magnumP5's RX-7 Build Thread

[magnumP5]

Those side housings are polished in the coolest fashion.

Chrome coating will do that Unfortunately a lot of the lines you see are actually step wear you can feel with your fingernail I'm currently discussing pricing with a guy in MI who can lap (machine down) the surfaces of the side housings and then heat treat to re-harden. I also need to get in contact with the guy in NY who re-surfaces (machines down) the rotor housings. The goal is to have nice, smooth sealing surfaces for the rebuild to insure the best compression possible. I'm not doing anything crazy so hopefully this motor will last me a while.

 

[PrinceValorum]

Will taking away even more material affect how well it seals, or does it just need to be a uniform surface?

 

[magnumP5]

Will taking away even more material affect how well it seals, or does it just need to be a uniform surface?

Most of the time you're looking at like .001-.002" of material removal so it really isn't too substantial. All the seals are sprung as well so a little material removal is acceptable. The uniform surface is more important as the seals will ride over the highest point on the surface. If it's not uniform there will be gaps compromising sealing performance.

 

[PrinceValorum]

Gotcha. Thanks for explaining all this stuff for the 98% of us that aren't rotorheads.

 

[roy obanion]

in for moar rotary goodness..

 

[magnumP5]

Root cause detected!

Last night I finally tore the entire engine down. I finally found the cause for the overheating problems, but more on that later.

i can haz 2 13B's?

Even though I don't intend on reusing all the seals I figured it was best to stay organized. This is for just the front rotor!

Here is the eccentric shaft, stationary gears and rotors. Now you know why I said I couldn't do anything until I had workspace.

Of course the failed component had to be the VERY LAST to be disassembled.

Don't see it? Here, let's take a closer look.

So there it is! The cause of all my cooling, overheating and buzzing problems is revealed! Not only is the coolant seal gone but somehow I've also managed to destroy the casting as well. The front iron is officially junk! I guess I'll hold onto this piece should I ever try my hand at porting down the road.

In other news here are my new FABULOUS injectors. 1000cc each of pink/purple, high-flowing goodness.

That's all the pictures for now. I'm in the process of cleaning the S4 TII irons and my rotor housings so they can be shipped out for machining. I just need to figure out a way to get the exhaust sleeves out of the TII rotor housings. I had thought to tap the dowel pins and use a small bolt but the tap broke inside! Those things are like bolt extractors being super hard so I don't know how to get it out now. Maybe a torch could melt it out???

 

[PrinceValorum]

I know you want to build a 27B with all of the rotors and housings that you have now...

 

[roy obanion]

27?

 

[Wagonbacker9]

27?

4 rotor FTW! Just weld a couple e-shafts together... it'll be fine.

 

[PrinceValorum]

I dunno what the maths come out to with the rounding and stuff, but at any rate it's a 4 rotor!

 

[roy obanion]

My maths say 26...but maybe bump up displacement a bit?

 

[PrinceValorum]

Yeah, stroke it!

 

[magnumP5]

LOL, 27B! A 13B is 658cc x2 so a four rotor would be 2632cc! In reality, as cool as that would be that fact that I have parts from two different series engines, especially two differently aspirated engines, makes things near impossible. I'd have to source two more S5 N/A rotor housings, two more turbo exhaust sleeves (which I'll actually have if I could ever remove the current ones), one more S4 TII intermediate iron, two more S5 N/A rotors, and oh yeah, that custom 4-rotor eccentric shaft ($$$$$)!

No new pictures. I didn't make much headway last night. I swapped the oil filler neck from my old center iron onto the S4 TII one (they are different!). I played around with the exhaust sleeves some more but I don't think I'll be able to remove the one without destroying the housing, which I'm not willing to do at this time. I even used a torch and they wouldn't budge. I do, however, have another set on the way. The choice is now to either attempt to remove my stock sleeves some more or just pay an extra $40 for the resurfacing shop to do it.

I'm surprised no one commented on my pink/purple injectors...

 

[Wagonbacker9]

and oh yeah, that custom 4-rotor eccentric shaft ($$$$$)!

pfft... excuses!

Just weld a couple e-shafts together... it'll be fine.

 

[mymmeryloss]

Gotcha. Thanks for explaining all this stuff for the 98% of us that aren't rotorheads.

U can do this with any engine, not just a rotary. How do u think they deck a block and u can resleeve a block also.

Anywho, looks like u have started ur adventure magnum! Tuned in for more!

 

[magnumP5]

U can do this with any engine, not just a rotary. How do u think they deck a block and u can resleeve a block also.

Anywho, looks like u have started ur adventure magnum! Tuned in for more!

Yep, same basic idea. When I dropped the irons and rotors off at a metal cleaning shop yesterday we actually wrote up the irons as "cylinder heads" and the rotors as "pistons." I got a good chuckle out of it but really it's not a bad comparison when explaining things to those who aren't familiar with rotary engines.

Process is still going slowly. Another weekend, another wedding so I still haven't been able to devote more than a few hours each week to the car. Flight delays meant I got a three-day weekend so I took some time yesterday to drop some parts off at the cleaners and attempt to clean what they can't. $75 isn't bad at all for three irons and two rotors but I'm a little worried about the process. They said it wasn't caustic but I'm still nervous something might react negatively with the chrome coating.

Some "after" pictures. Sorry for the weird sizes; I updated the operating system on my phone and I'm still changing things back to the way I had them set before...

Rotor housings:

Front cover:

Water pump housing:

They're not perfectly clean but I intend to paint them silver or grey so I just need them clean enough to allow the paint to stick. I still need to scrape some gasket residue off the front cover and water pump housing but they're TONS cleaner than they were previously.

I also may have a shop lined up for the intake manifold!

 

[Signal 2]

.......I'm surprised no one commented on my pink/purple injectors...

I did wonder if Lady Gaga cleaned them for you.

I may have missed it, but what did your rotor and main bearings look like? How much chrome flake do you have on the housings?

 

[mymmeryloss]

That's not a bad price at all. I used caliper paint on my uim and lim, but will probably have them chromed or polished out!

Looking good. Was this the wedding in colorado?

 

[magnumP5]

I'm not dead; work has been pretty crazy lately. You know it's bad when an engineer is hand-delivering parts...

Obviously, I've not got much done. The rotor housings have been shipped to Goopy Performance and should be there today. Today is also day #4 at the cleaners for the rotors and irons. I'm excited/anxious to get those back. I have plans this weekend involving more wiring so I'll have more pictures the next time I'm back.

That's not a bad price at all. I used caliper paint on my uim and lim, but will probably have them chromed or polished out!

Looking good. Was this the wedding in colorado?

I'll probably just end up using high-temperature engine enamel on my parts. I haven't come up with a color scheme yet; probably black/silver or black/grey.

Boulder, CO was the previous weekend. Last weekend was in Virginia Beach, VA.

 

[magnumP5]

Devoted the whole weekend to the front harness.

First step was removing the dash. First remove steering wheel:

Next, remove gauge cluster (need a new one now) and drop steering column:

Pull out dash:

While I had them exposed I gutted the A/C and heater core:

Now it doesn't have A/C or heat!

Started on the front harness:

I think I've got all the ECU, P/S, cruise control wires out of the cabin so I've worked my way into the engine bay:

Call it quits last night around 9 PM. Final shot of the interior as it sits now:

I've started re-looming the wire on the passengers side but I've run out of electrical tape again. Sorry for the crappy pictures; I think the camera on my phone is dying.