Pettit Built Engines

Since 1990, 30 years and counting well over 2000 Pettit Built Rotary Engines have been sold for street and race use around the world, earning Pettit Racing a reputation for unsurpassed quality and outstanding reliability. Proven to deliver performance & longevity beyond expectation time after time — all reasons why Pettit Built engines are considered by so many people to be the best.

It's easy to make a rotary engine fast, but our expertise is also proven to make rotary engines last!

Engines As Low As $3599!

If you have a good core with main parts all usable, you can get a blueprinted, street-ported Pettit Built Engine, with all of our advancedquality & performanceupgrades, for as little as $3599 . Justship or bring your engine to us.

If you don't have a core, you can buy a blueprinted, street-ported Pettit Built Engine rightoff the shelf.

Either way, your rotary engine comes Pettit Built , with all of the quality that has made our engines legendary!

Ship or Bring Your Engine to Us

The easiest, best and most cost-effective way to get a Pettit Built Engine is using your old engine as the core.

To ship your engine, just give us a call at(561) 844-2258and we can have it picked up. Or, you can drop it off at a freight terminal for a savings of $80- $125. Call oremail uswith your zip code for the terminal location nearest you.

If the main core parts are all usable, our standard two rotor build can cost as little as $3200 for all the following engines:

  • RX8 Renesis, 4 and 6 port 2003-2012
  • 13b TT & REW, 1991-2002
  • 13b peripheral port induction
  • 13b 4 port n/a and turbo, 1974-1991
  • 13b 6 port n/a, 1984-1991
  • 12a all years

For three rotor engines like the 20b or 13g,CALL USto discuss your project.

Disassembly Inspection

When your engine arrives, we disassemble it and perform wear pattern / failure analysis inspections. We then call or email you with our findings and provide a written quote to build you the engine you desire. The old parts tell a story and reveal the causes of failure and/or problems that— once corrected— can help prevent a failure recurrence.

We encourage customers to participate on-site in the disassembly inspection and failure analysis of their engine. The whole process takes 20-40 minutes, after which we document our findings and provide an accurate written quote for your approval.

Completion Time & Payment

Once approved, typical completion time is 8-10 working days, or 1-3 days for priority builds.

Unless we purchase an engine for your build, we typically requireno deposit or payments until your engine is scheduled to ship (or after your test drive, on car projects).

Off-The-Shelf (OTS) Pettit Built Engines

If you have no core, we can get a Pettit Built OTS Engine right to your door. Pettit Engines are known for unsurpassed quality, top performance and outstanding reliability, all reasons why our rotary engines are considered to be the best by so many people all around the world.

Pettit Built OTS engines typically include new rotor housings, rotors, gears, and e-shafts (unless otherwise listed on your quote). Due to all the new parts, our standard 2 rotor build is $5895, plus a core charge of $800-$1000 and shipping were applicable.

OTS Pricing & Core Charges

  • 13B Twin Turbo Series 6, 7, 8 & REW        -      $5895
  • 13B Four Port Turbo Series 4 & 5              -      $5850
  • 13B Six Port N/A Series 4 & 5                    -      $5750
  • Renesis I & II (RX8)                                     -      $5800/ $6095
  • Renesis III (RX8)                                          -      $6850

                *****  plus an $800 - $1000 core charge  ******

      Prices are also subject to change and may increase or decrease depending on several factors that include availability of new Mazda parts, usable cores, and discounts from our purchase volumes.

      Pettit Built Renesis Stages

      Every Pettit Built Renesis is blueprinted, street ported and receives all the modifications that make Pettit Built  Engines the best. Also included with every Renesis are proprietary mods which provide added cooling to the exhaust ports, helping to minimize side housing surface deformation at outer port edges as well as the area around leading spark plugs on the rotor housings.

       Also available with every Pettit Built Renesis is our service for the lower intake manifold. We blend and smooth the factory machining at the base of the VDI valve plenum area reducing turbulence and improving flow as well as service and index the SSV, VDI & aux port valves, then install the manifold on the engine and test the valves for proper operation... $245  We also at no charge    clean, flow & PSI test the injectors, to insure proper fueling of our engines as well as easing the install for the techs insuring no problems with stuck valves or flaky injectors.

      • PBR I is 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 p-specs, micro finish on all critical surfaces, clean room assembled with genuine Mazda OEM apex seals, static compression tested, then capped and skin sealed for shipping.
      • PBR II has all the mods of "PBR I" plus genuine Mazda HD 2mm 2 piece full depth apex seals. With these apex seals, the load carrying surface area (main wear area) is increased more than 50% and thus reduces surface loads more than 50% as well. In theory this should double apex seal life. More data is needed to confirm this. So far there have been no failures to inspect. This setup requires special CNC machining of apex grooves and special corner seals.
      • PBR III has all the mods of build I & II plus it uses lower compression 13b RX7 FD rotors. This setup also requires special CNC machining to accept custom made outer gas sealing rings and also requires special balancing. This is the right choice with forced induction applications where more than 350 whp is desired.
      • PBR IV is a custom build, race build, and / or special purpose build. PleaseCALL 1-561-844-2258for details.

