Rexanne!

[Marc S]

Those wheels look like enkei lightweights to me...good wheel that

if you need any help with the MX5, check out theMX5restorer - details on my website

[Steve-A]

And once Rexanne is sorted you can start rotorising this... you know you will

Rotary mx5 is pretty good fun, but I think Id rather have my FB overall Which is a good job seeing as I sold my 13b powered mx5 to fund the fb

Yes Marc the wheels are the proper hollow spoke ones. They are good wheels, but I want to take advantage of the current fashions when it comes to selling it and hope to sell for more than I bought for with the right touches. I'm aware of Gareth and his services, he does a nice job, but I generally prefer to do my own resto work

[Steve-A]

Been a bit lacking in Rexanne progress recently Work's gone mental, far too many 14+ hour days and 7 day weeks recently.

The good news is I've now got a new engine It's from an s2 so all my parts should bolt right upto it, including the flywheel which is good news. When last used it had good compression and is pretty low millage, believed about 55,000.



So the plan is to bolt it in and get the Rx7 back on the road and the Mx5 sold. Then when I've got more time I'll break my 12a open and see what it's like. If the housings have survived I think I'l be having a go a rebuild and home bridgeport!

When I picked up the engine on Saturday I was hoping I'd have it swapped in ready for Japfest this Saturday but the weather is not being friendly. Every time I'm not at work it's raining. My mate Tom and I made a start on stripping the old engine down ready to be pulled out in the drizzle the other day but then it came on to rain more and we gave it up as a bad job.



I continue to hope to that I'll be done for Saturday but it's looking less and less likely. Really looking forward to getting back out driving Rexanne, the mx5 is alright but it's just not the same.

[Steve-A]

Had an unexpected half day at work today, and Tom wasn't at college, so got some progress done



Engine came out easy enough and we started swapping parts over to the new motor.



The fun started when we came to remove the flywheel. Firstly while the flywheel on the new motor came off nice and easy with the hammer technique, one knock to my lighter flywheel and I saw the hammer actually made a mark/dent :s I hope I haven't ruined it. It's not in a crucial place, I just hope it hasn't pringled it. Didn't take long to take the flywheel off the counter weight and build a puller to use.

Another bit of bad news is my brass button clutch has only got about 1mm of clutch material before it's on the rivets It never rains, it pours!

But when I bolted the flywheel up to the new engine, the counter weight sits a little closer to the engine and the bolts for the flywheel now hit the block.

While we were doing this, we noticed the two engines have a number of different markings on them. My old engine has an N on the rear plate, a 2 on the front plate and has nothing on the middle plate.





The new engine has R5 on the rear plate, B on the front plate and R5 on the middle plate.





Can anyone confirm that both these are s2 or otherwise?

Jase assured me the engine was from and s2, and so it should be fine to use my s2 spec counter weight and flywheel. When Jase's mate first got it, it had no flywheel so they stuck the spare s3 flywheel and clutch they had on it and it was fine for a few months.

I wouldn't have questioned it if it weren't for this issue when fitting the counter weight. I just don't want to fit the wrong counter weight and have it self destruct on me!

If it IS an s2 I guess the taper is just a bit more stretched and with a washer on the flywheel bolts it'll clear fine.

If I can be sure which flywheel I'm meant ot be using and cobble together a clutch then the work that canceled today to give me the free afternoon means I'll have a few hours tomorrow and there's still a chance I'll make it to Japfest! 8)

[myatt1972]

Good progress Steve, I cant help with your questions but couldnt help noticing some P.A gear in your garage and what looks like a Trace Elliot cab ? Bass player?
Sorry for going off topic, I was a sound engineer once upon a time.

[ian65]

Nice to see you're able to get back to work on your car again Steve.... I'd be interested to know how you can id a stripped down 1st gen 12A without a flywheel being on it..... I remember asking that question a couple of years ago but I don't think we ever got to the bottom of it.

[Steve-A]

Keith, my dads in a local blues rock band and so he clutters up the garage with a selection of Trace bass gear and the odd PA speaker yeah. He spent ages looking for the older Trace gear and ended up buying two stacks worth, far more than he ever needs!

I asked on Exile about this too, and did some research on the net and came up with a few interesting points about 12a identification. Tool suggested that s2 housings normally have a square block on the top and s3 housings have a H shape block. I also found these two threads regarding the plate markings.

http://www.ausrotary.com/viewtopic.php? ... rey+plates

http://66.240.222.38/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=218669

They suggest the r5 plates were used in some FB applications, as well as early 13b and are older than my N plates, which again says unlikely to be s3 engine. So I think it's time to put washers on the flywheel bolts so they don't bind and just chuck it in the car and see if it works.

I'm doing the bare minimum of work to get me by this morning ( when I finish typing on here...) and then I'm rounding up as many friends as possible and it's getting chucked in the car!

[MelloYello]

Good Luck Steve. Hope to to see you and Rexanne tomorrow.

[TOOL]

It's the rotating assembly that's important. The housings could have been swapped, but if it's unopened, it should be enough to confirm.

Otherwise, check for N stamp in the rorotr bathtubs through the exhaust ports (if you can). N+F/R = S3

[Steve-A]

I couldn't see any marking on the rotor dishes, so I gambled with it being s2. So I rounded up as many friends as possible and set to work. By lunchtime we'd got all the components swapped over.



Interestingly the new block didn't have anywhere for my oil pressure sensor, and the connector for low oil light was different so for tomorrow they're not hooked up!

Old block:



New block:



By 4:15 we had it all back in the bay.



And it was time to turn the key. It fired up right away and ran pretty well. With the timing dialled in properly (I didn't stab the CAS quite right) and a few tweaks to the map it runs really well. And the best thing is it idles and starts well from hot!

At 4:50, 10 mins before they close, I was able to phone the insurance company and I got it all swapped over! Went out for a short drive with Tom and Ross with the laptop and we got the map a little more tweaked for this block. Did 20 miles with no problems, so I'm all set for tomorrow!

Japfest here we come! I even washed it!