"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
02/07/2016 at 05:47 • Filed to: None
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"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
02/07/2016 at 05:47 • Filed to: None | 7
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and got a little creative.
Am I mad tyte JDM yet?
davedave1111
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/07/2016 at 06:06 |
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Oh hey, do you have an RX-8? I’ve been looking at them recently because they’re ridiculously cheap. Just how bad an idea is it to get one? How hard is it to do the apex-seal replacement they all seem to need?
Leon711
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/07/2016 at 06:57 |
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The only way it could be more JDM is if you did the Nintendo logo.
Tohru
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/07/2016 at 06:58 |
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I made you a thing.
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> Tohru
02/07/2016 at 07:00 |
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Nice, thanks mate :)
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Tohru
> Leon711
02/07/2016 at 07:08 |
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I would ask how you’d make the Nintendo logo out of zip ties but I imagine someone’s already done it.
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> davedave1111
02/07/2016 at 07:30 |
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Yes, it’s my second one actually, the first one... didn’t end well. I might make a write up about that one some day.
They are really cheap indeed, looking at other cars of this segment and this age, there is really nothing comparable.
Buying one isn’t the worst idea, but be aware of their problems.
The rotaries are a bit sensible, but they aren’t as notoriously unreliable as many say if you treat it well.
That means: always let it warm up and cool down, check the oil level regularly, change the oil regularly, use good quality oil (there are lots of opinion here), watch out for a bad ignition, as these cause misfires that can shatter your apex seals, redline it from time to time to avoid carbon buildup (but that will come naturaly), which causes the apex seals to wear faster.
I the first one I bought had 80.000 km (~50.000 miles) and was perfect. It was perfectly maintained and fired right up every time. The second one I bought had been abused and maintained poorly. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have bought it, but I was restless at the time. It had trouble starting and the clutch was worn (at 70.000 km). When the clutch started slipping when it saw a hill, I decided to do a complete engine rebuild. I bought a rebuild kit from atkins rotary (wasn’t entirely satisfied though, but that’s another story), a sohn adapter, and a heavy duty clutch.
The rebuild itself was quite easy, though I must say that I have a complete shop and my father is a mechanic and he helped me rebuild it.
Also, my transmission died shortly after the rebuild + street port.
RX
> davedave1111
02/07/2016 at 09:36 |
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I bought one new, engine lost compression at 100k.
Premixing is reccomended to help maintain compression, but initially everyone was saying it wasn’t necessary, by the time everyone changed that stance the damage was done.
These cars are notorious for rust, so beware if you are looking for one from the snow (salt) belt.
Also the gas mileage sucks ass. That’s the one thing I don’t miss. Switched from an RX as my daily to a fiat abarth and doubled my mileage for something I think is just as fun.
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> RX
02/07/2016 at 12:54 |
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it surely isn’t an ideal daily driver, with the gas prices we have in France, I wouldn’t consider it, ever.but as a week-end car, it is really great. And as you don’t put too many miles on it, it can last for a long time.
I have not had any rust issues, but it may depend on the weather, also, mine had been garaged.
I don’t premix, that’s what the sohn adapter is for. That way you get 2 separate oil circuits with 2 different ideal oil types, 2 stroke oil for combustion and high performance synthetic oil for internal lubrification.
gawdzillla
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/08/2016 at 09:43 |
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what seals would u have gone with if not Atkins ?
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> gawdzillla
02/08/2016 at 10:11 |
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The seals are not the problem, actually.
I ordered a RX-8 Manual 6 port rebuild kit A (all the springs, main seals, O-rings and gaskets) and cryo treated seals (I also bought an Exedy stage one heavy duty clutch and a street port template, but that’s not the matter).
When I was done with the engine core and wanted to put the headers on I noticed that the gaskets didn’t fit my engine. Fact is I they had sent me a kit for an auto (who would buy an auto RX-8?). They offered to send me the right kit if I sent them back the kit I had.
There were 3 problems:
1. I had already used half of the kit to rebuild my engine
2. I live in Europe, so I had already paid an import tax on those items, and would have had to pay the shipment and the second round of import tax
3. I wanted my engine fixed and didn’t want to wait a few extra weeks for the parts to get shipped to the US and back
The major difference between the 2 kits is the intake manifold metal gasket, and there are a few more rubber gaskets as the manifold is different and 2 more injector seals. I hadn’t taken appart the whole manifold, so basically all I was missing to put it all back together was the metal gasket. So I used some sealant and reused the old one.
