94 Build, Looking for Advice
 

Hey guys, I guess my build is starting the same as most people's, with the engine removal! I got the motor and tranny pulled this weekend and now it's time to get to the serious work! Nothing is wrong with my drive train right now, but I'm prepping the car for a 100% paint change to Vintage Red. This is my first rotary and I've had a couple months to get a feel for the car before I rebuild it. Generally, I am pretty good with my mechanical knowledge, but the 13B is new to me. I am looking for advice on what upgrades to do to gain more power. The motor is quick, but enough, but it feels like it could be better. It feels a little sluggish. I called the last company who did work for the PO in Texas and found out that it was last worked on 3k miles ago. They said it was solid motor, so I'm really looking for ideas as far as fuel delivery, radiator, oil cooler, intercooler, etc. also, I would like to replace the interior from the black to tan if anyone is interested in trading up panels, mine are in mint condition! I will keep this thread updated as often as I can and look forward to some good feedback from you rotary experts!

Also, I am having a hell of a time trying to find pictures of vintage red and blaze red comparisons... Google image search is not help with this. If anyone could post a picture of each, that would be awesome! Thanks!

VR is the 3rd gen red color, blaze red is s4/s5 i believe?

Thanks, that's how I originally took it, but I have been looking at paint codes from paintscratch.com and they list BR on 94 models, too... I think I'm just gonna go with the original plan and go VR

I would first have a plan as far as what will be the normal use of the car & go from there. Meaning do you want a sports car or a weekend beast!? So keep in mind a few things, time, money & Main usage of the car. Hope this helps and good luck.

What is your power goal? Are you just dropping this motor back in or going to rebuild it and port it assuming it is stock? If you are dropping this one back in then I would at least find out how healthy the motor is, like compression wise.

I would like to get ~300HP and I am going to do some miscellaneous work, yes porting is one step. I am also looking at new plugs, an FC Commander, a new Exedy clutch (not sure which yet) I would like to keep the stock turbos. Maybe invest in some cooling work as well (new oil cooler, intercooler, etc) everything now is stock.

You don't need porting for that power goal, but it is a good time to get it done and refresh the motor while you are at it. Street port with stock twins can get you over that 300 mark even on stock injectors and upgraded pump, but you probably want to upgrade to bigger secondary just to be safe.

Well it's not much of an update, but it's still progress. I got the remaining coolers out (minus the oil cooler), got the ABS module out, and some other miscellaneous stuff. I'm trying to take the main harness out still, but notice up by the firewall, the harness goes through. I don't want to take the dash apart to get to it, though. I'm starting to think I'll have to leave it and hang it out of the way when it comes time to paint. Any thoughts?

make it v8 :)

I am debating the same engine situation. After doing some street "activity" up high on a curvy
road I have found that too much hp could lead to a decrease in the fd population.
So my personal plan is to build as new of an engine possible without porting. At best maybe
a little polishing, and leave the boost in power up to a BNR or new 99 turbo with eventually an fc controller in the end. 10 pounds at low end, and 15 high should hopefully give best of booth worlds-economy and possibly the 300 hp hoped for.:nod:

I have a (potentially) stupid question for you guys, if you'll indulge me... I have studied rotary theory for a while, and am trying to figure out the oil injection to the internals (apex seals, etc) and can't find much information. To me, I would figure there would be a separate reservoir for oil injection rather than pulling from the sump, but cannot find a different reservoir. Maybe I am missing something more simplified...? I checked my engine oil after 2 gas fillups and found it was still at full. I checked again on the third and again saw no loss of engine oil. Am I checking in the right spot?

Not stupid a little nave "especially if you are not a mechanic".
You can look at a rotary as a 2 stroke hybrid of sorts.
There is no lost motion as in back in forth ( everything rotates forward )
It has a crankcase to oil the bearings, and side seals-(sort of like rings)
However the Apex seals get the most friction, and abuse from the rotating mass.
With no oiling directly from the crankcase. So oil must be injected,
or like a 2 stroke added to the fuel for lubrication. It is a small amount,
and not to be technical on the amount it is very small perhaps less than that of say an outboard
or the now near extinct oil injected street bikes of yesterday.
If you do notice a big change in oil consumption check the oil injection lines,
or more smoke than normal would mean side seals going out.

