I'm using Bruce Turrentine's DVD to overhaul a 20B. On the rear of the
 engine there is a counter weight under the flywheel that didn't appear on
 the 13B in Bruce's video. Anyone familiar with this and know how to
 remove
 this counter weight?

 Jay


 I think you mean the flex plate for the auto transmission.
 The 20B is very similar to the 3rd gen RX7 engines. 1993 to
 2003.

 For that you will need a gear puller and a way of locking the E-shaft
 with a special plate.

 Go to this location:

 http://foxed.ca/foxed/index.php?page=rx7manual

 and download the chapter C engine.pdf shop manual:
 http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/1993FSM/


 Here is an excerpt.

 Paul Lamar


For the 13B, you can use the six bolts / bolt holes connecting the
flexplate/driveplate to the counterweight.
The 10?mm CW bolt thread pitch is common to many RX7 bolts.  You may
want a few that are slightly longer.

- Lock the flex/driveplate
- Loosen the 54mm locknut but leave it on a few threads (so it does not
fly off and crush your toes, even more important with a flywheel).  A 6'
breaker bar extension helps.
Without the stock puller:
- I use pieces of scrap angle iron between the rear iron and the CW to
push against with bolts in the CW bolt holes. (angle iron placed to
distribute the load)
- Turn the bolts 1/4 turn each in the usual star pattern and it will pop
right off.

Cheers
Cary


Cary,

What about the front end?  I am having a bear of a time getting the
pulley bolt to budge.  I made a device that was similar to the Mazda
tool to lock the flywheel from turning and braced the engine with a
stout U-beam, sprayed WD-40 on the bolt and used a four foot pipe over
the breaker bar.  Still no joy.  Guess I have to try a longer pipe or
gain a few more pounds huh?


Doug in Japan.



That puller did the trick. Thanks a lot.

Now I'm down to the center housing and the housing on either side of it.
But
there is little or no play (engine length wise) in the E shaft. Thus I
can't
get either of the remaining housings on the end up and over the E shaft.
Bruce's DVD shows the shaft moving up and down at least an inch or more.
 I
can hardly get mine to move at all.
Any ideas?


Jay


Do you have the front cover off and the thrust bearing removed?

Paul Lamar

 Jay,

 The 20B utilizes a split shaft.  You're going to have to separate it in
 order to disassemble the engine.  Bob Darrah built a splitter tool from a
 threaded shaft and a 1" thick bar of steel.  The threaded shaft will need
 to
 match the threads in the #1 lobe on the crank, 18mm if I recall correctly.
 Thread the shaft into the lobe, slide the 1" bar over the other end of the
 threaded shaft until it fits snug against the nose of the eccentric, put a
 nut on the threaded shaft to tighten it all down.  You may want to use a
 soft aluminum or brass spacer so you don't bugger up the end of the
 eccentric.  Tighten the nut until it cocks the 1" bar a little, then tap
 the
 other end of the bar with a hammer and it should come right apart, at least
 that's how it has worked for me twice.  Now you can finish disassembling
 the
 engine.  Remember the sequence for when you are ready to re-assemble it.

 Mark S.

 "Do you have the front cover off and the thrust bearing removed?"

 Yes I do Paul.

 I didn't realize the 20B had a split E shaft that certainly explains why I
 stuck where I am though.
 If I'm reading correctly the tool you mention simply pulls the E shaft
 apart, not unlike a pulley puller would?

 Jay

 What is confusing me Jay is this sentence.

 "Now I'm down to the center housing [?] and the housing [rotor?] on either
 side of it."

 Here is one suggested standard nomenclature.
 Where are you stuck?

 Paul Lamar


 I have every thing removed except the intermediate-2-rotor-housing the
 rotor
 housing-2 (#2 rotor obviously) and the intermediate-3-rotor-housing and of
 course the E shaft.

 The intermediate-2-rotor-housing should come off and wiggle past the
 aft e-shaft eccentric. There are some dowel pins (8) down inside there
 so try lifting it straight up for an inch or so. Also as I recall these
 dowel pins are threaded internally for a 12 mm bolt so a long 12 mm may
 screw down into the dowel pin to extract it. That size bolt gives clearance
 for
 the 10 mm tension bolts to pass through the hollow dowel pin. You could
 also
 try a strong magnet. For some strange reason all are not shown in the
 shop manual page C28. I am sure Cary knows about that.

 I assume the engine is mounted on an engine stand vertically with
 the front of the engine down.

 Paul Lamar


Jay,

Unlike the 2-rotor, on the 3-rotor engines you must split the e-shaft by
removing the #1 lobe from the e-shaft.  To do this, you need a
puller similar to the one in the pictures I posted.  Not too difficult to
make, but different from your typical 2/3 jaw puller.

Mark S.


I absolutely agree Mark and I may have given the impression that this is not
the case but the intermediate-2-rotor-housing should come off and wiggle past the
 aft e-shaft eccentric first. Now the question remains in my mind. Is this necessary
or can you take the 3-rotor shaft apart with out removing the
intermediate-2-rotor-housing?  Note: I am not talking about
intermediate-3-rotor-housing!

Paul Lamar