old school racers?

[travellinbob]

I have been watching this part of the forum now for a while and it seems that it is a bit quiet. Probably due to the popularity of the newer 7's and such like. But I figured that there must be a whole stack of guys out theredoing stuff with old mazdas, besides carl:)
The only reason i am bothering with putting a 12a turbo into a morris minor is because it was what I have right now.
by the way, i have quite a few contacts in oz , mostly good mates who have older mazdas so if anyone needs help i will do what i can. It would be great to see an older car to be the first to break into the nines. on a drag strip. Anyone got a spare 20b and a half decent 616 coupe??:D would be well fun.
cheers for all the other threads though and the pics.

[MikeLMR]

I would love an RX2/3/4 etc. but as I think is the case with most people finding one that a. is for sale and b. isn't a rust bucket restoration project is quite a rarity in the UK :( its a pity as I think they are some of the pretiest 70's saloons about (appart from some of the Datsuns and Celica's)

I'll just have to make do with the 1st gen for now (not that I get to use it that often lately)

Mike

[Gman]

One of the forum members is importing a mint RX3 i think from auz, ok its the nuts but its costing about 10k. When the newer rotaries are readily available people normally go for them.

[travellinbob]

Yeh i seem to remember reading about the guy, in scotland I think, importing an rx3. Also read about it on the aussie forum.
Pity about most early mazdas rusting away. My daily driver is a 1970 144 volvo and it is a daily struggle against things falling of it.
I will continue to gather parts for my car but perhaps when i get closer to having all the right bits i might trall the pages of e-bay for a 1300 sedan or some sort of early mazda.

[re10]

There is a lot of interest in historical race cars in NZ, and recently Jappa's are included - especially early rotors.

A lot of RX3 circuit and rally cars being built (as well as first gen RX7), which is all good. Must be next to impossible in the UK, but here it is still possible to buy a good solid old school Mazda, you just have to pay top money. Like this one;

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Mazda/auction-14964569.htm

[Carl]

Makes the one I have been trying to sell look pretty cheap!
Admittedly needing quite a bit of body work done but it would still be cheaper than that one.
Kind regards
Carl:rolleyes:

[travellinbob]

is it an RX3 sedan or coupe you are trying to sell at the moment carl? Not the twin turbo one is it?:D
Or is it the ex racing one you told me about?
Yuo can still get bargains in oz in old skool mazdas. A very good friend of mune recently picked up an RX3 sedan with a factory 12a turbo block and 5 speed for $1000. Which works out to be about £350. awesome.
cheers guys, lets keep the old stuff circulating.

[20B_boy]

Neither, its a restoration job, '72 10A is it Carl?

[travellinbob]

ooohh,:rolleyes: 72 10a rx3. Sounds cool. hmmm, mazda eu (earthgreen) brown vinyl interior and either a 10a pp or an old school turbo set up. Big carby, and a touch of water/ methonol injection. oh hang on, this is carl, maybe just a ported quad rotor:D . lets us know what you have in store.
my last project in oz before moving overseas was pretty much as described above but with a 13bturbo with custome throttle body injection.

[travellinbob]

so carl, this rx3...how much of it is a restoration project? are we talking new doors, sills and most of the floor?
Also what is the score guys on older cars and emmissions?
in oz if it is amde before a certain month in 1974 then it doesnt have to runa cat even if the motor in it originally had to.
Also I am thinking about the 12a you offered tosell. Still thinking. Work is really hectic but hope to have your diff under control and ready to chuck into something to take to your mates.
If you get fed up with waiting for it and want it couried to your door then just let meknow and we can rework the original deal:)

[MikeLMR]

anything pre 86 with a rotary is exempt from everything but a visible smoke test :cool

[20B_boy]

Originally posted by travellinbob
so carl, this rx3...how much of it is a restoration project? are we talking new doors, sills and most of the floor?
From recollection its actually pretty solid underneath...

[MrSlugg]

Spotted these old skool alloys on that kiwi site too. Would look good on any old rotary I reckon. Pity it would cost so much to ship them to Ireland, would be half tempted to see what they would be like on my 1st Gen 7

[MrSlugg]

.................... and here would be that link :guinness

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts/Tyres-wheels/auction-15282174.htm

[travellinbob]

wow, i have never even seen or heard of mazda factory mag wheels. they look kind of 80's retro funky.

[MrSlugg]

.................... and here would be that link :guinness

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts/Tyres-wheels/auction-15282174.htm

[travellinbob]

any pics on that rx3 yet carl:) ?
have you already advertised t if so then i will do a search and stop hassling you:D

[20B_boy]

It was advertised on here but the for sales get removed after 3 months so its not about any more - carl did have pics of it though...

[travellinbob]

thanks for that, look foward to maybe checking them out.

[re10]

You can't beat an RX3 coupe for the ultimate old school look, and performance...... :cool I can't believe that Carl's car has not been picked up.

[20B_boy]

Still hunting for those apex seal spring bits?!

Love the '3 btw, the pics in the link in your sig are excellent!

[travellinbob]

20-boy, have you seen carls rx3? do you remember how much he was asking for it?
maybe i should stop being lazy and ring him.

[MikeLMR]

I think I can remember but best let Carl say really.

[travellinbob]

aww, now you guys are just teasing me.:(

[re10]

Originally posted by 20B_boy
Still hunting for those apex seal spring bits?!

Love the '3 btw, the pics in the link in your sig are excellent!

Yes still looking, just need the apex springs and a couple of the apex seal corner pieces for the next re-build... thanks to Carl I have all the bits for a brand-spanking new 10a stored away. The current motor has only done just over 1500 miles so I am in no hurry, but when you need the parts that's when they are impossible to find, might as well start looking now.

