jim mederer wrote:

Dear Paul,
    As You are aware, many materials have been used
for apex seals.  Back in the mid - 70's we hired a
metallurgist who recommended D2 tool steel.  We made a
set and ran them.  After about ten minutes of
break-in, the engine started laboring, slowing.  On
disassembly, we found that the chrome liner had been
destroyed by the seals, although the seals were in
good condition.  That taught us that "material
compatibility" was very important in this application.
 I have no knowledge of how to judge such things - and
neither did that metallurgist - but I present this to
you as a cautionary tale.  In fact, Mazda's current
seals are extraordinary in their durability.  I urge
you to tell your readers that they would be wise to
use only the '93 and later basic engine - it is the
best yet for the money.
    The wear you describe on the apex seal spring
might have been accelerated by carbon deposits near
the middle of the spring that prevented the full
length from flexing, thus forcing all in-out
compliance to be accommodated by the tips of the
spring - which might cause high loads and accelerated
wear.  The ends are not usually notable wear points.
    By the way, do you know of anyone who has
fabricated 1-rotor 13B eccentric shafts in quantity?

                      Sincerely
                      Jim Mederer

There used to be an outfit in Florida called Onerotor.com
but they have disappeared. They were making gen sets based
on the Mazda one rotor. I suspect that Dave Atkins had some
dealings with them as I was up at his shop one time and the
guy from One Rotor in Florida was there (I think). Dave was/is never 
forthcoming with information :-) I do know that Dave has 
a huge collection of used Mazda eccentric shafts and
other parts. Literally hundreds of them!

Try sending Dave email at <atkins@accessone.com> 

Also Alturdyne in San Diego claims to be making one rotor gen sets
according to Paul Ross of Alturdyne when he gave a talk at Sun & fun.
Strangely enough their web site has no contact info?
 http://www.alturdyne.com/
They might however be in the SD phone book.

Paul Lamar
 
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