rechrome or cermet housings
 

ooooook so my rebuild is only gettin like 45lbs and 59lbs compression so im thinking i may need another set of housings. so my new question is what are some decently cheap options? new housings are a crapload of money. ive heard of rechroming. grinding, and cermet coating.
http://jhbperformance.com/services.php has info on cermet and grinding.
so what im lookin for is just opinions on these options and how you guys feel about having them done?.
thx in advance.

How bad were your housings when you rebuilt them?

housings
 

well i didnt think they were very bad at all. very very minor chatter. couldnt really feel it but you could see it. and a little bit of flaking here and there. no gouges or anything. maybe a little flat trail leading from the plug holes. but it is my first rotary rebuild so there definetly could be somthing i missed maybe? not sure just looking for a quick and cheap fix to get my baby back on the road right now.
it holds the compression it gets it just doesnt build much compression. im kinda guessin the housing surface isnt true with the new apex seals...

give it time to break in...take it out and drive it. If it has enough compression to start, then it's probably going to be a fair motor if you give it a chance. It will be weak for a while, depending on the housings, and how the rest of the build was done (what seals, sideseal clearance, etc.).

compression
 

it wont start with the starter and i havent tried to pull start it yet. trying to figure out how to try it without ripping my front bumper off in the process lol. so basically i have a low compression rebuild that wont start on its own.

new mazda 2mm apex seals and springs. pineapple hd water seals. and basically reused the side seals and corner seals with new springs/plugs all mazda.
corner seals and side seals spec'd out.

any ideas?

You do have assembly oil in the chambers, right? You sure you are getting fuel and spark? A 93 should not be that hard to start, if everything is hooked up properly. Also, it's VERY hard to get compression numbers below 75psi even if you screw something up on the build...I would say you are trying to dry start the motor with no oil in the chambers. Treat it like a flooded engine for it's first startup. I have suggestions on my website tech section.

i built it with assembly oil. and ive tried the deflood procedure. tried squirting atf and 10w30 in it also. main injectors click while cranking. brand new plugs. all give spark.
and it just acts like it just dosent want to even try to start.
the cel's have well within the spec resistance.
definetly smoke out the tailpipe so somthing is burning.
im just kinda lost and figured that my housings are screwed or somthing.
kinda lost

You do have all the ground wires attached including the one which is on bottom of the spark plug side of the engine? Just asking as not having that grounded will allow the car to do everything but basically start. ;)

ground
 

hmm i have a ground under the coil set. one with the coils. im trying to think where else on that side of the motor there is one. i ran new grounds from the bat. to the chassis. to the alternator bracket. to the upper manifold and back to the body.
where does this ground you speak of attach?
thx.

Try this:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/question-ground-wire-location-we-finished-car-no-start-580803/

i will check it out tomarrow. i think i might have it to the chassis.. thx for the info.

well ran new grounds. to the middle iron. no change at all. once again.. lost.......
is it possible its just not enough compression to run at all?
looking for options here.
im about 0-600 in attempts now.

You seem to need someone who knows what they are doing to come and help with it. If you were nearby you could bring it here and I bet I could get it running in less than a day.

One time a guy on here had an atkins rebuild that 2 shops could not get running. They trailered the car from St. Louis to me and within 45 minutes I had it running, and they were able to come back and pick it up that day and take it back home.

compression
 

well im not doubting that you have far superior experience with rotarys over myself.
but i do have plenty of mechanical knowhow and experience to understand the basics of what needs to happen and how to test everything. not to mention im quite bullheaded and refuse to give up most of the time. lol. so is this really enough compression to run? or do i need to do somthing with my housings. if its not then im gonna yank the motor back out this weekend. if it is. im up for anymore ideas.
i dont have the money or the time to ship it anywhere anyways. and im in B.F.E. when it comes to rotary help.
thx a ton for all you info though.

ok a little more info would probably help..
streetport, all emmsions removed. non seq with rats nest removed. is there some selenoid somewhere that would cause this? i tried pluggin all my emmisions and double throttle and all that stuff back in and no change.

CAS's checked out for resistance. im getting spark on all 4 coils. the primary injectors pulse when its being cranked. the fuel pump works. and pressurizes the system.
not gettin a knock sensor code. i am getting codes for about half of the stuff i removed which i put 300ohm 1/2watt resistors in but i guess they may have broke loose or somthin.
starter cranks the engine over fine.
i hear 6 consecutive pops while cranking. and i get little whisps of smoke so somthing is burning.
it doesnt act like its trying to start at all. it just cranks and never changes in sound or rpm.
hmm any more info needed?
if i had the money i'd be more then happy to bring it down to someone up to the challenge at this point im running out of time to get this done.

"bow-chickabow-wow"

Have you checked to make sure your CAS is in the right position.

far as i can tell there are 2 cas's inner wheel and outer wheel rings. they have stationary possitions. no adjustments. they both read 1200ohm's resistance and are plugged in correctly to the plugs.

compression
 

sooo does anyone know what the minimum compression a 3rdgen need to run?
hmmmm

uhh bump and stuff?

Have you tried towing it? Yeah...40-50psi is awfully weak and not enough to start...but I think you are doing the test wrong. Also, you can't really test a fresh rebuild accurately...until it gets a few minutes of runtime the numbers are meaningless. Also, with oil in the chambers, the numbers are also inaccurate.

You're sure you have spark? Have you tried changing your leading plugs...they foul easily in the presence of gas or oil, you likely have both if you are trying to start a fresh rebuild.

Take the intake elbow/tube off and spray some starter fluid in the throttlebody with the plates open, then let them shut and try to start it. You may need to pump the throttle if the engine tries to start very weakly. Pump it up to 3-4krpm until it clears out and hold it around 3krpm for 30-60 seconds, then slowly let off and see how it acts.

so not to thread hi jack but what about doing the cermet coatings? on a used housing is it worth doing to a rebuild ?

ya.
 

soooo ya that is a good questions cause that was kinda my plan if i cant get this to work.
so like bump and stuff.
o ya. ill try the starting fluid this weekend.
thx for the info guys!

hmm
 

so is cermeting used housings worth it to refresh them?

Based on my experiences I would go with like-new used, or new oem housings. I had turnaround and quality control issues with JHB...plan on a month or 2 turnaround minimum from those people. I've used about 10 sets of their housings.

I had cermet b in a half bridge last summer, I took it out this winter because it just wasnt running right, opened her up and found extreme flaking, 3^2 inches in on area of one housing after 10000km, I put a sp motor to gether w used housings and I already have 15000km and compression is still better than the bp ever was, I dont think I will give cermet another chance. new or like new used is the only way to go with housings