rotarenvy

has anyone looked in to rebuilding costs?

I'm not in need of a rebuild yet (touch wood ) but I was thinking it could be a major expense in the unknown future that I should probably start thinking about.

I don't think I would buy a secondhand motor from japan and hope for the best. so either a new short block from mazda or a mid range performance build using mostly new parts would be what I would go for.

I'm going in to my local rotary shop on wednsday, so I will see what they suggest but it would be interesting to see what prices others have found or recommend?

ORX-800

Hi Jarl, it really depends on whether your engine has detonated or is just worn out. The latter would be the situation that would obviously be most suitable for a cost effective rebuild (ie. no new housings, end plates required).

Low km jap engines are available...ie. I purchased three damaged RX-8's recently in Japan, one with 23k, one with 32k, and one that had a flat battery so no odo reading available - straight body though. So I would definitely consider a low km second hand jap engine especially if you don't require the engine to be internally modified or strengthened for your application.

Cheers,
Danny

rotarenvy

I get a bit worried about the 'unknown' factor with these motors. like with clutches, which I'm having issues with at the moment, it's better to do it right once than have to have to replace a second time after a short period.

how much does a .jp import engine usually cost?

takahashi

There are engine to pick up for a lot less than $5000. Andrew brought an engine recently very cheaply.

Rebuild in Melbourne is around $6K in labour, depends what do you want to get done. The bulk of cost of engine is the housing...

auzoom

I picked an engine up for <$1000 delivered to my door as a private sale. $6k is to take engine out, rebuild, replace just about everything and put it back. The engine I picked up has good housings and rotors (was an early "sticky apex seal", low comp' warranty pull), so just going to replace the seals, balance the rotors and justr plonk her in. I am going (hopefully) good quality seals, not just OEM ones but still hope to get it done under $5k (plus the $1k for the engine). But a good engine swap can be done for less that $5k easy (I reckon).

Andrew

rotarenvy

thanks guys. it doesn't sound as bad as I thought.