I not-so-recently posted on the 2nd generation forum telling my symptoms and having you guys respond, most of you said I should rebuild. So I finally have a job where I make enough money to finally pay for the rebuild, now my question is: I've looked around and the least it would cost were it to be done professionally would be around $2200 (that being Rotary Ressurection). Now if I was to do it myself I could go for either the $550 (atkins) package with no apex seals or the $1200 with the seals and a bunch more parts.

My maintinence experience is mediocre at best, but I ordered the Atkins Rebuild video to get the gist of how it's done, but doubting my experience I am gonna ask you guys which would probably be better (but not *too* painful on my wallet)?

Btw here is the link to the thread about my engine for some reference.

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/water-leaking-into-engine-527441/

Thanks
-S

 

Well you'll need Apex seals.

If it's not your daily driver, do it yourself.

 

hey, not downing the atkins vid ive never seen it, but the bruce taurentine vid is REALLY easy to follow... im doing mine soon and ive got not one doubt that its going to go well. The Bruce Vid was suited twoard highschool kids that dont know a whole bunch about mechanics... I mean christ, in the vid he uses the term Shoehorn... lol

The Rotary engine was made so that it could be dissasembled in your own kitchen, with hand tools. The only big things youd need is a vat/parts cleaner tub, a hoist, and an engine stand with a "rotary adaptor" and alot of ingenuity. You dont need a compressor(but it helps) some of the tools were home made. I myself have budgeted around 1,000 bucks for the build and tools, but i could be off a bit

its going to be a big headache, but as with anything you do your self, yes its going to be cheaper, but the big question is do you want to deal with the pain and if you put it in and it doesnt run, can you deal with that? Kevin Landers and all get paid to do it right the 1st time. It all depends on what you want to do. Im doing just cause I can and I want to learn, + my 7 isnt my DD. Its not rocket science... but you do have to know math though...

(Actualy I talked to Bruce and he said that vid was made for a project in school when he was teaching at it)
Good Luck ether way

 

Where is this video you're talking about? The Atkins video is a good and informative, but deals only with assembly and dissasembly. Plus you start nodding of part way though because its kinda boring.
As for who does the rebuild, it depends on what you want from it. I'm like mrfc3s, I am doing it to learn about the engine and for the staisfaction of knowing that I rebuilt the thing myself. If you just want the engine running, and don't really have the space, its probably better to just get it done by someone else.

 

well, the vid for me was entertaning, mainly because ive got a hardon for the rotary, actualy i thought it was better than the spiderman movie or the F&F movies. Hell I went for an Encore after the first time lol.Others may not like it asmuch though.

The thing about the Bruce Vid was that Bruce is an Ex-Teacher. He knows how to convey information in a way thats easy to understand. And being that you see it infront of you, makes it easyer to understand. not to mention that he outlines the Tools that he uses, and the ones that he made. for instance he used an old broken Apex seal to help clean the rotors... and freakin paperclips to hold seals in the vat for cleaning. Most of its simple, the only things that get hairy is inspection, and seting the Endfloat. I mean, he explains some of the most comon wear and tears with a housing, but there are just some things that have to be left to your judgement. Thats where rotary rebuilders have got the edge, they know whats worn and whats not. Thats how they can build a good engine and put there name on it. That and theyve done it amillion times, bruce said he could have the engine out in under an hour. which would take a noob like 2 days or so...

I bought my copy from another fourm member, so ill poke around and find a source or another copy for you if i can. then agian, he lives in my back yard, so i could go and ask him... if i could, id make copies for everyone, its truly a good vid for rebuilding, but thats not legal.

imo, if changing your brakes bothers you, dont mess with it, but, even with kevin landers, i duno if hes excepting cars now so youd have to pull it anyway... if your a bit of a gear head, go for it. youd have the block out anyway right?
my $0.02

 

dude if you could make copys that would be great my motor just fucked up and you gotta learn somehow

