actually there is a #4 and 5 scathcart


4) rotor housing pitting on the spark plug embossments in the water jackets
5) rotor housing pitting above the exhaust manifold embossment in the water jackets


this is what happened with my motor as you can see in the pics i posted in the link previously, something that can be easily overlooked, the pitting isn't very noticable but inspection with a flashlight can turn up some astonishing problems. i wouldn't say this is the likely cause but it is something EVERYONE should look out for.

 

Nicest guy evar, right there.

 

Scath, I'll send you money if he decides to accept the seals/needed parts.

Felix/Dustin, Allow us to help. We want to help. It's not charity, its just some of us have more than we need and we would like to help you out. I didn't always have money and older dudes helped me out all the time with parts etc. at the time It seemed like a lot to me, thinking back, I was probably carrying off some junk for the guy. BTW if all of us are just throwing in a little cash it will all add up. Won't hurt us one bit, we won't even feel it. Actually seeing the 7 your building come back from the dead.....and knowing we contributed in some way makes us feel good and its a $20 spot well spent.

dDub, I, am the nicest guy. J/K

 

Dustin you better not give up. There is absolutly no reason for you to throw in the towel over this, trust me. I just did my 3rd rebuild and its not perfect. Im having too high of oil pressure issues and It looks like I have to tear the front cover off. You have to work hard for the best things and the greatest reward will be you knowing that you built this car. That you conqured this problem like every other on on the car, and that you were able to do it all at your age! For a 15yr old kid, your sure as hell alot more mature then some of the fools on this board.

I dont care if I have to buy and ship you the seals myself, your not giving up on this car.

 

yeah dustin, i def ripped apart my motor cuz u did. I didnt think i could do it, but seeing ur progress and at only 15 changed my mind. Did you make sure that you put the comubstion seals in correct, the instructions on them say that the break has to be above the intake at the 11 o clock position. maybe you over steched them? good luck man. keep us all updated.

 

felix, I went to check up on you just right now, and I see all this support, including support from myself to help you!

You can't back out now bro, everyone here is counting on you! lol.

btw, how much are just coolant seals?

 

it looks like i will be buying the mazda kit that scathcart told me in the pm... im gonna try work around the house and make some extra money and pay the 112 it costs.. i dont wanna accept any money... dont worre the skittle will never die

 

SonikRaT convinced me to get a coolent pressure checker... just to make shure there bad and it isnet a nasty nasty air bubble....unfortantly im thniking it will leak

 

Probably will, but it's a hell of a lot easier and a more realistic way of diagnosis. Why people don't use these more often amazes me. But then again I doubt many people have them laying around. Pressurize it and find the damn leak!

 

oh my your a god now keep the FC alive!

 

Damn felix,
just finished reading this thread (and I saw that rebuild vid you made). You'll get this problem all straightened out and you'll have one helluv'a first car.

Hell; your making me wanna take on an FC project car and I've got school to start thinking about.

Cheers to you!

 

**** dude, Your 15!! Im 17 and havent rebuilt my motor yet. Your slideshow is kept in my "O ****, Need to rebuild my motor, stuff to help me" folder. BTW did you use any rebuild videos? As people have said before, keep your chin up and finish that sucker.

 

The nice part about rotary rebuilds is they're extremely easy. The hardest part about them is checking to make sure everything's in spec (if you don't just eyeball it and use your fingernail to determine. It's nice that he's helped kill the stigma of rebuilding them being difficult.

 

long live the skittle

 

Hey ppl in these forums are cool.. and this is really inspiration. Im 16 I want to get an 86 NA for my first car but i think the seal are shot but looking at some of the stuff in this forum makes me wanna do a rebuild myself!.. i probably shouldnt since i have no experience with rotary whatsoever and can barely give my moms piston engine a tuneup without blowing it up. Well no matter what i do im gonna have a thread on the whole experience from start to finish.. Maybe all you guys can give me some pointers.. Including Dustin (im assuming thats what FelixWankel's name is) bcuz kid.. and i can call you kid now bcuz im 16.. lol.. your really an inspiration especially to noobs like me. So dont give up just be brave.. youll get the job done.

 

dude, don't give up

if anything, take a break for a while, save up then come back to it

when i used to draw and paint and **** if i would keep ******* up, i'd take a break, 20 mins, a day, whatever, then come back to it and finish it up when i felt confident enough and not stressed over it

do the same thing, except with the motor

really, would you want to get rid of something you've poured yourself into for a long *** time? i think not

cheer up brotha, you've still got time...i wish i had a few rebuilds under my belt, soon enough though, i'm sure...haha

 

There was never a stigma of it being difficult

Rebuilding a rotary is as easy as making a sandwich. I did my first one last summer with no experience and just the FSM and an Atkins vidoe (which didn't help me much). The FSM rocks, it goes step by step what you have to do, tells you specs for stuff, and what to torque to. Makes it very simple

 

If there wasn't a stigma, there wouldn't be 30 people replying here saying he's a god and an inspiration for the n00bs to do it.

 

True, I should rephrase. There SHOULDN'T be a stigma of it being difficult, because it's not. Better?

 

Stigma??? That's putting it lightly. Black magic is what most attribute a Rotary to. Felix has unlocked the magic. OR discovered what we did......it kinda easy. I am thinking about my next rebuild and I only have 158 miles on mine. But, unlike Felix I can take a break between motors.

C'mon Felix, let us send you the money via Scathcart. Who all is in for a $20??? I'll make a thread.

