So jealous... I love RX-3's.
So jealous... I love RX-3's.
Man, that thing is in nice shape! 
Yeah, that's totally groovy, man! I'd drop a magic spinning triangle engine in it (esp. with a blow dryer(s) attached) as nature intended, but as long as you keep it in the Mazda family any swap is OK with me.
Its home but too cold to do much with it (-24C tonight). Will pull it into the garage tomorrow. You can see the one bit of rocker rust. The rest of the car is nice and solid.
The license plate was just zip tied on to avoid it getting towed away by an over zealous parking official.
1973 Mazda 808 original manual and service book. Sold at Kramer Mazda in Calgary in 1972. The previous owner told me a guy from Magrath, Alberta then bought it followed by his neighbor then the guy I bought it off.
I love that it has the original owners manual! Those things get lost so easily.
Fantastic find! I'd keep the pistons, that's what that one was meant to have. I owned and RX-3, loved that car. Keep us posted on updates.
Not only do I have the owner's manual but also the plastic case it sits in.
keeping it piston powered does seem appropriate. maybe add an eaton style supercharger to a 1.6 miata mill or an F series motor. little extra grunt without going crazy and an SC seems more period appropriate than a turbo. just some rambling thoughts, anyway. that thing oozes character and you'd have to really try to eff it up. congrats on the find. 
Yes that is the key - don't bugger it up - I'll try my best 
Please keep the pistons. A B2200 drivetrain + Webers would be a cool way to go. I'm not sure I would go so far as to put the F2T in it.
B3 + DOHC head & ITB's? Seems like something small and rev-happy like that should do nicely.
In reply to pres589:
i might have to debate that. it would seem the rx-3 is the revver and this is the low down torque version. can't really go wrong either way, just a thought.
pres589 wrote: B3 + DOHC head & ITB's? Seems like something small and rev-happy like that should do nicely.
Dude, come on. Do you seriously not want me to get any word done today?
goes back to 7 screens open to find out what it would take to head swap and de-VAF a B3 on the cheap
Edit: Wait, you are talking about the Mazda B3, right?
If this is a TC it is a 1300 cc powerplant. Same as what I have for my GLC's. Some of the later GLC's had the UC of which I have at least 2 laying around here as well. As a base motor it is a bit of a dog but add some compression and cam and they are fun and sound great. My old race motor had domed pistons, a radical cam and twin sidedraft dcoe 40's and it went like a scalded dog...when you could keep the valves adjusted.
If it runs the RX3 front suspension you may have an issue finding brake rotors. Unless someone has started to make them again they were very hard to find new a few years ago. If the rear has drums you can fairly easily change to rotors with adaptor plates and RX3 front calipers & rotors.
Can't wait to see more pictures and hear what you plan to do with it.
Its a 1.6L so not sure what motor it is if its not a TC - some sort of C series perhaps. I suspect the same one as a B1600 truck then. The front rotors do seem hard to find. I suppose Rx-7 at least have a chance of better adaptable. I hope at least - not sure if I need rotors yet. The rear drums seem to be available from RockAuto at least.
It's the "NA" engine.
70hp/82tq.
Worth mentioning that it made 100hp in "JDM" trim.
In reply to Teqnyck:
Yeah, the 1.3 out of the Festiva / Mazda 121 / etc. Seems like a nice starting point for something interesting. Just an idea of course.
Not that I'm encouraging to hack up this particular one, but is the front suspension near a lower cross member- like the Miata?
Keith- the reason I bring it up is just like my Alfa dream- fitting the chassis under the car isn't trivial what so ever, but if done right, it would be a pretty nice chassis under a very old car.
But this one- all I can say is that there is a CM site, too.
Awesome find Arthur!!
Now are you going to keep it for more than 2 months.
Nice ride!!! There probably hasn't been one of those around here since before I was born. 
SilverFleet wrote: Nice ride!!! There probably hasn't been one of those around here since before I was born.
My 77 SP was just up the road a little way up until last week.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Awesome find Arthur!! Now are you going to keep it for more than 2 months.
I'm going to try. If it goes well this could be a keeper - big statement for a guy on his 29th car!
Mazdax605 wrote:SilverFleet wrote: Nice ride!!! There probably hasn't been one of those around here since before I was born.My 77 SP was just up the road a little way up until last week.
I stand corrected.
alfadriver wrote: Not that I'm encouraging to hack up this particular one, but is the front suspension near a lower cross member- like the Miata? Keith- the reason I bring it up is just like my Alfa dream- fitting the chassis under the car isn't trivial what so ever, but if done right, it would be a pretty nice chassis under a very old car. But this one- all I can say is that there is a CM site, too.
Oh, I'm all for dropping the front half of a Miata suspension into the car. Assuming it's not 6" too wide or something, in which case I'd use a matching rear out of a first-gen RX7 or something to space out the back end. I'd just hate to see it chopped up to fit a Miata rear subframe in there. That's actually what I ended up doing with the MG.
It's a terrible thing to say, but wouldn't an S2000 engine rock in this thing?
I love the old-school Mazda logo . . .
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