      Racing History

      Since 1990, 39 years and counting Pettit Built Rotary Engines have earned a worldwide reputation for unsurpassed quality, top 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. It is easy to make a rotary fast, but our expertise is proven to make rotary engines last.

      Top Quality

      So what makes Pettit engines the best, and how do we maintain such quality over 2000 engines?

      1. 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 are completed.
      2. Next, the parts receive a high temperature detergent bath and high pressure rinse by a 10hp cleaning machine.
      3. After this, pre-assembly begins, along with more inspections. To pass the pre-assembly inspections, a critical surface finish of 12-18 microns is required. To consistently achieve these high standards, Pettit has developed several proprietary methods for critical surface treatments.
      4. 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.
      5. Last stop is the engine room. Each part gets another inspection and all critical openings are sealed with caps and plugs. During the final assembly process yet another inspection is performed for a total of eight quality control inspections exceeding industry standards. Finally, a static compression test is performed and the new engine is shrink-wrapped for protection.

      All Pettit Built Engines Receive the Following:

      • Blueprinting, street porting, and all critical wear/contact surfaces receive our advanced proprietary finishing treatment
      • Pettit housing mods which improve cooling to minimize surface deformation around lead plugs
      • Attention to minor axis areas - this helps to minimize seal chatter
      • Mods to seal path and ports - helps to better maintain compression seal integrity during port crossing and closure
      • Oil system mods which improve oil flow to bearings
      • Main and rotor bearings clearances set to race p-specs
      • Eight quality control inspections
      • Clean room assembly with Rotor Pro tools
      • Static compression tested, capped, and skin sealed for shipping

        Aside from paying close attention to every detail, we also only use genuine Mazda Parts. Then, every engine is personally assembled by Cam Worth. That's right! For 30 years and counting he has personally assembled every engine ever sold by Pettit Racing. In addition, his portfolio includes:

        • Countless engines for numerous race teams
        • All R&D and race engines for Pettit projects
        • Many custom engines for magazines, project cars, boats, and marine use
        • prototype diesel and 1-rotor engines
        • The Diasio Car Company's 13b Renesis-powered sports racers
        • 13b & 20b GT Car & Time Attack Car engines
        • AXIO 1 rotor go kart engines

        Apex Seals

        Unless other arrangements are made, all standard Pettit Built engines use the latest apex seal technology from Mazda: these dual sprung 2mm seals use an improved electron beam chill-hardening process (now digitally controlled) on the top portion of the seal (where it contacts the rotor housing surface). To our knowledge, this technology has not made it to the general aftermarket. The only comparable seals are ceramic and add about $1200 to the cost of a 2-rotor engine build.

        Engine Performance

        Our standard street port improves efficiency and flow without major changes in port timing. Benefits include better fuel economy as well as more power delivered through all rpm ranges and boost levels. Our standard street-ported engine, properly tuned and maintaining a charge temperature <125°F @ 16-18 psi/boost with a 1:1-1.25:1 back-pressure ratio, is capable of producing 200 hp/rotor. On a two-rotor engine this is 400 hp. These engines will make more power, but at that point other factors such as material strength and management variances become more critical, and can lead to unexpected failures.

        Engine Longevity

        Engine life is totally dependent on proper care. The best longevity is achieved by using common sense and following simple guide below:

        • Never overheat the engine
        • Easy warm ups and cool downs (no boost)
        • Keep clean oil (no fuel smell)
        • Always use good quality fuel, and to maximize performance and longevity, add Protek-R fuel lube with every tank.

        Monster Ports

        Extra large and monster ports (common with older naturally aspirated and drag race engines) can compromise reliability. Since the seals, both apex and side, pass over larger openings, there is more flex, resulting in accelerated seal wear as well as greater possibility for catastrophic failures. All this should be especially evident when we note that most conversations about turbo rotary engines still mention seal failures.

        Bridge Ports

        We hear and get many questions about bridge port's  most commonly used with naturally aspirated rotaries for road racing and drag racing where the main concern is performance above 5000 RPM and no need for drive ability in these applications. It is an easy inexpensive way to lengthen the port open time getting more air and fuel in moving the power-band 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 port requires nearly open exhaust having little or no back pressure, even then it really hurts low end power and drive ability and it's not uncommon to foul spark plugs at the worst possible times.

