Winter Journal

[melicha8]

Engine:

The season for autocross is over. I've got a lot to do to this car before the end of april. I'm gonna do my best to log the work on the rx7. The first area to be addressed is the engine. I for the most part stripped it down to the bare bones. Another evening I'll get the rest off to get it pretty much to the bare block. Previously done are the injectors, cleaned and matched, and the Pulsation Damper(PD) replaced.

Goals:
1)Reconnect charcoal cannister vac line going to center plate DONE
2)Remove Cruise Control DONE
3)Service Oil Metering Pump(OMP) and replace lines DONE
4)Test emissions control for proper functioning system. My car was smelly so it's time I figure out what's wrong. I may have already found the culprit to be a vac line in the back of the UIM I didn't connect. Nonetheless I want to test the Air Control Valve(ACV) and switching solenoids DONE
5)Install Pineapple Racing 5thand6th port sleeves DONE
6)Formulate a plan for the S5 UIM installation NOT NOW
7)Clean stuff up a bit DONE
8)Reassemble without monumentally ******* up

A completely worthless view of the bay with the hood up and my flourescent light hanging down by some fishing line.

A view of the block sans upper intake/tb/fuel and vac. lines. The alternator/smog pump are removed with the Lower Intake Manifold(LIM), OMP and lines still needing attention

This is all the crap I had to take off to get to this point. Notable items from left to right are the alternator, 5th and 6th port actuators, cruise control, "Rat's Nest" and UIM below it

My awesome labeling job on the engine harness. Where's that ground go again.

So tonight I took off the lower intake manifold. This is a new adventure to me. I found a lot of peculiar things.
I took this one as just some reference. I guarantee it won't be going in looking in that kind of shape. I have my new gasket count set at four plus injector orings

Here it is close up. First look up where there is a depression in each iron where it meets the lim and it has a 1/4 build up of dirt and crud. That isn't the worst of it. Look at my lower ports. You cant tell but the port is about 75% blocked by chalky carbon build up. Is this why people use the seafoam or is that only for the chambers?

This is a picture of the auxillary port sleeve. I don't know about you but it looks like it could use some flow improvement.

 

[melicha8]

Exterior:

 

[melicha8]

Interior (if I get to it):

 

[Antoine]

Awesome thread idea...Suboosted for updates!!!

 

[melicha8]

Updated! I later found out that the buildup around the port mouth was actually smaller. Those lower ports are for the exhaust gas to actuate the 5th and 6th ports. Only a small amount of caking.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

subbing for info when I get my FC...good stuff man

 

[melicha8]

Update: 11/23 Happy Thanksgiving. 5th and 6th port sleeves were cleaned and sent out immediately to pineapple racing to have their inserts put in to radius the port sleeve and improve flow. I spent a good part of the night cleaning the block of all the oil and dirt. I need to find where I'm leaking oil because the whole engine is coated. Especially the omp. Pics to come

 

[melicha8]

Update 11/24: I got a lot clean today. I removed the Oil Metering Pump's final bolts and pulled it to clean. Everything I worked on today was absolutely caked with oily dirt that had to be scraped with a knife, then a brush, and wiped with a towell. OMP looks good and works more smoothly without cake armor. Injector lines are still compliant and free of cracks. Each of these had a sheath of cakey oil around it. I will need a new small oil injector because I messed one up before my removal process was perfected. I actually made a tool to remove the block side oil injectors because a 14mm wrench is too thick. I'll get a picture of it later. For now take a look at some rotary pics of the progress
OMP all cleaned and ready for new seals and copper crush washers. OMP lines are in great shape. I was gonna do the teflon tubing mod but if it aint broke don't fix it I say. Notice the omp is the mechanical type found in Series 4 rotaries

This is a pretty good picture representing before and after cleaning and the severity of the grime. That nipple popping out of the oil filler neck on the center iron is one I couldn't get to but knew was disconnected. It goes to the charcoal cannister.

I'm about 70% through with block degreasing at least on the top surfaces. Check out the cool injector plugs I made. I didn't want grime falling onto the fuel injector primaries so I took some foamy earplugs and tied them together. That way I can suck up the plugs and all when I vacuum around it

I had trouble finding the omp in all the blackness. This is where I pulled it from. The grime around it is up to 1/4" thick and this is also how bad the omp was covered.

 

[melicha8]

Update 11/25: Did some more cleaning and when I was tired of that I cleaned another kind of dirtyness. Pics:
Radiator shroud was removed for better access to the front cover. I cleaned and cleaned and this is how far I've gotten. I'm at about 8 hours total cleaning time now. This is one dirty engine bay. I have not yet diagnosed where the oil was coming from since it seems to be all over the place. I have ruled it down to a few things, front main seal, oil pan, omp or oil injectors, oil spillage during changes. I could be one or more of these things so it kinda sucks to not have it nailed down. All I can do now is put everything back and see where the fresh oil is coming from. Also pictured my neat starbucks goo cup. No that is not actually coffee but a good substitute for their coffee.

