dexmex88

My car is going to need a rebuild soon, I can just tell. I don't know a lot about rebuilding the engine, but I think I could maybe do it. Rebuild kit costs around $1100 correct? To get it rebuilt it would be $4000 for everything, with a year warranty. Everyone says do it yourself, you can rebuild it 3 times for the same price as once if someone else does it. So I am thinking they are right? I also want to do the auto to manual swap, should I wait until I decide to rebuild the engine to do it so it will already be out?

Robbierx7

iTrader: (1)

i think what you have just said has ansewered your question mate!!

go on..do the rebuild..just think..when your bombing past a supra..you will have the satisfaction of doing it yourself And getting a basically new car for under 1500 say!!

im gonna do mine when i get the chance,,trouble is the parts arnt so easily available over here

TO4Z

don't mean to be negative or anything , but you could fail three times for the same money it cost to get a pro to do it. ultimately I think it depends on you whether your good mechanically to do it. if not, don't do it, but if you are go for it!

cloud9

iTrader: (4)

paint it first..... jk I'm just giving you greif

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

I initially thought about doing it myself.. But after learning more about the engine, I realized that its better to go with someone who has more experience.. Especially if you are thinking about porting.. I wouldn't even attempt unless you have spare engine to practice on..

After searching, I am very pleased with my builder and so far, everything he has done worked out.. If you want info about him, pm me..

PHIL

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Well, what tools do you have around? There are some measuring tools that you'll need to check tolerances of EVERYTHING once you have the engine apart. Whatever is not within spec, you'll have to replace so a rebuild can cost more than just the amount of a rebuild kit. This is where remans are a good deal.

While the actual rebuilding is not bad if you use the Rotary Aviation video, doing it right is. I just had a buddy rebuild his motor himself. After getting it reinstalled, coolant is leaking into the oil (but not the other way around). So, we will be pulling th engine, again, so he can tear it down and see what mistake he made or what problem is happening (btw, Bruce from Rotary Aviation has been a great help). If the possibility to do a R&R and engine rebuild more than once sounds good, go for it! Otherwise, pay a professional to have it done right the first time. Good luck!

weaklink

this raises a good point. spend the money and buy the videos, or at least the r&r video so you can see what is involved. If you decide to go ahead and do it, then you will have an excellent guide. In my case, I watched the video and it convinced me that I didn't want to deal with it. You could save a significant amount of labor cost by doing the R&R yourself and letting a pro do the rebuild.

dexmex88

I have tons of tools, but not a lot of experience. My dad has done a lot with all types of cars but he says he knows nothing about this car. I am going to buy the video to see whats involved. Thanks!

lopedl

iTrader: (1)

Yes buy the video, if you decide to rebuild or get a reman either way your going to have to learn to pull the engine out. Your probably better of buying a reman. like others have stated its 1100 for a rebuild DIY, but only if most of the parts are reusable. Whereas a reman is only $2000 from mazda also comes with the same useless warranty and you don't have to hassle with the rebuild work just pull and install.

I would only consider doing it yourself, for the shear fact of a learning experience and to learn more about the engine. And on top of that it would be an investment if you decide to keep the car for any future rebuilds you may require.

lopedl

iTrader: (1)

oh ps if they're charging you $4000 for a rebuild I can already say that your getting ripped. Unless that includes some performance modifications that you haven't mentioned.

dexmex88

$4000 is for labor and Street Porting, it also comes with some sort of strengthening I was told.

Black97VR4

Who is offering that?

Most street ported motors are like $3k not installed. If you want to a little work then just get the motor you want and install it yourself. Its more work than you think...

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I suggest you read Mahjik's post very closely. Anyone saying "sure, it's easy, do it yourself, go get em tiger!" have obviously never built their own motor. There are a plethora of small things that can go wrong, be installed backward, upside down, you name it. I'm just talking about assembling, not even getting into porting. $1100 might buy you the gasket kit, springs/seals etc, but if you have anything more than 50k on your shortblock I would recommend getting a reman. You'll have too much wear on your rotor housings and possibly your irons to reuse them. Just remember, lots of engine builders have already made their own mistakes and learned from them. If you have to go through the same process, your chances of getting the motor 100% right on your first time out aren't too good. Not trying to scare you or be overly pessimistic, just trying to bring this thread back to reality .

skunks

buy the rotary aviation videos about how to pull the engine, how to rebuild it and then how to reinstall it. if you think your up to it, do it. If not and you have enought money, get a pro to do it. these videos show you every single nut and bolt you must take off and what the torque specs and runouts are. unless you can't see or are just horribly mechanically inclined, you should beable to either know if you can or cant do this rebuild job after watching these videos!

the videos only cost about 30 bucks each and are truly worth their weight in gold!


good luck either way.

