Bought an 06 shinka for a grand from a dude with some rust but it drives as well as a rotary can. Go to pick it up and he says it has a "street port" job from OJ Imports in Texas. No receipts of course but has the same paint job on the block as what I see in the pictures on OJ's site. Looking to sell this engine and trans and start the condemnation from rotary purists. Obviously new to this site and looking for pointers....and also looking to hit that 10 post mark so I can hit the classifieds haha. Do we have any stickies up of swap jobs or is there a specific spot I can grab info?

 

You might want to tell your potential buyers more than "drives as well as a rotary can". Nobody is looking to buy problems and OJ imports is already problems.

 

Haha yep the point was I bought the car for a grand and it runs fine. I expect pretty much anything costing less than 2k to fall apart or blow up immediately. Again I have no receipts for anything so I could sell it as a running motor. So OJ is kinda rough or what? I've seen some of the dudes videos on YouTube and seems like he has something decent of a shop.

 

If you want to sell the engine then you better get a compression test before you pull it out. "Drives well" doesn't mean crap.

And hopefully you have some cash on hand for a swap.

 

yeah was going to comp test it before I pull it next week. What are typical numbers? Do I check it warm or cold and is there anything different I need to do?

 

Check warm and you need a rotary tester. A regular one can't properly distinguish individual rotor faces. It'll show you the compression of the best face. Test in the leading spark plug holes only.

 

Yeah saw some on eBay........what if I just put a normal tester on it and shoot a slow motion video of the gauge with the pressure release button zip tied open? Would show me at least a round about number of what is going on? And obviously do it for front and rear rotor.

 

Is this a viable option with a standard compression tester

 

The thing is that you are trying to sell the engine to other people here. They will likely want compression numbers from an accurate tester.

 

That's true. Well doggon what would Mazda charge for that? If it's 300 might as well just flippin buy my own.

 

Should cost between 150 to 200.

 

Pretty sure it should be the trailing plug holes.

 

Mmmmm leading according to Racing Beat and Rotary Ressurection. Also it shouldn't *really* matter? The trailing has a smaller orifice but that's about it.

OP, here Rotary Tech Tips: How to compression check a rotary engine

 

You wouldn't think so but I've done it both ways and the leading plug gives lower numbers than the trailing plug. No idea why.

For what it's worth, the instructions printed on the RCT-V5 from forum sponsor RotaryCompressionTester.com indicate the trailing plug should be used.

 

The instructions that came with my Twisted Rotors V2 tester said leading.

For the last 10 years I've done them from the leading plugs.

Just my 2 cents.
Travis

 

Well if the tester says to use the leading, use the leading.

The one dealerships have strangely can be used on either hole according to the Service Manual.

 

Is it possible you tested leading first and the engine was warmer than when you tested trailing.

 

I doubt the engine cooled that much in 5 minutes.