Since I need to rebuild, I would like to know what I should buy to replace? I was looking at the rotary aviation rebuild kits and seals. Or should I go OEM with everything? Does anyone have an exprience with their kits (mainly the o-rings and such) , from what I understand their seals are very good. Also I know Hondabond for everything.

 

First off, wait until you get the engine apart to order parts. Find out what you need, what's re-usable, and then make your order.

I've always used all-Mazda seals on my rebuilds with great success. I don't know about the apex seals, though - I think Mazda may have discontinued the 3-piece seals, and the 2-piece RX-8 seals don't work in the RX-7 motors.

Some of the Viton oil O-ring sets out there are standard, not metric. Fitment is LOUSY and you're likely to break the carrier trying to install them. FC3S.org was carrying metric-sized ones at one point, but really if you use the Mazda stockers and keep up with your oil changes and watch the oil temps, they'll be fine.

If you haven't done a rebuild before, get Bruce Turrentine's videos and give 'em a watch.

Dale

 

a good start would be www.rotaryaviation.com - they seem to have all their sh*t together as to what you would need and want.

EDIT:
lol... sorry, I just read your first post more carefully and realized you already checked these guys out.

 

I have a friend that will help me with the rebuild, he's been putting great power, and I beleive my motor is already ported so its just pretty much a rebuild. I was not planning on ordering anything yet, your right I was going to wait to see what I can re-use. I just want to hear peoples experience and opinions on whats out there. Im leaning rotary aviation unless like what you say their stuff is standard which would suck.

 

^

 

post pictures of the housings when you get it all apart, the people here are extremely knowledgable and they'll let you know if you need new rotor housings/irons lapped.

 

Well i didnt have a detonation, I had an o-ring failure, I think the worst case situation would be new housings since the ones in the motor may be warped.

 

Purchase and watch the Rotary Aviation rebuild video and you'll get an idea of what you "might" be replacing. Just because you didn't detonate, doesn't mean you don't have worn parts that don't need to be replaced.

The video will explain it all and you'll see the measurements you'll be taking. Without those measurement, it's just guessing as to what's still in spec for reuse.

 

I just bought my Rotary Aviation rebuild videos. Mention that you want those videos on DVD, they do have it if you want it.

 

Alright will do. Thanks for the tip Mahjik

And I will get it in DVD!

 

I just built an engine...so some is still fresh.

I used RA 2mm apex
Solid Corners from Atkins (really beefy springs)
OEM seals and springs for everything else.

front and rear (with o-ring) main, cheap so replace.

Lapping irons is recommended
if you are changing the flywheel, balancing of rotors and front and rear counter weights is recommend...or if you're rebuilding a reman, because lots of those have blank front counter weights (tsk tsk tsk, Mazduh).

Since you're spending all this time...you might as well, press in new bearings.

remember clearancing and tolerances are very important in motor building, so take your time an check everything. Especially side seals.

There are special tools you'll need. calipers, dial indicator, magnetic stand, flywheel stopper, 54mm sockeet, feeler gauges, etc...etc...

 

I have like 27k on my fd almost and I wanna do a rebuild for more power, and a port job. I know about the templates and stuff and that i could also send my housings out to get done. But my question is, howmuch will a rebuild cost, if all my housings and rotors were good, but i wanted 3 piece seals and all new o'rings?

 

$700 -$1000

I'd still replace all the seals.

 

Front and Main o-ring OEM?

I'll start looking into all of the things you mentioned.
BTW what bearings are you talking.

BTW Any other specialty measurment deviced or any speacial tools that would make the job alot easier?

 

sorry, front and rear main seal...then rear main has an o-ring that is installed on the rear main stationary gear.

bearings...there are four, one in the front stationary gear, one in the rear stationary gear and one in each rotor.

specialty tools...no more than I already stated, that I can think of.

 

I strongly recommend against changing any of the bearings in the motor. If they're in good shape, run them. If they're shot, find someone with a used stationary gear that is in good shape or MAYBE get a new rotor bearing pressed in. You're far more likely to mess something up with the tricky install of new bearings. Rotaries aren't as hard on the bearings as piston engines - remember, our motors are just spinning in a circle, instead of pounding up and down on the bearings.

Here's a short rebuild list -

- New apex seals. ALWAYS use new ones. These are the major wear points in the engine, and it's common for them to have 1/3 of their material worn off compared to new.
- New rubber seals - oil control O-rings, water seals, etc. No-brainer there.
- New side seal springs - they very rarely can be reused after disassembly, and they're cheap.
- New corner seals and springs - the corner seals are cheap, as are the springs. I've yet to rebuild an FD motor (I've built 20+ FC motors), and the FD corner seal springs are upgrades for the FC. They may be reusable, I'm not sure.
- Reuse side seals - they wear VERY little over the life of the engine, we estimated that over 300,000 miles they'd be nearing the bottom of their wear spec!
- New oil control springs - these are cheap, and the old ones are usually flattened with heat fatigue.
- Re-use oil o-ring casings - again, these typically wear very little and just need a little cleaning to be used.

If you can afford it, new rotor housings are a great way to go. That's the secret to getting awesome compression - Mazda designed them to be replaced at rebuild time.

There's also TONS of nickle-dime things you will need. All the trips for cleaners, oil, antifreeze, more cleaners, scrub brushes, etc. etc. etc. Expect to drop $150-200 at Pep Boys by the time the process is done.

I would also get a gasket set from Mazda. Pricey, but you get EVERY gasket you might need.

Dale

 

I'd recommend having a professional do the balancing/lapping/pressing.
That's why I'd recommend getting new side seals and tighten up the clearances. they are compression seals.

Mazda 0.0029 - .0059

Judge Ito 0.0029 - 0.0039

Rick Engman has even tighter clearances.

 

Again, if there isn't a need for new bearings, don't replace them. I've yet to see an RX-7 that had a motor failure due to a worn bearing.

Side seals - for most home rebuilds, just reusing the side seals is fine. Clearancing your own side seals is VERY tricky, and if you're worried about a motor being THAT tight, you probably have the money to have it all uber-built and done right. If you're trying to get a solid, running motor together on a budget, reuse your side seals.

Dale

 

What turbo setup are you running? Unless you have some huge single that is giving you a narrow powerband with stock ports, you are *crazy* to pull apart a low mileage motor to have it ported. Cost benefit analysis says......lots of time and money for negligible gains. You can make good power on stock ports, ask Ernie T. Drive the car and enjoy it......you will have plenty of opportunities to pull the motor out when you are making more power, trust me.

 

This year, im going to go single, i want something that will spool the best because it will be daily driven but will spool nice, like the hks kits or something. I am shooting for about 450 horsepower.

 

Alright so let me get this straight.

RA Kit Master
OEM Gasket Set
All the Measurement Devices listed?

Anything else?

 

I have a bad coolant seal and A-Spec wants to charge me 2400 for a rebuild, that sounds kind of ridiculous, where else can i go in the chicagoland area that wont charge me an arm and a leg?

 

On DVD? Are you serious?

I just bought both videos a while back. Doh!

 

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/

 

do you understand the whole engine needs to be apart to replace a coolant seal???