I've had my 8 since February of this year and I've put about 6000 miles so far, and I have less than 200 miles before I hit 100k. Obviously, after this point, it'll need some serious service. It hasn't had any kind of maintenance other than PPM, but I plan to drop the motor soon and rebuild it. I've only played with 6 Cylinders and short block V8's, so this is my first time rebuilding a Renny or any sort of Wankel motor. I'm ordering a shop manual off Mazdatrix and I've done a crap load of personal research, but I also want to hear from you guys. For those of you who have rebuilt your motors, what sort of steps did you take, or are there any short cuts available? Ups and downs or rebuilding? What all did you replace and clean, did you make any improvements? Mods? For those who plan to do theirs, or want to, what sort of ideas do you have? So far I'm planning to change the seals, gaskets, rings, and add performance bearings and stationary gears, and I'm debating whether to use aluminum or cryo treated apex seals. I might even port the housings along the way. I appreciate any comments and advice from you guys.

 

I voted, and just interested.

 

I said a piece of cake. But. I've rebuilt dozens.
Now if you have never rebuilt one before, I might say it's complex for the beginner.

 

What symptoms is it showing that indicates a rebuild is needed? Low compression?

Or are you just itching to get inside a rotary? Nothing wrong with that.

Ken

 

What Erick says is the truth. Rebuilding the engine per se isn't the hardest thing in the world, a trained ape could probably do that. Building an engine that lasts and doesn't fail is another thing though
There are many small tricks and hacks that you can do to make these engines last longer, that's what you buy from a rebuilder as well.. his experience.

 

A little bit of both. I can feel the compression lowering a bit, but it may just be the coils. But my engine has been overheating and tends to do so almost everyday. I want to be able to race my car but also use it as a daily driver.
I can't depend on a nearly sick motor for long. Worst case scenario, I would send it to a shop.

 

Where are you from?

 

North Texas. I've tried using a heavier oil to try and minimize heat and NEO Keep Cool, it lowers the water temp sufficiently but sooner or later afterwards it'll get too hot again.

 

Man as soon as I move, all these NTX guys keep popping up!

Back on topic, why don't you start by actually getting a compression check instead of just guessing? Rebuild kits are expensive and why fix what ain't broke?