HB + Mazda 24v V6. Now sold and gone to a good home :-)

[yoeddynz]

I'm not sure on this but after looking carefully through the Haynes RX7 manual I cant find any reference to these two bits....



I think the centre plate is.... unhappy (f--ked)

I filled it with water this morning and it *Bleep* out through the bottom on each side of the centre plate. So after a quick tidy of the workshop bench I started the strip down. I made a little table to sit the engine on and then carefully unstacked the sandwich.



Odd that it only has 17 through bolts. Not 18 as per the haynes rx7 manual or 19 as my old mazda workshop manuals for rx2/rx3 show? I've been told it has RX4 housings so I guess the whole engine is Rx4 as ya couldn't mix housings and plates with a different amount of through bolts eh...

Hannah helped strip the engine as it was new to both of us. We found pretty sludgy waterways. The outer water seals were really long- too long to fit back into grooves as if they had been stretched?



The ports have been tickled with a grinder - just a clean up I think. The housings looked good but I later found some deep scores on one housing right near the exhaust port as if something got stuck in there like a nut ?! So that housing is scrap which is a bloody shame as the chrome is really good and chatter marks seem minimal.



Once is was all stripped down we both set to work cleaning the sludge out to look for damage.



First up the front plate then rear plate. Centre plate. Bingo! - when I was rinsing the petrol/scum off the water going into waterways was coming out the bottom oil ways. There was a big hole and two lovely bits of casting sitting on top barely dislodged. You shouldn't be able to see my finger through here...



The centre plate also had a defined depression on one face about the size of a 10 cent piece as if a corner seal has been gouging it?...



So I'm now going to have to find a centre plate and one housing. The rotors are good and side seals, corner seals, springs, bearings, eccentric shaft etc are all ok. Tips are new. oil pump is good.

Its all cleaned, oiled up and packed away now as I cant afford to just go out and buy an engine. Maybe something will turn up - I'll just keep asking anyone I can think of who is into rotaries and see if they can help for parts. I'm a bit worried that I'll struggle to find the right housing and plate to suit 17 through bolts?

[opelscott22]

Thats not good news Alex, If you werent so far away Id send you my engine.

It can be normal for O seals to grow like that, I work with jet engines and thats pretty common. I was looking at rebuild kits for these moters and they seem pretty pricey over here, £300 for seals with no tips, any cheaper over there?

At least those engines are a bit more common in NZ, would be a big problem over here!

Shame, I cant wait to see this thing finished!!

Scott.

[yoeddynz]

Its weird that the seal grew so much Maybe I should put the seals somewhere, wait till they grow about 10 miles long and then chop them up into lots of standard size seals to sell on the UK market?

Its gonna be tricky finding a spare 17 bolt centre plate and housing I think- even here. Most 12a engines on the market are rx7 ones.

I wonder how much it would cost for you to freight just your short block.

[hbpeter]

Well at least you found the problem, and are not sitting wondering where the waters coming from. Bad luck though, so near yet so far.

Peter

[pbottomley]

I think Mine might be in the same condition, but I shall be stripping mine before fitting.....

Same response as Scott if you were closer yadda yadda

[opelscott22]

I should think it would be bloody expensive!! Are the RX7 ones different? what is your engine from? Mine came from an RX7 and looks the same as yours...

[yoeddynz]

My engine is RX4/RX3 12A.
They are the same engine design and almost every thing is the same as the later RX7 12A but the big difference is the number of bolts that sandwich all the plates/housings together. Mine has 17 bolts, rx7s have 18. So if i can find rx4 housing and centre plate then good. Otherwise I need a complete set of rx7 housings/plates in which I can fit my rotors, eccentric shaft etc. Everything else just bolts on.

I'm going to weigh the bare block out of interest.

[opelscott22]

My postcode is AB51 4JG if your going to get a shipment quote. If you want it, may be a good idea for me to srtip it to make sure its good, no point sending another duff one!

Scott.

[yoeddynz]

Cool- cheers scott.
I'll keep hunting in NZ for now and hopefully something will turn up. Plus we mustn't forget that you will be fitting your rotary into a HB estate....

[carmad]

gutted for ya dude