Jeff, my alternator guy just holds the pulley with his left hand and
hits the nut with an impact wrench and it spins right off.  It is right hand
threads though….lefty tighty, righty loosey!

If you discover that my alternator guy has a really strong left hand, you
can use Lynn's suggestion of a strap wrench..  :>)



Bill B


 ------------------------------

*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] *On
Behalf Of *Jeff Whaley
*Sent:* Monday, December 01, 2008 12:14 PM
*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Front Nut, Thermostat and Coolant Intake hose
was : [FlyRotary] Re: Hot first flight

Hi Ed, I don't want to change the main e-shaft pulley … I was thinking of
changing the ALTERNATOR double-groove pulley … the belt got jammed in the
alternator pulley; the alternator and top cowling were powdered with rubber
residue.

Jeff



*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] *On
Behalf Of *Ed Anderson
*Sent:* Monday, December 01, 2008 11:58 AM
*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Front Nut, Thermostat and Coolant Intake hose was :
[FlyRotary] Re: Hot first flight



*FONT NUT CAUTION*



Jeff, as Tracy mentioned – delay changing the main pulley until a bit later
(unless its clear there is a defect in it) because if you DO let the thrust
bearing slip off its shoulder on the E shaft – it's a minimum of taking the
front cover off the engine (next to firewall) to get to it.  In most cases,
due to limited space under the cowl and motor mounts, you end up taking the
engine off the aircraft.  That's not fun any time and I imagine even less so
with temps in the 30F range.



BUT, if you decide you HAVE to replace the main pulley without removing the
engine, here is a suggestion.



Raise the tail of your aircraft as high in the air as you safely can.  This
will tend to keep the thrust bearing toward the rear of the engine (front of
aircraft) where it rests against a spacer.  That way the shock of an impact
wrench will not have as much tendency to "walk" the bearing forward and off
its shoulder.  No guarantee it won't get out of position – just a bit less
likely - than if the nose is up.



There are some instructions in the Mazda manual or somewhere that tells you
how to determine if the thrust bearing has falling out of position by taking
some measurements based on how far you can get the pulley nut back on the
shaft  – but, I can't  recall  at the moment where they and you really don't
want to go there at this time in any case.



THERMOSTAT



I believe I read about the loss of efficiency by leaving out the plug in
one of Racing Beat's old technical catalogs and I am fairly certain they
mentioned 20%.  Well, I looked in one of their old catalogs and while I did
not find a specific percentage mentioned (at least in my quick search), this
is a quote from them:

Quote :

"

7.       Mazda's water thermostat is a "by-pass" type (*apparently
referring to the ½" by-pass  hole*).  Therefore, if it is removed for
racing, the hole below it *MUST* be *plugged*……

… NOTE:  The thermostat should be removed and the *bypass plugged* for
racing.  Do not use restrictors in the system.  Free Flow is best.



"

RADIATOR INTAKE HOSE



Another thing Racing Beat cautions about - is making certain that the
radiator hose on the suction side is the type that has a spring coiled in
side or is otherwise stiff enough to resist collapsing under the suction of
the water pump.  If that happens, of courses, your coolant flowed is
seriously impeded.



The hose may be able to resist the suction at idle or low rpm, but may not
at the higher rpm.  If you squeeze the hose and can  deform it with your
hand pressure , then it is likely too flimsy to serve as the radiator hose
on the intake side of the pump.



You are 99% there, Jeff.  So no rash action, just take it one step at a
time {:>) – easy for me to say.

Ed Anderson

Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered

Matthews, NC

eanderson@carolina.rr.com

http://www.andersonee.com

http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW<http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm>

http://www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html