first off, did i make up a word there? the more i say it, the more made up it sounds....

anyways, what can be done with an oxidizing rotor? besides weigh down some papers or hit someone? is it still useful in the practical sense (whatever that means)?

i'm not talking rusted-through-and-touching-it-will-cause-it-to-fall-apart,
just dirty and looking not so good.

i'll try to get a pic soon for help.

oh, btw, this is just a question about a rotor i have sitting around, not one in my already-non-working car. basically i want to know if i could sell it and for what purpose. (or should i just clean it and have a bad-*** paperweight/doorstop/people-clubber?! the more i think about it, the better that's sounding.....)

(maybe i shouldn't have typed that last part out loud)

 

clean it off with a wire brush, then give it another look.

 

i like to use some purple power cleaner and scrub it, then let it sit in a bath of ATF overnight and scrub it again. the rotor will look alot better without the need of hazardous parts cleaner machines

 

so then yous guys are telling me that it's probably OK,
and therefore i can sell it as a usable part?
if so, how much would it be worth?

 

It would be worth more if it were a turbo rotor. They have lower compression than the non-turbo rotors.

 

um... didn't really tell me anything, but thanks all the same! (seriously)

i have a pic (finally!), but it won't post. i can e-mail someone if they want.

somebody help me!

 

what type of rotor is it? 12A? 13B? 13BT? 13B-REW?

all of these will be factors in setting a price for it. also, did it incur any damage before you removed it from the engine. clean it up like what the other guys said (though i would recommend kerosene/MMO with a toothbrush. if there are some really stubborn flakes of carbon, then some medium-to-fine wet sandpaper should do the trick - just my method )

also, i'm thinking it might be harder unloading just one rotor instead of a pair because they carry different weight codes. but i may be wrong ...

 

ah... was waiting for that.

in exchange for some items way back when, i received a rotor and housing. no idea for what kind of engine it was made, or even if it was ever in one, for that matter.

are there any markings or just some way to tell what kind it is?

i'm looking into ways to get a pic posted....

 

perhaps this link will work

but bear in mind that it's a basic pic. i have other "action shots." maybe i should make an album of just them.

 

that looks like a 12A housing. The 13B engine housings don't have the grooves for the coolant seals, the grooves are in the flat iron plates; the front end plate, center plate, and rear end plate. Measure the thickness of the rotor. If its 70mm thick, its a 12A rotor. If its 80mm, its a 13B.

I don't know much about the earlier years, but the 13B non turbo and turbo rotors have small shapes cast into the bathtub part of the rotor. I don't remember which shapes are for turbo and which are for non turbo. If you send a message to the user named RotaryResurrection he will be able to tell you what the shapes mean.

 

yeah ... the best way to know for sure is to measure it like Project84 said. due to the shadowing, it was hard to tell the definite shape of the recess (bathtub) so i can't be sure. if you can take another picture with a clear shot of the recess maybe it would be easier to tell.

for the weight code: look for a letter (A-E) on the front side of the rotor (the side with the gear) ...

the 1974-'78 and 1984-85 13B's had the water seals in the rotor housings, like the 12A's ...

 

yeah, good point. The best way to be sure then is to measure the width.

 

all righty, we're getting somewhere.

the rotor is 70mm -- so the bastard that traded that to me lied! (or didn't know better....hmm...)

since there may be others reading this that don't fully understand everything you all are mentioning (like myself), i'm going to describe what i have here:

holding rotor "right-side up," i.e. there is a notch in the inner ring that is on top and the 2 circle-shaped indentations on the outer face of the rotor are on the bottom:

top left: 1 (?)

top right: A
slightly lower to the right of that: "backward F shape"
slight lower to the right: diagonally sitting Z

rotate rotor clockwise (circle-dents on top and lower left):

top right: 7 (or some similar-looking ...glyph)

rotate rotor again (circle-dents top and lower right):

top left: 5 or S
top right: backward F again

(is the backward F a 7? if so, what is the 7-glyph?)


the housing is def. 13b.
how do i know? it says "13b" on it. unless it's also a liar (!).

going to make 2 new albums: one of the housing shots, the other of the rotor. some of those aren't the best, though, due to my digital photography setup (a brokem webcam, jaja), so i might need to retake some of those pics. this may take a day or so, but please, bear with me --> i need all the help i can get!

i'm tempted to ask what specifically i should have pics of, but instead i'll just post up a link and let you guys go from there.

 

that's good ...

anyway, it's probably an A-weight rotor then. the numbers are there to keep track of the side and corner seals (i think) on one side you'll find 1,3 and 5, on the other you'll find 2,4 and 6. never tried to find out what the other stuff was (i think they are Japanese characters).

with a 12A rotor, you have a front and rear. what you want to do is clean off some of the crap in the recesses and look for an "F" or "R". you could also tell by looking at the shape of the recess with the gear facing you, but it's a bit longer for me to type and explain.

after you've established that (assuming that it's in good shape), you can check the For Sale section and see what rotor sets go for and adjust your price accordingly for yours.

 

yeah, i figured they were japanese characters, but didn't wanna look like a jackass saying that (cuz, what if they were just scratches or something).

anyways, thanks to all for the help.

(if anyone looking at this wants an oxidizing 12a rotor (not 13b, dammit!!), shoot me a PM and we'll discuss! same for the 13b housing!)

 

Best bet from what I can see..

I would get the rust off of it...
Then after you get it all shiny again.. (DOnt remove too much material.. use a fine paper)
Make sure the grooves in the tips of the rotors are all clean and have no bends etc.. That would be a sign they are no longer usable.. or rather enedsome work to make them usable again..
After that.. Put it on E-bay.. Figure what you want to get from it realistically.. I dont think people are gonna pay much for it.. but that is me.. I dont sell on e-bay.. so I could be wrong.. LOL
Ask 50-100 for it.. that may make it worth your time.
If it doesnt sell... revert to Paperweight mode..

Paint the sucker and re-stick it on e-bay...

 

spoken like a true capitalist ... mmmm, gotta love it!