apex seal question
 

Hello People,
I am new to the rotary engine world. I am rebuilding a 13B that was in a 86 RX7 with some friends that have had these cars but have limited experience with them. The rebuild is mainly because this car is a race car for some Chump Car racing and we were black flagged because it was smoking really bad. I have bought a basic rebuild kit and solid corner seals to get rid of the rubber plugs that were in them because they were completely gone and the apex seals are 3 pcs.
Well we rebuilt the motor and now it won't start on its own but will start if we pop start it and it won't hold idle. We did a compression check and we are low really low on the front rotor like 40-60psi. I am know from my readings we are not sealed properly but I guess without making this any longer do I need to go to a 2pcs apex seal.
We are going to pull the motor and start over but we are doing a little head scratching

Wait, you rebuilt it, but kept the crappy OEM 3 piece apex seals?

Shame on you

well yes, lesson learned I am guessing. motor was running good before hand just smoking at a high RPM when we shifted, so we thought the rotor seals inner and outer needed to be done until we saw the condition of the rubber in the corner seals. when with the solid didn't even consider the apex.

Those rubber plugs in the corner seals are just to reduce seal chatter, the engine runs perfectly fine without them.

If it has super low compression even with the assembly lube still in it...something is wrong. Either the side seal clearances are huge or an apex seal piece fell out.

Going to pull it and take a look. I have the specs to check, honestly didn't even think about check because the engine was running just smoking. Thanks for you reply