Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

I'd recommend a GodSpeed Project aluminum radiator, I paid 200 plus 20 shipping and have been pretty satisfied with it, and it lasted through severely blown coolant seals. As for an alternator I've got one from a modified TII and I can check it over to see what amperage but it should be in the range you're looking for, you'd just have to modify your connector.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

As a matter of fact, I just found a guy on here with an fd alt for sale for cheap He's got it held for me.

As for the rad, I think that I may try ONE more thing: rodding my radiator myself. It doesn't seem like too intensive a job, any I read that these rads could be taken apart and put back together without worrying about leaks. My bet is that it's clogged as hell, what with it having 193k on the same rad... Besides, a new rad is actually under Street Prepared, which would put me in CSP with a whole bunch of much faster cars...

Anyway, that'll be within a few weeks, the alt should be on within a week and a half (provided that he has the plug, he's checking for it as we speak), the resonator and silencer will be on within the week, and... Yep. The build is progressing.

This fall I will have little time to do much to the car, as I will be starting my first semester at K-State (Wildcats!!!!) and I'll be part of the FSAE program, where college students design, build, and race a small-scale formula car. However, I will certainly post about that...

eage8

iTrader: (9)

you'll need a new alternator pulley for the FD alternator (FD has a serpentine belt). Mazdatrix sells them.

The FD alt. plug is the same as an S5 FC one, so if he doesn't have one they're not hard to find.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

^^ I know.
My plan is to mill out the old pulley to accept the larger shaft diameter. This goal would change, however, if the pulley has some sort of key or inner gear...which I don't believe that it does but I have no way of easily checking. I'll keep researching.

As for the plug, if there isn't one, I know where to look.

Thanks though! I just tend to over-research everything.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

Wow. So a lot has happened in the last few days. I finished my exhaust, the alt and plug are on the way... and I am 95% sure that the car has officially blown a coolant seal.

Finally explained is the unstoppable overheating, the coolant bubbles that never end, the non-moving water level in the overflow tank even on low coolant, the gasoline-smell in the coolant, and finally, in the last two days, the disappearance of nearly the entire cooling system without a single puddle to show for it.

I'd just like some reassurance before the motor is torn apart starting this Wednesday.

On the same front, there is a minuscule possibility that I may soon gain a high-hp turbocharged 13b out of a mutual friend's old dune buggy. It reportedly was a $10k built engine pushing 350hp at nearly no boost, with an $1800 turbocharger on it.

^^Very unlikely possibility, but it does a man good to hope...

But at any rate, if the rebuild is necessary, I have the funds and time to do it right, as a have about 5 weeks before I head off to college, and that's more than enough time.

Anyway, thanks for any input!

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately it would seem to be that you do have the dreaded blown coolant seals. I'm giving you fair warning, you may have to replace a side housing... if the problem is severe enough it will on occassion cause damage, generally to the front or rear side housing in which the lip in the water jacket seal indentation closest to the water jacket, will chip or break off, causing the housing to be unusable without repair (if repairs can be done, without comprimising the integrity and reliability of the engine.)

As unfortunate as this issue can be I have seen it multiple times when I could only afford paying $100-200 for a used engine as opposed to a proper rebuild, I've had 3-4 used engines that suffered from blown coolant seals.

The only symptom you haven't mentioned is white smoke from the exhaust. But you can also in a way determine how severe the situation is by how fast you overheat, and how fast you expend the cooling system of coolant/water.

A note on sandrail engines, just from experience with the last one I used that was a turbocharged 13B, from a rail, which by all means was a helluva steal at $500 for a 400rwhp Streetported engine. I thought it was an amazing deal and planned to use it until I cracked it open and cleaned up the internals. I'm not sure if the harsh environments they traverse and the dunes caused the internal damage or if the engine at some point got thrown out of balance, but three out of four faces on the side housings have such drastic changes in elevation of the facing that it may be well out of spec once lapped to bring the facing to an even and smooth surface once again. The engine was built and rebuilt by a reputable company, but human error is always a possible factor. So if you want to go that route, I'm not warning you away from it, just giving example of my last experience, more to compare notes with what you may find with your engine.

As for the rebuild, I highly recommend Atkins Rotary, from personal experience, or a company like Racing Beat or Mazdatrix.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

As for the smoking, I haven't had it on startup yet, but it does happen just when the engine is warmed up and I set about revving it like the fanboy I am. I'm going to cold start it today and see...

I was kind of planning on replacing the side housings with TII housings and making the 4 port conversion... I'm pretty sure that all it needs are the side housings and the intake manifold, but correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the engine, I know very well what has been done to it, and it doesn't have many miles, due to the fact it was only used occasionally in the sand dunes. I'll see what ends up happening with the asking price...But that is one of the weirdest problems...I wonder what could have caused that kind of scoring...?

