I recently bought a car with a 12a as a project. The motor will not turn over, and there was water in the rear rotor. I am assuming that it is rusted pretty badly and therefore frozen. I tried soaking it in WD40 overnight and I am still unable to turn it over.

Any tips or tricks for getting a rotory un-frozen?

Do you think the engine can be run (not as a daily driver) without a rebuild?

What is the cost of a rebuild doing it myself?

 

If there was water in the rear housing, its a junk motor.

At the least you will most likely have to replace the intermediate iron, the rear rotor, and the rear iron.

You rebuild price directly relates to what type of a rebuild...but you will probably be better off finding a new core.

 

Thanks for the info.

I guess I am shopping for a new motor. I am building this car for the GRM $2010 challenge, so I will need to be budget friendly, I guess no 3 rotor . The motor was in a 1963 Morris Minor (obviously swapped in) and was carborated. Should I stick to a carb setup or go fuel injected (if so, mega squirt, stock ECU, other)? Any suggestions?

thanks

 

You can buy rebuild kits from various sources. Are you a registered Mazda racer? If so you can direct from them at a serious discount. Otherwise, I'd almost suggest finding a used motor and dropping it in since you need to make the budget. Chances are the housings might not be usable thanks to the water. Atkins Rotary also sells a rebuild kit
http://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/pr...roductid=16918

Carb might be easier to get going. Especially if you need to make budget. GRM did an article on megasquirting a rotary if I remember correctly.

 

I remember seeing that article. I can look into registering with Mazda, but will they give enough of a discount, and I am guessing that I would need to start racing more then just the GRM challange, which would not necessarily be a bad thing except for the bank account.

I have seen some motors from $300-500, can I hope to get into one cheaper? Should I look for a 12a or 13b (I am new to rotary and still need to research the differences).

Thanks for the help, and thanks for putting up with my newb questions.

 

FAQ for 1st gen Rx7s: https://www.rx7club.com/new-member-rx-7-technical-256/frequently-asked-questions-1st-generation-rx-7-1978-1985-faq-sa-fb-782426/

Im not sure how difficult a swat to a 13b would be, but here is a thread about a guy doing it. https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=12a+swap+13b

 

Mazda Motorsports is usually pretty good at working with serious people working on a build if they do intend on doing timed events with the car. All you need to do is submit 2 autox results for the car per year so very easy to maintain membership. The discount can be worth it depending what kind of expenses you have planned.

Check out the link to the FAQ posted above. 13B is more displacement than 12a. Beyond that I know nothing about the 1st gen.