When asking for a refund for the inconvenience, or at least the 20$ price difference between the 2 kits, I didn’t get an answer from their part.
So that’s the whole story of why I wasn’t satisfied with Atkins. Other than that everything went well, and over 8000 km later, it still zoom-zooms nicely (except for the bumper thing).
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davedave1111
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/09/2016 at 09:30 |
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How much time and effort is a rebuild? Maybe I should just buy one and bring it to you ;)
I don’t do many miles, so fuel economy isn’t a big issue. As long as it’s going to do tens of thousands of miles between rebuilds, nor is apex seal wear. UK road tax on them can be pretty ridiculous, though.
“ a sohn adapter”
What does that do?
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davedave1111
> RX
02/09/2016 at 09:30 |
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“Switched from an RX as my daily to a fiat abarth”
Yeah, but you can’t get a Fiat Abarth for ~£500...
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> davedave1111
02/09/2016 at 11:04 |
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If you stick to it and everything works you can get it done in 2 days I think. It took me a few days more because I ported it and had other stuff to do.
Most important lesson I learned while doing it: take out the transmission before taking out the engine. I lost about an hour trying and a lot of nerves to align the engine with the transmission versus 45 minutes and an easy job for an entire transmission swap.
If you want to come by for a rebuild, bring me a pettit racing supercharger :)
The Sohn adapter basically creates a second oil cycle. Stock, there is a little pump connected to the engine (OMP) that will send the engine oil through the oil injectors and into the combustion chambers. With the Sohn adapter, you cut off the oil supply from the OMP and replace it with 2 stroke oil from a tank you have to add. This has several benefits: you’re burning 2 stroke oil, which means a better combustion and lesser carbon buildup, you can use 2 dedicated oil types, and thus, optimize which oil you use, the oil you burn is always clean, and the oil level in your engine stays the same. Also, if you’re into that kind of stuff you can use strawberry scented 2 stroke oil. I prefer using Castrol racing oil, even though I get comments that my exhaust gases smell like a moped :)
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davedave1111
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/09/2016 at 11:25 |
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Two days in a shop, or two days with home-mechanic tools? I guess it might be worth renting a bay from these guys:
http://www.pitstartgarage.com/
“If you want to come by for a rebuild, bring me a pettit racing supercharger”
£6250 including taxes? Sure, I’ll deliver it for you if you pay :)
Whereabouts are you? Somewhere near Strasbourg? If I ever get around to the London-Berlin road trip that’s been in the works for a few years now, I can buy an RX-8 that runs but needs a rebuild, drive slowly across France, rebuild by you, then FULL POWER for the autobahns.
“if you’re into that kind of stuff you can use strawberry scented 2 stroke oil”
Eew. Maybe other, more attractive scents are available?
“I get comments that my exhaust gases smell like a moped”
Oh yes, that’s a much more attractive scent. Doesn’t it poison the catalytic converter, though?
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> davedave1111
02/09/2016 at 11:34 |
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2 days in a shop, I luckily have the luxury of a fully equipped shop at home. That surely makes a difference.
6250£? last time I checked it was at 5200£ from memory, damn.
I live 60 km north of Strasbourg the German border is 5 km to the north, and/or 20 km to the east.
Mine happened to have an empty cat, courtesy of the former owner (arse), I still don’t know how it passed emissions test.
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davedave1111
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/09/2016 at 11:41 |
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“That surely makes a difference.”
Yes. That’s something of an understatement...
“6250£? last time I checked it was at 5200£ from memory”
£5200 + VAT @ 20% is £6250, or close as makes no difference.
Google maps says ~60km north of Strasbourg puts you in a national park? Must be nice. Guess with all that empty space no-one really cares about a cat in your exhaust.
MonkeePuzzle
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/10/2016 at 17:20 |
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drift stitches are actually a really good way to hold it all together while you fibre glass the backside, then cut them out, fill the front and repaint :D
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Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> MonkeePuzzle
02/11/2016 at 02:51 |
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wow, really nicely done. I haven’t really thought about repairing it since it was split in two, but it might work, it is really sturdy with the cable ties. I have repaired smaller cracks with glass fiber in the past but I never had to tie them together to do so.
How do you get the cable ties out when they’re caught in the glass fiber? Or do you just leave them in place?
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MonkeePuzzle
> Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
02/11/2016 at 09:08 |
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they stay in place on the backside embedded in the glass. Cut them flush on the front side and, sand and fill, sand and fill, sand sand sand sand sand then paint :D
CalzoneGolem
> MonkeePuzzle
02/18/2016 at 07:48 |
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Then sand.