As for the rebuild, I plan on getting ALS apex seals (though I haven't received a price quote yet), Atkins side and solid corner seals, along with the full rebuild kit, and if I stay six port, pineapple racing sleeves.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

Well, before I begin this post, just a few words: I HAVE NEVER PULLED AN ENGINE BEFORE, let alone rebuilt it. So this is a novel experience for me, and I'm taking it slow.

For whatever reason, my phone isn't formatting the pictures correctly, but I'll have some uploaded soon.

Anyway, I put in about 6 hours or so today, draining fluids, disconnecting obvious wires and hoses, taking of the fan shroud, unbolting the tranny, and removing the p/s and the a/c to take that bracket off.

Essentially, I have a couple hours of work left *hopefully* before I can pull it on out and get to work. My thought right now is that, if the tranny is unbolted but still attached to the car, I can slide the engine forward enough to get the pressure plate clear of the bellhousing. If this is impossible, please tell me NOW before I screw it up tomorrow. ;P

The plan after the engine is apart in a couple of days is to find what needs replacing, order parts, and then begin the cleanup of the engine bay, with a full scrubdown and polish. My baby's gonna be so pretty.

Anyway. Here's a picture that I took at a local car show that may cheer you up.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

Well after reading up a bit on those ALS apex seals I may be getting a set for my next build/rebuild. I don't know anything about Pineapple's sleeves but I can say that I like my Atkin's 6 port sleeves.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

Taking it very slow and cautious indeed lol. You can remove the engine safely while leaving the tranny in, though my preferred method is to remove both together if you have an engine hoist. If removing just the engine then you'll want the transmission slightly angled upward as you pull the engine off at roughly the same angle without much pressure against the bell-housing or it'll drop a bit as you remove it, I've had it happen a couple times before with no issues and it smack the flywheel, not the pressure plate, this method is also easier if you have to remove the engine by hand (literally pulling the engine off and picking it up and carrying it over the front or fender) if you don't have a lift/hoist.

The alternative and preferred method, is to remove the engine and transmission together (you need to seal the tail shaft of the transmission or it will dump fluid), it's much easier to separate the engine and tranny from each other and causes less issues as well as mating them back together. However, if you're not using stock mounts and you don't have it balanced well on reinstall, it can be a bit of a pain in the *** when trying to line up the engine mounts (I have aftermarket Solid Aluminum mounts that make this a real pain in the *** and will be going back to stock or competition mounts when I pull my engine again.)

Hopefully that helps

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

^^Thanks!! I just got the engine out earlier today, and took the day off, as I was ahead of my own schedule. ;P

Here's a few pics:

Just got the hoist lined up


Engine out


Engine bay, please note that the engine mount on the left (pass.) just busted off during removal. Need to get another one... :p


SOO. With that done, tomorrow I'll permanently remove AC and P/S, and I'll start tearing down the engine.

The amazing thing is I only have to replace, like, 3 rubber hoses.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

If you're doing an A/C and PS delete this is what it'll look like... This is my engine bay with A/C, PS, and all emissions removed and blocked off. I use only one belt until I get my dual sheave Alt. pulleys, and the radiator is a GodSpeed Project aluminum radiator, nex upgrade will be new intake pipe and filter with AFM adapter.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

I'd keep the ps... It's nice

It's especially nice when you have 315 race slicks on the front :P

I relocated mine to where the ac is

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

^^^With 315s? YOU DON'T SAY? :P bahahaha... I'll be fine.

And Shadowscreed... That's BEAUTIFUL. And I have updates...MANY updates...



#1: The engine is apart. Pics in a minute.

#2: That engine? The dune buggy rotary? He's willing to let it go for $500 (I thought of you, Shadowscreed), and I'm going to take a look at it early next week (Mon or Tues, hopefully).

#3: That coolant seal that I thought blew? HOLY CRAP. Check the pics, it's insane...

The coolant seal...


The damaged front iron:


Possible coolant staining? I'm not sure, please help...


Some gnarly carbon buildup. It's the same on both rotors.


So, new front iron, polish her up, and streetport (if the other motor doesn't go through). I'll be selling this engine rebuilt if the other engine works out.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't say coolant staining, see if a local shop will let you clean everything up with solvent or hot tank the parts, as for the rotors, you can clean the carbon off with a wire wheel, just give it a nice soft brush against it, worked for me at least.

As for power steering, out of my two RX-7's and my 90 Dodge Daytona, never had PS and never wanted it, I like the feel better and even prefer drifting without it, it's part of the reason I hate driving new cars and other people's vehicles.

I also paid $500 for the TII engine from the sandrail, but I made profit because I parted most of it out. And as for your front iron, I've seen that issue several times, so I recommend double checking the plastic tanks on your radiator, as well as the caps and hoses.

Keep us up to date and if you need to get a hold of me I can give you my number or just send me a PM or email.

Streetporting you can do yourself, because you have a 6 port engine you should focus on porting the exhaust, just grind away the dampening fins, smooth it out and raise the roof of the port, but keep in mind the timing changes you'll be making to the ports (I kinda skipped that last step :P)

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

Well, I've done a cursory clean of the rest of the engine (barring the front iron), and I'm liking what I'm seeing. Later today I'll be picking up a new iron and hopefully some oil injector lines (broke the two running to the housings), and I'll finally get a chance to grab some new manual window regulators (GOSH it's been annoying to have to use both hands to roll the window up. )

As for the engine, I was thinking along the same lines as you, Shadowscreed. If it runs, use it. If it doesn't, part it.

When I got the engine apart, I finally got a look at those exhaust baffles...LOL...They're so restricting. They'll be coming out first...

Do I need a template for the porting? This is probably a yes, it just adds to the list of things I'm buying,...

And one final question: Does the removal of the air pump affect anything other than emissions? I know on the s5 it actuates the ports, but on the s4... I'm kind of lost.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

Good to hear you've got everything cleaned up. As for the OMP lines, personally I recommend talking to Ben at Rotary Evolution in Vegas, he makes steel braided OMP lines for about $80-90 if you send him the fittings and has a good turnaround time (got mine back within a week, two at most.) and having experienced the plastic lines melting and causing an engine to fail, I won't go without them again (I'd sooner delete and block off the OMP and run premix).

Exhaust baffles are quite restrictive and just grinding them out without porting will free up a decent amount plus you keep the stock timing, I recommend doing this if you're running catalytics.

I have a porting template for a streetable exhaust but I went a=head and made my own sized ports without the template by slightly lowering the port but retaining the stock shape and then raised the roof a decent amount. After losing a rear rotor to a pre-cat failure I swore to never again run catalytics on anything I own. So here is a youtube video I made of my FC running with my custom exhaust with only a CorkSport Power Series header and hollowed monolith cat- My template is from Racing Beat.

On S4 engines the removal of the air pump does not affect anything, though it is recommended to replace the alternator pulley with a dual sheave pulley due to some cases where the water pump wasn't actively rotating at higher rpm's due to the lack of a second belt. Basically you can remove all the peripherals that aren't directly related to the engines operation (fuel, spark and charging, air induction, exhaust) the only issue you will run into by removing the cats for example, is that by me having a hollowed cat, there isn't enough backpressure to properly actuate the auxiliary ports, the fix for this- Racing Beat presilencer/ Road Race header, or making the ports electronically actuated at 3500-3800 rpm(there are a few good write-ups on this).

A couple pices for you of the Steel Braided OMP lines, and my ports.







If you want I'll take a pic of the lines on the engine later. Don't have a good one right now

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

In the vid, the loud pop before failure is the engine backfiring as it loses voltage reference to the ECU, took me two weeks of wire hunting to trace the problem and then a standalone harness for the CAS and 5 feet of corroded wire replaced got it running again perfectly, until front stationary gear bearing failed shortly after that day.

As for my porting, I didn't polish, so it does look a tad rough.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

Just letting you know Shadowscreed, thanks for following a rotary-newb's build thread. I'd be lost or far behind without your help.

Those OMP lines look AWESOME. 80-90 bucks doesn't sound bad, especially when just two to replace mine cost 65+ shipping...

Also, just got a new front iron for a good price, so it's not going to be long, now...

As for the cats in regard to porting and removal of the air pump, I have NO idea what kind of cat is on the system I now have. It looks like a generic "high flow" from magnaflow or some other company. How did you lose a rotor to a fail precat? I suppose I just haven't heard of that happening...

Another quick question: what sort of 2mm apex seal should I snag? I can get a set of Mazda OEM 2 piece from RHDJapan for about $360 shipped... but if there is anything that measures up that is cheaper, I'd like it. I've done some research, but I'd still like to know your opinion...

As for the other engine, I just learned that it may have originally been a T2 engine...which would complicate things...quite unnecessarily. So. If it is, I'll probably drop the whole idea. If it IS a 6 port...then I'll probably pick it up... I still haven't even SEEN the damn thing. So probably not. :/

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

No problem bro, I like to help out, I've been making mistakes on Rotaries for two years now and I'm an the oldest of my siblings so it comes naturally lol.

Personally I'd be cautious of a generic/universal cat, never heard anything good about running them. I have a Bonez dual cat replacement from Rotary Performance, that I pulled off in favor of the header and hollowed monolith. When my pre-cat failed, it broke apart from the heat and blew into the second pre-cat and also stuffed itself in the pipe creating severe/catastrophic amounts of backpressure, which somehow blew out the rear rotor to where it had less than 40psi of compression while the front rotor had 90ish psi of compression. the night it blew me and my friend Shawn were up til 3am trying to get the car started and then I limped it home with my foot to the floor just to maintain the wonderfully low speed limits of 35mph in second gear. Backpressure + Rotary= Bad. <<<best math calculation ever, lol. Ran around as a one rotor for about two months before blowing coolant seals and when I went to pull the engine I noticed that all four OMP lines had melted and sealed shut, which probably didn't help my temps or engine lubrication, I believe I was running a bit of premix at the time though so not a total catastrophe.

Personally I'd recommend Racing Beat, Mazdatrix, Rotary Aviation, or Atkins Rotary. Though the set you were looking at seems like a really great deal, I'd ask around to some of the specialization shops and see what they say, maybe call even a few of the above mentioned companies and see what they know, also Ben at rotary Evolution sells the Goopy Performance apex seals and I haven't heard anything bad about those yet and I think it's $330 for a set through him. But as long as you don't get 3-piece seals you should be okay.

Most rails run modified TII engines, and most turbo'd rotary engines are going to be TII or RE, REW, Cosmo, etc. there are very few 6 port turbo builds. Depending on what all it comes with for $500 may be deciding factor. I have an old Haltech F9 if you get a TII and need to wire it up, since the Haltech was running a 400rwhp TII rail on a large streetport.

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

Well... That math sure scares me. :P Since it's only a single cat, even if it fails it should just blow out the exhaust, correct? I looked up the common problem last night and it seems like the first cat clogs the second one...so if I don't HAVE a second one...

I'll probably end up getting the OEM 2 piece seals. The price is far lower than anywhere else I've found them, and even though they're in Japan, shipping is, like, $13 via EMS (Their international transport company) and, reportedly, it takes around 3 days TOTAL. No joke. I was pretty skeptical, but it seems to be backed up...

If it ends up being a T2 engine, it really will depend on whether or not it still has the manifolds, or if it's running a carb... or whatever else he may have done to it. I'm now pretty sure that the turbo is unattached, so if I want to run the engine, it'll be on low comp ratios until I snag a turbo and FMIC somewhere...It just makes it a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be.,..I did find this writeup last night, however: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-arch...g-n-tii-26647/

Super helpful,...

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

So, i decided to start learning how to port, using a dremel and no porting template. I believe that the aux ports shouldn't be raised that high, but rather should be lowered towards the primaries. Does this sound right?



I widened them towards the coolant seals almost 2mm. I also lowered the primary a bit. BTW this is a junk housing, so no worries. I have two more that i can practice on.

Shadowscreed

iTrader: (1)

Alright, it's good that you have a single Cat cause then you really don't have to worry but if it does crumble make sure you get it all out.

Wherever you get the Apex Seals from just make sure they're new, you don't want used seals, especially if you're paying $300.

I don't know the porting specifics for intake, though if I remember correctly it's generally not a good idea to modify the primary and secondary ports on the side housings with the 6 port engines, though the port work you did doesn't look bad. I would recommend modifying the ports and matching the runners from the LIM to the Intermediate housing and doing a mild streetport there, but generally with 6 port engines you only modify the exhaust ports. However, I also recommend smoothing/ polishing the main ports on the side housings, and just doing Pineapple Racing or Atkins Aux port valves/inserts.

Send me your email in a PM or on the thread and I'll send you the RX-7 Performance Manual as a pdf.

As for porting, talk to Ben AKA Rotary Evolution, or Aaron Cake

88GTU_AutoX

iTrader: (1)

The seals are new, in Mazda packaging.

I've nearly finished the porting (polishing is all that is left), so have some pics. :p Lol...but read more first.

I just got the message today saying that the main body of my rebuild parts will be coming in on friday, so that's when the real building will begin.

I hit up Ben, and it looks like he'll be able to get them to me. I should be sending the fitting tomorrow.

And here's my email: darpoct@yahoo.com. It's not like anyone's going to spam me--you're the only one who frequents this thread. :P









So there. Again, polishing is in order, but it has all been ported. Essentially, I made the designs based on my personal research and the Mazdatrix ports. Tomorrow will be the exhaust ports and a good polishing.

88fc3sT2

iTrader: (1)

Not sure if it's a big deal but wouldn't chamfering the edges make your seals less prone to snagging on the ports? Helps a lot in 2 stroke motor ports. Anyway, looking good.