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I recently rebuilt a REW motor, housings refurbished by freelance, intake and exhaust ported, all new seals and springs, mirror finished removed from side plates by Lynn Hanover method. The engine is back together and while turning the motor over by hand there is a notable drop in compression on the front rotor, 1 face only. I am going to pull the motor back apart to see what the problem is. I assume it's a side seal issue. I was having a problem getting some of the new file fit side seals to spring back out of the side seal grooves and put some of the old side seals (longest I had) in the rotor with a clearance of 0.0075. I know they are supposed to be between .002 and .006 (max 0.015). While this is the issue that I will check on first, is there anything else that I should look for? Is it normal for there to be some discrepancies in compression before the motor is broken in? Any help on guidance would be appreciated. thanks
If the seals are tight then you can use a bit of 600 paper or an old seal to clean out the grove better. They need to move freely or you will have problems with that face
You would be better if you are pulling it apart to re-cut a seal and re-do that one...it isn't a huge problem..but why not make it the same as the rest
Yeah I figured that's what I was going to have to do. I worked on that groove for a bit with lubricant and Emory paper and the new seal just kept getting jammed. I may just have to buy a new seal, recut, and try again. Atkins doesn't appear to sell them individually, any reccomendations?
I just disassembled the motor and checked the side seals from the face with low compression. The side seal is definitely warped. I may have put a little too much pressure on the side seal when grinding it down with my sharpening stone. Under close view it definitely has a "S" characteristic too the shape. I better recheck them all. I spent so much effort checking corner seal gap, I missed the warpage completely. Lesson learned.
When comparing the Renesis front cover to the REW front plate, there are two distinct differences in the bolt locations. It looks like I will have to remove the one stud from the REW front plate, machine a thread about 20mm over in the REW plate to accept a through bolt from the Renesis front plate. About the second misaligned bolt near the front stationary gear, it doesn't look like there is any material to correct this error in the REW plate. I assume then that this bolt is just left out during assembly? Thanks in advance.
EDIT - NM I figured it all out...
Last edited by strokercharged95gt; 01-22-2015 at 07:57 AM.
I am trying to decide between RX8Performance and Banzai mount. The RX8 performance mount has been proven to work on many of the builds on here. But the Banzai mount looks nice as well. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences with either mount? The Banzai mount does come with new engine bushings, but the rx8 performance mount does look more solid...
I went with the Banzai Mount, I ordered it last Wednesday and it was at my door on Friday. I was able to order and have the mount on my car in about 50 hours. I am about 80% complete fabricating the turbo manifold out of 2" 16 gauge steel. Does anyone have any thoughts on the size down-pipe I should run. I have 3" left over from the down-pipe I fabricated on my mustang. Should I go bigger? Is it worth much? I will be running this down-pipe back into stock exhaust system, so moving up to a 4" may not be worth the effort. Overall I'm only going to be shooting for 350hp. Also, I am using a Precision T4 66mm (undivided) with .81 AR (3 inch v-band discharge).
16 Ga steel tube is not going to cut it on a 13B turbo manifold unless you just intend to putter around town ...
Sch 10 stainless is a more common choice for a stout (support-bracket free), long lasting rotary turbo manifold, mild/carbon steel will need to be about double or Sch 40 due to it's lower temperature limit
Since I'm nearly done, I will just run it until it becomes a problem then make a new thicker manifold down the road (gives me another project). I will be going with the 3" down pipe then.
EDIT: I just broke down and ordered a bunch of 2" schedule 40 pipe to redo the manifold, at least I have a good template to work off of.... Cost was $160. I paid about $70 for all of the 16 gauge stuff. I also went with a divided T4 flange this time. I was able to shape the metal of the 16 gauge to undivided flange, I think this stuff will be too thick for that...
Last edited by strokercharged95gt; 02-06-2015 at 01:27 PM.
I need some criticism on the manifold routing. This was my first attempt. The T4 flange was in front of the thermostat housing, which left me only one of the aluminum fitting to be cut and re-soldered. The tubing was about 3/4 of and inch in front of the front sway bar and about an inch from the passenger frame rail. I know that I will have to move/relocate the ECU this way. Is there any downside to this other than moving weight farther up in the engine compartment? Suggestions welcome!
I have 2"Sch 40 manifold complete (minus wastegate flange). I'm contemplating whether I should reduce the 3" downpipe back into the factory exhaust or just scrap the entire factory exhaust system and just put a muffler in the location of the cat pipe and run a turndown at the back of the muffler. On my mustang I run a small 2 chamber muffler (no cats) and the turbo keeps it relatively quiet. Will the turbo and one muffler keep the exhaust noise somewhat tame?
Looking for some ideas. I would like to run the turbo to intercooler pipe beneath and around to the intercooler rather than following the same route as the intercooler to throttle pipe. Having fabricated the turbo manifold as far forward as the sway bar would allow and the size of my turbo has put the turbo right on top of the battery and computer brace. Has anyone cut this thing off to regret it later? Im thinking maybe run some bracing to the engine compartment frame rails and cutting just a section out. If anyone has dealt with this issue before, I would appreciate any advice before I start cutting....
Yep going to remove the cross beam, just wanted some assurance on it. Im running the down-pipe back into the factory system for now. I just wanna get the swap running then I can worry about doing the easy upgrades later. My JGS 50mm gate just came in so that will be up next. Should have down-pipe, turbo manifold, and turbine housing ready to go to the coaters in next few weeks...
Update: Just had no choice but to cut the factory crash beam. Rather than have nothing, I cut it down from 4.5" to 1.5". I cut up the removed portion and have welded in a box section in the middle. I still have to box the ends up for added strength. Something's better than nothing...
I am looking forward to my next few moves. I plan on getting Adaptronics to control the car. Since it uses VE tuning an not a MAF transfer function to control air/fuel, is the MAF necessary? I may want to use the MAF voltage to tune methanol in the future, so should I just plumb it in anyway? Will the ECU flip out without it? Iv'e always used MAF tuning before, so its always been a necessity.
Also with injector staging, I plan on running 550 primary, then 1000's for secondary and tertiary. Is there any reason to use 725's or 850's on the secondary's instead of 1000's. I don't wanna buy anything twice if I can help it.
I'm working on battery relocation, computer relocation, and plumbing the radiator in the next few weeks/months.
Looking to mount my 10 AN fitting for the turbo drain. Any reason why I wouldn't want to drain the turbo effluent into the front cover nearest the turbo (assuming it doesn't interfere with pulleys or belts). I'm worried that if place it near the front of the oil pan it may come close to interfering with the front sway bar during engine install/removal + would rather not have to go under the car to attach/remove.
Also, is there any reason I cant mount m oil pressure sending unit between the turbo and turbo feed line from the block... I have don't this on my mustang an the readings are fine.
01-11-2015, 05:40 PM
