Well, my engine is burning some coolant, and I fear that it may be on it's way out. So now is the time to begin thinking of replacing it in the near future. my first choice would be a rebuild from a company like fc3s or pineapple racing, but sadly there is no way that I can afford that within my projected timetable. what I think I may do is search the scrapyards for an engine with decent compression, pull it, and bring it home for a rebuild. what should I expect from a junkyard motor with decent compression? I assume that if the motor is not blown, I should be able to re-use nearly all the "hard" parts(excluding seals and gaskets) since thay would not have been excessively damaged by engine failure.

I have some time before I absolutely have to replace my current engine, so I'm not really worried about this being a month or two's worth of a project. do you think that it's possible for me to do such a rebuild? Nothing fancy, I'm not sure If I want to port or not, just the basics. I have a basement that I can work in, and acess to a good amount of standard tools. Is there anything that I have overlooked in this equation?????????

 

If the motor has less than 150K and was intact internally, chances are you can reuse the housings, side seals and oil control rings. The rebuild video by bruce turrentine is great! Get it!

 

IF you decide to do the job yourself that is an easy way to save yourself a bit of money adn learn a LOT in teh process, plus it's fun.

Before I would buy a junkyard/used motor, I would go with the rebuild. IF you find yourself going for a used motor instead of the rebuild due to costs/time constraints, feel free to contact me, Im sure I could help you. Stock 86-88 NA rebuilds run $1000 plus core and shipping, and SPing is available as well. I can usually set you up with an engine in 1-2 weeks time depending on your actual desire to get it done; once I recieve the core (if being sent) and deposit to get started, I can concievably have the engine shipped out within 2-3 days, then another 3-5 days in shipment and it's at your door.

Let me know if I can help, otherwise have fun with the project, but please stay away from used/junkyard motors or you'll kick yourself later.

 

yes, I once thought that I might be able to do something with my junkyard T2 motor and had to find out the hard way. spent 30 bucks on the atkins video and buy a rebuild kit, that would be the smart thing to do

 

Hey man, sorry to hear that. Just found out mine's burning coolant as well. I'm afraid she's on her last leg too. I'm either going to give you a call Kevin; or if I get a cheap truck to drive daily and some time to save up I'll be calling Brian at RotorSports. Kevin does excellent work for the money, I would definetly give him a consideration.

Good luck with whatever route you take airbrush.

 

well what i was going to do was find a junkyard motor with decent compression and rebuild that while my engine was still running. I figured that by the time mine decided to go up, I would have finished the rebuild

hypntyz7 1000 plus core... would I be able to send you a core other than my own? How long would I expect an engine from you to last? the problem I have is I cannot afford to have my car down for long because I have to commute to school this semester. If my engine would last throught the semester then I could afford to send you my engine as a core, but with it running right now I need to be able to drive the car daily

 

If an engine's burning coolant does that mean that a seal is bad, or could it be something worse? Like if and engine over heats does it waro anything? or could it be a sign of alot of wear or something?

Mine's not burning coolant yet, but it's got alot of miles on it, compression is still pretty good.

 

Rebuilding is fun and you do learn a lot, but you will need more than just a rebuild kit. Tools are very neccasary, and often times you'll break a thing or two while getting the manifolds off and stuff. I broke those damn oil injector lines.
I would recommend you rebuild it. It's very satisfying to accomplish something like that.

 

Seeing as how I'll unexpectedly have a fair amount of time on my hands now, I think I'm going to rebuild my engine myself... I've been reading the hayes manual alot, and I'm going to be purchasing a rebuild video soon.

 

I dont care if it's your grandmother's core, as long as it produces at least one useable rotor and housing in return for the 2 good ones Ill be giving you...blown apex seal cores yeild one, blown coolant seal cores usually yeild 2 (unless theyve sat so long theyre completely rusted inside, and useless), and engiens with oil problems yeild no useable parts in general...

Under normal street driving and maintenance I would expect around 100k miles or 5 years. About the same as almost any other rebuild really, including a mazda reman or the like.

Like I said, I can arrange to get your engine done almost as quickly as you want. I can even build one (wht appropriate deposit up front) send it to you, and you return your core later. You also have the option to take apart a spare core and ship me ONLY the good rotors and housings with seals and springs, which can be done really cheap via UPS.

 

If your gonna rebuild the engine..i'd get a micrometer

 

micrometer... what and why?

 

You dont need a micrometer. Just use common sense and the fingernail trick

Dont use any parts that have grooves deep enough that your fingernail would catch. As long as teh bearings are good looking with no grooves and no copper sports showing through they will be fine.

 

cool! i really think I'm gonna try it, unless i can majically make 1500 bucks appear in my bank account.... anyone have ideas on how to do that? lol

 

I live in jarrettsville, right down the street, let me know when/where your gonna do this, cause I'll help you out, somewhat, because I wanna learn how to do this too.

-Mike

 

beautifl f1, i'd love your help! anyone else wanna help me with it? between all of us that live near here I'm sure we could figure it out!
haven't seen ur 7 either, we should get together and compare sometime!

