Time for a build thread!

I bought MagnusRacing's RX8 race car back in 2020 when COVID was starting. We've been friends for ages having met on the rx7club when he had an FD and then moved to SD. His 8 is a great car. Well loved. Needed an engine.


I thought it would be a fun project, give me a reason to learn how to rebuild a rotary engine and experiment with a different race car beyond my Spec Miata.
Long story short but things didn't quite go to plan... Surprise, right?! Work and other stuff got in the way and here we are 4 frickin' years later finally getting started on this. This weekend, I started getting the car ready to remove the engine for a rebuild. I've done this before on Miata race cars so it is not my first rodeo but it is my first rodeo with an RX8.

Spent some time reading this thread and some others to understand what was involved in engine removal:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...w-pics-178937/

After 2 afternoons of working carefully and lots of sweating, we are here:



I plan on removing the engine and transmission together for various reasons. I need to detach the PPF, attach the hoist, remove the engine mounts and I should be good to start hoisting. I'm sure this will go as smoothly as my stubbly chin.

Follow along. Wish me luck. ​

 

Question for you guys... Where are the engine removal hooks normally on the renesis? Mine seem to be missing. Ideas on what else to use to hook up the chains?

 

Never mind. Figured it out. Found an album from another RX8 thread. Lost the thread but have the album open on my phone. I couldn't find the RX8 hooks but managed to attach 2 hooks from a Miata. Should work...

 

Good luck with the build. How is the chassis setup on it?

 

Thanks
Ohlins and stock sway bars

 

Aren't you just having all the fun now? Looking forward to this build, will motivate me to get the rx8 back up and running.

 

It will be more fun when it is running! I'm also hoping this thread will keep me motivated as well. Can't believe I've been slacking this long...

What's wrong with your 8?

 

Was in an accident, front passenger side hit. Needs headlights, hood, RH fender, straighten up the body, replacement oil cooler, fender liners, under tray and a few connectors. Also, stainless steel oil line coming from the engine is shooting out oil galore, 2nd time this happened, thinking of just going back to stock. I already picked up a replacement hood, just needs some PDR, ordered LED headlights, getting LED corners and LED Tail Lights as well (might as well just indulge a little) but still need a fender, the liners and undertray and been going back and fourth with @RX8Performance.com on getting my replacement oil cooler. It hasn't been a priority so it's been sitting for months already as i slowly pick up parts.

 

Always wondered about this one. So often they sell and then never to be heard from or seen again. As I recall, he had transplanted a Series 2 engine in the last configuration. Best wishes going forward.
.

 

Wait is that the same Magnus Racing company that took 3rd at the 6 hours of Glen?

 

No relation. This Magnus is faster, blonder and races west coast. jk

 

Yep. Figured some of the forum vets would enjoy hearing of this car.

 

Engine is out! I pulled both the engine and transmission together as a unit. I was surprised it came out so easily easy given old threads where people say it is difficult to remove together.



Engine bay is surprisingly clean and oil free. I sprayed it with some degreaser after taking this pic and scrubbed down the surfaces that I could reach with a nylon brush.


Lastly, i removed all the ancillaries and dropped it off at a local racer's house who is going to tear it down and see what we need to do to rebuild it. Not sure what is going to be able to be reused. When I turned it over by hand, liquid would spurt out the open holes. Not sure if it was oil, water or a mix of both. Obviously, the last guy that attempted the rebuild screwed something up during assembly. We knew that going into this project. Soon we will figure out what he screwed up.



2 asks:
1. Does anyone have the stock engine hoist hooks they want to sell me? I used some from my Miata but I'd like to install the factory hooks to make this easier next time?
2. If anyone has a line on a rebuildable 6 port renesis locally, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

No pic but spent a good hour or so straightening the oil cooler fins yesterday. What a pita... The driver side oil cooler fins had a fair amount of tiny bits of rubber and small rocks blocking things. Got most of the junk out while I attempted to "straighten" the fins as best I could. I foresee a replacement oil cooler at some point but this will do for now.

Notes for future me:
- add a sensor and gauge for oil temps. Once I get an idea of oil temps, I'll decide whether the stock coolers are sufficient or I need some improvements.
- when I reinstall the front bumper, evaluate how I want to add mesh screens onto the oil coolers and radiator openings. I have the Racing Beat screens but I might to to revise the cooler positioning and ducts if I think they can be improved upon. Both on the inlet and outlet.

 

Made some progress this weekend.

