office888

Well, this is my first RX7, or even rotary in general. I owned one 1988 Honda Civic STD previously, and currently own a 1989 Honda CRX Si with a B18B1 motor swap. But that's beside the point. =P

Since this thread would be useless without pictures, here you go:






Ebay bargain, Took a 1 hour drive and a U-Haul trailer. Car was $165, a bargain.

The good:

RUST FREE (98%), car is from connecticut, judging by the window sticker and the maintenance slips I found in it.
Steering seems solid. Brakes work. =P
All electrical works perfectly, popup headlights included. All lights work.

The bad:

165,xxx miles
DOES NOT RUN, reason below
Minor rust on passenger side fender, rust hole on driver's side fender.
Rough interior. =P

The guy was going to put a 350 V8 in it and convert it to a drag car, but thankfully the car is untouched. According to him, the motor has no compression "but I dunno much' bout' rotaries."

Got home, put a battery in it. Motor cranks, does not start. Smoke comes out the back when I crank it, smells fuel-ish. Plugs ARE getting spark.

Removed spark plugs, fouled like mad. Carbon-deposits like crazy. I plugged in the "ye-trust" compression tester. 0 psi on the front rotor, needle flutters between 0 and 4 psi. =P Rear rotor was unchecked, due to that I assumed it had the same problem.

To remedy the issue, I added chevron fuel system cleaner to gas tank, along with 2/3 can of seafoam. I unplugged the master brake vacuum hose and went ahead and poured the rest of the 1/3 in there.

Yanked lead spark plugs and added ATF fluid with a little bit of seafoam thrown in. Had my assistant bump the start and added a little more. Did this about 6 times. Motor is sitting and a friends' house, as i'm out of driveway space here. Reinstalled spark plugs to contain the ATF / Seafoam brew.

I will be returning tomorrow. I will be yanking the spark plugs again and the fuel pump fuse. Going to bump the starter in intervals to get all of the ATF/Seafoam out of the system. Reinstall plugs, fuel pump fuse. If it still doesn't start, i'll do the three step unflooding procedure a few times.

If I do have a blown motor, then it looks like I need $750 for a JDM TurboII motor. =P

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the boards fellow Michigander! And congratulations on your purchase. It does sound like you have a blown engine unfortunately however, rebuilds can be had for around 1,000 give or take depending on whom you go to. TII engines usually go for about 1,500 from what I've seen and performing the swap has allot of hidden costs as well. These message boards have a wealth of knowledge and you would be wise to read the FAQ and the archives throughly.

Happy Posting!

Alex Rodriguez

iTrader: (137)

welcome bro nice find for cheap , build a solid platform before you start modifying anything, well you know what to do hell you did a compression test most of the new guys that get a rx7 dont even know what compression is suitable

please read the FAQ and do random searches for things out of the blue

congrats and keep her alive and not SLEEPY EYED

88turbotime

Yeah man fix it up nice, and im afraid your engine is blown.

office888

I've spoken to a few people online regarding this project.

If it DOES turn out NOT to be just a stuck apex seal, then a Turbo swap WILL happen.

From what i've gathered so far, I do know that the NA drivetrain/transmission DOES hook up to the turbo motor, but I must use the turbo clutch/flywheel. I do understand that the NA drivetrain is made of twigs and tissue paper. This will be temporary, i'll be running stock boost. To save cash, i'll just add a FMIC setup so I don't have to pay shipping on a scooped hood. Before the turboII motor is installed, I WILL be sure to disable the Thermal Pellet and all EGR (Thank god for Michigan having no emissions testing) related CRAP. Aftermarket polyurethane mount inserts will be installed as well. Oh yeah, the OMP will be removed as well, i'll run premix. =)

I've been looking around, I can get a complete JDM Turbo motor with about 20k-50k on it for $750 (shipping not included). Includes ECU, Wiring harness. The place i'm currently looking at offers a 30 day warranty on all motors they provide and they GUARANTEE that all of their motors will be in good running order.