Cheers re the 3, coming along good, still heaps more to be done yet...

[travellinbob]

hey re-10 i know that things are getting real hard to source 10a stuff these days. I have been hanging onto a 10a weber manifold for years just waiting to get myself a car to fit it to!

[Richard]

I know they're not rotarys ,but here are some pics of my old skoolers of the past 20 years or so.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/caron91.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/323sil.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/wex94.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/talb95.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/mel041.jpg

This last one was taken on a road rally back in June. We'd cleaned the first half to petrol, but unfortunately the second half had a load of whities, so we dropped a load of time as I tried to preserve my chassis rails and paintwork. Finished 18th out of 75 starters so wasnt too bad.

Got some engine mods in the pipeline over the winter in the hope of doing some sprints/hillclimbs next year.

Regards.

Rich:wave

[MikeLMR]

Hi Richard nice to hear from you again + see some old school cars being used properly :-)

[travellinbob]

hey wow, the green car ( i owuld call this a 323) looks great. Do you still own it? These photos are very cool and I for one do not give a monkies that they are not rotors.
Please feel free to post more details. the early mazda 1300, 1400cc motors are good engines and a good friend of mine in oz used to rally(gravel sprint) an 818 with a worked 1400.
thanks.


old skool threads are definatley coming back in popularity.:D

[Carl]

Originally posted by travellinbob



old skool threads are definatley coming back in popularity.:D

Largely thanks to travellin bob!LOL!
I like to see these older cars too,keep it up
Kind regards
Carl

[MikeLMR]

an old school revival :)

would love a rwd 323 to rally, will have to make do with getting the fwd one sideways considering how scarce they are now.

I'm not sure you can run a rotary in road rallying anymore, it seems that even in the standard car class they seem to be banned due to a one rotor ruling (fitted as standard production)

I take it you must Road Rally in Wales then Rich ? (what with the roads + 75 car entry :) )

[Richard]

All the cars except the latest 1000 ran the 1300 'TC' motor - it was actually the same engine I used in all 4 cars, it just got more and more modified each time.

The spec was'nt spectacular, just extremely reliable. All lightened and balanced, home worked head (standard valves) and a '323 Challenge' spec cam, and various carbs from twin SU's, thru 38DGAS Weber to twin 40 DCNF's and anything in between!

The green 323 had the luxury of a disc braked English axle and a 4.7 LSD - it handled well. I sold it to a guy who used it for about a year, then tried selling it. He got no takers so scrapped the whole car - the only thing he saved was the axle:mad: I did'nt know it was for sale until it was too late.:(

The blue 1000 that I have now runs the 1500 'D5' motor and 5 speed box. Again its all lightened and balanced, I've done a bit more work on the ports, and still use the Challenge spec cam.
I'm currently running a 32/32 Escort Sport carb which is the best I've had to date, barring the 40's of course. Its 85BHP at the wheels.

I'll be fitting the 40's before Christmas just to see what she does:D

Living here in wild West Wales there's no shortage of road events, although getting an entry is now extremely difficult as they have become very popular.

It was the first event we'd done in over 4 years and I must admit we did'nt enjoy it as much as we used to in the days of "plot and bash"

So thats why I'm going to try some hillclimbs and sprints, and also some track days, next year.

Rich:wave

[travellinbob]

aghhhhhhhhhhhhh, cant believe the guy scrapped it. But guess it was his only option, or so he thought.
Really cool to hear about your curent rally weapon. There is so much going for a car that has good horsepower but is also very reliable. Especially when rallying. Any more pictures?

[MikeLMR]

there was a widebody 323 rolling shell all fitted out to take escort grp4 running gear on ebay about 2 years ago, would've made an ace road rally car had it not had a wide body kit.

85bhp at the wheels it pretty good going on a single carb'ed 1300.

Just been helping out with a mates road rally Lada, 1600 Lada engine, about 4.5mm skim off the head, polished a ported with pinto inlet valves and a group A camshaft, just been modifying the inlet manifold to take a 3litre capri carb (two 38 chokes) like all the best rally engines this is about the 3rd car its been in :)

[re10]

This is mine from last weekend, still things to do, but coming along.

[flectron]

looking awesome mate:cool

gord:D

[Fish]

Looks like you're giving that Porsche a hard time. Just what we like to see.

Do you have a bigger version of that picture, or any others like that. I need a better wallpaper for the computer at work. ;)

Fish

[re10]

Originally posted by Fish
Looks like you're giving that Porsche a hard time. Just what we like to see.

Do you have a bigger version of that picture, or any others like that. I need a better wallpaper for the computer at work. ;)

Fish

That's the only size pic I have....

And about the Porshe - in my dreams :rollin mine is the economy 10a racer - not in the same league as that particular Porshe which may have cost about as much as my house!

[Richard]

Hey guys just bought this off Ebay. Combines my 2 great loves - old skool Mazda's and old skool rock:D

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jmazdaman/images/cozy.jpg

Anybody remember Cozy Powell - demon drummer with bands such as Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, amongst others?

He was tragically killed in an accident on the M4 near Bristol in 1998.

This is actuaally a proper postcard printed in Spain:confused:

The blurb on the back says:

The Hitachi Mazda RX3
Team Hitachi - Cozy Powell and Neville Knight compete for the Radio 1 and Britax Championship.

Rich:wave

[re10]

Originally posted by Fish
Looks like you're giving that Porsche a hard time. Just what we like to see.

Do you have a bigger version of that picture, or any others like that. I need a better wallpaper for the computer at work. ;)

Fish

Some more pic's here fish
http://www.vintagerotaries.com/FORUM/album_personal.php?user_id=145

Cheers!

[mullins]

Looking good Tony - glad the 10A PP is going strong - hope you haven't broken too many gearboxes lately ;)