And a Birotor…

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hilarystone
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And a Birotor…

Post by hilarystone »

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Some of you may have spotted clues about me looking at a GS Birotor in France a little while ago – involving one day of 650 miles in the BX Sport and second day of 550 miles. After giving it a look over I realised the structure looked pretty sound I decided that this car was going to be the only way I'd ever manage to afford a Birotor. Wankel engines are not too expensive to rebuild – they have a relatively small number of parts and Mazda have solved the seal problems that plagued the early rotary engines. I managed to agree a deal with the French seller despite him having no English and me have a tiny amount of French…

Well last week I went over and collected it on a trailer behind the C8. Two sets of ramps were needed to get it onto the trailer – the seller had never had the engine running so the suspension was completely down. But we were away within an hour and a half including completing the paperwork. It came with a Carte Grise – which is needed in order to get it registered here but in France you need a CT (the French equivalent of MOT) in order to get the Carte Grise – he'd managed to get a CT for this car!

The Birotor has a Wankel engine almost identical to the NSU RO80, bodywork mostly similar to a GS but with slightly wider front and rear wings, a different front end underneath – the Wankel motor is arranged transversely with C-Matic gearbox a la Cx and the brakes are suspension are supposedly pretty much CX like. The rear brakes are apparently SM.

I took it over to the Westons today and first job is to get the engine and gearbox out so that a rotary engine specialist can go through the engine. The plans are to strip the engine bay out – it needs repainting as does most of the car. There's some welding to the front end of the nearside sill to be done and probably other places too. Tyres will need to be sourced too…

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Hilary Stone

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Period bikes, frames and parts

1985 Citroen CX Ambulance, 1989 Citroen BX 16V, 1987 Citroen Visa GTI, 2008 Citroen C8 2l petrol, Citroen BX Van 16V, Clan Crusader, 1970 Lotus Elan, Citroen Xsaras VTS phase1 and Phase 2, Citroen GSA, GS Birotor
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by sdelasal »

That sounds a very interesting car Hilary - look forward to seeing it, in the flesh, in the future.
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by bx petrol auto saloon »

That does look in incredibly very good nick indeed =D> 8)
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Tinkley
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Tinkley »

Surprised with the 'MOT' you did not drive it back..... :lol:
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Paul296 »

Amazing Hilary - well done! =D> The Birotor isn't just a car; it's a legend. :)
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mat_fenwick
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by mat_fenwick »

I'm even more jealous of your fleet now! What's the plan for it - regular use like the rest of your collection?
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Mothman »

Wow, what a great motor, and a very rare beast too. I do hope you can get it running again without the problems they were plagued with. Good luck with it, a great find.

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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by MULLEY »

Awesome motor, what size is the engine & how much power do these rotary beasts give out?
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Philip Chidlow »

Huge respect and envy ;)
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by benifotrem1 »

Love theses cars and rare as rocking horse manure.

Enjoy your new car
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hilarystone
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by hilarystone »

The plan for it is get the engine rebuilt first and then rebuild as and where necessary – certainly with the engine out it makes sense to remove the rest of the parts in the engine bay and repaint it. It needs a screen but that is standard GS I think… And will need work on the seat and interior. And then drive it regularly, Wankel engines with modern rotor tips are pretty reliable.
The two chamber rotary engine is rated at 107 bhp so will make a pretty rapid GS…
Hilary Stone

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Period bikes, frames and parts

1985 Citroen CX Ambulance, 1989 Citroen BX 16V, 1987 Citroen Visa GTI, 2008 Citroen C8 2l petrol, Citroen BX Van 16V, Clan Crusader, 1970 Lotus Elan, Citroen Xsaras VTS phase1 and Phase 2, Citroen GSA, GS Birotor
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Tinkley »

Both Mazda and Norton did independent research on rotor tips for Wankel engines and both ended up with the same conclusion as far as I am aware. Cast iron was the best material. BTW the Norton research showed that there is a rev limit point somewhere (engine specific) where tip wear becomes a major issue. In their case I believe around 12k revs, the racer went to 18k and had to have the sealing blades replaced very regularly.

Still I can't foresee an R80 DKW unit getting quite in that realm. Pretty weird things to drive those Wankels as the torque curve is pretty much parallel to the power curve. I've been in a couple of RX Mazdas and the smoothness of the engine is incredible. No serious engine braking either, but not a real problem, Citroens are not short in that department, more like a 2 stroke bike.
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Tim Leech
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Tim Leech »

A right Q car! well done.
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by Slagtrooper »

She's almost intact!
Congratulations, following this topic!
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Re: And a Birotor…

Post by citsncycles »

Nice looking car. Not sure about a spare screen (I'll check) but I have some spare glass and possibly some better bumper trims etc. if you decide to change them.
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