P.S. if you are gonna need a rebuild, your gonna have to yank your engine anyways and when the engine is out, its only 18 major bolts to take out which is holding your entire engine together, i say why not just rip it out and pull it apart before you order either a rebuild kit or a reman, at least you will see if your internals and housings are still ok for the rebuild or if it will be more worth it to get the reman.

Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

I've always rebuilt mine. If you have to tools and the love for it - do it yourself. More than likely you'll need to do it again on another car (or someone elses )

rebuilding before they blow saves a ton of money.

I have a local guy do resurfacing on my irons (not quite same as lapping) and love the finished product. I think he charges like 150 for an engine. Find some local support or rx7 buddy. Makes things easier.

If you have the irons surfaced the only other major wear item is the bearings but they are not too expensive.

Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

most places won't take an open core........

i wouldnt................ ppl would put back blown items and keep the one good rotor/housing in an engine.

i can make a couple blown engines out of scraps i have...........

skunks

i actually never though about sending my core in as the core charge would be less then the shipping for me personnaly. i see your point though although dont you have to send in the core before hand? also, i though remans dont need core/core charges. you just buying a rebuilt engine from mazda/aftermarket rebuilding i though. how much is a core charge anyways?

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

4 grand for a streetported engine installed? I can beat that price by almost half. Check out my webpage and my refs online (I specialize in 2gen work but own and service FD's as well) and let me know if I can help you. Seems that I'm semi-local to you as well.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Core charge is a grand (1000 bones). Break apart your existing motor, see what you want to keep, replace it with bad parts, and put it back together. Goal is to send 100% junk back to Mazda.

Jason

iTrader: (5)

I dont think you should mislead people into thinking they can get a good rebuild for $1500. 100% of the motors we get in here for rebuilds require new housings, which adds at least another $1000 to the bill. 50% of the motors we do need at least 1 new rotor.
If people want a **** rebuild then they can stick with their stock housings, but I dont recommend it.

Im not saying you dont do good work, but telling people they can get a good rebuild for $1500 in most cases is not true.

Jason

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

$4K for ported motor?? WOW! I thought my builder was kind of expensive but, not really.. He charges 3200-3400 for lapping all the plates, new seals, ported, table cranked for 2-3 hours in 2-3 days.. And he has over 25+ years of building and racing rotaries.. Unlike other builders, he takes his time building each engine.. He told me he only builds 1-2 engines per month.. Last week someone from PR sent his old school 12A to be ported and rebuilt.

I can't wait to put my engine in and see what it will do.

Its being table tested/broken in..

Here is a video of the first crank.

http://homepage.mac.com/newengine/iMovieTheater1.html

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

For once we agree on something. Having said that, nothing against Kevin at all, I think he does a great service to the community. My post has nothing to do with him.

Bottom line, generally speaking, you get what you pay for. Some DIYers just replace seals, springs etc and slap the motor back together with 100k housings. How long do you think the motor will really last? On an N/A you can get away with a lot more, but on a modded FD, you are asking for trouble (not to mention shitty compression). You're looking at a hell of a lot of labor $$ (or time if you do it yourself) to cut corners. Most cheap rebuild quotes assume reusing all the hard parts (housings, rotors, eshaft) and dont include the actual FD gasket kit. Plus, costs will add up. Don't forget new coolant hoses, new uim, lim, tb etc gaskets, new y pipe, oil return line gaskets, new fuel hoses, the list goes on. People complain that their rebuilds don't last as long as the original motor.....I am not suprised in the least, given all of the above.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Btw, a quote for $4k for a streetported motor isn't bad. I guarantee you that includes motor R&R (18 hrs labor book, i believe), dissassembly of the new reman to port and clearance the seals, and then assembly. Basically, all labor from start to finish. Motor work is way too much of a pain in the *** for it to be free, people.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

Goodfella, I agree.. One of the reason I pick my builder out of all the other builders out there is because he seemed like he took his time.. He took almost 3 weeks lapping, cleaning, and checking all the housings/plates/rotors/etc to make sure if he could use it or not.. He said (which I agreed), you could put an engine together in 1 day!! its spec'ing and cleaning the engine that takes time.

Oh.. also he port matched my intake to the LIM. But thing that really got me was table break in and compression test after engine has ran for hours. I've never heard of any builder so far that did that?? But of course, I'm pretty much a newbie compare to some of you.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

THis is why I specialize in FC work and don't do a whole lot of FD work. These guys think they're better than every other rotary engine owner in the world. To be decent, it has to cost a shitload, I guess. That, or they think they drive around a f*cking mclaren.

Well, chew on this. My fd engine (107k miles on parts) has about 4000 miles on the rebuild now, and the last 2000 of those I would say are sorta hard miles. IT was built with used rotorhousings, used rotors, and used irons. I did step up to atkins 3mm seals (some people claim you lose some compression with 3mm seals).

Last I checked this engine with the MAZDA DIGITAL COMPRESSION TESTER it made 8.4-9.0 on every face. Let's see the numbers from these other engines, hmmm?

What now?