Sleepless in Seattle

Im getting ready to tear down my motor soon to replace my oil control rings and was wondering while im there do i need to replace everything on the rotor?

Im on a tight budget and i figure since im replacing the oil rings i do have room for replacing a few other thigns aswell.

on my list right now so far is,

- Fuel Pump
- Oil Filter
- Fuel Filter
- Oil Control Rings
- Gasket Set from Atkins Rotary
- Maybe new Apex seals if i can afford



Anything else i should tend to?

arghx

iTrader: (3)

My advice is that you spec everything out in the motor very carefully before you start buying anything. Measure the dimensions of each apex seal and compare it to the spec. Look at the free height of all your various springs. Check your corner and side seals, especially the clearance between the two.

Sleepless in Seattle

okk.

Generally speaking, a rebuild should be replacing everyhting correcting?
but if on a budget, of 500, what else would have a high priority after O rings cause i know my budget wont get the most life out of the engine but what can i do to keep it running until lady luck decides to come my way?

fc323

i think the rotary aviation has a basic rebuild kit for 500

arghx

iTrader: (3)

Measure everything. How can you prioritize a build if you don't know what shape your parts are in? When you're on a budget a lot of it comes down to a judgment call.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

If your engine has more then 10K on it, then replace the apex seals regardless. They are the primary wear points on these engines and to not replace them, even if they are in spec, is foolish.

While an old set of apex seals with 100K on them will still work fine in a rebuild, it will be a nightmare to start for the first 1000 miles and take forever to break in.

Where you can save money is by not replacing corner seals, side seals, oil o-ring carriers and springs. Spec these things out and if they are good, use them again.

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

Replace all seals.

If u r on a budget. Why bother?

I am planning to do a rebuild this summer and the only thing I might keep are the rotors.

lastphaseofthis

iTrader: (8)

Now thats a little extreame aaron. it's more like 450 miles, and you just gotta hold the throttle down a lil bit .

Honestly, 100k miles? yeah you'd be pretty dumb to reuse them at 100k, b/c most of them have been worn down to 7mm or less( spec is 6.5-8mm for those of you don't know.) i've seen the wear-rate to be about 10k miles per 1mm. my personal limit is 7.5 for n/a builds, and 7.7 for turbo, if there is no other choice( between the engine being built or the car never seeing the road again.) Isn't it said the rebuild expected milage is 75-100ks. right on the money.

Also From personal experiance, change your bearings(rotor and main) if ANY copper is showing, if copper AIN't showin'. make sure you still spec them out.
This is one of the most over looked Items i've seen.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i agree. it takes forever, but pull it apart. clean and check EVERYTHING. there is a handy list in the back of the FSM with all of the clearances.

and then you buy what you actually need.

Sleepless in Seattle

thanks for all the responses guyys. I plan on doing this soon within next two months so i have some money saved.

is there any way to easily organize seals and such when taking apart?
any methods from experienced builders?

arghx

iTrader: (3)

There is a Mazda box for side seals, but I don't see you being able to justify buying it. Check out Pineapple Racing's site with little videos on installing and organizing certain things... they give a lot of tips for organization. http://www.rebuildingrotaryengines.com/

I use a system of labeling and ziplock bags that I devised. Rotors are labeled front and rear and stored in the same way they came out of the engine, in terms of the orientation of the rotor gear. Apexes/corners are A,B,C,D,E,F . Sides are I,II,III,IV,V,VI . I label each point on the rotors with masking tape and draw a picture of both front and back of each rotor. I write down the letters of the weights labeled on the rotor.



Then when checking clearances, heights, etc you can do a little chart like this:

Rear Rotor -- Gear side

I side seal- xx mm/thousandths long etc
I side seal spring - xx mm/thousandths free height
A --corner seal xx mm/thousandths height
A -- corner seal spring xx mm/thousandths height
IA -- side seal to corner seal clearance xx mm/thousandths
A -- apex seal heigh xx mm/thousandths

etc

keep a laptop at your work bench and enter everything into an Excel spreadsheet. Then you can put the factory specs into your sheet so you can easily compare them. Of course if throw all your old stuff in the trash then this kind of meticulous record keeping isn't so important. But you said you're on a budget, right?


This is basically blueprinting your motor in a way.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i've used the ziplock method too, it works really well.

the rotors are labeled at each corner, 1,3,5 on one side and 2,4,6 on the other

so you end up with 6 bags per rotor.

the motor i'm building now i'm using a mazda seal case, and its just a wooden box with 12 slots, for the 1.3.5 and 2,4,6 for each rotor.

if you wanted i'm sure you could find a plastic bin that would work just as well. each slot is like 1" wide and maybe 8" long?

my friend uses fast food trays, and he puts a piece of paper down with a picture of the rotor, and the numbers, so each seal just sits on the tray. you need 4 trays. it works for him, but you can't trip over them, so i doesn't work for me