Hi Finn,
Thanks for the compliment. Much appreciated
- acknowledgement, let alone praise & approbation seem to be pretty
thin on the ground from downunder!! The silence is deafening!!
(}:>^). Maybe I've just stolen somebody's thunder?? The REW WL
weighed in @ 54.5 Kg bare, with a steel sump (cut & shut 12A
RX7), steel inlet manifold, and 3.5L of oil (see
pic).
In my rush to get the Renesis WL in the
car and running, I have to 'fess up that I was most remiss in that I
didn't get the Renesis weighed before dumping it in Humphrey.
However, I estimate that it will be just under 3 Kg heavier in the
same setup (around 57 Kg with steel sump & steel inlet manifold * 3.5L
oil). Most of the extra weight is in the front housing which is MUCH
thicker, and the rear housing is also a bit heavier as well (due to the side
exhaust port configuration). I did weigh the housings and everything
else when I first got them, but that was 18 months ago just before I
became desperately ill. Can't remember where I wrote it
all down.
At any rate, I have had a real good look -
(somebody else asked me last week) - and it would be possible with
judicious use of a mill to get rid of most of that extra weight on the front
housing. There are lots of little lumps of cast iron that hang off
everywhere, & a considerable amount could be taken off where the
water pump bolts up if one were to use an EWP (Shock, Horror Batman! Not
an EWP - they don't work!!).
But then again, the Renesis has a really
neat front cover with an integral water pump (see pix in following
email) which all ends up much lighter that the old style front cover
& water pump combo, so it would all probably end up line ball as far
as weight goes. However, by machining back the cast iron water
pump flange, and substituting an alloy spacer to bring it all back in
line with the rest of the front housing surface, you could have the best
of both worlds. Same goes for the oil pump boss which is nearly an
extra inch thick. All depends on how determined you are.
Of course, alloy end housings will
eventually make all this un-necessary, although don't hold you breath -
side exhaust port end plates might be a while (seeing that certain people are
insisting on the PP route). Interestingly, as I mentioned
before, by feel - (I've sort of developed a pretty good dyno in my
backside over the years) - the engine appears to go nearly as hard as a 12A
twin rotor that originally came in the car, albeit not as smoothly low
down. Above 5,000, it is as smooth as any 12A RX7 I have ever
driven.
It also stands to reason as the 4 port Renesis is
rated at 200 BHP @ 7,500 RPM, the original 12A was rated @ 125
BHP, and this WL is not blowing through a cat or an 86 dB muffler
either. So I'd sort of expect it to make at least 100 BHP per
rotor at the same RPM - possibly more as the rotor is being fed by
the two big end ports, not one big one and one teeny weeny small
one. When I get it dyno'd in a couple of weeks, I'll know for
sure. Stay tuned ...
And in case you are wondering why I'm using steel
inlet manifolds at the moment, I can fabricate them in house,
and the materials are cheap, and I don't have a TIG, and they are
going in cars at the moment, so weight is not a really critical
issue. Once I work out the exact lengths and sizes, I'll
have a professional job done in alloy by my fabricator mate.
Cheers,
Leon