. We will see. Good night. All the best, Chris Houston ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Christopher Barber=20 To: Rotary motors in aircraft=20 Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:45 PM Subject: [FlyRotary] Various Possible solutions to coolant in housing I have been inspecting and re-inspecting the plates (front, center and = rear) and the housing over the last few days...over and over with = trusted second set of eyes helping with the process. I have taken a = straight edge to the plates and with a .0015 feeler gage (the smallest I = could find...the spec is 0016 IIRC ) could not get it to even think = about going under the straight edge. The plates seem solid, straight = and in damn good shape. =20 I have taken a dental pick and "ticked" it around the oil seal grooves = and it seems solid all around. However, after viewing the Mazdatrix = website, it shows where the side of the O-ring groves may give way. = They state it is hard to diagnose but can be a way coolant gets into the = combustion chamber (http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/sidehsgs.htm photo's 4 = and 5). They had to use very high pressure over an extended period to = make the bad area actually VISIBLY fail. IS THERE A WAY to determine = if these groove side walls are solid without the high pressure, long = term pressure test process....which is beyond my ability? I hate the = idea of putting these back together and continue to have a = problem......I also hate the idea of the about $400.00 ish each for new = plates :-( I really thing the side plates are ok IF these grooves are = good. Any ideas? Next, when we have meticulously inspected the housings, we seem to see = a couple of EXTREMELY slight irregularities around the edge where the = water seal would lay between it and the side seals. My buddy...a VERY = trusted resource, feels this could be enough to cause a problem. Also, = when I broke out the digital calipers I measured several places around = the housings and it seems the thickness around the diameter I am getting = is reading slightly out of spec for differences in thickness around the = housings. Is it proper or even possible to take these to a machine shop and have = them machined smooth and flat? Or is it better to just suck it up and = buy new housings? I am about a "wild hair" away from just giving in and = buying two new housing just to get going again and end all question of = them being a future problem....at least for the current reasons. I hate = the idea of throwing money at something that may be perfectly fine = (after all I am not the government) What are y'all's thoughts? As to the O-rings that came out of the engine for the inner rings = there does seem to be some roughness along a couple of areas on the = O-rings. The areas are about 1.5 inches long, give are take, and seem = to be on a couple of the rings and in about the same area on the various = plates. This would seem to be indicative to over heating......Yes, = No....????? Also, the price for new housings from Pineapple Racing (558.00) does = not seem too bad (Mazdatrix are 571.78 w/ cash discount). One of the = "features" Pineapple Racing promotes on their site is that they have = "machined spark plug holes" so as to accept alternative plugs. What the = heck is this? I hope to get a chance to call them on the morrow but = what say Ye? I tend to kick around the various ideas before I decide, but as a rule = do not knee jerk react to things even though it may seem this way. I do = not want to drop a grand+ for new housings, but that may be inevitable. = More so, I don't want to toss an additional $1400 on new side = plates......however, I also want some piece of mind that at least these = issues are addressed. Will love to get your opinions. TIA. All the best, Chris Velocity SE Houston ------=_NextPart_000_08B9_01C88565.D3C17040 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Oh, the inner O-rings removed from the = engine that=20 may have some overheating issues are the orange-ish, somewhat stiff = rings=20 that came from the rebuild kit we got from Bruce T. The outer = rings are=20 black and have always bothered me (even though we did not have coolant = leaking=20 OUT of the engine, just into the combustion chamber) since they do not = really=20 seem to fit in the grooves....they seem way to big even when trying to = massage=20 them in.

As to the orange inner rings, I was = always curious=20 as to why the illustration in the Haynes manual states the gray = side faces=20 the rotors and that the illustration show that when they are placed = properly=20 they are slightly higher than the side of the grooves while showing when = installed wrong they are about even with the top of the = grooves. The=20 orange rings seem to only be even with the top of the=20 grooves. ????

I am waiting for the "heavy-duty" = O-ring kit from=20 Pineapple racing to arrive now. They state this kit is much more robust = than=20 others. I hope so <g>. We will see.

Good night.

All the best,

Chris

Houston

----- Original Message -----
From:=20 Christopher Barber =
To: Rotary motors in = aircraft

Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 = 11:45=20 PM

Subject: [FlyRotary] Various = Possible=20 solutions to coolant in housing

I have been inspecting and = re-inspecting the=20 plates (front, center and rear) and the housing over the last few = days...over=20 and over with trusted second set of eyes helping with the = process. I=20 have taken a straight edge to the plates and with a .0015 feeler=20 gage (the smallest I could find...the spec is = 0016 IIRC ) could=20 not get it to even think about going under the straight edge. = The plates=20 seem solid, straight and in damn good shape.

I have taken a dental pick and = "ticked" it around=20 the oil seal grooves and it seems solid all around. = However, after=20 viewing the Mazdatrix website, it shows where the side of the O-ring = groves=20 may give way. They state it is hard to diagnose but can be a way = coolant=20 gets into the combustion chamber (http://www.mazdatrix.c= om/faq/sidehsgs.htm photo's=20 4 and 5). They had to use very high pressure over an extended period = to make=20 the bad area actually VISIBLY fail. IS THERE A WAY to = determine if=20 these groove side walls are solid without the high pressure, long term = pressure test process....which is beyond my ability? I hate = the=20 idea of putting these back together and continue to have a = problem......I also=20 hate the idea of the about $400.00 ish each for new plates = :-( I=20 really thing the side plates are ok IF these grooves are good. = Any=20 ideas?

Next, when we have meticulously = inspected the=20 housings, we seem to see a couple of EXTREMELY slight irregularities = around=20 the edge where the water seal would lay between it and the side = seals. =20 My buddy...a VERY trusted resource, feels this could be enough to = cause a=20 problem. Also, when I broke out the digital calipers I measured = several places=20 around the housings and it seems the thickness around the diameter I = am=20 getting is reading slightly out of spec for differences in thickness = around=20 the housings.

Is it proper or even possible to take = these to a=20 machine shop and have them machined smooth and flat? Or is it = better to=20 just suck it up and buy new housings? I am about a "wild hair" = away from=20 just giving in and buying two new housing just to get going again and = end all=20 question of them being a future problem....at least for the current=20 reasons. I hate the idea of throwing money at something that may = be=20 perfectly fine (after all I am not the government) What are y'all's=20 thoughts?

As to the O-rings that came out of = the engine for=20 the inner rings there does seem to be some roughness along a couple of = areas=20 on the O-rings. The areas are about 1.5 inches long, give are = take, and=20 seem to be on a couple of the rings and in about the same area on the = various=20 plates. This would seem to be indicative to over = heating......Yes,=20 No....?????

Also, the price for new = housings from=20 Pineapple Racing (558.00) does not seem too bad (Mazdatrix are = 571.78 w/=20 cash discount). One of the "features" Pineapple=20 Racing promotes on their site is that they have "machined spark = plug=20 holes" so as to accept alternative plugs. What the heck is = this? I=20 hope to get a chance to call them on the morrow but what say = Ye?

I tend to kick around the various = ideas before I=20 decide, but as a rule do not knee jerk react to things even though it = may seem=20 this way. I do not want to drop a grand+ for new housings, but = that may=20 be inevitable. More so, I don't want to toss an additional $1400 = on new=20 side plates......however, I also want some piece of mind that at least = these=20 issues are addressed.

Will love to get your opinions. = TIA.

All the best,

Chris

Velocity SE

Houston

------=_NextPart_000_08B9_01C88565.D3C17040--