I am dropping my car off tonight to start the rebuild. Hes going to use the racing beat streetport templates and then expand on them some. All new seals and o rings, gaskets...everything except housings and side seals actually. Should be done within a week and hopefully broken in within 2 weeks of that. What compression numbers should I be optimistic for after the breakin period? 110s all across? Higher or lower? Thanks.

Oh and I believe I am going to change the oil/filter after 100, 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 miles and use a quart of MMO in the oil every change. Now for RPMs, its under 4000k(and no boost) for 1000miles, varying the RPMs and not keeping it at a steady RPM very long correct? Thanks alot.

 

My breakin procedure -

Get the car running, run it at idle/fast idle for around 15 minutes, check for leaks and problems. Shut it off, change the oil and filter.

For the first 500 miles, NO boost, 4000 RPM's and below, ALL city driving. Change oil and filter at 500 miles.

Next 500 - slowly increase RPM's, low boost, again only city driving. Change oil and filter at 1000 miles. Engine is now broken in - go romp on it .

Usually, I use inches of vacuum at idle to determine engine health. A stock ported, healthy motor is 18-20 inches of vacuum at idle. Ported engine will be a bit lower - 15-18 inches. Lower than 15 and you're in weak motor territory. My old motor pulled 10" of vacuum at idle - had a broken apex seal, two broken side seals, and a broken corner seal. I beat the crap out of that motor .

I doubt you'll break in the motor in 2 weeks - it seems like it takes FOR-EV-ER to break in the motor! You'll get challenged by more ricers than you ever thought possible as well!

Remember, the real hard part of a rebuild/engine swap is not the motor, but all the crap that bolts on to it. You will very likely have some goofy problems that pop up after the engine is in and running - small leaks, vacuum leaks, etc. Keep a close eye on it and perservere, make sure to fix things when they pop up and don't get disgusted with it.

Is your mechanic doing ALL the work, or are you pulling the motor, or anything?

Make *SURE* to watch for fuel leaks - they're common after an engine swap. That can quickly turn into an engine fire! I always pressure test the fuel system to triple-check all the fuel connections - you just can't be too sure.

Dale

 

Who is building it?

105-150psi. The type of seals will make a difference, and a 20-30rpm difference in the starter cranking speed can affect your compression numbers by about 10%, so it's not such a great indicator for your rebuild. The main thing is to make sure that all of the chambers are within 20psi of each other. Always start the compression check with a good battery and a warm engine.

Your procedure is pretty much standard. Some people initially run the engine for a little more than 15 minutes, though. Do you prime the oil system before starting the engine?

 

A guy named Sam is doing the rebuild. He works up at Courtesy Mazda on Dale Mabry and does quite a bit of work on rotaries. Somehow hes gotten good with his work and they let him keep all sorts of parts and cars around and even work on them there while he is on the clock, lol. Hes pulling the engine, rebuilding and putting it back in by next weekend so its fairly quick I think.

 

Hmm, sounds fishy to me. Oh well, we will see how it turns out. Courtesy is one of the better dealerships I have worked with.

 

No, hes actually pretty damn good for the price. Hes rebuilt a few FDs I know of, put a 13BT in an FC vert, and rebuilt my friends 13BT. I am paying $800 labor for the rebuild, port and pulling and reinstalling the engine. Not that bad to me at least.

 

Hell yeah! I agree 100%, especially the oil change after a 15 minute idle period. Dust, cleaning remnants (sandblast compound in the case of a used rotor I bought) and new engine wear particles will be flushed and not recirculated if this is done.

I can't comment on the ricers yet . . we'll see in my case . . I'm almost there.

 

Well I doubt you were asking me but maybe I can chime in some semi-useful data. In my case, my oiling system was so primed through all the starter turning during the lengthy unflooding session that I was showing 40-50 on the gauge as the motor turned over. Once it finally fired it showed 60-70 at fast idle.

 

I'm thinking of getting rid of the PD just as a precaution since it will be apart anyways, even though this one is less than a year old. Anyone know the part # from summit for the banjo bolt that fits? I used to preach about using a PD, but now with the amount of money that is going into this car, I can't imagine what I'd do if it caught fire.

 

I was just wondering this myself and did a search which uncovered the Summit racing part number. I think I typed in "banjo bolt".

 

YES!

Be sure to do this. It is manditory. After spinning my engine for a few seconds to build up the oil pressure, I oticed a gas leak. It was a pain in the ***, yet a very serious one. Had I not specifially loked for it I might never have spotted it. You MUST do this.

 

Only complication I have so far is the need for 2 more larger injectors. My mechanic said I'll need them with the big *** port hes doing and with my upgraded turbo so I guess I'm going with 2 more 720s since I have an s-afc still.

 

i'm a newb.. and can someone explain ported?

 

Try searching. There are TONS of posts on it. Look for streetporting and bridge porting.

 

http://home.iprimus.com.au/bluey3/portsPage/ports.htm

 

In a nutshell...

porting = bigger/better/reshaped holes for getting air in and out of the engine easier

More air goes in, more fuel goes in, more power. You need to tune the exhaust accordingly, so that all that air can escape without choking up the engine.

That was a very broad, basic explanation. Run a few searches and I'm sure you'll get an idea of what's involved in it.

 

Oh and I am actually paying $650 for pulling the engine, rebuilding, porting and reinstalling it. I might be relocating his hot water heater for him to cut it down to closer to $500 which I think is pretty damn good.

 

thanks... for the quick info

 

Well he took the engine apart in front of me and I had no rubber inserts in with the corner seals

 

where are the common place gas leaks? I just drop a rebuild engine into my car, just start it, not break in yet.

thanks

 

The injectors don't seat correctly sometimes, also any gas lines that are old become brittle and you might not be able to see cracks in them by just looking at them. Thats why I replace all my gas lines every time I pop the intake manifold off. Also, the PD can leak anytime anyways. Just keep the upper intake manifold off, jumper the fuel pump harness and put the key to right before where you would turn it to start the car. You should hear the pump kick on and the fuel system should pressurize. If there are leaks you should see/smell them pretty easily.