I recently bought a Formula SAE car. It has a tiny Sachs Wankel engine that was originally Judson supercharged. The Judson was removed and carb'ed. The car was last autocrossed/started 20 years ago.
I bought it without much thought, so I may just sell it, but I'd like to get it running. The seller said it needed new points or some ignition part. I see the coil, but nothing else. Anyone familiar with a Sachs and how to resurrect one?
It's been in dry storage in the guy's rec room (see below -yes he was not married when it was "parked" there)for decades, but is in pretty good shape. There's a body, new carbs, another engine... I think those are Mini wheels.
Those Fichtel-Sachs rotaries aren't cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pristine-Vintage-Sachs-Fichtel-Wankel-Rotary-Engine-KM48-West-Germany-Made-/281747044349?hash=item41996eb7fd
Much want.
And only partially for seeing people's amusement watching me clamber in and out of such a contraption.
It takes a real man to admit on a public forum that he had a tiny wankel. 
I'm guessing that was the same engine Arctic Cat and some other snowmobile manufacturers used in their sleds in the early 1970s: http://www.vintagesledders.com/component/content/article/52-the-wankel-rotary I remember riding one of them back then, and it wasn't very impressive.
The snowmobile connection makes sense, it looks like CVT clutches in the second pic.
Neato,sell off that engine and jam in a 600cc bike engine and enjoy.for sure that's what I'd do without hesitation(well it might be a 1000cc)
+1 to the wants...
I was on a team. Keep in mind that the ideal owner for one of these has a welder, a mill, a lathe, and a copy of solidworks. I so miss messing with FSAE cars.
Maybe, someday...
engine swapping one of these is not like swapping a miata. you have to make sure things are beefy enough to take it.
The team I was on, we were expending effort on GRAMS of unsprung weight. (laser welded Ti bellcranks, experimenting with CF suspension pushrods...) Just FYI, you might be pulling the pin on the grenade if you do something like that without care.
They used VW axles on this car. I think he said the body is carbon fiber. It's at another location and I haven't picked it up yet. Assuming I don't sell it first, I think a motorcycle engine makes sense, but I think my neighbors would like to hear the rotary sound that comes out of the SuperTrapp at least once.
Apexcarver wrote:
engine swapping one of these is not like swapping a miata. you have to make sure things are beefy enough to take it.
The team I was on, we were expending effort on GRAMS of unsprung weight. (laser welded Ti bellcranks, experimenting with CF suspension pushrods...) Just FYI, you might be pulling the pin on the grenade if you do something like that without care.
Replace what fails with something that doesn't,eventually its all good.
kevlarcorolla wrote:
Apexcarver wrote:
engine swapping one of these is not like swapping a miata. you have to make sure things are beefy enough to take it.
The team I was on, we were expending effort on GRAMS of unsprung weight. (laser welded Ti bellcranks, experimenting with CF suspension pushrods...) Just FYI, you might be pulling the pin on the grenade if you do something like that without care.
Replace what fails with something that doesn't,eventually its all good.
Ah, yes, the old FSAE mantra...
Still remember the all-nighter our team had when the diff support failed (munching rear chassis tubes) during testing the night before we drove up for competition. We had the engine out in 15min, which was a feat considering it had to come through the rollhoop and the drivers compartment.
