i recently rebuilt my 7 and had to replace my side seals due to one stuck in the rotor so i figured if i replace 1 i will replace them all. well the side seals were longer than the originals and bound up between the corner seals so my question is did i get the wrong seals or do you have to file each and every seal to gap them when replacing them?

it just seems odd because of how tight they were, the rotor would have to be a fair bit larger to fit these even with the minimum clearance.


if you know or know anyone who may know let me know please.

 

Generally, the side seals to come too long such as in your case. Each one has to be filed down to get the right clearance between the side seal and the corner seal. The process is shown in the FSM. You can download the FSM for your car at:

http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...ual/1986_1988/

Check out section 1 (engine). That should explain all that you need to do.

Kent

 

They come to long, and you have to grind them to length, one end is finished, one is raw, cut down the raw end, I file mine down to .001 clearance between the side and corner seal..
When you file them, you have to file them on a 45 deg angle to get the profile right at the end so that it will fit up to the corner seal properly...
The clearance, squareness and finished profile, I have found are some of the greatest factors affecting compression and engine performance, lots of people get to lazy there, or don't spend enough time...max

 

.001 is pretty tight. you drive an n/a right?

 

All my side seal clearance were set at a tight 0.002". I went thru about 60 used seals measuring them till I found the 12 to get that nice fit. I didn't have to file any of them.

 

thanks for the replies, i had them fairly tight at about .02mm but that is the least of my worries, seems a missed something on one of my rotor housings, coolant is getting into the engine and it has low compression now it wont fire at all so i am pulling my engine out.

oh well, 1st overhaul shot, 50 hours of labor out the window..

 

don't get discouraged. pull it and do it again.
where do you live?

 

sacramento California



im not too discouraged but a little aggravated, i tried to half *** it and it kicked me in the *** like i knew it would. i can't afford to go through it again right now and especially not afford a couple of rotor housings, i j.b. welded the medium size pits in my rotor housings and sanded them flush but i guess it didn't hold.

 

how many miles did u get on it before this problem occured?

 

that's pretty ballsy repairing the wear surface on a rotor housing. i've often wondered if it could be done, but i don't think jb weld is the right stuff to use. props to you for trying it though

 

no no, the wear surface was as perfect as i could ask for in used rotor housings, the pits were just outside the o-ring mating surfaces towards the water jackets due to electrolysis.

the car has/had 160k miles on it when i bought it, i have put maybe 60 miles on it until it had a severe problem that i had to pull the engine. the engine had been gone through already as most of the gaskets had silicone on them so i really do not have any idea how many miles the overhaul had on it prior to this.

 

next question, are N/A housings interchangable with Turbo housings? there is a couple N/As at our local wrecking yard so i may be able to salvage some usable housings.

i found some pits in my front rotor housing at the exhaust chamber, i can't tell if they actually pass to the excaust chamber or not, anyone know a good way to remove the roll pins that hold the exhaust sleeves in place?

i'll post some pics for reference once i get a chance to upload them.


electrolysis fubared alot of things in this motor, i had to originally replace the water pump housing because it was pitted all to hell.


oh, and if you mean how many miles i got on the overhaul i did, 0... i only got to hear it run for about 20 minutes, that was after about 30 hours trying to diagnose various problems i was having, i had to install a fuel cut switch to even get it to fire to run it for the 20 minutes because it was flooding out.

i see the side seals were sticking as there is some carbon on the faces of a few and some coolant residue in the rotors near the oil seals, slight rust from sitting there for a few days.

 

is there different seals for N/A and turbo? the gaps seem a little excessive in the grooves and i know they flatten out when assembled but i can't picture them axpanding this much, is this normal?






here is the pits in the front rotor housing, looks as though they pass to the exhaust, i will have to find a way to seal up the passage and leak test it.

 

you can use turbo2 intermediate and rotor housings. it'd be a good upgrade anyway.

 

actually th question was, can i use N/A housings in my T2? cause i have a turbo 2.

 

well i may be able to salvage the rotor housings with some work but the end irons are warped now so i'm looking for a set.

 

NA housings need to be paired, removed baffles and port, and tap out coolant flow for turbo.

 

hey, i just saw a customers motor yesterday and the side to corner seal gap was .011 YIKES!!! i like it loose, but .003 is loose as far as i'm concerned

 

if the .003 feeler gauge fits and the .004 gauge does not...you'll be happy.