1980 Mazda 626 with rotary swap

link NMNA. I like the concept here, but not the price.

This has been here for almost 23 hours and no comments? I figured someone either knew the car, did the work, saw it a show, sold the guy the rotary in trade for a random leaf spring for a '67 Dodge pickup or something.

How many 1980 Mazdas are out there for sale that are not RX-7s?

That intake tube reminds me of snuffleupagus.

That's a pretty lame ad, but the car could be worth close to their asking price - depending on all the details they didn't bother to mention: rust, which rotary, details about the condition of the mechanicals, paint, interior, etc.

I'd pay $4k for that if i had $4k.

80hp motor replaced with one that makes 100hp?

Sil80redtop wrote: 80hp motor replaced with one that makes 100hp?

If only anyone knew how to make more power out of a rotary.

petegossett wrote: That's a pretty lame ad, but the car could be worth close to their asking price - depending on all the details they didn't bother to mention: rust, which rotary, details about the condition of the mechanicals, paint, interior, etc.

Yeah, and the wheels look promising too, but we cant see them.

Swank Force One wrote:

Sil80redtop wrote: 80hp motor replaced with one that makes 100hp?

If only anyone knew how to make more power out of a rotary.

Yeah, but if it is a 12A, it wont have quite the potential.

If this was a 140 hp EFI S4 engine or nicer, I could see 4K. Otherwise, it may be worth it to pull the 12A and do the 13B swap and sell the engine to a 1st gen owner looking for 12A parts.

I'd challenge anyone to find any 1st gen 626 coupe in this sort of condition for $4k, period.

Just sayin'.

Ahh, I didn't realize the car itself had some value.

I would still rip out that 12A (assumption) and throw in a S4 or S5 NA or TII.

wvumtnbkr wrote: Ahh, I didn't realize the car itself had some value. I would still rip out that 12A (assumption) and throw in a S4 or S5 NA or TII.

I don't know that i'd say that it was valuable, just that these are really thin on the ground to begin with and if someone actually wanted one in this shape, $4k isn't out of the question in the first place. I'd just consider the rotary swap a bonus, as it makes the question of "What motor should go in this thing?" really easy.

I agree, though... if that's a 12A, i wouldn't keep it in there, either.

Looks like you can get one in worse condition in Czech Republic for about $1300 USD, so there's that.

http://auto.bazos.cz/inzerat/40285172/Mazda-626-Capella.php

Wonder what 112hp motor they reference in there, though.

(Edit) Looks like it might be the "MA," an early predecessor to the "F" motors. Sooo... sounds like getting an FE3/F2/F2T/F8DOHC dropped wouldn't be too terribly hard.

I'd rock that, even though it does have a rotary. I have fond memories of learning how to properly drive in one. I don't think the price is out of line.