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As I have mentioned following the coolant in my
rotor housing I disassembled the engine. I was not thrilled with the
conditions of the rotors (as in the water passages seemed a bit rough) but
they seemed pretty much in spec and better facing than the other housing we
had...if I was measuring properly. I considered replacing them, but I did
not want to wait for the order to arrive. While taking it apart I
decided to go ahead and port the engine with the Pineapple Racing Medium Street
Port template. I ground out the plates but became too aggressive on the
intermediate housing and broke through. The actual grinding with a Dremmel
was pretty easy....if it only were not for that pesky oooops (more on that in a
minute:-+)
Funny, but very lucky in this case, how even
with years of research/experience etc you will come across a tidbit of
information that can make a big difference. In the honored tradition of
admitting mistakes in the experimental build and engine development, I am
gonna share one of my "oops". After trashing my center plate I
needed a new one so I decided to order a new one...since I was gonna be waiting
on the new plate, I went ahead and choose to order new rotor housings......and,
while on the phone went ahead and ordered new front and rear housing as
well.....ported by the professionals at Mazdatrix. Heck, it is only an
airplane engine - figured new major engine parts couldn't hurt
<g>.
I received the new parts on Saturday while away at
a big Jeep Jamboree in the Texas Hill Country with my best friend.....heck,
those off road guys are almost as crazy as we are. Kinda like us, they plan
for equipment failure...just for those guys, the consequences are a mere
inconvenience....and give some bragging rights to boot. Great fun
though
When I got the new parts I noticed that the
intermediate housing porting, while REALLY pretty and well done, seemed very
small. Hmmmmm? Later that night I was viewing some RX7 club threads online
to reinforce my rebuild process and noticed that I had screwed up. My
templates had TWO different template patterns. I think I was thinking they
were for turbo and non turbo (smaller second port) plates and didn't think
too much about it at the time. I would just use the larger turbo
port. OOOOOOPPPPPS. NO, the smaller port template is for the
intermediate housing porting. No wonder I broke through....I was using the
larger WRONG template. Damn. I am actually a pretty competent guy, how could I
miss that? Hmmmm.
Well, Education and recreation. It is
both. I am actually pretty happy that I got the new parts. I am
still using the used rotors, e-shaft and gears. They seem perfect. I
think the new rotor housing are likely to give the most bang for the buck and I
think the correct porting will add some good power. Combined with the
Mistral intake, Tracy's products and possible future turbo, a solid power
plant should be in the making for the Velocity.
I have been making my aviation modifications over
the last couple of days and painted the parts: Blue and gold; Sigma Chi, Law
Enforcement and the Legal profession colors....plus I think the colors look
pretty together <g>. I should be able to sandwich it all together in
the next few days. I am reviewing the video's on the Pineapple Racing
site, reviewing Tracy's material's, Mazda Manual, Haynes Manual, Bruce T's
video, other online info etc. It is amazing how a review helps
reinforce knowledge well after the first exposure. Preparing the parts for
assembly is sooooooo much less daunting this time. While hopefully not
falling into complacency (such as the wrong port template. DOH!!!), confidence
is high. Things that provided great anxiety a couple of years ago, are
just tasks to complete....tapping, grinding, measuring etc. This also
allows the opportunity to refine the various ancillary systems. It is much
easier to get to some of the preliminary attempts, that are working, but that
can be refined that have already been mounted and/or installed. I can
clean up wire runs, air ducting, and oil pan leak etc. I am of the
mind that that the coolant leak was a forced blessing. So it
goes.
All the best,
Christopher Barber
Houston, Texas
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