Mr. Lamar,
First; thank you for letting subscribe to your information.  I have been
looking at your rotary site for about a year.
In answer to your question about engine weight for the Zenith 701  I have
been told by all builders that the Rotax 912 uls is the ideal engine because
of its

power and weight.  I have also been told that the secret to the 701 flight
characteristics was to keep the aircraft light weight, i.e 600 lbs or less.
The designer states
that the maximum engine weight that can be handled by that airframe is
185 lbs all in.  The Rotax 100 hp 912 uls weigh 170.5 lbs which includes
the radiator and water all in.

Ideally I would like to find a 100 hp or 74KW rotary that weighs  170 lbs or
less including the water cooling all in.
Many years ago I owned one of the first Mazda rotary sedans.  It lasted
about 60,000 miles before the seals
went.  I do believe that that problem has been solved at this time.  It was
a wonderful car while it lasted.
Thanks again.
Darren Stevenson

=====================================================
The seals you speak of are probably the water O rings.
I too had an RX2 and those were the seals that failed and leaked,
Mazda merely changed the O-ring material and the problem
went away. I had five more rotary cars after that one
and no problems with the seals. Some had over 300,000
miles.

Right at the moment there is no rotary engine suitable off
the shelf for the 701. Rotary engine weight firewall forward
with aluminum end plates is about 250 pounds all up but HP is
well over double at 250 HP.

Why not built a slightly larger and heavier
801? With the right HP the take off performance will be much better
than the 701 and the landing performance about the same with 2 pax.
You will save $13,000 or more on the engine cost and will be able
to carry four people. You will also cruise faster at 120 MPH which
is very important with a head wind.

701 specs:

WING SPAN ....................     27 FEET     
WING AREA ....................    122 SQ.FT.    
LENGTH .......................    20 Ft. 11 In.    
HEIGHT (rudder tip)...........     8 Ft. 7 In.    
EMPTY WEIGHT..................     580 LBS.    
GROSS WEIGHT..................     1,100 LBS.    
USEFUL LOAD...................     520 LBS.    
WING LOADING .................    9.0 LBS/FT²    
POWER LOADING ................     13.75 LBS/BHP    
DESIGN LOAD FACTOR (ultimate)..    +6 G / -3G
CABIN WIDTH (shoulders)........    40 INCHES    
CABIN WIDTH (bubble doors)......44 INCHES    
FUEL CAPACITY (dual wing tanks).20 US Gallons
MAX. CRUISE, ................... 100 MPH     


801 specs:

WING SPAN ...................     31 Ft. 4 In.    
WING AREA....................     167 SQ.FT.    
LENGTH ......................     24 Ft. 6 In.     
HEIGHT ......................    10 Ft. 0 In.    
EMPTY WEIGHT ................    1,150 LBS.    
GROSS WEIGHT.................     2,200 LBS.    
GROSS WEIGHT...(2 pax).......     1,850 LBS.
USEFUL LOAD..................     1,050 LBS.    
WING LOADING ................    12.9 LBS/FT²
WING LOADING .(2 pax)........    11.1 LBS/FT²
POWER LOADING................     11.95 LBS/BHP    
POWER LOADING.(250 HP Rot 4P).     8.8 LBS/BHP
POWER LOADING.(250 HP Rot 2P).     7.4 LBS/BHP
DESIGN LOAD FACTOR (ultimate).     + 5.7 G/- 2.8G
CABIN WIDTH..................    44 INCHES    
FUEL CAPACITY (Standard)....... 30 Gal. (2 x 15)
MAX. CRUISE SPEED..............    120 MPH     


Do you have the 701 kit already?

Paul Lamar