rxsumo

Rust photos to follow The car isnt actually that bad. Both Sills and rear end of the front guards will need to be rebuilt, and there are sections of the footwell floor that need to be rebuilt. The worst is the drivers side, where we may need to fabricate a new outrigger chassis rail. There are a few other spots where small, localised repair will be required. Most of the rusty bits on the body that you can see from the photos, are where water has got under the paint (really thick paint after the car was resprayed at some stage), and as the water has travelled the paint has lifted, its this stuff that I want to stabilise as there is virtually no perforation in these areas...literally surface rust Need to get a weekend...perhaps Anniversary weekend, and dig it out of the garage, clean up the visable rust, and coat it with a protective spray for storage. I'll get the photos done then.

Well the car has finally moved from its resting spot, but I still havent taken any new photos. I did find some historical photos of the car. Original Auction Photos: Getting ready for shipping: Arriving in NZ

Time for an update. Stunning photo courtesy of Snoozin of the first sprint The day was wet, and we had issues with the LF caliper sticking locking the front wheel, there were are few other issues resulting in a less than stunning 1:36 lap time. So in the in betwen meetings, I sorted out the race seat and harnesses, attached the missing piece of chrome, sorted the sticking caliper, and removed the rear sway bar....along with getting the stereo working and fitting a OEM aerial. The next outing was a complete washout, with only practise being completed before the meeting was canned....we still got the 11th fastest time out of 54 cars The December meeting was fine with no real work being needed on the car in between times. Out in practise, we immediately broke into 1:30's and that's about when the dramas started to occur. Being fine, and setting a hot pace (1:30's were my personal target times), I thought it might be got to go onto my old race tyres to set what we could get out of them....only to find that my wheel bolts were too long....back to the road tyres, by now I was really starting to get a desire to break past the 1:30 mark, but a combination of terminal understeer, and a shifter that got really sloppy and would select 2nd put paid to that. However in the end I finished the day with a 1:29:90 official time, but the work list has now got greater: So... Need to fix the shagged selector joint. Work out how to dial out the oversteer....maybe reconnect the rear bar for dry days. Remember to carry some shorter wheel bolts for the race wheels. Swap the driveshaft for the rebuilt one Replace the rear speakers, so I can hear the stereo on the track , and Perhaps fit the Bilstein suspension rather than konis that are currently fitted

Sorry no new photos as yet. Spent the last month finding the bits that have been removed for the car. The car has been sitting in its garage and both it and the collection of the removed bits have moved around the garage. Everything has been accounted for (I think ), and most is now in moisture proof boxes. I was concerned that some of the hard to find "trinket" items may have been lost over time, but I've found all the badges....the lights....and the hubcaps.....all good. Had a good score a couple of weeks ago, I found an original L10B brochure, as well as a couple of Luce R130 ones, as well as picking up some more 10A engine bits. The brochure scan above is the 110S or L10A one and is fairly easy to find...I've got a couple. When the original owner pulled the motor, they left the gear box in situ, so last weekend we got the box out in preparation for the move. Only catch was the driveshaft bolts were reluctant to come undone, so thats the next task to complete before the car moves. While under the car I found the the drivers side is worse than the passenger side for floor rust and will require some serious reconstruction. Its was kinda funny that while that car has suffered from panel rust, all of the little screws and the exhaust nuts and bolts that needed removing to get the box out, basically came loose without any drama.....not bad for 36 years.

err, I think you have the wrong engine..... Quote from Mazda RX7 Book with all the engine details...... Type 10A, engine code 0813 (July 1968) The Type 10A 0813 was an uprated version of the 10A 0810 engine that powered the series L10b Cosmo Sport, lauched in July 1968. Small-scale production of the model continued through to September 1972. The 0813 engine had its port timing and carbueretion revised to produced 128bhp at 7000 rpm and 140Nm (103 lb-ft) of torque at 5000 rpm. It retained aluminium side housings as in the 0810, and there was no change in the engines basic construction. The cast iron side housings were introduced with the 0820 motor for use in the R100 series of cars. The RX3 engine was code 0866 The 0820 engine out of the R100 is described as a detuned 0810/0813, so I'm assuming its the same dimensions as the Cosmo engines, except it has different port timing, lower compression, different exhaust setup, and the cast iron end housings. If this is the case, the R100 motor would make a logical choice for a replacement engine, if we cant get the engine bits. I've got a mate who's a Mazda parts manager, having a check for the parts.

Wow...I've got a few replies here, thanks for the supportive comments on the car. Dan, yep it's Paul's car. Sheepers, thanks for the offer of the mag, but I already have a copy, one was sent over here once the article was printed. Zeb, you have got to be kidding. I don't think a 13B would fit into the engine bay, let alone a 20B, also the tunnel is tiny, and would need a lot of work to get a heavy duty box in there. Personally I wouldnt bother putting a 20B into anything, