Front/end/center plates remanufacturingers in Europe
 

Somebody knows if there are any reliable remanufacturers of front/end/center plates? People with experience in sanding/lapping etc?

As well to make rotors take 3mm seals...


If not, who to contact abroad? UK,....

Thanks

I would send the rotors to the UK (Hurley probably has most experience).
I never had side plates done but I found this company in Holland: http://www.kemet-europe.com/

we did both services on several engines with local resources, found no problems so far

even welded broken water passages on irons and had them machined

not really sure if its service we could offer, its done by friend, for friends, no deadlines, no guaranties - but generally any machine shop will do that for you, if u will be able to tell them what exactly want to have done (and fairly cheap)

Most machine shops will be able to resurface the irons but they may not be able to reach the same finish as new irons (lapping).
These shops usually work on heads for piston engines where the finish is not really important. The cylinder head just needs to meet a non moving gasket.
Using too coarse finish on the side plates will reduce side seal life.

I talked to a machine shop and they said it was "no problem" but I have some doubts.

I lapped the irons myself at work, we have a surface grinder which made it real easy.
Any well equipped machine shop should be able to cnc cut the rotors.

As the machine shop guy said "its no problem" its just the right size end mill, through soft metal. It aint rocket science :D

An important thing to do is to clean the lapped housings VERY thoroughly. Actually this is the hardest process :).

Hmm you guys just made me think about something. We have a supplier of door sills at work. they have a computer controlled sanding machine (initially to brush stainless steel).

I could talk to them and ask what they can do regarding this matter.

BTW what are you up to???
3mm seals sounds like high power motor...

When you want to be sure contact WGT in the UK.

I have a spare engine I bought of Multirotor about 1.5 year ago. I have been looking and searching on what to do with it when I open it up and rebuild it. I think it would be stupid not to change some stuff in the process of this.

Wether to go with 2mm or 3mm is an option I'm considering right now.

Thanks Rogier, I'll contact them. maybe I can arrange something with them as I have some connections there.

Ive thought about 3mm too, however I have a good friend who was running 3mm too, he could turn his engine over by hand.

Reading a lot of things here on the forum regarding 2 or 3mm seals, I think 2mm will be sufficient, its all in the tuning.

I'm rather convinced 3mm isn't needed as such. As far as I can judge, it's like rogier said: all in the tuning. If you're engine detonates bad enough to destroy 2mm seals, it'll chew up 3mm in the end aswell. 3mm just might give you a bit more margain, like some extra time to tune the car. But on a well tuned engine, it shouldn't be needed. Except of course, when the rotors are a bit worn, and therefor 2mm would have to much play.

The newer mazda 2mm seals (FC&FD) are now 2 piece like the Rx-8 (and like Atkins and Hurley have been selling for years).
In my opinion these are stronger too. Less risk of slipping out of the groove like the older seals...

True ;-)

I have read some discussions on the nopistons forum lately and already decided to go with 2mm. Just didn't know what brand to go with but I will keep OEM Mazda to sort me out.

ordered a new engine stand today and hope to have a surface meter by the end of the week. Now I need a torque wrench and that mean big socket to get the flywheel nut of :-p

Picked up an engine stand too today, at Makro :)
Don't know if I will need a special head to accept the rotary engine (haven't even unpacked it yet).
So far, I have just used a wooden table with a hole for the exc shaft.
Worked fine but turning the engine upside down & such is a little hard...
By the way, they also have a 1 tonne engine hoist for 135 Eur this week.
I paid 325 for my 0.5 tonne hoist 3 years ago.

Whoah, that are some good prices. I would say for the seals go with rotary aviation, look on the for sale section and you can pick a complete set up for 190 dollar shipped. I just did the same. thats like 160 euro. Including the springs.

You need a specific rotary engine stand adapter, however I think it might work on the normal head, but you have to use the plate only.

You can take the flywheel nut of by using a big ass Bahco, I use it and it works. However I sold it some weeks ago and now I need it again :(

About a month ago I could buy the engine adaptor from a forum member but I didn't. It was more expensive to send than to pay the piece.Wim, Mazda should have that tool in stock for dealers, no?

Rogier, i looked at the RA seals but haven't read much good on them yet. they had some problems with their first batches (ref. apex material) and i'm a bit reluctant on them.
I haven't been able to contact soemone at Mazdaspeed(Mazdacompetition) to ask if they have any upgrades (wonder what the will cost *humpf*)
And what the hell is a Bahco *lol*??

I should drop by Makro as well topick that hoist up.. should come in handy anytime.

Why not simply make such an engine stand adaptor??? It's not that complicated, and if I'm not mistaking Mazdatrix has some advice on how-to on their site.

As for seals... Many people tell many different things on the seals available. I'm not sure what to believe. One things is that some people use good material in the wrong way, ending up breaking it. They then often blame the material for their mistakes. But obviously, if too many people have the same problem, then it's wise to take caution about the parts...
I have no experience with seals from RA, or any others, so I can't say good or bad about them.

I believe that the plate can be made from the plate on the adapter, anyway, put the front endplate next to it, that would show if its possible. Building it on a table will work just fine.

The first batch on RA seals was a long time back. The new seals should work fine, however the decision is up to you. There are a lot of different seals and prices to it.

A Bahco, actually its the brand name, its a wrench which can be altered to the width of the nut/bolt. http://extranet.bahco.com/catalogue/...esuffix=normal hope that this will work

What porting are you going to do? Because that will also matter for choosing what type of seal.

Dont know whether these are still for sale:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=apex+seals

I had my hand on some 2mm RA seals from a VERY respectable forum member but I backed out of the deal. Don't know if he still has them for sale. I should check.

I should set up a cost center on my pc at home to calculate costs. I plan to do a FULL rebuild on the engine I will port and a "within spec" rebuild on the other I have. Meaning nnew gaskets all around but reusing parts that are well within spec.

Do so, but there are many parts which can be reused.

Why do you want to lap the housings btw? Its only necesarry when the plates have "deep" grooves in them. NOt to deep, because than lapping will not work. However, did you consider ceramic coating your parts?

Tools are not part of the normal Mazda parts system.
You could get some through the dealer but expect to pay more than adaptor + shipping !

I bought this item on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4572854756

It's junk. My air tool broke it on the second engine (it clearly says "not for air powered tools" on the tool :)). I have the Mazda flywheel wrench but I found a hammer with a chisel loosens the nut every time.

I have had more trouble getting the front 19mm bolt off on most engines. I even had to cut off the pulley (and into the exc shaft) on some engines.

Sorry Wim, but that thing looks as if it'd break by touching it... How come you did buy it anyway??? I got a decent 54mm socket from a good brand, and could buy it in the local shop (meaning no shipping). It WON'T break on an airtool. Ok, it's a bit more then 17$, but with shipping you probable payed more then I did...
It's not force as such that get's those bastards loose, btw. It's impact. That's why hammer and chissel work better then airtools, except if you have a strong impact gun (that will "hammer" the nut loose) Heat often helps too.