Hi guys, Hopefully getting a fc vert turboII in the next week or so. My question is whats the bare minimum you would change on a rebuild?

Reason being is.....

"its done 57k to date. rebuild was at around 45k it didnt need anything, the rotor housing were all in spec nothing was warped or in need of skiming, but i still got the center piece machined both sides and put new apex seal from pineapple racing, the waterseals were good. i only done it because like i said my mate done it for me for free because i had plans of putting bigger turbo and stuff just wanted to be on the safe side"

Thats what he said in his emails. Now i spent last weekend watching Arron Cake and atkins rebuild videos and im not sure how he could of reused half of the stuff as on them videos everything just seems to fall apart lol.

He said it was done by a guy called Kevin Schmidt of Rotarded industries based in chicago. Anyone know this guy or the company?

Cheers

Miles

 

anyone?

 

Never heard of the guy in Chicago mate, though to be honest, you're not going to know what needs replacing until the engine is cracked open. Each situation is different, ya know?

You might get lucky and just need to replace the hard seals, or it could be that EVERYTHING is rubbish, and needs to go in the bin..

 

yeah right he reused the coolant seals from an original engine. either the owner doesn't know what was done or the shop should be closed.

 

thats what i thought. From the videos ive watched the seals always look fucked. Has anyone ever hear of that company before?

Starting to wonder if i should get it now

 

I just realized where you're from mate!!! I lived in St. Neots for about three years while I was posted in the UK, lol. I'd drive right past you whenever I went to visit mates down in Luton, hehe. Welcome to the forum!

I'd be a bit suspicious of the car to be honest with you, there are MANY horror stories of rebuilds gone wrong in the UK. First things first, ask for a compression test being done with a rotary tester, from a rotary shop (or Mazda dealership, they should be able to do it fine).

Second thing, if you DO end up purchasing it, I'd run her straight down to RE:worx in Portsmouth and have the fella's there give her a once over. Chris, Geoff and Max are great guys and know what they're on about. They'll be able to give her a full once over and let you know of any possible problems, along with how to get them sorted!

Third, I'd join up two other forums for UK/European owners: www.Mazdarotaryclub.com and www.fduk.org/forums. FDUK is for FD owners, but just let Max (username: Max) or Mark (username: M@r]{ ) know that I sent you and ya should be fine. Max is an Admin and Mark is a Super Mod, I consider both friends (Just tell them that the Yank from St. Neots sent ya if there is any questions, lol). (PM me and I'll give you another stateside forum you can check out for lots of good info and knowledgeable members.) I would highly suggest getting on the two UK sites, as that's were you're going to find all your local enthusiasts and get better answers to your (UK) specific questions.


Reputable shops in the UK include (but aren't limited to): RE:worx (Portsmouth, 02392-698-100), Dragon Performance (Devon, 01404-891-888), Hayward Rotary (Berkshire, 01635-255-545), and WGT (Cheshire, 01606-837-277).

That is by no means a complete list! Those are just the ones I've heard good things about. RE:worx and Dragon seem to be the top two in competition with each other at the Pod. Though I'm a bit partial because I always took mine down to RE:worx if I ran into something I couldn't sort between myself, a couple pints, and a few mates.

If you've got any UK Rotary specific questions please feel free to shoot me a PM, I'd be more than happy to help you as I can, or direct you to somebody who can get ya sorted if I can't!

Cheers and welcome to the addiction ;-)

- Levi

 

the owner is full of ****. bare minimum on any rebuild I would do is full soft and hard seals. any hard parts that are out of spec would need to be addressed aswell.

 

depends on the rebuild really but also what parts the engine originally had. many racers go with reusable FEP or viton coolant seals, the viton oil seals are also reusable. and apex seals can be reused if using the same housings they came out of.

that is all situational though, pulling the engine apart after a season for example to inspect everything. not rebuilding an original motor with the OEM coolant seals that fall apart upon removal after 1k miles.