suppose you bought a set of apex seals that had numbers -engraved- in the flat sides, like with a hand engraver -- would you consider that a flaw and not put them in your engine for abrasive wear/reliability reasons or would you use em?



weird question i know, but i bought a set of seals just like this (unknowingly), and i'm pretty bothered by it.



thanks

 

I seriously doubt that an "engraving" will hinder any performance. I've re-used apex seals before...and had no regrets so far. Doubt that new apex seals with engravings will make you have regrets.

 

jspec: i'm not thinking so much of performance as i am reliability and longevity, and not wanting to tear up the seal grooves of a nice set of 9.7:1 rotors

 

sounds iffy.

 

welp, called Rotary Aviation to see if i could get a set of seals without the gouges/engraving, was told flatly "no" and that i was stuck with them. then i reminded them that they guarantee "fit, finish, and general customer satisfaction", which finally turned on the light bulb. the seals go back tomorrow.



also, taking a closer look at the apex seal springs that were included, the ends are cut at random angles.. details, man, details.



it's cool that someone is trying to improve on the existing technology, but now that i think about it , i'll pass on offering up my engine for beta testing.

 

for anyone who wants a closer look at these things, i scanned the seals before i shipped them back. you can get a good look at the ugly engraving, the oddly cut springs, and the bonus hair that came embedded in the plastic package, next to seal #1.



pic here

 

I don't think the engraving is a big deal, but the apex seal springs I dunno. I have a set, and I'm still going to use them on my rebuild..

 

it looks like they go out of their way to make a true surface on the apex seals, so the engraving seems questionable.



the apex seal spring inconsistency is pretty surprising to me, anyone got some closeup pics of oem springs for comparison?