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Been wanting an RX7 for about 10 years now and when a rx7 showed up at a junkyard I finally pulled the trigger and went and pulled the engine and trans with a buddy. 90 degree weather, 4 hours under direct sunlight and some major sunburn later and we got it out.
My plan down the road is to buy a clean shell or complete car (depends what comes up at the right time, not in a rush) for a street car and occasional track car but nothing too crazy on the hp side. First things first is cleaning it up and seeing what I need to rebuild it.
Welcome to the club and good luck! I can't believe you have junkyards which still have these cars.
Just an FYI if you're not already aware...but the rotary is not like a piston engine...don't expect a junkyard engine to even be usable as a donor, much less be able to run. Core engines are often scrap metal, with little to no parts reusable for a rebuild. This even applies to Japanese import engines which in the piston world is a very reliable source for healthy engines.
Welcome to the club and good luck! I can't believe you have junkyards which still have these cars.
Just an FYI if you're not already aware...but the rotary is not like a piston engine...don't expect a junkyard engine to even be usable as a donor, much less be able to run. Core engines are often scrap metal, with little to no parts reusable for a rebuild. This even applies to Japanese import engines which in the piston world is a very reliable source for healthy engines.
well damn.. thanks for the heads up! It was pretty obvious the car had been sitting for 10-15 years maybe longer. Other than all the sun damage it was completely stock at 110,000 miles. No idea if that plays a role but once we get a another car we have in the garage out we’re gonna take it apart and see what’s wrong with it. Luckily my bud who has an FD is at the shop over looking things..
well damn.. thanks for the heads up! It was pretty obvious the car had been sitting for 10-15 years maybe longer. Other than all the sun damage it was completely stock at 110,000 miles. No idea if that plays a role but once we get a another car we have in the garage out we’re gonna take it apart and see what’s wrong with it. Luckily my bud who has an FD is at the shop over looking things..
I will update once we break it down
thanks again
Of course I would be very happy for you if it all works out, but there's at least two big things working against you:
1. The car is in a junkyard for a reason. Unless you saw very obvious body damage, it could have been retired due to a blown/damaged engine and the car wasn't worth the rebuild. There could be irreparable damage to the housings/rotors.
2. The car has sat with fluid still in it and/or the environment pouring into it. Rust damage in the water jackets is not uncommon.
Good thing you have a friend who is at least familiar with the cars/engines. Hoping you have a good experience and get to experience the rotary sooner than later
Did the engine come with the intake or exhaust manifold or was it sitting exposed like that? Honestly you never know what will be useable until you open the engine. Does it rotate completely? Any compression pulses that you can hear if it does rotate?
So my bud and I finally got the garage cleared and we opened up the motor.
A coolant seal had leaked and the motor was full of rust :'(
we cleaned off most of the rust and grime and discovered that neither housing is usable. Rust had eaten through both. One of the rotors has a couple of pretty bad dents. that most likely was from us i think as we originally thought the whole thing was toast until we started cleaning it off.
Once we get the plates and the one rotor cleaned up were going to bring it to mazda trix to see if they can be saved. I'll update you guys on what happens.
All in all though, between the transmission and other random parts that were in great condition, I believe I can at least get my money back haha.
If the plates can't be saved then I plan to practice porting with them and the rotors/housing will make some nice shelving ornaments
Definately a fun learning experience, and although the motor turned out being a bust, it hasn't scared me away from finally getting an RX7. In the market now for at the moment.
I pulled it out of a complete and stock FC that I found at a junkyard. With taxes just the motor and trans was $480. since it had been sitting for so long, I figured i't wouldn't be worth taking anything else ( plus I had been waiting on my unemployment for the past 2 months so I put that on my credit card haha)
Was not able to rotate at all. It was rusted up pretty tight.
Next time we do this we do this were thinking of getting one of those tiny cameras with a light that surgeons use and sticking it in there to see what it looks like. Could be worth it as a turbo2 motor popped up a few weeks before mine did.
Well at least you know where you stand with the engine. Sorry it turned out to be toast. If you were closer I would have offered to sell you my 59k mile 88 RX-7 engine.
I pulled it out of a complete and stock FC that I found at a junkyard. With taxes just the motor and trans was $480. since it had been sitting for so long, I figured i't wouldn't be worth taking anything else ( plus I had been waiting on my unemployment for the past 2 months so I put that on my credit card haha)
Was not able to rotate at all. It was rusted up pretty tight.
Next time we do this we do this were thinking of getting one of those tiny cameras with a light that surgeons use and sticking it in there to see what it looks like. Could be worth it as a turbo2 motor popped up a few weeks before mine did.
Sorry to hear that...Again, I would advise against relying on junkyard motors for this very reason. You've already lost ~$500 on an incomplete engine. By the time you do that again you're already at the point of buying a used known working motor, or significantly on the way to the cost of a rebuild.
Hopefully some parts are usable. If you've got nothing to lose at this point, you could always try the "ATF trick" and see if you can free it up.
05-29-20, 12:12 PM
