It is easy to make a rotary fast, but our expertise is proven to make rotary engines last.

Pettit Racing has built over 2000 rotary engines over the last 30 something years, and we have a deep understanding of the principles of engine design and performance. If you are looking for a reliable and experienced engine builder, we encourage you to contact us today. We would be happy to discuss your engine building needs and create a custom solution that meets your specific requirements.

                              

If your main core parts are within usable tolerance we can build you a street ported and blueprinted Pettit stage one engine for as little as $3650. This includes all new rubber seals throughout the engine and Mazda genuine apex seals and all new springs throughout. Included with every build is rotor housing exhaust porting, exhaust sleeve mods and cooling channel machining. We can also fully refresh all the metal seals in our stage two package which includes new Mazda side seals, corner seals and rotor oil control rings for $4250 This applies to basically every two rotor engine produced by Mazda from 1970 thru 2012. If all your parts are fully useable. But most of the time when an apex seal is blown there is some internal damage to the main components. So with every engine, if you're in the area, we offer you to participate in the disassembly inspection and failure analysis of their engine. (20-40 min) Once we complete the failure analysis, and figure out what has been damaged, we can provide an accurate written quote for all the parts and the rebuild process that you must review before we start the rebuild. Standard time to completion is 5-10 working days.

We also can do 20B three rotors for a bit more - $5475 for stage one and $6275 for stage two. 

 

OTS (off the shelf): Another way to get a Pettit built engine

If you have no core we can get you a Pettit built OTS engine right to your door. We take a new Mazda 13B REW engine and rebuild it to Pettit specs before shipping it to you. These engines fit the 1993-2002 RX-7 FD, use all brand new parts, and have no core charge. We perform the street porting and various Pettit mods found in our typical rebuilds and cost $8600 plus 350 shipping.

 

Pettit Built Renesis 

 

We also offer an OTS 13B Renesis engine. These run a little bit more but are also built from new Mazda engines. These engines are $9500 for the series one 2004-2008 RX-8 or $9800 for the series two 2009-2012 RX-8 and include the street port and all the modifications we typically do to the Renesis.

Every Pettit Built Renesis is blueprinted and street ported with our proprietary mods which provide added cooling to the exhaust ports minimizing side housing surface deformation at outer port edges, as well as the area around leading spark plugs on the rotor housings.

Our standard Pettit built Renesis, blueprinted and street ported with all our mods, procedures, and QC as listed below as well as oil system mods that improve oiling, main and rotor bearings clearanced to race specs, micro finish on all critical surfaces, clean room assembled with genuine Mazda OEM apex seals, static compression tested, capped and skin sealed for shipping. 

 

 

When removing RX-8 Renesis engines, make sure you take pictures of hose and wire harness routing and also label the injector plugs accurately because it's really easy to mix them up. We also recommend leaving the lower Intake manifold and the lower injectors on the engine. Renesis intakes usually have significant carbon buildup on all the valves and inside the runners, so it's easy to damage the auxiliary port tubes and linkage when removing the lower intake manifold. They need to be disassembled very carefully, properly cleaned, serviced and indexed so the aux port valves open and close in the right positions. We also perform some beneficial flow modifications to the plenum VDI area, then reassemble it to your engine and test the operation of all the valves.

Included at no charge we clean and flow test the injectors and pressure check the fuel system. A simple step for us to insure your Pettit built engine delivers performance and longevity beyond expectation. Include the fuel rail for the FD REW engines and we will test and clean those injectors as well.

 

Pettit Built Race Engines

Peripheral Ports

Our typical build is blueprinted and street ported resulting in improved flow and efficiency with small changes in intake and exhaust port timing, benefits are better fuel economy as well as more power delivered through all rpm ranges and boost levels. But if you're looking for more track ready radical builds like peripheral ports we can do that too. They have many of the same characteristics as bridgeports except there's no Interruption in the flow path, just one big hole like the exhaust port. With this setup original side ports are closed off and it's necessary to build a custom intake manifold. Since the torque and power move higher in the RPM range, it is more likely to have oil foaming which can damage bearings.

 

Bridge Ports

We hear and get many questions about bridge ports, most commonly used with naturally aspirated rotaries for road racing and drag racing where peripheral ports have been banned. The main concern is performance above 6000 RPM and no need for street drivability in these applications. It is the easiest way to lengthen the port opening time on naturally aspirated engines.

It also moves the powerband up in the RPM range thus adding power; however, they create an interruption in the intake flow causing violent turbulence which can be a challenge to tune, also to best take advantage of this type of port requires nearly open exhaust having little or no back pressure. It's also not uncommon to foul spark plugs with these types of ports.

For all the effort, machining, poor life expectancy, etc..  the expected horsepower gains with turbocharged or supercharged rotaries is about the equivalent of adding a pound or two of boost. Typically bridgeporting is not a good idea for street use unless you like punishment, since these port modifications move the torque and power up in the RPM range, the higher revs are more likely to cause oil foaming which can cause smoking and damage bearings. It is highly recommended to use dry sump lubrication systems for peripheral and bridgeported engines.

Engine life is totally dependent on proper care. The best longevity is achieved by following our simple guide, basically never overheat the engine, easy warm ups and cool downs (no boost) and keep clean oil. (no fuel smell) To maximize performance and longevity always premix Protek-R fuel lube with every tank at a ratio of 100:1 or approximately 1 oz per gallon of fuel. For boost levels above 16 lbs, use a 70:1 ratio or 1.8 oz per gallon of fuel.  

A gallon of Protek-R fuel lubricant is included with every Pettit built engine. Also it is important to use high quality race fuel anytime boost is set above 20 psi, either 100+ octane or E85 is recommended. All naturally aspirated rotary engines including Renesis run best on 87 octane fuel.

Racing History

In the past 30 years Pettit built rotary engines have earned a worldwide reputation for unsurpassed quality, top notch performance, and outstanding reliability. Our history of racing victories and championships in both endurance and sprint racing are a result of our passion for improving rotary engines and paying close attention to small details. Endurance races like the Rolex 24 & 12 hours of Sebring, to our recent victories in time attack sprints, as well as over 2000 Pettit built engines delivered to clients around the globe has built our reputation for providing top performance and unmatched longevity. 

 

So what makes Pettit engines the best?

It all starts with the careful inspection of all the selected components that make up every Pettit built engine. Even the new parts are carefully inspected, measured, and approved for each and every engine. Then all modifications, porting, machining blueprinting, and finishing to all critical surfaces is completed. Next the parts receive a high temperature detergent bath and high pressure rinse by a 10hp cleaning machine. After this, pre-assembly begins and more inspections. To pass the pre-assembly inspections, a critical surface finish of 12-18 micron is required. To consistently achieve these high standards Pettit developed several proprietary methods for critical surface finishing. Next oil galleys and internal passages are inspected, a final cleaning is performed and protective coatings are applied to the aluminum and cast iron exterior surfaces.Last stop is the engine room, where each part gets yet another inspection before assembling the engine. Finally a static compression test is performed and every hole is capped or plugged before shrink wrapping. 

If you're ready to ship us your engine, the oil and coolant must be completely drained. Anything leaking can delay the shipment. Unless other arrangements are made we expect a short block, if a proper flywheel puller is not available, do not use a hammer as depicted on Youtube, leave it on and we will remove it for you, replace and properly tighten it at no charge. Then, ratchet strap the engine to a small pallet and give us a call, we can have it picked up or you can drop it at a local terminal to save $$$. Either way we will email a bill of lading. You will need to print 3 copies, one to keep, one to attach to the engine and one for the truck driver or the terminal clerk, if dropping off.