Hi guys,

I'm new to SA, TX and was wondering if there are any reputable rotary shops that may be capable of one day installing some boost in my car... or possibly plain rotary repair? Heck, I dont even know what Mazda dealer I should take my car to during warranty... My car is from out of state..

I appreciate any help you can provide....

 

For serious rotary related work, I think your best bet is driving an hour north to MZM in austin.

-hS

 

Oh and welcome to Texas

 

TX for the tip!

 

is there any thread a DFW person doesnt post in? lol


No, there are no shops in SA that do special rotary work.

For general RX repair you gotta go to North Park and talk w/Jay Finnegan(service advisor). Jay is unbelievable , I can't say enough how great he has been to me and my car and a few other guys I know.

For the mechanic side, North Park has Bruce Blang who I've heard is one of the best(I've never had a problem w/the 8 and do my own work on the FD, so I don't know firsthand). IIRC he has earned the top Mazda honors for a mechanic numerous times and was/is master certified to troubleshoot an FD and all its problems.

Also there are a few people that are willing to help in the area once you get to know the small RX community. Local website is alamomotoring.com. Welcome to town and hope you can make a meet sometime. The other 8 owner would like the company .

 

San Antonio sucks for RX-8s. Most 8s I see are driven by women that wouldn't know a what a rotory engine was. I live on the west side. I'm from Austin but I'm working down here for now. Hope to be getting my 8 repaired soon.

 

^^i agree, only one 8 owner shows up for the meets, the other two guys(me and another) have a 7 also along w/the 8.

 

Other 8 owner in SA ...that makes 3 guy 8 owners....and 600 female

 

negatory, you're better bet is John Long as JcAutospec. www.jcautospec.com
he's an amazing mechanic and has assisted people in our club with boost installs etc. (Adrian-1) Supposedly Alamo Rotary is supposed to be decent but I've never spoken with any of their customers or witnessed their work first hand.

 

I've heard some great things about MZM and they have proven credibility on the track as well with the FDs. Not sure if they are very comfortable with RX-8s yet.

-hS

 

Tito at Alamo Rotary in SA has an RX8 with a NA 20B. He has a shop that does rotary repair.

 

^^As far as I know, he closed his doors and he had his 3 rotor 8 and FD on Ebay. Also I've heard less than great things about him ..........

 

I heard he was thinking about it. He lucked out having the Walmart SuperCenter open next to his shop and land. He was able to build a strip center being that it became prime property and rent it out.

His has a vast knowledge of rotarys, he built and ported 13b motor for me about 8 years ago for a 2nd gen that turned out great but I guess not everybody had the same dealings.

 

really? what I've heard is they used to be a good place to go and now they've kinda' fallen off, I've never dealt with them personally or seen anything they've done so if you know of some good things from them that's cool. Maybe they've stepped up a bit again, who knows.

 

I think the fallen off thing may come from them being really busy with the STis and EVOs... and not so much focused on the Rotarys anymore.

I tried to get my car Tuned from them, but they couldn't find a time to schedule me in. I think they are still very skilled... but just don't have much time to spare.

-hS

 

ahh ok, not enough time = you weren't willing to pay them enough

 

Actually.. Their dyno rate is pretty reasonable, and i was willing to drive down to austin anytime (even a weekday).. but they weren't interested.

He had a dozen cars already lined up ahead of me, and didn't want to schedule the tuning session.

-hS

 

well dang, I wonder where all the knock-talk came from? I heard they were overpriced, doing crappy work, etc etc, hmmm, I wonder if this is one of those cases where one customer wasn't happy but the other 100+ or so were and so the bad stuff is floating around because of it etc.

 

I had talked to an MZM guy at a show out there a couple of years ago. They had a 3rd gen RX-7 on display that they built. Let's just say I wasn't impressed with the guy's logic or his knowledge of rotaries and he was trying to get my business on them. Of course I do all of my own rotary work so that would never happen anyways.

 

Do you remember which person from MZM you spoke with?

-hS

 

It's been a couple of years. He claimed to be the owner. Is he from India or perhaps the middle east somewhere?

 

That was probably Mohammed, who is the owner. This is an interesting twist, and a lot different from what i've heard before.