Middle Iron Corrosion

[JustJeff]

Originally Posted by NoDOHC

The oil film should mostly fill that corrosion near the port, although it is a crying shame that you didn't get some WD40 or oil on the housing right away to prevent that from happening.

I would be most worried about the corrosion in the oil control ring region. It appears that you used some type of water-based solvent to clean the housings, as the corrosion seems to track a drip path.

Good center housings are about $50 on eBay typically. NA center housings are pretty common.

Yeah it is a shame, I had a friend on his way to help with the assembly. I washed everything off thinking assembly was going to start within an hour or two. Friend gets a flat on his way, it's Sunday so he had trouble getting a replacement tire for a long drive after helping me out. I did give some thought to recoating the irons for overnight...but again thought the assembly was happening the next day. When another roadblock happened it didn't happen Monday, but thought it would happen Tuesday.....frustrating to say the least.

The only things I used to clean any of the engine parts was Simple Green, acetone, when I ran out of acetone i switched to paint thinner. I did spray them down with water Sunday.

Originally Posted by RETed

You can typically knock off this kinda of "surface rust" with some light oil and a fine grit sandpaper.
This should not affect compression in any way.
This is the good news.

The bad news is that Mazda gas-nitrides those surfaces for wear.
Rust will usually eat through this gas-nitride surface, causing accelerated wear on the housing.


-Ted

What kind of lifespan would you give the iron? I want to get many years out of this rebuild.

Originally Posted by To_Slow

Wee here at ChipsMotorsports.com can surface grind and re gas nitrate the plate for you.

Pics with info http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_foru...ead.php?t=3109

Pricing http://www.chipsmotorsports.com/serv...d-re-nitriding

Hope this helps.
Chip U

I appreciate the offer, but I'd opt for replacing rather than lapping. Just wouldn't be cost effective. I don't want to do the whole engine. I'm not sure how doing one iron would effect things. It'd be more cost effective to find a low mile replacement.