long and short, my brother has a beaten and busted 96ish (i think - its got the last gen round body) 626 with the 16v DOHC, and a 5 speed. It needs new hubs in the rear, a new half shaft, a new water pump, and misc electrical gremlins, it overheated once pretty bad, but my brother is pretty certain the head is fine, the nose was squashed in a fender bender, but I think a tree and a heavy duty ratchedt strap may be the answer there...and probably myriad other little issues. I have done some googling and I see the manual trans is preferable to the weaker auto (good thing I find the manual trans preferable too). He is willing to "let it go" for a song - probably in the neighborhood of a couple C-notes, but most of all it will get it out of the parents driveway.
I know 93celicagt has a wicked boosted beast of a mazda, but what else is going on with these that may or may not make it worth the effort to get this pile sorted for the challenge in a year or so? Im not interested in swapping the motor, but a touch of force feeding isnt necessarily crossed off the list. Also, it appears the suspension is pretty well designed - are some off the shelf springs and some Tokico Illuminas going to plant it firmly to be competitive in any sort? Besides the challenge, I may actually want to hustle this thing thru the cones one day. The interior is shot to hell, but thats fine since it will most likely get gutted anyway. What info can the forum bestow?
I basically just want something to turn wrenches on, not necessarily something to curl pavement with. I think Im gonna do it, keep it NA, make it turn, and make it pretty-ish... but definitely keep the flat black...definitely.
