Hello,
my name is Josh and I live in Charleston, S.C.
I have an 08 with 72k. I blew the motor under light load mostlilely due to overheating.
I almost have motor pulled just gotta undo mounts and tranny bolts.
I am looking for someone that can help me determine if my housings and rotors are still good and other misc help along the rebuild process. Looking to do a CONSERVATIVE port of some kind to make the rebuild worth it.
not going to lie I rushed pulling vaccumm lines and solenoids, so I may need help when we get to that point as well. I AM DESPERATE! THIS IS MY DREAM CAR. I'm upside down on the loan so I need to rebuild it. I bought a 4.6l crown Vic to drive in the meantime. I have time, a little but of money. Just need a guy who's been where I'm at and remembers how overwhelming there first rebuild was.

 

I'm nowhere near SC otherwise I'd be happy to help.

In the mean time, if you haven't found these, it may help you piece everything back together.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...w-pics-178937/
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...ctures-178945/

Don't bother porting your engine.
The intake side flows more than enough for stock power levels. Porting the exhaust will get you nothing at stock power levels because the restriction isn't the port; it's what happens between the port and the exhaust manifold. You won't gain any overlap through porting a Renesis like you would with early 13B engines. There's just not enough gain to justify the risk.

The rebuild will be worth it if you get it right the first time. Conventional wisdom is that this is hard for a first-time rebuilder to do. Adding a port will increase the chances that you will make a mistake while also making it harder to determine why your fresh rebuild isn't behaving well.

If you're going to do the rebuild yourself, you should do a LOT of research before hand.
Videos

 

I would suggest that you do not rebuild yourself.

I would contact Kevin at rotaryresurrection.com. He is about 6hrs away from you and comes highly recommended on this forum. I had my rx8 motor rebuild by him last year. He will take your motor apart and inspect all components and then give you options based on your budget and his recommendations for the rebuild.

Another option would be Ernst at rx7world.com. He is about 3 hours away from you in Rock Hill, SC. I have not seen any reviews of his work on this forum good or bad so buyer beware. However I did have him rebuild an engine in my sons FC RX7 a couple of years ago when Keven was too busy to get to mine. He did a good job at a good price and the engine is still running strong after a couple of years.

TCF

 

I understand you might have had different issues than me. BUT assuming all my housing and irons are good. As of now I'm 65% sure I just need new seals. How much did you pay? If you don't mind me asking

 

If your curious about the cost of parts, I just rebuilt my 6 port last year. The internals and gaskets alone were about $2,000.00 from Pineapple racing.

Engine gasket set w/apex, side & corner seals, and springs

Main and rotor bearings w/press tool.

Oil control rings

This did not include purchasing new rotor housing or having the side irons refinished. If your engine has never been replaced, with 72k, yeah your gonna need new housings and iron work. Plan for another 2-2.5k depending upon where you purchase from.

Rob was out of stock on the manifold gasket so I placed and order with Atkins Rotary, another $120.00.

I spent right at $4,000.00 rebuilding mine, plus all the hoses and a clutch kit. I'm not trying to scare you off the project but just be realistic and have your ducks in a row before you decide to tear into.

There are several rebuild videos on YouTube, they will help give you a better understanding about what your up against.

HTH

David

 

I just went through this process myself last year. I went the direction of a remanufactured engine from Mazda. These engines come with new housings, plates, rotors, e-shaft, etc. I couldn't see much that they reused honestly, it also came with a new flywheel, new front cover, new water thermostat, new water pump, new gasket kit, etc.


The total cost for the above was $2800 or $2900 for everything.


I am running the engine right now and its been great. I really don't think you can beat this.


I did have to go to new mexico (I am in CO) to get the engine for this price. I also installed a series II trans which I bought used and it mated right up, car runs better than ever and shifts silky smooth compared to my old messed up trans. I really enjoy the car now, probably the best trans I have ever driven, I also installed a new clutch and slave cylinder when I was at it. The funny thing was I paid $250 for the trans used

 

Rotary Resurrection charged $1600 plus parts, so "IF" you don't need any housings, irons, rotors, bearings, ... then your price would be $1600.

I agree with Dave. If your engine has 70k plus, You will need housings at a minimum. And those are around $700 each new. So that would move your rebuild price up to about $3000.

Kevin normally has some slightly used parts that can be used at your preference or budget, But if you are going to do it might as well get it done right.

TCF

 

Do not rebuild it yourself. Do not. Just save until you can get it properly rebuilt. I recommend Rob @ Pineapple Racing, he built mine and it has been running strong turbocharged since 2011.

 

That's a big assumption based on...?

I suppose you could pull it all apart and find out, and then decide how to proceed. At east the condition of parts will be visible to the rebuilder if they take them in trade for a rebuild. If by some miracle it's all fine and in spec, you still gotta worry about putting it all together to spec. That will determine how soon you need to do this all again. Won't try to talk you out of doing it yourself, but be real clear what outcome you're ready to tolerate.

 

How difficult is it to grind the side seals to fit them in the rotor. Are there better brands than the stock seals?

 

Roxxanne08, by all means disassemble your engine and see if it's worth reusing the parts. I would bet, however, that you're going to need to replace the housings. At that point, put it back together and order a reman engine like this guy here.

I did precisely that last year. I've been very happy with the reman I bought. I even tested it upside-down.

 

Difficult No, time consuming Yes!

You just have to take your time and be sure to match the original angle of the seal. I used a knife sharping stone to grind mine down. You can order them to length if you can get the letter off the rotors.


HTH

David

 

Thanks Dave. Racing beat has a complete rotor seals kit for $1,450. I just don't want to buy the kit and then realize I can't fit them myself. I am pretty sure I had a misfire last summer that caused intervals of low pressure in my car. It is approaching 75k and I should have done new seals a year ago. It's the end of the winter here in Colorado and will be taking it out of the garage and into the shop to crack open those rotors and see what's going on in there.

 

Well it's been a little over a year since I've started this journey and I'm so so so so close.

The motor is back in and fully connected. Fluids are in the car and everything was progressing nicely. Unfortunately when I primed the fuel system I noticed a gas smell and found gas leaking down the passenger side of the motor. I'm thinking I've got a fuel leak somewhere down under the intake manifold at the injector rail. Time to pop some stuff of and see.

 

Thanks to everyone for answering all my questions and getting me through the rebuild! It took way longer than I ever originally planned to get this thing rebuilt (which looking back was obvious as I'd never done anything like this before) but everything is back together and the Rx8 is running great!

Had some initial startup issues with a fuel leak that turned out to be a cracked O-Ring in one of the primary injectors and the power steering not working which just turned out to be the dirty plug connection under the intake box. But since then everything has settled right down. Hot and cold starts aren't a problem and no other issues to speak of. Just trying to get through the break in period so I can open everything up. Also it needs a wash.

Thanks again for all the help (especially Kevin from Rotary Resurrection)