Who builds the best engines?
 

Hey there-I've had my Fd3 for eight years in various states of running. I may be at the new engine point now, though my '93 has a scant 51k miles on it.

There is a local guy that is fairly highly reputed, but I doubt that he builds more than 5 or 6 rotaries a year, so I'm thinking maybe I should look elsewhere, to someone that builds and had built LOTS of 'em, that knows all the skinny.

So you out there-please help me out. I wanna do this right, and though I personally have built several high output, reliable reciprocating engines successfully in the past, I have no experience with building rotary engines, let alone the twin turbo beast in my car. Any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! -
Jon in Seattle

"Who builds the best engines?"

Racing Beat
Daryl Drummond



Now seriously, most of the major vendors on the board do a great job. If you aren't necessarily looking local, look at the vendors who support this board the most (like Banzai).

Pineapple racing is only a few hours from Seattle if you wanted something local-ish

there is the skill and level of care of the builder, and there is the condition of the parts. The most skilled builder, taking lots of time on the build, can only do so much if you reuse a bunch of stuff that was pretty worn out. You have to make sure you are clear on what you are paying for.

Some of it too comes down to philosophy. Two equally skilled and attentive builders may have different ideas on what parts can be reused, what type of apex seal to use, and how much time to spend on setting clearances.

Premium!
 

Thanks, all of you. I want to do this once, correctly, maybe get slightly more than stock power and have a "clean slate" so I KNOW what the maintenance regime has been. I have some of the preliminary stuff done-Kyosho radiator, metal expansion tank, Pettit intake. Going to go with Ohlins coilovers, RB sways, maybe rebush the chassis with Powerflex street urethane, RPF1's in 18x9.5 +45 w/ Michelin Pilot Super Sports in 255/35, possibly Wilwood front brakes (or whatever seems to be the best bang for the buck-maybe just EBS pads). Might do a bit of auto-x, drive at Kent Pacific once in a while. A pretty conservative build, but plenty for me at this point. Thank you in advance for any and all input.

It is not all about who builds the motor but who tunes the ECU and sets up the car. Thats the deciding factor.

contact Silver6portFD on the forums. His name is Nathan, he owns Rotary Automotive in Spokane Washington. He does great work and will beat the price of all these larger shops!

Dominic Toretto has done some decent builds. Don't think he's in socal anymore though.

^ LOL that's so true , Haha !!

I had a Pineapple Racing engine that lasted 7 years and about 90K miles, daily driven at 12-13 psi. The relevant mods on my car are: mild streetport, Pettit ECU, intake, DP, Greddy SMIC, RB CB exhaust. I also had Pineapple include their teflon water seals, and oil passage mods in the build.

The engine didn't blow, but since it had so many miles on it, I decided to have it rebuilt recently by JLC in Kent. The guys at JLC did find some non-3rd gen components in the engine which surprised me given Pineapple's reputation. However, it did last 7 years/90K mi, so I had no complaints.

Just curious.. Do you know which one ?

Jerry thought that the E-shaft came from a 1st gen and the tension bolts from a 2nd gen.

Eight years. Might be time to have a go your self

That wont physically go together/work. The eshaft part I mean.

I hate my phone

Never mind.

Who built your engine?


I am sure he is referring to a GSL-SE e-shaft, not a 12A. We have found similar parts used from other shops and far worse. Won't go into details in this thread.

Thank you to all that have posted advice. I think I'm gonna go with Rob at Pineapple; as far as guys who have a lot of experience, he's the closest geographically (about 170 mikes away). He guarantees his work and having talked to a couple of guys locally that have used his engines, they have had very good experiences. I haven't built a rotary before or I would at least consider doing it myself; i have built several high performance piston engines with excellent results, but it's been many years since I've done it. I will feel better having someone do it that knows the idiosyncrasies and that's doing it every day. As far as using parts from other engines, from my experience that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Best is really a generic term. You have to consider your power goals, driving style, budget, etc. That being said there are plenty of reputable engine builders that are sponsors on this forum. I would research each one and chose which works best for your needs.

GM builds the best motors for the fd in my experience but if you stick with mazda you wont need a BBK.

Rob has been around for a long time, and has a good reputation. I think he's a good guy, and you have made a good choice.

Ah, good call. I guess I don't think of stupid configurations such as backdating e-shafts et cetera. What some people do is unconscionable.

Does RB do regular/street rebuilds as well, or only hardcore racing?

:lol:

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

You are hilarious..... Go buy a Vette and leave the FD to US who can deal with it's quirks...:icon_tup:

I did found that funny too , probably has a Vet in his 7...