RX8 13B Rebuild + Turbo=360HP

I was not going to rebuild my engine until it completely lost compression. These rotary engines need to be rebuilt between 24k and 60k miles. I am not sure of how many miles this engine had as it was not the original engine from my rx8. This is not a very cheap rebuild either, these parts can get very expensive very fast. It took me about 1-2 hours to remove the engine from the car, it is a very easy process. As i took my engine out, i also revealed that my clutch was literally gone...I have no idea how I was still able to drive it. It fell parts in my hands.

So I cracked open the engine, which took me about 4-6 hours. I really enjoy taking my time a literally unscrewing the bolts my hand...I know, Im weird. It took me so long cuz I could not remove the flywheel bolt as its torqued down 360lbs (wymore removed it with a 3/4 impact) i was also not able to remove the fron stationary bolt as well (wymore aswell removed it).

I found out that most of my internals are good, all three of my irons were in specs and so were my rotor housings! This is great!! I checked my rotors and all my seals. My front rotor had 50psi compression on each face, the entire rotor was covered in carbon....all the seals were stuck which was causing me to lose so much compression. My rear rotor was full of carbon as well, not so much though. it had 90psi. Normal stock psi is between 120psi and 85psi. I decided to scrap all of the seals and buy brand new seals to accomadate my ar60 Turbo kit. I got new Racing Apex seals, Racing apex springs, Cryo side seals with cryo springs and solid corner seals with cryo springs. These damn seals are very expensive....I dropped about $700 for just seals. I also purchased an o ring kit and a full overhaul kit. I spent about $1050 total. I was very lucky all my housings and rotors were in good shape.

I have spent most of my time removing all the carbon from the engine block...about 4-5 days, with about 4-6 hours a day. I love taking my time and makinig sure its done right the first time. I will be posting pictures.

I have recieved all my parts and I am ready to start putting the engine back together. There are many special tools that are needed to rebuild this engine and I purchased them all....about $400. it is all worth it!!

As soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will do so. If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask me. I am a very open person and willing to help anyone out.

I will be posting my progress

--CHEPETECH solo racing team.

Good stuff and cant wait for pics!! I wanted to go rotary but i read into it and ill pass!! Instead of changing the timing chain in a piston car you have to rebuild a rotary. I would much rather change a timing chain/belt than rebuild an engine. The big thing that pushed me away was the mpg!! They get a little less then what my wrx was getting and mine was at 19mpg!! Good to see some people dont care much about the things i do and just go for it!! Good luck man!

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This is the block with all accessories pulled off ready to be opened,

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I had to make a custom engine stand. this is the engine with the rear side up, this is done so I can remove the 17 bolts that hold it together...its kind of like the head bolts on a pistoned engine.

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This is the rotor housing on top (sorry guys I took out the rotor and didn't take a pic) and the iron plate on the bottom.

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This is my front patio...My wife keeps compalining that there is a mess in the front, I don't see the mess....I see awesomeness. lol!! Well This is the entire engine apart.

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These are the rotors, I had to put a new bearing on one. it needed to be pressed in.

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Here is were i was lapping the iron housings, this needs to be done because you need to get rid of the shiny chrome plating and make it look scratching so the oil will stick better to the wall. I used valve grinding paste. this process sucks.

WELL THATS ALL I GOT FOR NOW. I will post more soon.

Great pics!

WWW0000000WWWW!! I'll keep my eye on this thread love the rotary motors..

Keep us informed!!

good luck Chepetech. you build is very interesting.!

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Didn't get much done today... I cut all my side seals to clearance of .002-.006 what a pain in the ass! I had to cut 12 of them. My specifications from the stock seals are no way near these clearances, they are more like .010-.060 its ridiculous no wonder i am losing so much compresssion and not gettinga a full 120psi, I also installed the corner seals and springs. I removed the old oil rings and put new viton oil rings in the rotor causing to slice my finger open cuz the oil ring metals are razor sharp and you need to press down on them to pop them in. ouch.

I also managed to put the fron iron plate on the engine stand to start stacking the plates together. I will post more pics as i do the build.

Has anyone heard of hylomar???
What a pain it was to find it!! PEPBOYS has it if anyone is interested...it was aslo hella expensive. And it was nearly impossible to find a feeler gauge that goes all the way down to .0015.

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This is the cleaned and preped empty rotor housing.

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I have inserted the newly rebuilt rotor into the housing and ready to install apex seals, I have added tons of vaseline to the side and corner seals. This will prevent the seals from falling out as i am setting the rotor in the housing. I have also installed the waterjackets and applied a good coat of hylomar.

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these are the new racing apex seals they are suppose to be 65% stronger than the regular mazda seals. It is rating at 560HP @ 16-18 lbs of boost. I will only be boosting about 8lbs.

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Here it is all sealed up, there are 18 tension bolts that hold this baby together. they must be torque in sequence like a regular head on a pistoned car. you need to torque it to 27lbs, I went 28lbs I have also spun the rotors using a 19 mm to make sure there are no loose parts that can cause a failure...cuz I will be very pissed off if it fails! lol! I will continue to add more pics

So i put the engine all back together, I had to take the engine apart and rebuild it again. I broke the front plate by trying to tap out a bolt. its sucks cuz the front plate is very expensive. I also broke an oil injector that goes on top of the engine. Anyways I decided to put the engine in the car without the oil injector, I will put it in later when it comes in. I had a hell of a time trying to mate the transmission and the engine. This engine and tranny need to be pressed in to position, its not like a honda or toyota where it literally just slides right in. it was hell! I installed most of the components. all i have left is install the new oil injector and put the intake manifold together. not to hard.....yeah right I will find out and hopefully not break anything anymore. I will post a picture of the engine in the car.

alright guys, I put my engine back in my car.... it sucked cuz it had no damn compression! it was worse than before!! hahahahahahaha. so i was really pissed ofF. so i took the damn thing out again to see what i could have possible done wrong. I took it back apart and rebuilt it for the third damn time. it only took me a couple of hours. I figured out that since everything is brand spankin new I need to literally pull start the car. and I mean go like 15 miles per hour to get the compression up high enough to start. after I get it started then it should all be fine. its the apex seal design. after that I should be ok. I will then start fabricating my new turbo header. Its going to be top mount, i want to be able to drill a hole on my hood and the turbo be peeking at people. it will be sick. i will post pics.

Damn sounds like a pain in the ass!!! If i ever go rotary im gona hit you up for sure!!!

Damn man, it looks like basically what I just did, except rotary. At work, so Im gonna watch the videos later.

it just sucks cuz if my housing are just not lapped correctly (honing on piston sleeves) it will not create good compression until the apex seal has taken shape of the old rotor housing. Next time I rebuild an engine...IM NOT! hahahah Im just gonna build a brand new engine with all brand new parts. which is two rotor housing $680 each, two rotors $800 both, three irons, front,center and rear about $1200 and eccentric shaft $250. and all brand new seals. this there will be absolutly no problems. hahahaha