rebuilding these engines right? its not as easy as rebuilding a piston engine...its alot more complicated.

anyways it looks like you have a nice looking car hidden under that blanket of dust...hard to tell but is that a TII? i think i can just barely make out the hood scoop.

nice comes stock with no FTP lenses..lol...i remeber when i was riding around like that.

well have fun with the car....i still say you should see if the engine is still functionl...you never no, depending on how knoledgable the PO was it may just need something stupid to get it to run right.

oh yea welcome to the forum

Welcome.

There are a few of us around in the twin cities....but it is a pretty small rotary market to be sure....

I personally think it makes sense to leave the rebuilding to the people who have done it a number of times, unless you have the tuition (extra money) to redo things once or twice while you are learning. The cost of having one of the gurus rebuild it for you is pretty minimal when you compare it with buying all the parts yourself. But if learning is your priority, more power to ya. IMO there isnt really any money to be saved by rebuilding a rotary yourself if you are doing it for the first time and expect it to last.

Thanks for the reply,

Yes it is a TII. Under the layer of dust is a pretty clean car. There is no rust which is nice to find in any older car here in MN.

I haven't compression tested the motor yet as it has been kind of cold recently and I just got the car. When it warms up, it is on my list of things to do.

The previous owner is a friend of mine and he drove the car pretty hard. He used it as a daily driver but also got it on the track quite a lot. As such, I am leaning toward refreshing some suspension and rebuilding the motor either way.

I am certainly aware of how different these engines are compared to a more typical cylinder engine. It seems that the rotary needs it's tolerances to be paid more attention to. I do have some friends with experience with these engines as well and will not be going it alone when I rebuild.

Mostly, I just want to make sure that I don't miss anything when I buy parts as I would like to place one order and get into it.

Again, thanks for the input.

Also - rocklobster, just saw that you're from Rosemount, nice. Do you ever get around to the St. Paul area?

Hey dude welcome to the forum, rebuilding this engine wont be complicated at all, if you have any mechanical sense and can follow directions its really easy, so your getting the atkins rebuild kit and oil seal, I would reccomend atkins rebuild video very boring but helpful, just hook up a tv and dvd player out in your garage and go step by step its so easy, but watch it a few times before you start the build just to have it fresh in your mind, I just rebuilt mine 2 weeks ago for the first time I thought it would be a difficult task, but it wasnt theres hardly anything to these engines, just like anything else you have to take care of her and properly break it in. Use the search in the top right corner for questions you may have because your questions have probably already been discussed, or just PM me and I will do my best to help, again welcome.

Thanks man. I will probably order the video from Atkins tonight. I have been told by a few others that it is a good reference. :)

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I have been using the search tool as much as I can and am learning a lot. Maybe there is nothing to find, but I just wanted to know what odd parts to look out for. Thanks for the offer of help...

I would just read all kinds of random posts.

And yes im usually all over the place but rarely drive my seven around town.

If you ever wanna meet you're welcome to stop by some day i am out in the garage tinkering ;).

BTW if you are thinking about doing track days. I help run a local outfit that runs events at MAM near Omaha...

www.findtheline.com

as a new engine builder myself there are a few more things that u are gonna need if the car has over 100k on it then u might have to replace the housings and if its aproching 200k then u should look into doing the rotor bearings aswell and get yourself some calipers and measuring tools so u can go over the motor well its not worth your time or money to half ass anything when it comes to rebuilding cause if u do you are gonna have to do it all over again

pick up a large bin of some kind like at wallmart and some kersene or diesel to wash your parts with the most fun of a rebuild is cleaning years or sludge off

Congrats on the new project, man! better a dust bucket than a rust bucket! :) that car has TONS of potential!

Thanks for the info.

I allready have the measuring doohickeys and tools. You are using strait up diesel to wash parts? I hadn't thought of that...

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and the advise! :)

I dont know if i would call parts washing fun LOL.

But i agree that new housings is a good investment. If they are in ok shape when you tear down the motor they could be reused but IMO its worth the 1k price tag.

Although if i were building my own first motor i might use old housings (again assuming no damage or massive wear) because then if you make a mistake its not a 500 or 1000$ mistake.

hey like i said....i never said you couldnt i was just makeing sure you were aware...i wish you nothing but the best of luck......as for figuring out what parts you need...its probably best to speak with one of the rebuild guru's....also you might want to talk to Atkins Dan, to see whats usually ordered when doing a rebuild.

RotaryResurrection
Rotary Experiment Seven

two great rebuilders i usually talk with...might want to shoot them a PM and ask them a couple questions