Ceramic Apex Seals- 1 or 2 piece?
 

Needing a rebuild. Want to go ceramic. Sven at NRS emailed stating he's going to be making some Rx8 seals, but only 1 piece, not stock 2 piece.

Should I go with the one piece? Should I be worried about low rpm response and idle?

Im staying NA. No FI in the future. Will be having my rebuild ported, cobb ap, midpipe, bhr ignition, usual goodies.

Whats everyones thoughts.

You have seen the price?

yeah. he emailed me the price. quite a bit cheaper than Ianetti.

Kane would be a good person to talk to on this . PM him .

1 piece is for people that Max sealing is their main concern : Racing.

2 piece is better for startup and lower speed.

NRS is always cheaper than Ianetti. but they're made by different people. my next rebuild (be the 8 or my future FD3S) would be using Ianetti.

If you want Ianetti, you should ask Paul @ Mazmart. He can do good price on them (friend of Dr. Ianetti)

I'm using NRS 2 piece for my FC. I'm should be able to put the engine back together tomorrow. then I will report it's compression numbers and stuff (assume I didn't mess up the side seals, lol)

This might seem like a dumb question, but what does your engine builder suggest that you use?

Fair question.

Havent picked one yet. Dont have a place to pull the engine, and havent bought the parts yet (get parts at cost + 10%).

Asking because Sven from NRS emailed me stating he is making a few sets of seals and needs an answer as to whether I want a set or not.

1pc is stronger.....but doesn't seal quite as well at low speed...so idle might not have as much vac

2pc seals better....but is more fragile ( think stupid angled tip) :)

Give me a couple of weeks and I'll let you know what kind of idle vac/ compression I get with the 1pc and new housings after I get a few miles on the engine

I am building my FC with 2 piece ceramic, I was almost done but then I found out 2 of the corner piece were missing ... probably the dog ate it, stupid on my part.

when I'm done with the engine I will try to get some numbers up. not the same I know, but just giving you guys an idea what to expect from 2 pc seals. (b4 any of u ask, yes its brand new housing)

I would suggest that you don't do anything before choosing your builder, then discuss and choose the parts with their involvement. The biggest mistake you can make is to either shackle them with parts they disagree with or disapprove of, or even worse come to realize that you screwed up and put your money on the wrong parts because you listened to a bunch of intrawebz forum yappers ....

^ true.....have to see how his have been holding up...

THIS^^^^^ is the best statement of the year. The hardest thing is to put a car together when a customer has bought random parts and expects you to put the puzzle together. Its doable but takes longer and costs more.

except that if it's just Apex seals its not that much of a difference. especially in Renensis, you parts combination is really limited. you can't use a lot of older parts (not that you want to anyway)

even the hardest part side seal you can finally (for usa) buy selected size by just following the letters on the rotor, they still sell extra long seals, but it's a hard to get it clearance properly. if I have a drill station like Mazdatrix does then it's easy. most people don't.

my FC engine now has FD corner seal springs, FD corner seal, FD side seal and springs, competition outer oil seal spring, updated oil seal rubber, stock FC rotors, brand new FC housings and iron (yep, all 5 pieces), NRS Ceramic apex. not hard to do.

All my RX8 motors have the hand clearanced side seals and FD corner and side seal springs as Mazda changed them slightly for the RX8 (the RX8 springs are weaker). You can see this in the price difference between rx7 and rx8 spring pricing as well.

Some are more versed than others in picking out parts. I am glad its easy for you, but trust me I deal with this daily and its not as easy as you make it out to be when dealing w/ several customers at once. Not many people shell out 5K in parts for a FC motor either.

Some people might not know you need new rotor housings for ceramics when they buy the seals. Obviously you did, but again you are more versed than most.

Could you please take a side by side picture of said springs please? Ours are not just weaker.. they're really prone to failure. I never had a chance to see them side by side. :tear:

I get your point, but didnt think it was a big deal. I just wanting a standard Renny rebuild. Ill be using stock, original renesis parts, new gaskets, housings, etc. About the only aftermarket parts used will be apex seals and a BHR ignition set.

Will probably have the new housings ported as well.

Thanks for the tip, Ill check in with my builder (when chosen) regarding rx7 side seal springs.

I understand your point, if I'm u I will go nuts.

Yea, some people didn't know u should get new housings for ceramics, I seen some ridiculous build with chrome flaking housings with new apex. cuz the owner "don't have enough money", I don't even wanna know what happens after, but it's not gonna be good.

I have 1 piece with all of that /\
works great.
New housings/bearings/side seals.

My idle is smooth.
http://s848.photobucket.com/albums/a...t=MOV00081.mp4

I got 1 piece nrs off some dude on e-bay. I scored!

I have just passed 42000kms on build. Still strong.

Good luck.

that's good to know, if you get perfect smooth idle then 1 pc is a better choice.

awesome, thanks.

Im planning on new housings, bearings, all seals. about the only things I plan on reusing are eccentric shaft, rotors, irons (unless recommended by builder otherwise)

I can show you a used renny corner seal spring and a new FD corner seal spring. I don't keep any new renny springs on hand as they are garbage IMO.

Please keep me in mind.

Hmmm, I've got 3mm 2pc ceramics in my 76 Cosmo with origional used housings. Probably have put well over 80,000 miles on them since ceramics installed, driven very hard. They still work great!