Review written by Tracy Crook:
When I first started looking at the Mazda rotary engine as a possible alternative for my airplane, one of the myths that I heard was that only the factory could do an overhaul on this exotic engine. Imagine my heartbreak when the 13B in "perfect condition" that I bought at a local junk yard (excuse me, parts recycling facility) burned enough oil to do sky-writing without a smoke system. After thinking about it for awhile, I figured that an engine with only 3 moving parts couldn't be that big a deal to rebuild so I dug into it. Not only did I find out that the "factory only" story was bogus, but that it was in many ways easier than a piston engine overhaul. There are some unique characteristics and procedures needed with this engine but nothing that can't be done by the average gear-head with a little guidance.

A picture really is worth a thousand words when it comes to a job like this so builders have been asking me to make a video showing the overhaul procedure for the 13B rotary. Unfortunately, I just haven't had the time with all the other projects going on here.

The good news is that Bruce Turrentine has done the job and done it far better than I could have. Bruce has overhauled more Mazda rotaries than he can remember and has learned all the tricks for making the rebuild job as easy as possible. He is also a professional educator so his presentation is crisp, complete, to the point, and actually fun to watch. The video quality is very good and the close-up views are exceptional.

His 160 minute video covers every detail of teardown, cleaning, inspection, and overhaul of the 13B. It even shows how to do the internal modifications I made for aviation applications. If you even THINK you might want to go inside your Mazda rotary, this video is highly recommended.

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