2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

Got my fuel filter replaced....it was a total bitch. I ended up having to remove the bracket just to tap the fuel filter out. Got my plugs installed too, already noticed a difference in performance. =D
Sooo...I cut off my remaining muffler.
Sounds pretty good....gonna get a single straight pipe 2" exhaust with a cherry bomb on Monday morning.
After that gonna get the fluids flsuhed and the rear tranny seal replaced and the loose shifter fixed.

Gonna tackle the door handles after that.

Then HOPEFULLY gonna get some Goodyear Eagle GT's wrapped around those BBS 15's

Racing beat springs and sway bars and the front suspension lowering mounts down the road hopefully

Any body got some turbo 16's they need to get rid of?

Evil Aviator

The cherry bomb isn't going to work. You need a muffler intended for use with rotary engines, which would include those from Racing Beat, Mazdatrix, Apexi, Rotary Performance, GReddy, and HKS. The rotary shop should have told you this.

You may want to check this forum about that tire choice. Granted it was some time ago when I used them, but Eagle GTs were the worst tires I have ever owned in the 26 years that I have driven cars. I am really happy with the Ziex ZE-912 tires that I have on my convertible, as they are excellent long-wear cheapie tires for autocrossing and wet/dry daily driving. If you are really concerned about performance, the guys in the Racing forum can help you choose some racing tires.

Everybody seems to like that setup pretty well.

Makenzie71

It's not that you have to have a muffler made for a rotary...it's just that a "cherry bomb" will sound like ***. It sounds stupid but you need the biggest damned muffler you can find. Not biggest outlet or inlet...the muffler just has to be huge.

-Crash-

Also corksport has a very nice exhaust system, IMO.


I know its been said in like every post already but...$120 to install spark plugs...

2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, would I have to order them online or do you know of a chain that carries them?

Why do I need such a big muffler for it to sound good?


The engine was replaced in the car around 65k miles according to the original owner and the car now has around 104k miles. He told me he had been running Mobil 1 full syn in the car ever since he had the engine replaced, I've heard that this is really bad for rotary engines . I've also heard horror stories from people who switched from using conventional oil to full syn and vice-versa SO I too have continued to put Mobil 1 in her. I don't want to continue to do this for multiple reasons, the main one being that Syn oil is so damned expensive. Any ideas on how I should go about switching over or what type of oil to switch too?

Makenzie71

The nature of the rotary engine is loud. Very, very loud. The breathing of the engine is very simple and a lot of the noise other engines absorb goes straight into the exhaust. You need a voluminous muffler to contain that noise.

Just to give you an idea of what you need to keep noise down I'm looking at using a Flowmaster 44 series 2.25 in dual 2.25 out as a pre-silencer and two 40 series 2.25 mufflers at the ends.

Evil Aviator

I bought mine from http://www.discounttiredirect.com which I listed in my first post in this thread.
I think they are a good match for a convertible that will mostly just cruise around town, but maybe take a few sharp turns here and there. I think they work fairly well for autocrossing, but the side wall isn't as stiff as a high-performance racing tire, and they do heat up pretty fast so 10-lap track events are definitely out. The tires held their grip extremely well on the tight mountain twists at Deals Gap last year.

It's not that you need a big muffler, it's that you need a GOOD muffler. Those little mufflers that only have an inch of gas expansion space and/or a thin layer of fiberglass packing aren't going to cut it. Also, the muffler case needs to be made out of thicker metal, otherwise the noise goes right through the case and makes a horrible "tinny" sound. Another problem is that the rotary engine's exhaust is very powerful and hot, which will blow apart or melt a low-quality muffler that may work OK on a V-8 engine.

Also, stay away from "turbo" mufflers if you have a non-turbo engine. Turbo mufflers are named as such because they do not need to work quite as well because the turbine soaks up a lot of noise, heat, and pressure. Turbo mufflers will tend to have larger piping, which really increases the noise on non-turbo engines. I wouldn't recommend any tips larger than 90mm (3.5") for a non-turbo street car.

The synthetic / petroleum-based oil switching problem existed 30 years ago, but now nearly every modern synthetic motor oil is fully compatible with petroleum-based oil. There isn't any reason to use expensive synthetic engine oil on a street car, although it does offer an advantage for race cars. If you are looking for a good petroleum-based engine oil, Castrol GTX works very well in rotary engines. The transmission and differential in our cars do tend to work better with synthetic oil, which is more cost-effective in these components since it has a much longer drain interval than the engine.