 

Well you can get away with using used rotor housings as h***** does but for a genuine rebuild you should REALLY consider a totally rebuilt engine- not one with used side seals, corner seals with new rubber inserts, oil seals with neew "O" rings, , etc. There's a reason why you see $1500-$1800 engine "rebuilds" on the internet- usually these contain the minimum parts required to yield an acceptable engine that runs- In the long haul-You do get what you pay for. Sorry but there are no short cuts and just too many low ball "engine assemblers" out there with no clue how to properly build an engine. They also are advertising to buy used parts at ridiculously low prices for their customers' engines. The most expensive engine is always the cheapest one -THAT EVENTUALLY FAILS!

Bryan Smith
Rotorsports Racing
www.rotorsportsracing.com
engine builder for the Diasio 962R racecar
www.diasio.com

 

NOt when I have some "cheap" engines out there running around with 50k miles on them, while an engine built for a forum member with a t2, costing mid $2krange, built "properly", failed after only 10k....for details, pm me, adn I will provide the forum member's ID and other information if desired.



Yeah, and there's a reason why you see $2000+ rebuilds also advertised..higher profit and higher overhead. Bigger is not always better, and price is not always indicative of performance/value. I have some friends that were "big engine company" customers who would wholeheartedly agree with me...


Better to attempt to buy used core parts at fair prices than to attemtp to ream customers' asses with rediculously high core charges...

I seem to be getting a bit more attention from other, larger, "higher end" engine builders of late...guess that means Im putting a dent in the customer base with my positive reputation among customers and unbeatable prices. I'll put my work up against anyone's dollar for dollar. Buy one of the other builders' high end rebuilds, then buy one of my base rebuilds and spend the difference in mods, and we'll see who the customer is happier with...

 

Kevin's the man. Anybody trying to belittle or dismiss his work either has a misguided chip on their shoulder or don't know what the **** they're talking about. End of discussion.

 

bying all new parts and building a NEW engine is diffrent from gettign OK used parts and using them.
but doesnt mean u have to go buy a NEW engine
afterall reman from mazda come with used parts in them
building a new engien will cost what 5k? if mazda sells
their remans for 2k and someone else oes for 1k i woudl buy the 1k engine.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by r0t0rhead
Well you can get away with using used rotor housings as h***** does but for a genuine rebuild you should REALLY consider a totally rebuilt engine- not one with used side seals, corner seals with new rubber inserts, oil seals with neew "O" rings, , etc. There's a reason why you see $1500-$1800 engine "rebuilds" on the internet- usually these contain the minimum parts required to yield an acceptable engine that runs-[/qoute]

Do you yourself not offer these such engine?

All that for just $1999.00. What makes that rebuild different from one costing 1500-1800? Is it the attention to detail or just a higher profit on the labor rate?

Your one to talk.

But what about the $3k+ one that fails in 6 months?

Now, I hate that this has become a flame war over whether or not airbursh should rebuild his own engine, but the attack on hypntyz was uncalled for. I know that as a business, it is not good business practice to "trash talk" about another business when your gulity of doing the same things yourself, even if your not gulity, it's still just bad manors. But then again, where are my manors for talking down to you in a public forum

 

First- I never intended to start a flame war- Our philosophy on building engines may differ from others, thats based upon my 23 years of rotary engine experience. I know what does and doesn't work. This isn't to say that you cannot have success with a different approach-it simply isn't my method. Everyone has their own opinions on approaching the same problems- Mine does not include calling someone else an "*******" just because I have a different opinion- especially if I know from experience that my stance is founded.
We are fortunately very respected among the top professional race teams and I will be happy to provide references. We have been recommended by many race teams and some of the most respected rotary engine builders in the world-including Jim Downing, Darryll Drummond, & Roger Mandeville.
The fact is we are supplying an estimated 20-30 race engines this year (depending upon actual production) for the Diasio 962R racecars. They could have easily chosen any other engine builder for this project. We were selected because of several factors, including our professionalism, reputation, recommendations, and the fact that I have driven thousands of miles in competition in various professional racing.
Somehow they felt that this experience was worth paying a bit more for.
Bryan Smith
Rotorsports Racing

 

BTW- who do you think produced the infamous "Rotary Engine Rebuild" video sold by Atkins Rotary-
Bruce Turrentine
He is a regular customer and can provide references as well.

 

Oh my GOD!! **YOU** did that video??!! **WHAT** could I have been thinking to question the all-knowing might of the man who produced "the video"?? And all those race engines. Just makes my head spin, like the rotors in all your race engines...

My sincerest apologies sir..


























Does it include calling someone an ******* for making personal attacks on someone's work? I dont know you, have never spoken *TO* you or *ABOUT* you, yet here you are talking down to/about me and my work. Nice way to make friends here and anywhere else in the world there bud...

IF you dont want none, dont start none, wont be none...just be sure to keep my name out of your lips from now on, and everything will be cool. People can have their own opinions, but you're stepping on toes there man. Like I said, I've never said a damn word about you to anyone cause I dont know you or your work, regardless of the fact that our friend above has a bad word for you (and I dont see anybody here with a bad word about me, regardless of the fact that I build economy engines for those who cant break the bank on a 15 year old car).

 

Kevin, it's Steve from Utah, talk to me!!!!