 

search up east coast rotary, thats him. yeah that is true, but dont do it unless 1, its not your dd, 2 you have atleast 1500-2000 set aside for your first time(thats asuminng you dont have the tools and a good bit of room incase you dont) worst case senario you blow a bit of money and its a learning experince.
I have a friend nearby that says that a quality rebuild will usaly cost him around $600-$700 just in parts, but hes got the tools and all... but he blew alot of engines before that... lol

 

$2200 lol thats bang on what im payin for mine to be rebuilt its $2900 australian dollars wich works out to $2198.78 u.s , dyson rotary are doing it for me and they are one of the best rotary mechanics in aus. as for doin it yourself thats really up to you how confident are ya ?i'm not plus i needed it done straight away as its my daily :/

 

So, my RX-7 would have a rebuilt motor, but I would have to live in it because my wife would get the house in the divorce.

 

hehe, lol , guess i should said at your own risk :p

Im kinda lucky I guess, she let me sit an S5 Tranny in the kitchen, but I doubt she'd let me do the rebuild there... Wait!!! i have an extra bathroom

"honey, what are you doing in there, whats taking so long?"
"oh im just playing with my wankel dear..."

 

and if you really like the Bruce video, you could just have him build your engine (he is in NC near Raleigh). I know 5 different local Bruce engines: 3 T2 and 2 FD, and they all run very strong with no bullshit

 

yeah, top notch grade A guy... Knows his stuff... Ive never really even seen an engine hes built, but by talking with him for an hour, id be a big joke if his engines didnt work.

I just right now dont have his kinda money... and I wana learn to do it myself.

 

if you guys haven't had a rotary apart then disregard the kitchen statement, the rotary engine is one of the filthiest engines i have ever torn apart vs piston motors. i don't like carbon in my food..

 

Funny, because I was under that impression as well.

Nothing can give your pan-fried steaks quite as much full-bodied flavor as a disassembled Wankel though.

When I have to do my first rebuild, I'm going to do my first rebuild. Wouldn't have it any other way. Why pay someone else to have fun and get to know my car?

 

Wow thats alot of money, another option you might want to think about is a JDM engine swap it might be the same price if you swap it in yourself and the professional rebuild, but the power gaint would be really good. And I think about that price you'd also be getting a tranny also, so you don't only have the option of just rebuilding.

 

^ No kidding. Here's just a sample of what my garage looked like after I took the engine apart.

Edit: The problem with a JDM engine is that its an old engine thats been sitting in a junkyard for an unknown amount of time and in unknown condition.

 

learn about a rotary engine = urself

rich spoiled kid that has that "money can solve everything" attitude = professionally

 

rebuild it yourself, it's not really that hard to do. just got to make sure everyhting is still with in spec. plus rebuilding it yourself gives you a better understanding of how your engine works. get yourself a nice caliper, micrometer, dial indicator and a copy of the FSM and have at it.

 

"ya know, im a rich bastard and i can buy and sell you monkey wrenches!!!" lol
didnt really know that you could tell if you were a rich Butthole lol

the main thing that Bruce stressed was "Orgnization" and "Detail" Just keep that in mind... also it helps if you can think mechanicaly, some people have it, some dont. just kinda gota get a picture in you head of somthing and see how it works...

 

I have a thread in the Archives that covers a rebuild from start to finish so you might want to start there and then decide if it's something you can do.

Keep in mind that it requires a good working environment and lots of space.

 

That's why I couldn't do mine.

 

My vote is DIY. The first one I built withstands 17psi everytime I turn her on...=big grin.

+1 dirty little engine

 

lol i said it could be done, i didnt say fry up some eggs and bacon on a endplate. (hmmm...)
+1 for DIY
+2 for some breakfast...
Just keeper clean and organized and it shouldnt be a problem, but durring assembly, make sure you check your clearances and scrape off all of the Egg remains

 

Yup. DIY! did mine in my living room, probably didn't measure as well as I should have, but she runs pretty good. Also take a close look at the oil seals and springs when they go in. I pulled them back out because I wasn't 100% sure they were in correctly(little notches and tabs on the springs). Its pretty smooth, but you need an assistant for the intermediate housing. I say Go For It & Have fun!!! Mine only sees ~10 psi every time i drive it (87 TII) I don't want to rebuild this one again for a while.