Tore down my first rotary tonight
 

Relative noob here, but I've been reading all of the threads in the archives for several months now. I bought an 83 GS in Omaha about a year and a half ago. I've been pretty much dallying it since then, aside from one rallycross event. Things have been going well generally and I haven't done anything except maintenance and small stuff like door seals.

I have noticed recently that it's smoking a bit more on startup and it seems like it's losing coolant. I found some on the ground a few times, replaced all the hoses, haven't seen any since. Still losing some though. I figured this probably means I am in for a rebuild in the somewhat near future. I bought a "ran when pulled" 12a from a local here on Facebook. Tore it down tonight using the same method described in this thread. Pretty easy, especially with an impact wrench for the 54mm socket. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I found inside.

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I texted him pics and he says he would use that housing...okay dude. I'm far from an expert, but it looks like an apex seal went tumbling around in that front housing.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about getting the motor apart. Definitely the most technical thing I've done on my own, not that that's saying much. A little frustrated that I only got one good housing out of the deal. I was hoping to rebuild this motor while I continue to drive my car. Guess I'll have to switch to plan B.

Sorry to hear that you bought a parts motor. Hopefully you didnt pay more than 100 bucks.
I'd say your original at this point sounds more like a rebuild candidate. Especially if it runs. Burning coolant though you'll want to keep to a minimum. Have you smelled around the exhaust when running for that signature sweet smell?
Another option is waterpump. Could be leaking around the bearing or if it has a weep hole could be routed out that way when running and you're just not catching it.
If it makes you feel any better, I got burned by a KC local for on a 2500 rebuild that fell apart on start up. Lesson learned and I moved on.
For parts I'd only talk with a Kyle the rotary doctor down in Neosho MO. He has parts cars, and does high quality rebuilds.he was able to scavenge what parts were good from my previous catastrophe as I was there in person for teardown/rebuild and helpfully pointed out the numerous errors from the other previous junk build ..hindsight is 20/20. Good luck!

Hey Brendan, thanks for the reply. I paid $150 for the motor. Really had no frame of reference for what it was worth other than reading all the time that good 12a housings were rare. Lesson learned. Dismantling the motor was a cool experience and now I can practice porting that junk housing.

Regarding my running motor, I have smelled a slight sweet smell a handful of times, but not regularly. I'm still looking for any leaks as well.

Once I get some suspension work finished on my other car (VW R32) I can dive into my other motor for a full rebuild.

You did ok paying $150 for the motor, but its trashed sadly, depending what you got with the motor, you may be able to sell a couple parts to help rebound

yeah, that chamber up-chucked an apex seal. :( for what it's worth, you did good with what you got though. i know it all seems like a waste, but you have to enter these situations with the standing premise that people lie (or in some cases, simply don't know) ... although i tend to think this one lied. that's neither here not there ....

anyway, if you choose to take that road, you can surely salvage some of your loss. you can sell the good rotor for anywhere from $50 to $100 (depending on condition, year, etc) and since you said you have some time (while you sort out your R32, sweet, by the way :) which generation?) you can look for a pair of good rotors and a good/decent housing. i've been seeing 12A parts pop up here and there on Ebay lately. just saying it's an option.

how are the other parts looking? (shaft, side housings, flywheel, etc.)

as for your existing engine in your car, after it sits overnight, pull the exhaust manifold, turn it by hand and see how much antifreeze comes out, if any.

Everything else looks good as far as I can tell. I'll take some pics tomorrow night and see what everyone else thinks. R32 is a MK4. Fun to drive but too expensive to mod. That's why I bought the RX-7. :)

hehehehehehehehehe, you'll learn soon enough

:lol: i know, right? next week's thread is either: "I sold the R32 for gas money," or "I burned the Rx-7 for insurance money."

but seriously, Betes, it will depend on where you want to take the Rx-7. if you plan to keep it fairly simple, then aside from maintenance of a 30+ year old car, you'll be just fine. if you plan to go crazy, then mods PLUS maintenance on a 30+ year old car may close the gap on cost difference to the Mk4 pretty quickly.

you know, someday i might try to take a poll to see how many Rx-7 guys have had a VW/Audi history or present co-habitation.

Haha yeah, I should probably knock on wood before I start talking about cost n whatnot. Definitely can say that the parts are cheaper for the RX though. I can do all of my brakes for less than a rotor costs for the R32. I may make up for it in volume some day, but for now the plans are just to do maintenance and drive the hell out of it. It's just a fun cruiser to enjoy as-is. I would love to start modding, but I may wait and upgrade to a GSL or GSL-SE for a better base to start from. One of the biggest downsides of the car is the lack of LSD. It'll spin one wheel taking off from a light any time the ground is damp. :lol:

just a thought/opinion ...

swapping a rear is no big deal with these cars. i don't really know where the prices stand right now on them, but it's probably not going to be much more than a bill. so there's that option. however, if that doesn't appeal to you, then you should probably look for the GSL sooner rather than later - because it would make better sense not to start investing time and money into getting this car "right" (maintenance, repairs and just to your liking) only to have to do it all again with a new one because of an LSD. option #3 of course would be keep the car, get some LSD and hope that you hallucinate having an LSD. :) see? you get all kinds of "good" advice on Rx7Club.com.

Swapping an LSD into this one would be awesome. Are they really that cheap though? Also, I thought that there are small and big axle cars. Not sure which I have or how to ensure compatibility.

I'm the kinda guy where now that I have this one, it's "my car" and I don't know that I could just sell it and get a GSL. Otherwise I'd be buying the brown one that KansasCityREPU is selling. So for right now the plan is to keep this one. If you can direct me to any info on how to get find the correct LSD for my car, that would be sweet. That's #1 on my wish list for the car. :icon_tup:

honestly, i don't know what they go for now. the last time i was actively searching for one was sometime back in the 90s. they pretty much consistently went for $200 to 300 where i lived (NYC) ... and it was the SE rears that went for 300 or 300+. i actually ended up getting an SE rear from a friend for $75, but we are just cool with each other - i did work for him when he needed it. i was just guessing that the prices were down now since they are all 30+ years old and only us Gen I guys ever want them.

you're testing my memory with the axles right now, but here goes. if i recall, all the LSDs are "BIG" axle though. the only difference between the regular GSL rears and the SE rear are the gearing and the brakes they came with. everything else bolts up the same. i think there was some funky thing with driveshaft bolt pattern though, but if my memory is correct, that started in '83. if you happen to get a rear and have questions, i can get confirmation for the answers for you though. right now, this is just memories from a better time in my life. :)

just get something from a '83-'85 GSL. they are more common than the SE and you won't have to worry about mismatched bolt patterns for wheels.

79-82 all rear ends are small axle, small flange.
83 small axle, large drive shaft flange.
84-85 all large axle, large flange.

This is what I have been able to glean with my searching. Question is if the driveshaft flange can be easily swapped. I'm guessing bigger axles can't go into my housings. I'll try to get the correct year LSD and then hopefully it'll be a non issue.

Finally got the chance to clean up the rest of the motor a little bit. I think the irons and the e shaft look okay, but I'm a little worried about the rear rotor housing. The worst spot is pictured below. The coating is worn and it feels rough to the touch. Enough to grab a fingernail. What do you guys think?

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Changed the oil and was poking around under the hood this afternoon and I noticed some coolant pooled on top of the intake. Time to order some freeze plugs and fix this. Hopefully this is my missing coolant issue and I'm not burning it in the combustion chambers after all.