Rebuilding
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Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2017
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From: Texas
Rebuilding
I'm looking forward to purchase an 89 FC NA. The car runs and seems to be in decent shape for its year. My question is the following. What things should be on my list if I am looking forward to rebuild the rotary engine found in this model? Where to start? Someone point me in the right direction.
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 25,581
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From: Smiths Falls.(near Ottawa!.Mapquest IT!)
why do you want to "rebuild it"?..is there something wrong with it?
(*rule of thumb for a rotary is you don't buy parts to rebuild an engine until after you take it apart.)
(*rule of thumb for a rotary is you don't buy parts to rebuild an engine until after you take it apart.)
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 7
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From: Texas
No, not really. Just some rattle coming from the transmission. I'm new to both, rotary engines and rx7s.
OK, first thing to know is that outside of the rotary itself, there is nothing particularly exotic about the rest of the drivetrain and chassis systems (brakes, cooling, suspension).
It's all pretty standard Japanese tech of the era.
I would be leery of messing with a running NA engine and instead would recommend you start searching for a replacement on CL or whatever and stow it away as backup.
As it sits idle you can strip it down to the keg and if the compression checks out, you can learn all you need to know about reassembling the rather complex intake manifolds.
The NA is the most forgiving of the rotaries and will run fine at well below ideal specs. I put over 100k miles on a S5 NA engine that had low oil pressure AND bad compression on the day I bought it. I kept waiting/planning for it to die and she never really did.
So if it starts and runs OK, just let her be.
When a rotary really needs attention, it'll let you know in no uncertain terms.
It's all pretty standard Japanese tech of the era.
I would be leery of messing with a running NA engine and instead would recommend you start searching for a replacement on CL or whatever and stow it away as backup.
As it sits idle you can strip it down to the keg and if the compression checks out, you can learn all you need to know about reassembling the rather complex intake manifolds.
The NA is the most forgiving of the rotaries and will run fine at well below ideal specs. I put over 100k miles on a S5 NA engine that had low oil pressure AND bad compression on the day I bought it. I kept waiting/planning for it to die and she never really did.
So if it starts and runs OK, just let her be.
When a rotary really needs attention, it'll let you know in no uncertain terms.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: Texas
OK, first thing to know is that outside of the rotary itself, there is nothing particularly exotic about the rest of the drivetrain and chassis systems (brakes, cooling, suspension).
It's all pretty standard Japanese tech of the era.
I would be leery of messing with a running NA engine and instead would recommend you start searching for a replacement on CL or whatever and stow it away as backup.
As it sits idle you can strip it down to the keg and if the compression checks out, you can learn all you need to know about reassembling the rather complex intake manifolds.
The NA is the most forgiving of the rotaries and will run fine at well below ideal specs. I put over 100k miles on a S5 NA engine that had low oil pressure AND bad compression on the day I bought it. I kept waiting/planning for it to die and she never really did.
So if it starts and runs OK, just let her be.
When a rotary really needs attention, it'll let you know in no uncertain terms.
It's all pretty standard Japanese tech of the era.
I would be leery of messing with a running NA engine and instead would recommend you start searching for a replacement on CL or whatever and stow it away as backup.
As it sits idle you can strip it down to the keg and if the compression checks out, you can learn all you need to know about reassembling the rather complex intake manifolds.
The NA is the most forgiving of the rotaries and will run fine at well below ideal specs. I put over 100k miles on a S5 NA engine that had low oil pressure AND bad compression on the day I bought it. I kept waiting/planning for it to die and she never really did.
So if it starts and runs OK, just let her be.
When a rotary really needs attention, it'll let you know in no uncertain terms.