This is my snazzy OMP injector remover. Replacement injector is ordered along with a grab bag of engine bay bolts through a rx7forums member

I was tired of cleaning oily dirt so I moved to the front corner to work on the dirty dirt around the ignitor and coil. Sweet looks new! Kinda...

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

good stuff man

 

[Roywhitep5]

i wish i had 1/4 of your technichal know how

 

[melicha8]

This is my first time doing this Roy so it wouldn't be anything you couldn't do yourself. I've done everything up to now with just regular hand tools and a couple extentions. Even my oil injector nozzle was removed with a slimmed down 14mm wrench. I compiled a list of items I'll need to put it back together correctly.
OMP O Ring Seal 5.27
Copper 5 hole OMP plate 4.47
Copper Washer (4)2.91
Injector Washer (8)2.91
ACV Gasket 10.64
LIMtoBLOCK Gasket 26.65
LIMtoUIM Gasket 3.57
Injector O Rings (2) .50
Fuel Hose 2 ft @ .39

Man taking a part an engine is cheap until you put it back together.

PS Roy how are things going with the FC? Is it legal and on the road now?

 

[Roywhitep5]

its been smogged and i already have all the suspension parts i'll ever want. got stance coilovers, suspension techniques sways awr rear camber adjusters, fd wheel spacers, fd wheels & 245/45/16 hankook rs2's

 

[melicha8]

PM me pics pronto that sounds like some sweetness

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

(werd) I want to see pics too...

 

[Roywhitep5]

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2778713&postcount=23

only the wheels are on

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

so pretty...I WANT MINE NOW!!!

 

[melicha8]

Oh goody I do love recieving packages but who doesn't. Just arrived from pineapple racing, my 5th and 6th port sleeves

just for more info:
This is straight from the rotary forums AMM forum by pineapple racing

"Radiused 6-Port Sleeve Inserts. These little CNC-machined aluminum inserts slip into the stock 6-port sleeves of 1984-1991 13B NAs, increasing mid- and high-range power. While we usually guestimate about 8 HP, every setup is different so result vary. The 8 HP is based on improvements to trap speed on back-to-back 1/4 mile runs on our test vehicle. The difference is noticable."~pineapple racing

My opinion: These guys are the real deal and have good idea's. I respect their contributions to the rotary community be it their innovative parts or instructional website with how to's. Here is the site http://rotaryengineillustrated.com/ They don't sell anything here. It's just vids and info. These were 50.00 with free install if you send them to them. If you've just bought a rotary and it's got some miles you'll probably need to go as far overhauling it anyway so it's a small price for a bit more hp.

 

[melicha8]

So it may look like I haven't done much for the past week but in the interest of my own sanity I decided to work a bit slower. My latest progress involved cleaning the lower intake manifold(LIM) and removing the close to 20 yr old gaskets off the lim. This process was a b**** to say the least. The gasket was practically chemically bonded to the lim on both the block gasket and the gasket leading to the upper intake manifold(UIM). The removal process went something like this: replace razor blade, cut self(more on that later), curse self, continue in 30 minute intervals everyday. Basically the gaskets were of the consistancy of plastic and did not lift off with a sharp blade cleanly. So basically I shaved it down the best I could until the aluminum surface could not be discerned by touch from the remaining gasket. I then put the blade at a perpendicular angle to the remaining gasket and scraped back and forth to get the rest off. I don't know why this is physically possible but it worked well for the last of the gasket without damaging the metal surface. This single piece took a good three hours of time to clean. The before and after pictures give you a pretty good idea why.
Here is the before picture I took a long time ago. It still has some of the ACV plumbing still attatched to it.

Countless rags, four lenox razors, 5 cotton swabs, one cut, and four beers later this bad boy is almost ready to put back in. I still have some cleaning to do inside the runners but that is small cookies compared to the gaskets.

 

[melicha8]

Just one more picture for the hell of it. This gives a bit more detail without all the other crap sitting on it. All those brownish spots on the gasket surface are the things I scraped at the perp. angle. These may or may not come off depending on the angle you scrape because of the orientation of the swirls made by the planar from the factory. Knowing this I wasn't too concerned with getting it totally clean because any scraping would likely make the surface more irregular than the planar made it so I left the most stubborn spots alone.

Just some more tips. A cotton swab attatched to a rotary tool(pictured above) works wonders for small spots. Just spray some WD40 on the surface and let it sit a minute. Then use the rotary tool on the LOWEST setting and softly run it in the crevice. I would be careful if you did this and wear eye protection. I did not but the memory of a friend who used one with some brasso in military school to shine his buckle was fresh in my memory as was the agony of petroleum distillates in his eyes.