Yes, and Borla, and many others that I forgot to mention. The point is that it is better to stick with something that will work rather than trying to cheap-out and get something that will soon fail and need to be replaced at a higher cost than buying something good in the first place.

Flowmaster does not recommend their mufflers for rotary engines, and as such they will not honor their warranty. For those who have tried using Flowmasters anyway, they have lasted anywhere between a few minutes and a few weeks on high-output NA 13B engines which will blow the internal baffles off their spot welds. I would imagine that they would work OK on a turbocharged engine or a stock non-turbo engine that is in bad health, but there are so many good mufflers on the market that I don't see much point in bothering with the cheaply-made Flowmasters.

Makenzie71

I'm aware of Flowmaster's suggestions and I doubt I'll be looking for any warranty claims. On a straight exhaust from a high-output engine yeah it's a bad idea. I'm not after real performance with this car, plus I leave for work early in the morning and I really like my neighbors...I just want it to have a meaner growl. With both the pre-cats and stock porting I don't foresee any problems. Even if I do destroy the mufflers, though, I'm not out anything except some tubing (free mufflers).

My example was more about the size of the mufflers...because they have the volume needed to handle the rotary's noise and are made from heavy steel.

Elbi

iTrader: (1)

Holy ****...all I read was spark plugs for $118.50 and voted lol. Your face must have shown complete desperation to get those prices thrown at you...and from a rotary expert?? Get yourself a decent tool set and make good friends with the search function.

Elbi

iTrader: (1)

Wow....sorry, didn't realize this thread was about a week old already lol. Good to know your doing your own work by the way.

2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

I like loud...If it's too loud you're too old as they say.
Right now I'm runnin' the car with both tailpipes cut off...it's interesting to say the least.

Is it normal to hear the tranny whine in the cab while I'm driving? Cause it's cool


.....oh geez.....I just scrolled down the home page past 2nd Gen specific for the first time.....

sharingan 19

iTrader: (16)

well if you like loud you're in the right place I'm running open downpipe till I can get my Borla XR-1 welded in as a midpipe for my RB system.

Yes, FC tranny's like to ..."talk".
Mine has had a slight whine to it since day one and there are no grinds or problems shifting. I've changed the fluid twice and never noticed any metal shavings either. Kinda sounds like the race trans from Forza, but ya know what they say "if you can here your transmission, your turbo isn't spooling hard enough or your exhaust is too quite"...

therotaryrocket

I do work on my own car because it's so easy being a mechanic and having tools and knowledge, but most importantly I don't really trust my car with many other people. I'd have to at least know my mechanic well and see his work, but yea I think if you do your own work you can do a better job and do things right. gl.

2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

Weelllll, it's been a while, but I still have my car,albeit it has since broken down. I am pretty sure I completely destroyed the manual transmission. I am betting it got really dry in there.

However, in the time since, I have gotten into an automotive school, job corps to be more specific and have spent the past 2 1/2 years training to be a technician. No experience with rotary vehicles unfortunately but I have had the chance to get my hands dirty enough to where I won't just be jumping in blind once I start working on my car. After nearly three years of heartbroken sitting and being started up occasionally I will be getting to work on restoring my 90 Vert. She still runs fine with no rust to be found but I plan to go through and replace just about everything else and ultimately doing a mild street port as the final modification.

106k on the frame
Engine swapped at 65k
Replacing the factory 5spd unit with one I got from a man on here that he pulled out of another vert he was doing a turbo swap on.
Only other mods currently are an aftermarket intake and a cat-delete exhaust with a 2 1/2 inch straight pipe going out to a single 12 inch Cherry Bomb.

inflatablepets

The cherry bomb exhaust us a bit on the loud side. Outside the car its not bad but inside its annoying at cruising speed.

2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, it is loud, I like it that way though. I plan to use the car mostly just for cruises once I get it fixed up. I have a lot of plans for it all the way around the car, mostly subtle tweaks to make it more to my tastes.

2nd Chance

iTrader: (1)

I got used transmission for the car and I have purchased new front and rear seals, a new rear main engine seal, pilot and throwout bearing and seal, OEM clutch disc, tail shaft bushing, rubber shift boots and leather shift boot for the interior. Any pointers on install.

Do I need to get pads for four piston calipers or the single piston?

Would it be worthwhile to go with better fluids, i.e. engine oil, coolant, brake, trans. and gear oil, power steering fluid or just get the cheap napa brand stuff? This is going to be my daily driver.

Is seafoam okay to run through the engine?