Lest you think I just know all this minutia off the top of my head, you
too can read all about it in the very professional book "RX7" by Jack K
Yamaguchi and John Dinkel (a real great book for rx7 3rd gen owners,
which focuses on the evolutionary development of the 3rd gen from the
other gens, with lots of tech details and background info) that I got
for free (Ha) by buying so many FD parts from a Mazda dealership in
Houston.
Marc Wiese
------------------------------

Hey Marc,

Thanks for the info, and the great tip on the book.  I'll certainly be
picking up a copy of that.

One thing that continues to bother me is the mortality rate of the FD
motors.  I was blissfully ignorant of this problem until I recently bought
an R1.  With all these improvements, you'd think they'd have a reasonable
life, but it seems common to lose either an apex seal, or a cooling seal
before 80k miles.  I've spent years telling people how the bad reputation
for rotary engines wasn't deserved anymore, and now I find myself trying to
explain why my car got a new engine at 75k miles due to an apex seal
breaking.  Is it just the extra power?  I really wish someone would explain
what seems to have gone wrong with the 3rd gen engines.

Thanks,
Rusty
Turbo 13B powered RV-3... Be Afraid :-)
1993 RX-7 R1... Stock (for now)