what to look for....

[squidmotion]

in a donor rotary....


here is the info:

i think we might be getting closer to finding a donor car for our project...


i have a 1967 austin healey sprite we are working on (very rust free, garage car, worn out but taken care of), mapping out a few tube frame additions, roll bar, front supports, etc... as a starter to our engine swap... this car was planned to be a driver, maybe a few autoX and track days... street legal blaster...

after much debate (and selling my donor truck) we decided the 2.3L ford route was a)heavy b) to tall.... i'm trying to keep this under the stock hood... we are also trying to preserve the low weight dynamics of a really fun car, as the sprite is. a true go cart... give these things anything over 100hp, and you are laughing out loud...

fuel injection isn't important, it would be nice, but this is more of a hands on car, and tuning is part of the fun... looking to go the n/a route for now, to figure out the swap, and learn to work on a rotary, then maybe getting more involved to build more power after we iron out all the kinks...

i'm looking to do my usual thing when i swap an engine... get a good running engine to get the swap done, get the car on the road and work out the kinks/bugs, then pull out the engine, and do a rebuild, as i finish up the body work, and/or suspension mods....


as i begin to look for donor cars, what are some issues i need to be looking for? what can i check to make sure i'm getting at least a rebuildable engine? what goes beyond the usual compression check and pulling the plugs?

 

[lil_red_wagon]

first of all, i would say that the selection is the most important. since you are looking to stay light, fuel injection isn't important to you, and you just want a decent power plant, i would say that the motor for you would be either a late model 12a or early model 13b. fuel injection would be easier to run day to day, but would eat up quite a bit of install time over carbed, so that is the dilemma there. you should keep it simple and go with a carb.

aside from that, compression is the main thing to look for with any rotary. i would recommend getting something that runs just for the fact that you can make sure that it doesn't smoke and doesn't have any thermal issues. rotary engines are prone to thermal break down, and you can find the signs for that in smoking and leaking, just as with any motor. most of the things that you will need to look for, unfortunately, you won't find until you tear down the motor. you can find small signs of this if you want to take a set of feeler gauges and check for gap in the housings and irons, but you will really only have a small idea until you break the motor down.

i know that i am forgetting something, but i am sure i will catch it later.

 

[squidmotion]

i was hoping to buy a driver, as other parts of the car might find their way into the mix... a wrecked car that runs might be an option as well. i have time on my side, and have plenty to do while i'm looking for the right donor. i saw one in dallas that i'm going to go look at while i'm up there for work... but my hopes aren't very high on that one.

the rotary makes such total sense for this project... after i had decided to rid the car of the a-series motor (terrible horsepower/torque potential, IMO, and super expensive to work right)... we had worked up a way to build a fuelie turbo ford 2.3... but i never felt right about it... and never worked out how to deal with the weight/height of that engine combo... the rotary keeps it a drivers car, as the weight is perfect, i think... now that i have a mazdaspeed3, it makes even more sense!

this is going to be a fun car, yet expensive (aren't they all) build.... and a journey i'm looking to take. rotaries are a mystery... gonna be like learning the racket all over again... (puts on diving cap)...

i'm looking to go a route a bit more street friendly than brian kraus' fire breathing track monster....

 

[SpooledupRacing]

Go fuel injected 13B its easier to keep running (IMO)

signs to look for

cracked manifold

oil leaks

if the engine starts make sure there is no smoke, make sure the car does not overheat after 10-15 minutes of idle time.

leaky injectors

how the car starts up AFTER it has been warmed up (wait 5 minutes and restart)..

bring the engine through the rpm band and make sure it revs free up to the buzzer (7-8K)

make sure the OMP lines are there, intact, and not leaking or broken (if they have been broken for a long time one housing may have been starved for oil and have problems)

compression compression compression... both cold and warm.

 

[amp]

whats your budget..

 

[SpooledupRacing]

whats your budget..

relevant to what to look for when buying an engine?

 

[amp]

prices are goin to have a huge delta from 12a to 20b.. so yeah budget can come into play..

 

[lil_red_wagon]

it is relevant slightly to whether or not he is FI.

it is, IMO, a slight difference in budget, but a big difference in tunability (is that a word?).

 

[SpooledupRacing]

ok well I am sure he is not going with a 20B.. he should stick with a 13B since NA, prolly no plans to port the engine so a 13B with trans with ECU and wire harness 500.00 roughly... and u will be golden

 

[2001 mp3]

I have a rotary complete pull out engine and trans they run very good no cold start issues and have not had it flood. i appologize for the next words i am building a sbc 350 11-2-1 compresion with a mild cam and 65cc heads should put out 350+hp so i have the engine and tranny for sale. If u want me 2 i will put a vid up of it running and doing a compression test along with the vin on the motor. pm me about it so we can talk. ps i am putting a rotary in my 1970 vw karmann ghia it should really move.