4AG rebuild video

[Mux213]

Jonas,

I do all the work on the RX7 together with a mate of mine. The DeLorean I usually have an expert look at because it is worth to much to ruin by inexperience although I want to do what I can do safely myself.

The wankel engine is very different from a piston engine but in the end its just a combustion engine. A rebuild is very different from a piston, in many respects easier, in some respects much more difficult. The rotary engine is a little less tolerent, you do have to have someone with experience next to you or you will make a costly mistake. The biggest issue here really is that there is just so much more information readily available for piston engines, rotary engines demand you to figure things out yourself. Get it wrong, byebye engine. (there are some really good rebuild video's out there though that guide you through it step by step). Rotarie rebuilding also demand you buy some special tools. You can do most things without, but for a complete rebuild you will need them.

If you want to get into the world of rotaries and work on the engine itself but are new to them I really would stress to start with an n/a. The turbo engines are very easy to break by setting them up wrong and when they break because of this you probably are in for major $$$ as you easily damage the expensive irons. Mind you, when setup right and treated good these things are solid! Rotary engines got their bad name because of abuse and (Mazda) garages simply not knowing what to do and making lotsof mistakes. Even today you run a big risk when bringing your rotary in for repairs at a Mazda dealer. The RX8 has improved knowladge alot but being relatively rare most Mazda dealers do not have the experience but do have overconfident mechanics that underestimate this engine.

The n/a's on the other hand dont brake so easilly, when setup wrong you can break an apex seal but usually they dont do as much damage in an n/a then in a turbo'ed car. It will still set you back a couple of hours work and maybe 100/200 euros but you really have to do something weird to get them to brake. Mind you, put a rotary engine back together the wrong way and you can easily destroy it, but the same goes for piston engines. Follow the instructions on a good rebuild tape to the letter and it cant really go wrong.

Last bit of advise is to start off with a 1st gen or with an RX3 or RX4. The reason is very simple, these cars are carberator 12As and 13Bs. They are relative easy to tune for a beginner and have almost no complexity to them whot so ever. Stick on makumi carbs and a dual exhaust and you're 12A will push out over 150hp at the flywheel with little trouble, stock is around 100hp, "breathing is the key to n/a rotary tuning", forget what you know about piston tuning, the rules dont apply. Parts are also pretty well available in the 2nd hand area especially in the states. Mind you that the 13B model of the 1st gen RX7 that was produced in the last 2 years has a slightly different engine and some parts for it are very hard to find.

I've gone for an RX7-FC (2nd gen) which means I have to deal with a complex EFI and emmisions setup. I've removed most of the systems for emmisions because I simply dont care, my car is gonne be a track car. It will be nice if it passes MOT but it probably wont because emmisions are screwed up. But if you want a dialy driver, and you are new to this, you may want to skip this stage until you've become comfortable working on a carbed rotary.

Just dont go turbo unless you have someone next to you who's worked on these engines for ages, or really know what you are doing.