Ok im looking to rebuild my engine soon and dont want to pay 2 grand or more for someone to do it for me.

I was on atkinsrotary and saw 2 rebuild kits for my 86/na. There is a rotor kit for about $500. And there is a 2mm overhaul kit for about $1000. Now i know the overhaul kit has more stuff in it...but is it worth the extra money? Does the overhaul kit come with stuff i really need? Or am i just missing something here?

 

i don't see what you are referring to as a "rotor" kit but for the price i would assume it is a basic kit not including apex seals, unless the engine has extremely low mileage or has been rebuilt recently you should replace the apex seals so the master kit is what you would need.

if you are looking for the best prices i would suggest either rotaryaviation.com , they have the best prices but their encapsulated compression seals can be a PITA to work with in cold climate.

 

Buy apex seals set and internal gasket set from from RA. $344 shipped WITH apex seal springs.

Buy side seal springs, FD corner seals, corner seal plugs, intake/exhaust gaskets, and a couple other things from mazdatrix.

This is the cheapest way to go.

The Atkins kit includes ALOT of stuff you can reuse off you old engine.

 

y corner seals from a 3rd gen?

 

ok this is what the 2nd gen "rotor kit" comes with

Rotor Kit Includes:
Apex Seals
Apex Seal Springs
Solid Corner Seals
Corner Seal Springs
Side Seal Springs
Viton Oil Rings
Pilot Bearing and Seal
Front & Rear Main Seals
Thermal Pellet (86+)

This is what the 2mm overhaul kit comes with

Kit C Includes:
Gasket Kit
Apex Seals
Apex Seal Springs
Corner Seals
Corner Seal Plugs
Corner Seal Springs
Side Seals
Side Seal Springs
Oil O Ring Vitons
Oil O Ring Seals
Oil O Ring Springs
Front Main Seal
Rear Main Seal
Pilot Bearing and Seal
Thermal Pellet (86+)
Bearings
Hylomar Sealant

 

FD corner seal springs are a much better design, the older FC springs were wire a style which got compressed easily and grooved both the rotor and corner seals.


edit: the rotor kit then just includes all the hardware to overhaul and seal the rotors, you still would need the internal and external gaskets/seals.

 

so im assuming they work fine on a 2nd gen? How many people have used them...to your knowledge?

 

most every rebuild these days all use FD springs. i haven't heard of many advantages of sticking with FC springs. they are cheap so who not...

 

Several of these things can usually be reused off your engine as listed above. You would also want to buy a exhaust manifold gasket and the 2 intake manifold gaskets from mazda trix. You will also need a tube of black RTV and RED locktight.

This should all come in around $500 for and N/A engine. A turbo engine would be about $120 more because the turbo gaskets are $75 and $45 each.

I just did my rebuild with the above guidelines.

Good luck!

 

What about this list from Bruce Turrentine's video??? He list the following all from Mazda

A gasket set (doesn't go into detail)
Apex seals
Inner rotor oil seal
Outer rotor oil seal
side seal springs
corner seal plugs
Corner seal springs
Front and rear main oil seals

He only gives 9 items. He gives part numbers as well. Does anybody know how these other kits differ??

 

mazda is probably the pricier of all the options but personally i think their combustion seals are the best.

the gasket set covers all internal and installation gaskets minus the applicable front cover gasket if you plan on using the gasket, most current kits come with a S5 cover gasket at least mine did and i had to purchase a S4 one as well.

apex seals are necessary for anything questionable as far as age of or wear and tear on the seals go, old seals or abused seals shouldn't be reused. i would say anything over 4k miles should be replaced, even brand new seals will take longer to break in if used in different housings, it is all relative to reliability.

oil seal o-rings should always be replaced, you can't clean a rotor properly unless you remove them and once removed they will not reseal.

side seal springs, you could get away with reusing them but they are cheap from non factory sources so you should replace them.

corner seal plugs, this generally comes in a string and you cut off what you need, extremely inexpensive and comes with even the most basic of kits from rotaryaviation.com

corner seal springs, use third generation springs, a much better design which should be the standard by now.

e-shaft oil seals, should be obvious, they are cheap and to prevent oil leaks should be replaced when doing an overhaul.


these only cover 'soft'parts for an overhaul however, once you tear apart an engine there is no knowing whether you will also need a rotor, iron or housing as well until you inspect and measure everything. to get 'hard' parts such as these you need to shop around to find the price that matches your needs and generally you get what you pay for.

 

So, based on what you are saying, the list from Bruce should be good?? He gives Mazda part numbers and qty's everything. Even some prices.

Other than the fact that my fron Iron was cracked and my rear Rotor housing had a groove that was too deep. I think all my other parts are OK. I am going to buy some new calipers today so I can check all the tolerances on the "hard" parts and I found replacement Iron and housing already. ($125 bucks).

My question is......The list from Bruce is OK???? Seems like there should be more. I know I need vacuum hose and that MOP oil lines. (I broke 'em all).

 

ditto what 13bpower said, you can piece together what you need for cheaper, RA apex seals are good and so are their internal seals but mazdatrix is cheaper for some things.

 

im probebly going to go with 13bpowero 's set up...seems cheaper...

 

the atkins kit has things that you could re-use but it's not always a good idea to reuse old parts. just because an old seal or part is within specification as far as it's wear doesn't make me want to use it, i've never found used seals that weren't brittle as hell... i cut corners the first time i rebuilt my se engine and didn't buy new side seals and one blew within 150 miles. on the second go the only thing i ended up keeping from my old engine were the oil seal springs and it payed off. i've got 3k miles on it and way over 100 compression.

IMO i would shell out a few extra dollars rather than have to rip apart the engine again.

 

There are those in the know that aren't too impressed with Rotary Aviations apex seal springs. Folks also recommend stock Mazda apex seals as well. Just food for thought.

 

I would rather spend the extra and get new parts as well. That is the reason for the questions.