Gentlemen, please share with me your knowledge of the lat 90s 626

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?

Whew. when you said 5 speed, most all my misgivings were quashed. The 5 speed versions of that car were actually pretty tough. It shares a lot of chassis etc with the MX6 and the Ford Probe so suspension stuff etc will be pretty readily available.

Its only real drawback is it's sorta porky and not really hot lookin'. Of course, that could make for a real good sleeper.

they ride good in stock form. That's the only thing that ever stuck with me about them. That and they seem to be oil burners.

We had a 91, probably the previous generation. The 2.2 16 valve engine was outstanding. The rest of the car slowly fell to bits including the auto transmission, power windows, seats, dash, pretty much everything. That engine would make me buy another one though. Oh wait, I've got an 89 sitting in the barn.

My first ever new car was an '89 626 LX. I guess that's not much like the car you're looking at. I kept the car for 14 years and put 170k miles on it. It was a great car. Never any trouble, just routine maintenance. It was still going strong when I sold it in advance of the arrival of my first son and got something larger. It had the 2.2 12-valve engine, which delivered fantastic fuel economy and reasonable power with the 5-speed. Handling was okay, not great in stock form, but it made a perfectly fine daily driver. Car still had the original clutch and struts the day I sold it.

Well just got off the phone with my bro, he says its actually a 93...not sure if that makes a difference? I guess im gonna take the boss out to dinner tomorrow night and schmooze her and see if i can squeeze 2 bills out of the rainy day fund. Fingers crossed...

My bride had a '96 ir '97 626 4cy. 5 spd & kept it for 4 years or so. At the time she had a fairly long commute & must've had 85000 miles or so on it when she traded. I don't recall there ever being any problems,even insignificant ones, with her car. It wasn't fast at all but was adequate.

If it was an auto I would tell you to run for the hills, and hide in a dark hole. But I worked with a guy as a pizza delivery guy that used one, while he didn't rag on it, he wasn't nice to it at all. It seemed to hold up fine.

5spd makes that car, for sure..

Not fast but an all around 'good' car. The one you mention sounds like a problem child, though. The 'most expensive two bills you ever spent' analogy comes to mind.

93 or 96 is identical.

The 4banger in there is a turd. I believe it's the FS-DE. But, if you're just going to lighten it up and make it handle, then it's fine. The motor DOES respond decently to standard breathing mods, but that's about it if you want to stay halfway reliable.

I say go for it. It'll handle surprisingly well with basic suspension stuffs.

It'll need new bushings. Like whoa.

If it had the V6 i'd be a whole lot more excited for you.

For what you are about to spend you can get a running version of the same car. And save a lot of manuel labour on your part. That thing aint gonna look purty either after the bonzai bodywork you are proposing.

Its basically a Mazda version of the Camry. Boring but functional.

^That, too.

Get this instead:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/cl-find-91-mx-6-turbo-nyc/22815/page1/

No. Seriously. Thank me later.

Talk him down to $1200, then let me know when the roadtrip is, i'll go out there and grab it with you.

well honestly, Id be buying this car to get it out of my folks driveway - its flat black with a broken nose and flat feet - its ugly and they want it gone and my brother is not very...motivated- by anything 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.

My wife's DD is a 2000 626 V6 with a 5 speed and limited slip. She won't give it up. Before that she had an 89 with the turbo. A couple of years back I finally had her convinced it was time for a new car. Talked her into a Speed6. Problem was they had just stopped making them. So I went out and bought a new F350 for myself and she is still driving the 10 year old Mazda.

Did you add the limited slip? They never came factory with them, to the best of my knowledge. If they DID come with with from factory, then i have another unicorn to chase.

I've never owned one but with the manual trans they're a decent DD and there's a little bit of aftermarket improvement bits available. Seem pretty tough really. Not hard to work on. I personally would not get the V6 since the 4 is so much easier to work on.

4cylndrfury wrote: well honestly, Id be buying this car to get it out of my folks driveway - its flat black with a broken nose and flat feet - its ugly and they want it gone and my brother is not very...motivated- by anything 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.

This attitude (in bold above) you've displayed is EXACTLY how one aqcuires free cars. Offer to make the problem dissappear. It's not worth any more than the junkyard will give you to haul it away (which could be anywhere between Zero and 100 dollars (possibly more depending on steel prices). Yes...dealing with family makes it tricky, but don't buy something that's not worth something.

Clem