Hope this helps you out. :icon_tup:

Late to the thread, but a couple of things that IMHO might help........
First, to help understand the rotary and for insights on worthwhile mods, this is a great book....

Second, get a copy of the Factory Service Manual if you don't already have one. Every time you see something you can't identify or don't understand, pull it out and read. I'm still doing this after 10 yrs.

Third, with you living in Iowa, a PFC and your hp goals, you could simplify things greatly by removing emissions, as well as properly deleting double-throttle and AWS. Some other things I'd suggest while the engine is out...even if you don't break it down for a re-fresh:
*Pull injectors and have them cleaned and flow tested.
*Full silicone hose replacement.
*test solenoids
*Replace check-valves. Look up a guy named DaleClark who sells replacement sets using viton diaphrams. Great product.
*Consider a new coil harness if your's is original

Fourth, the harness will unplug from the ECU and can then be pulled through the firewall. It's a bit of a PITA, but once you've done it once or twice not a big deal. Just go slow and be careful of the connectors. Helps if you have a friend. Someone on one side feeding and the other pulling gently. Also know that the wires are small and some might be brittle, so don't bend any more than necessary. Great time to clean, re-wrap the harness while it's out too.

Fifth, know that swapping all black interior to tan interior is a personal choice, but seems like most ge owners go the opposite way. If it's 'mint' you may want to keep it.

Hope to see your car at Cruise to the Woods.

Thanks for the info! I've been on the road for work for a few weeks, so I haven't had much of a chance to do anything with the car, but I finally got the car almost ready for paint!

Well sorry that it's been so long, but I've been out of state for a couple months. Last night I finally got the headliner and sunroof out. Here are some pics. Now can someone please help with removal of the bose system and the storage bin...?

An with that... I think I'm ready for paint!!!!!

Well, again, this update is long overdue, but I have finally started the painting! I have been traveling a lot for work, so I haven't had much time to do anything to the car until this week, so here is the progress. I have access to the local Ford stealership's body shop. After researching more than anyone should know, I found out that the original NU/NT paint was in fact a tri-coat (solvent based), but since the shop is using waterborne, the color is sprayed as a base coat only. Tonight I got the interior and engine bay sprayed and couldn't be happier with the result!

wow, looks good dude! seems to be coming along nicely...

You figure out your power goals yet and what type of build you're going for?

Thanks! I think I'm going to keep it mild... Definitely going to give it a street port and most likely improve the cooling system with a new I/C and dual oil coolers. For now, I have a ton of parts to recondition and some to replace... This is the tough part!

Also if anyone could provide any decent pictures of the engine bay, so I can put all the brackets the way they were, I'd appreciate it... I think I got a little too hasty in my tear down...

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-pics*-250320/


^engine bay pics from a lot of members....

The FSM is also a good place to find where things should be.

So I was cleaning my tanks/reservoirs today and when I took the coolant tank apart and pulled the sensor out, the rubber bushing around it broke. It was pretty much rotted out. Does anyone have any idea where I can get a replacement?

Not certain, but I think both the WS washer tank and coolant overflow are still available new. If you go that route I'd give Ray a call at Malloy Mazda. Well known source for OEM parts and competitive prices even with shipping.
If you want good used, try posting a WTB ad in the 3rd Gen. Parts For Sale section or contact a member named Fritz Flynn with a PM. He's also a well known and reliable source for used parts.

Engine bay looks great BTW. There's an on-going thread in the Midwest Regional section with some recent talk about getting together somewhere in Western Ia./Eastern Ne. in the spring. Regardless, enjoyed a beautiful drive out to Cruise to the Woods this fall, even with the wet weather. Maybe next year you'll be in it.