looking to buy a 20b cosmo, but a few concerns

[import_trung]

hi all,

im looking to buy a cosmo 20b, it only has 60,00kms from new, the car is standard and has been owned by the same family since new.

i went to look at the car today.
the car is in great condition, and has had very little usage.

now upon starting up the car, it took a while (15-20sec of cranking) to fire into life. it did splutter a little. then cleared up.
white smoke came out of the back for a couple of minutes and then eventually cleared.
i left the car idling for 10-15 minutes whilst i checked out the rest of the car.

i did notice the water temp gauge did reach 1/2 way within a matter of minutes. i did not know if this was normal or odd as rotaries are known to warm up quickly.

i then took it for a quick spin around the block, 2-3 minutes at best

parked it back up, and looked under the bonnet again, this is when i saw the top rad hose was swollen, almost twice the size as normal.
i didnt do any other checks on it, i.e touch the rad, lower hose or check for bubbles etc.

now i have done alot of reading about how to check for possible o ring leaks, failed water pumps etc, but i cant find nothing definitive about swollen rad hose and was wondering if anyone could chime in with their experiences and what it could possibly be that causing this


any help would be great. thanks

[grinder]

im no expert , but i would hazzard a guess at the water seals are going , im sure it lets gasses into the air system which inturn would expand the hoses

like i said , im not expert , but im sure i have read something like that on here before

[skybusr34]

Grinder beat me to the post. I\'d say water seals on exit too. That and the white smoke on start up. 2 hints IMO

[CTworkinprogress]

i just want to know where you found a 20b cosmo for sale!

[import_trung]

Thanks for the responses guys.
That\'s what I\'ve read from the net so far. All fingers pointed to that. I was hoping it wasn\'t that, hmmm. Will need to think long and hard about buying it

As for finding it. Right place at the right time

[skybusr34]

Offer them 2k less as it needs a rebuild

[import_trung]

Is that how much a 20b rebuild costs? Is that a drive in drive out job?
How much is a cosmo worth in its current condition and one with a good engine?

[Jit]

Now there\'s a name I haven\'t seen in a while - import trung. Looking to move into rotaries at last? Fwiw a triple rotor Cosmo rebuild depending on what needs doing is gonna be a fair bit. I\'d be budgeting atleast 2k in bits and that\'s if you don\'t need plates or housings. If the mileage is that low then hopefully that sort of stuff can be reused. You\'ll need a new seal kit though as a minimum- makes sense to do it properly if you\'re gonna go to the expense of having it removed. For a drive in drive out rebuild I\'d expect it to be 3.5k minimum although I\'d budget 4-4.5k to be safe.

[skybusr34]

Tbf I missed the three rotor part as thinking  2Rotor but still 2k in bits??

[CTworkinprogress]

Tbf I missed the three rotor part as thinking  2Rotor but still 2k in bits??

Yup, and if you budget a bit higher and it comes out cheaper, then great, but by  the time you add all the apex seals and rubber seals, works out about that

[import_trung]

Jit,  long time no hear. I\'m contemplating the move to the \'darkside\'. But the rebuild is making me have 2nd thoughts.

As for the current mileage, its only on 60,000km. So circa 40,000miles. So still minty fresh considering its 20years old. Hopefully there\'s no damage to the components inside

[HaywardRotary]

Your big problem is if the big iron center plate is damged they are really rare and go for big money now, think of well over a £1000.00 just for that one plate in good condition

[import_trung]

Ok, so there\'s no way of telling what condition it is in until the engine is apart then?

[HaywardRotary]

Ok, so there\'s no way of telling what condition it is in until the engine is apart then?

Not really no. That having been said it might be that the engine was flooded and that caused the damage to the water seals which whilst still needing and strip down might still be in good condition.

[import_trung]

Funny you mention that, the owner did try to start the car a few months ago after it not being driven for 9 months prior, and it wouldn\'t start after repeated attempts. It then got towed to a garage last week where they diagnosed it due to engine being flooded. They got it running again, and the owner drove it home a couple days ago.