        For all the effort, machining, poor life expectancy, etc..the expected horse power gains with turbocharged or supercharged rotaries is about the equivalent of adding a pound or two of boost. Typically bridge porting is not a good idea for street use unless you like punishment.

        Peripheral Intake  Ports

        Peripheral intake ports 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 filled with epoxy and it's necessary to build a custom intake manifold.

        Build Your Engine

        Due to a shortage of engine core parts the best and most cost effective method for obtaining a Pettit Built Engine is to ship us your old engine, once here we disassemble it, perform wear pattern / failure analysis inspections and call or email you with our findings and the exact cost to build the engine you desire. The old parts tell a story and reveal the causes of problems and / or failures that once corrected can help prevent a future recurrence. We also offer customers to participate in disassembly & inspection of their engine for a first look, most are surprised with the results and glad to have had the opportunity and first look, fun and popular.

        Engine Shipping

        If you decide to ship us your engine, 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 you tube, leave it on and we will remove, replace and properly tighten it at no charge. Another service we offer at no charge is to clean flow the injectors, we want to be sure the injectors are right so your engine runs perfectly.Then, with all fluids drained ratchet strap it to a small pallet and give us a call, we'll email or fax you a bill of lading and have it picked up.

        With RX8 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 injectors on the engine, Renesis intakes usually have significant carbon buildup on all the valves and inside the runners, they need to be disassembled, properly cleaned, serviced and indexed so the aux port, SSV and VDI valves open and close in the right position working smoothly as pictured below.

        We can also perform some beneficial flow modifications to the plenum area as pictured  above, then reassemble it to your engine and test the operation of the valves.

        Included at no charge we clean and flow 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 and no injector worries for you.

        Cut Friction, Gain Power

        If we expect longevity and top performance from our rotary engines, it is clearly evident that extra lubricant must be added to the fuel.

        This is why: the oil metering system is responsible for lubricating the delicate apex seals, compression seals, and housing surfaces that are common to every rotary engine. Oil is fed from the engine oiling system (oil-pan) to a variable ratio-metering pump. Then it's injected into the engine where it partially blends with the onrushing air-fuel charge. This incomplete blending and fuel-to-oil ratios of 400:1*and higher are cause for alarm. Also, unleaded fuels are designed to clean piston engines. In the rotary's high combustion engine, increased temperature will quickly clean away this small amount of oil leaving little or no lubrication. This causes increased friction and wear, resulting in decreased performance and longevity. With over 25 years experience and more than 1000 rotary engines built, we know excessive wear on apex and compression seals as well as critical housing surfaces is caused from inadequate lubrication and using today's fuels. What's all this mean? With out proper lubrication friction, heat and today's fuels will likely cause premature failure of some expensive engine parts, great for Mazda's profits but not good for you and me.

        By reducing friction and wear, Protek-R can extend rotary engine life by 30% or more depending on your driving habits and consistency of use.

        Protek-R blends completely with your fuel lubricating all these critical surfaces. This provides reduced friction and wear, adding longevity and keeping the power. Just what the rotary needs to last strong!! In just one 24 hour race a Pettit Race Engine will get a lifetime of use and punishment, but since we mix Protek-R in the fuel they have little wear when compared to the average street engines we regularly disassemble. This is especially evident on turbocharged and high RPM rotaries like the Renesis.

        Pettit Built engines are the only turbocharged rotary engines in racing history to finish the grueling Rolex24 at Daytona. Could Protek be a factor? We think so!

        Here at Pettit Racing we know how fun and important it is to have a good running rotary engine and keep it running for many miles and years, that is why Protek-R was developed in the first place: to help keep your engine fresh. For RX8 owners, some Renesis engines have weak or low compression.** Mazda says "heat generated friction" is the cause, but since factory recalibration for the RX-8 ECU increases injected oil for the high revving Renesis, could they just need some Protek-R to help cut friction and reduce wear? We think so and that's what Protek-R does best.

        *Fuel to oil ratios are calculated by oil consumption / mile. **Low compression can also result from catastrophic engine failures and overheating.

        Recommended premix ratio for Rotary engines:

        For track use and spirited driving we mix Protek-R at a ratio of 100:1, or approx 1 gal fuel with 1 oz. of Protek-R.

        For hwy & cruising our minimum recommendation is 200:1 or approx 1 gal fuel with 1/2 oz. of Protek-R.

        Adding Protek-R at 200:1  improves the fuel-to-oil ratio by more than 100%, or 180:1 and better. Cut Friction. Gain Power. Use Protek-R.

        Order now! CALL 561-844-2258

        Pricing & Copyright Notice

        Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Copyright © 1990-2020 by Excellent Performance Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole prohibited. TKT, Trak Pro, PROTEK, R-Tec and Pettit Racing are Trademarks of Excellent Performance Inc., Palm Beach, FL