zattack906

Hi everyone! About a month ago I bought an RX8 which I knew had bad compression. It turns out the 2nd rotor's apex seals went out. I pulled the engine from the car and opened it up to find that I would need to replace the rotor, the housing, and the iron back plate in the second rotor. on top of that I would obviously have to buy all the seals for the rest of the engine. To rebuild the engine myself would cost roughly $2,250. I found a company on ebay that rebuilds the whole block for $2,500. It comes with a 1 year 12K warranty. I guess what I am getting at is which is the better option to go for? If anyone knows of someone that does great rebuilds please let me know. I'm not going to Mazda for this due to the previous owner having them rebuild the engine and it's now dead with only 30,000 miles on it!

Here is the Ebay listing:
Mazda RX8 Engine 1YR 12K Warranty 6 Port or 4 Port Available | eBay

Thanks,
~zattack906

CelestialGryphon

iTrader: (1)

Y'know, I've seen this company as well but I don't know anything about them. Like, really, can't find anything relevant or recent from them. I've been trying to do footwork but I've had no real luck. As far as great rebuilds goes, try Pineapple. It's expensive but they offer a 3 year 36k warranty and are very quick to answer questions. Possibly Banzai as well but I don't know too much about them as well, but I'm considering them too.

mibsy

I just used Rotary Resurrection in Morristown, Tennessee and Kevin did a fantastic job rebuilding our engine. Depends upon where you live, but for us, the shipping was reasonable from Ohio since I dropped it off and picked it up at the trucking company. Kevin at Rotary Resurrection completed ours in June. He sent teardown and rebuild pictures, offered options for replacing the housings, and sent detailed startup and checkout instructions. We haven't quite finished the reinstall, but we're getting close to starting it up. I preferred to use one of the experts nationally and recognized on these forums rather than try to find someone local that *might* be able to work on it. Good luck with whichever avenue you choose!

gwilliams6

I recommend the following rebuilders : Pineapple Racing, Rotary Resurrection, Pettit Racing, Racing Beat, Rotary Performance and don't forget Charles of BHR. .

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

OJ's Imports has a good reputation here in South Texas. I don't know how they sell rebuilds that cheap but they must be doing something right because over the past many years I have never heard anything bad and the few people that I know, that do have rebuilds from them are still running fine.

That said, Pineapple Racing rebuilt mine 40,000 miles ago and I could not have asked for a better experience. But mine was not a budget minded build per say.

CelestialGryphon

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, I'm surprised Charles doesn't rebuild engines. Or does he?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

He does, but he is building a new shop right now. From what I have seen, the shop is almost finished.

NotAPreppie

I had my engine rebuilt by OJ Imports in February. It's been good so far except for a minor issue with the return freight process. They were not kind to the pallet and lost all of the paperwork from Omar. My friend didn't think to refuse the delivery so I had to make the best of it. I don't really count that as Omar's fault.

A buddy loaned me his garage and helped me remove the engine. Omar's freight carrier (YRC) picked it up at my buddy's work (he has a loading dock). It was about 4 days freight out, 3-4 days for the teardown and rebuild and then another 4 days freight back.

We got the engine reinstalled and it fired right up. There was a breakdown in communication between the oil pressure switch and PCM because it reported 0 pressure even when there was (we even put a meter on the switch pigtail and watched the resistance change). It started working about 5 minutes into my drive home.

My total cost was just shy of $2200, including round-trip freight between central IL and OJImports. If you want a faster turn around time, get the pre-rebuilt engine and send your old one back. It may cost you more but then your car will only be down for a weekend rather than 3 weeks. Of course, there are extra costs in fluids, intake/exhaust gaskets and seals and whatever else you do (ignition, Sohn adapter, etc).

gwilliams6

Yes Charles of BHR does. I talked with a mutual friend out there in Arizona and the new shop photos should be forthcoming. I hear it is a beaut !

CelestialGryphon

iTrader: (1)

So, buy running low comp engine and send to OJI, keep engine in car until detonation, install OJI?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

If you want to save money. If you want something with a little more attention to detail then Look at BHR, Pineapple, RR, etc.

And Charles shop is just about finished up.

zattack906

Thank you everyone for the help. I think I'm going to have someone build my core instead of doing it myself. As for who to go with... I am still considering OJ's, though I tried contacting them through email from their site and haven't gotten a reply in 2 weeks :/ . So I have to call them at some point. I also might go with Rotary Resurrection or BHR depending on the budget I have at the end of this summer. does anyone know of the policy's that the three of them have for sending in already disassembled cores ? I know OJ's doesn't accept them but what about Rotary Resurrection or BHR ?

NotAPreppie

Call them. Omar is a easy to work with over the phone. He doesn't strike me as an e-mail kind of guy.