First, installed DEI Floor and Tunnel shield to the transmission tunnel and a bit of the firewall. I have used this on all my race cars and my street Miatas and RX7s over the years. It makes a huge difference in cabin temps. By installing this on the underside of the trans tunnel, the tub does not absorb heat and radiate it into the cabin. Love this stuff.

The RX8's transmission tunnel is frickin huge...



Second, Engine is disassembled and we discovered it's faults.
1. All 3 irons showed significant wear around the combustion chamber. We could slip a 20 thou feeler gauge between the housings and the irons. This explains how / why fluid was misting out of the engine when I was turning the eccentric shaft.
2. Oil pump showed some wear. Not a big deal but it will get replaced with a better used option we have.
3. Front and rear rotors were reversed. Common assembly error for noobs.
4. The oil scraper ring thingies on the rotor also caused a decent amount of wear on the housings. Going to replace those also.

The housings looked very good and re-usable. Looks like I'll need to be the 3 new iron$ Was not expecting that expense. Sigh...







To Dos for the next week or two:
- Fuel injectors are about to get shipped to RC Engineering for cleaning and testing.
- Need to figure out how to install a fuel test port
- Need to order some EGT sensors to install into the headers and figure out what to use for engine data for tuning and monitoring.

If anyone has advice on these topics, please do share.


Thanks all!

 

Just got off the phone with Mazda Motorsports. The front iron is not currently available. If anyone has a known good one, please PM or post. Thanks.

 

you can likely order them all shipped from Japan for less than Motorsports, lmk if you’d like some assistance trying to find (hopefully) the best pricing. Kind of shocked by the low REW parts pricing from JP lately, but not sure if S2 specific engine parts will be since they were limited production compared to S1.
.

 

Yes, please. That would be very helpful.

I've never ordered direct from Japan. Are you referring to amayama or someplace else? I just check amayama and the prices looked comparable to MM but shipping was obviously a lot higher so overall it wasn't cheaper unless I'm missing something.


This project is definitely taking me down a road I have not traveled and learning about new things.

 

if you can, please pm me the part numbers
.

 

Will do. Thanks

 

not sure why I never received notice of your first pm, but I sent you back one earlier today though it seems like your plan has changed since then.

but just to confirm, one online source indicated $1,300 for all three irons and $350 shipped to Kalifornication ($1,650 total shipped)and Motorsports was indicating $1925 for the irons and I believe they still offer free shipping for orders over $1000. So it seemed to prove out.
.

 

That's a pretty decent price. Thanks for checking on that. Off to read your PM...
Thanks.

 

Progress update:

Engine:
As alluded to in the prior post, the front iron is backordered at Mazda USA and I don't want to wait until Nov-ish for it. I looked for some used irons but found much more 4 port than 6 port parts. Rotary Resurrection had a full set of 3 at a decent price but he had lapped them but neither he nor I have a source for re-nitriding them so that was a bust. Overall, didn't feel too comfortable ordering used irons online and couldn't find any locally. I found a used engine on ebay that had a reman tag dated 01/23 and a video of it running. If the date on the reman tag is legit, it shouldn't have much mileage or wear on it so I bought it. I'm still a bit skeptical but we'll see how it goes. Cross your fingers for me...

Interior:
Spent a few lazy, Sunday afternoon hours cleaning the interior. The interior of this car is dusty af. Vacuum'ed it and then got some old undershirts and a few buckets of water and started wiping down the interior - floors, roof, door panels, cage, dash etc.

While cleaning, I realized the passenger airbag was still there so I got under the dash and removed it. Thankfully, there was an old thread on here that I was able to quickly find via google and had that dash panel out quickly. I was surprised how heavy the dash panel was even w/o the air bag. Gave the under dash area a quick wipe down too. Still need to clean the driver side of the interior but felt good to make some progress on the car.


Need to start preparing a list of parts to order to reinstall the engine. I need new OMP gaskets, new coolant hoses, C clips for the oil cooler lines, probably should get a fuel filter. Still need to select EGT sensors etc.

 

Engine shipped. Hopefully will receive it in a couple of weeks.

Received the injectors from RC. Good thing I sent them out to be cleaned and rebuilt!

 

Started working on cleaning up this wee spot of surface rust in the engine bay yesterday. The heat from the header had burned off the paint and undercoat causing a bit of surface rust to start. The sound deadening material on the other side of that in the passenger footwell also shows some signs of getting hot. Rotary EGTs are no joke!

I hit it with a wire wheel after taking this pic and got it all off. Waiting on some POR15 rust converter and paint to arrive to finish the job. Will add some of the DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield to the area once it is painted. Good times.