Oh yeah, and while i'm at it, I'd be doing a Full Apexi N1 exhaust system. I've heard nothing but good reviews on them for RX7s. Naturally, No cats of course. *grins*

Sound like a plan?

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

Care to post a link to where you are getting your engines from? At that price I'll scrap my NA and just swap in a TII as well.

office888

Here you go Hecubus84.

http://www.streetunit.com/JDM_Mazda_Engine_p/su13bt.htm

Enjoy. *grins*

Alex Rodriguez

iTrader: (137)

wow those are some good prices

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

Wowee, even with shipping thats cheaper than rebuilding my NA.

There has to be a catch...

office888

Well, if you decide to go ahead and go with it, tell me how it turns out.

I got sent there by a guy I sorta knew. Said he's done business with them before, and they've got great service.

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

If I decide to go this way I'll definitely tell you how they are to deal with. Thanks for referring me to the site!

Amur_

They're called "crate engines." Because they are literally yanked out of cars with cut hoses hanging off of them and everything, and then dumped in a crate with as many other engines as they can stuff in there and then that's put on a boat for North America. I saw one about 3 years ago when a local guy bought one. They are always used - you don't know its mileage nor how it was treated by the previous owner(s.) At least they're warranteed for a month.

Healing

Sweet...no sunroof and spoiler FTW!

First thing on your list is a 5 lug/4 pot brake conversion IMO...first thing I've got sitting for my '88 SE =D

Amur_

There's nothing wrong with the brakes on his model. I have an '87 GX and the brakes on it are very strong. I'm going to leave it 4-bolt, at least for now. I just wish the rims weren't so damn ugly (they aren't the phone dial ones like his - some kind of weird ninja star shape. lol)

Omixeo

iTrader: (1)

I can clearly see the sunroof.

coxxoc

iTrader: (3)

Engine pricing is pretty good, but $650 for the tranny? Lol.

Good luck and talk to them on the phone before ording online. See if you can get them to do a compression test on the engine they will send you.

Also, they don't specify whether they are selling an S4 or S5. You should definately know this before you go purchasing an ecu to run your swap.

Josh

RE-Amemiya

Congrats!

NOPR

find a giant hill and push start that biatch! thats the best way to know if there's anything left in that engine.

TehMonkay

iTrader: (-1)

If you order a JDM engine, make sure you try and get as much carbon out of it as possible, i saw a good video on it on youtube a while back how to do it thoughroughly.

jdm12a

iTrader: (3)

bahahahah, thats funny, i got an 85 12a and it was carbon locked to hell and thats what we did, btw oh-io

NCross

iTrader: (18)

+1

wanna_be_dk

thaks for the site i had a guy quote me at 2500 for a motor/tranny setup, this is a big saver

junito1

there is another place that sells them for 750... And i think the motor in my car now is a "JDM" motor according to the idiots that i bought the car from. So if my motor is jdm


than i recommend it because my car runs damn strong

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

good looking car for the money and good plans for it. glad you rescued it. keep us updated with the engine condition. kinda sounds like a stuck seal. maybe in one rotor...who knows, you could get lucky and might get a few miles out of the engine if she runs. just trying to be positive here

office888

Well, I went over and did what I said I was going to do.

No luck. Pretty sure the rear rotor gained a little compression, makes a nice "pwbbt-pwbbt" sound as the seals pass the spark plug holes. Front rotor still appears to have no compression what so ever, barely produces any air whatsoever. I might retry the atf trick at a later date, only a little more in depth with the exhaust off. It was raining/sleeting today, and would be a lousy day to try that.

The hill idea is interesting. I'm tempted to throw some new plugs in there and try that. =P The downside is that the RX7 is at the BOTTOM of the hill. Think if I got it running then slowly poured a can of seafoam down the intake, it'd take care of the seal issue on the front rotor?

Not that it matters. Parental units agreed to help me purchase a motor within the next three months. =)