Hello all,
Long time lurker, first time poster here..
Here's my ride: a 1975 mazda 616 DX (yes, that means "deluxe"!)
I bought this 6 years ago. The previous owner found it tucked away in a warehouse, where it stood for 20 years. Only 20000kms on the clock. He put a new battery in and drove it home! Cleaned it up a little, gave it a quick paintjob and sold it to me..
I bought this with the intention of learning to work on cars. Didn't do as much as change a wheel before I got this.. Of course it had to be a mazda because I had been into mazda's my whole life...
What I did was do a lot of reading in workshop manuals, rebuilt the brakes and then the cooling system. Also I replaced the springs because they were cut, and the ride was horrible.
Then I just drove it. Of course that wasn't quite the technical challenge I had hoped for, so 2 years ago I decided it was time for a another engine.
Now, the logical thing to do with these old mazda cars is to put in a rotary engine. Sadly, engine swaps are a big no-no for the belgian MOT man, so it had to be something subtle and original looking. The solution was found in a 2 litre from a '79 121L (did you get those in the UK?). This engine is a straight derative from the 616 original 1600cc, and you can't even tell the difference from the outside. Perfect..
This engine was completely rebuilt by me, and I mated it with a 5 speed from a '79 626 (i think they're called Montrose in the UK)
I also added electronic ignition from a '89 626.
The new engine tranformed it into quite a nippy car. Top end speed is basically the same, because it still has the original 1600cc diff, but the acceleration has surprised many...
I also added rear seatbelts (thank you mazda for providing mounting points) so my two kids can tag along
So mechanically its sound, structurally it's beginning to need attention. This car has never seen a welder so far (expect on the assembly line, of course), but small bubbles are appearing in the rear arches and door bottoms. Chassis rails and sills are fine though.. I just bought a welder, took a course and managed to find all the repair panels I need. Lovely job for next winter. For now, I'm just going to drive it..
Here's how it is today (well, yesterday actually...)
New rebuilt engine:
Long time lurker, first time poster here..
Here's my ride: a 1975 mazda 616 DX (yes, that means "deluxe"!)
I bought this 6 years ago. The previous owner found it tucked away in a warehouse, where it stood for 20 years. Only 20000kms on the clock. He put a new battery in and drove it home! Cleaned it up a little, gave it a quick paintjob and sold it to me..
I bought this with the intention of learning to work on cars. Didn't do as much as change a wheel before I got this.. Of course it had to be a mazda because I had been into mazda's my whole life...
What I did was do a lot of reading in workshop manuals, rebuilt the brakes and then the cooling system. Also I replaced the springs because they were cut, and the ride was horrible.
Then I just drove it. Of course that wasn't quite the technical challenge I had hoped for, so 2 years ago I decided it was time for a another engine.
Now, the logical thing to do with these old mazda cars is to put in a rotary engine. Sadly, engine swaps are a big no-no for the belgian MOT man, so it had to be something subtle and original looking. The solution was found in a 2 litre from a '79 121L (did you get those in the UK?). This engine is a straight derative from the 616 original 1600cc, and you can't even tell the difference from the outside. Perfect..
This engine was completely rebuilt by me, and I mated it with a 5 speed from a '79 626 (i think they're called Montrose in the UK)
I also added electronic ignition from a '89 626.
The new engine tranformed it into quite a nippy car. Top end speed is basically the same, because it still has the original 1600cc diff, but the acceleration has surprised many...
I also added rear seatbelts (thank you mazda for providing mounting points) so my two kids can tag along
So mechanically its sound, structurally it's beginning to need attention. This car has never seen a welder so far (expect on the assembly line, of course), but small bubbles are appearing in the rear arches and door bottoms. Chassis rails and sills are fine though.. I just bought a welder, took a course and managed to find all the repair panels I need. Lovely job for next winter. For now, I'm just going to drive it..
Here's how it is today (well, yesterday actually...)
New rebuilt engine:
I had that recored only 4 years ago..
