Okay, the "paranoia bug" hit me and mostly made me concerned over my 13b. Seeing as how GSL-SE motors are known to wear down to 5.5 and then break, even tho the minimum is 7, it called for a bit of concern. (I still have yet to do a ghetto compression check) So, I did a search on rebuilding the rotary motor to see exactly how mcuh of a hassle it would be. Seems to be quite a bit, especially for someone like me who cannot afford a second daily driver to screw around in while performing such an action, so I'm thinking of just having a rebuilt motor to shove in as a replacement when the time/funds comes. At least with that, it'd be a simple drop in and plug-n-play deal.

However, I wonder if it'd be a tad cheaper (I'm currently awaiting a return call from my rotary shop) if I bought a master rebuild kit from Atkins Dan and go to my parts guy for some 13B housings and rotors and put my own engine together.

What are anyone's thoughts/opinions on this? Keep in mind that I'm still a tad clueless on rotary engines so learning is all a part of the process. Unless my motor goes kaboom and I end up saying "f*ck it" and go back to driving a piston powered vehicle. Tho, I do love my 7 and would hate to depart with it after all I've done to it.

 

Well, I would say if you had a secondary vehicle to go for the rebuild and learn a bit, but since you dont its not gonna be a good situation when you throw that money into the rebuild kit and get stuck and have to pay someone to finish it for you. I have a buddy of mine who is a master mechanic in the air force and he said he's only rebuilt one rotary and he'll never do it again for a million bucks.

 

It isn't bad to do the rebuild. There really isn't that much as far as specialized tools and such. I can maybe give you a hand if/when you do it. I'm probably a couple hours' drive from you. It would be best if you had some other transporation while it is down. Although the rebuild can go quite fast, there always seems to be a bolt you can't get off, a part that you didn't remember to get, something breaks, etc. If things go smoothly and you have a helper, you could pull the engine, rebuild, and put it back in over a weekend. But if parts are needed, well it's going to take longer.

You could get a rebuilt engine from pineapple, atkins, mazdatrix, or whatever, have it delivered to you, and then do the swap. This might be a better approch as probably at least the housings and apex seals will be shot on yours (depending on mileage and such). Also, consider porting and oil modifications while it is down. This is another advantage of buying a rebuilt engine (if ported) as you won't have to spend the time porting and the possibility of making a mistake.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Kent ('84 GSL-SE)

 

Doesn't porting kind of mess up the idle or whatever? I remembe reading some posts how the port jobs kind of messed something up or another, but I can't remember if it was idle or passing emissions or what.

And, what exactly do you mean by oil modifications? So far my OMP works just fine, knock on wood. I'll have to wait until Dec/Jan comes around to see how things look, among taxes.

 

just an observation from your original post ... no offense, but it doesn't sound like you have the proper mindset to deal with a rebuild. so even though i'm all for people getting their hands dirty, i'd have to say you're better off buying a rebuilt motor from a reliable source or having them rebuild your core. if i'm not mistaken, PFS is in your neck of the woods.

oil modifications, in moderation, can only help - not hurt! for what it sounds like you want, i'd recommend a simple cleanup of the pump cavity and a bump in pressure on the rear regulator. you might want to use your downtime to have your cooler and lines cleaned and checked.

as for porting, streetports can get to a point where idle is affected in extreme cases, but for the most part, your idle is retained. i don't see that happening on the SE motor so i think a very mild streetport would be fine. i DO NOT KNOW, however, how that will affect emissions in VA, but if a streetport can pass emissions in CA, then i doubt you'd have to worry much - all things being equal. any other port-type would affect idle quality, but it doesn't sound like you'd be interested in those anyway.

 

A mild street port and a new carb wouldn't mess things up too much.

FWIW, I don't know where in VA you are but there is a pretty good builder in Manasass. I think his shop is called rotary performance.
www. rotaryperformance.com

 

glews, the name of the shop you are thinking of is RP-Performance, and I used to go there for them to work on my car. However, they have now changed locations and are residing in West Virginia, borderlining Loundon County.

diabolical - I'm all up for rebuilding a motor, because I love to rip things apart and put them back together, but the simple deal that I only have that car as a DD is what stops me. If I had a second car to drive around in, I'd jump into the engine rebuild head first. And, who is PFS?

 

Peter Farrell Supercars ... i know they were in Manassas at one point, but i think they moved to Maryland now. not sure where in VA you are, but it's the only place i could think of in your general area. they know what they're doing, too. you can do a Google and get their contact info or PM ErnieT or mr2foryou if you want experiences with them.