 

There's a stigma (or black magic?) right up intil you open up the motor for the first time. At least that's how it was for me. As soon as I opened it up and realized how utterly simplistic it was I just laughed and went on my way with the rebuild. People don't give themselves enough credit and think they can't do it themselves, but in reality anyone can do it with little knowledge.

Oh and I know what you mean, ever since I finished my first rebuild/port I've had my next one planned out. But that one wont be happening for a while since I have no car to put it in and wont be getting a 3rd (already have 2) any time soon. I think I'm just gonna beat the utter **** out of my current engine until it pops and then I can do the project I have mapped out in my head.

 

Like others have said Dustin, don't give up. It's a big setback for sure, but it's actually something that could be solved relatively cheaply. The experience from the first rebuild will surely come into play when you take it apart again. Don't foget what you said the Skittle can't die. I think when it's up and running, people deserve to hear the story again.

 

Dude never give up, My first car was an 83 Ford Ranger, and i had to go through 4 cabs just to get it to work.

Original: Dead
1st: Choke completely F***** up
2nd: Leaked fuel out of the seams
3rd: Wouldn't idle below 2800 RPM
4th: Worked Beautifly

After about the 3rd one i was ready to give up, but Kragen Auto Parts found another carb across town, and it was the last one in stock, so i went ahead and gave it a shot.

See i was 15 when when i got my truck, by the time i was done with it, i became an expert at replacing carbs. You have the chance to gain some excellent knowledge. And when you've finally get everything fixed, you'll have the satisfaction that your own hands did all the work. Besides what do you have to lose?, ok so you completely F*** it up, there's always somebody out there who would buy it as a project car. My advice, go for it, consult the manuals, and take your time, don't rush anything. You have people on these boards ready to help you out.

Good Luck,
-Matt

 

^^That's a good story.

My first car was a '73 Olds Cutlass Supreme. I went to Galveston for a day weekend and while on the way back I developed a coolant leak. Those old cars had what was called idiot lights, because if the light came on it was too late to do anything about it. The motor was fried. I got if off the highway and left it in a Gas station parking lot. My Brother in Houston had to come get us. The next week we wnet to tow the car back. We lived 100 miles north of there, so when we arrived it was late and back then everything closed at night and the gas station was no exception. One thing we forgot was the drive shaft. if you towing certain cars over 45 miles you need to take the Drive shaft out. I had not brought any tools......you'll love this. In a junkpile of rusted rubble and old oil cans in the back of the station was ONE rusty old closed end wrench (I'll post a pic.) THAT damn wrench FIT the bolts on the drive shaft. I still have that wrench 25 years later.

After getting the car back we put it in the back yard where I began to tear the motor apart. "Somebody" said the head gasket was blown. So for weeks I worked on that damn thing. Bought a new head gasket and put it all back together......it never fired up. It never fired at all. Not even a chug. Being 15 and not knowing **** and not having any help other than a few hillbilly's tellin' me what they think. I sold the car for parts, and the next school year I was in Auto Mechanics.

How does this relate to you??? You have what I did not and that is support and knowledge. What I learned it Auto Mech just a few months later would have made a huge difference that summer. You KNOW what is wrong (at least you have a good idea) and you have way more than a few Hillbilly's to call on.

Stay with it and don't get frustrated. When you do get frustrated it's only becuase your tired. You 'like' to work on motors. Step back and rest until it gets fun again.

 

Dustin,
Tough break. I had my engine in and out 3 times before I got it right. It gets easier and quicker each time you do it. The second time I took mine out and apart was due to the inner O ring jumping off the rear iron. I can commiserate.

It is possible to start on Friday evening, have the Engine out and disassembled by Sat. Clean things up and have the engine back in the car by Sunday night.
You can hook things up in the evenings after work/school. The whole evolution can take less than a week.

Your engine bay is probably clean and things should come apart easy.
The last time I did this on my 87 NA, No pwr steering, here are some short cuts I used Try these at you own risk:

1. Save time by pulling things apart as an assembly rather than by indivdual components.
For instance remove the intake duct, Air flow box and duct to the UIM all as one unit rather than disassembling.

2. Pull your UIM off and remove the Rats nest and then remove the wiring harness from the engine side rather than disconnecting the harness in the passenger compartment. You're going to have to disconnect the harness from the engine end anyway. Why waste time mucking about in the passenger compartment?

3. After getting the engine out. Remove the water pump, air pump and alternator as an assembly.

4. I found it was unnecessary to take the front plastic skid pan off and saved time not disassembling and reassembling there as well.

5. When reinstalling, install the motor mounts and drivers side motor mount bracket after the engine mates with the tranny. This makes it easier to mate the two main pieces.
The first time I installed the engine it took a long time trying to line everything up as I had the motor mounts and brackets installed.

6. If you have AC don't remove the bolts from the compressor. Just loosen them and disconnect the compressor from the mounting bracket. There's another bracket that holds one of the refrigeration hoses to the compressor (lower rear bolt) that due to clearances is difficult to get everything lined up and the bolt stabbed back through.

7. Before starting the engine after the rebuild I jumpered the yellow connector in the engine bay pass. side to run the fuel pump for about 30 sec - 1 min and purge the air from the fuel rails. If your injectors don't leak you should not worry about flooding as everything gets circulated back to the gas tank. This keeps the engine from having to crank while the air is purged. Initial start up time was only a few secs of cranking.

Since you have little time on the engine you may be able to reuse gaskets and orings so dollar wise your costs should be low. You're looking at 1 coolant seal, sealant, oil and antifreeze, hylomar. Your major cost is time which could be as little as 40 hours or one weekend + some additional hours. Don't give up.
Good luck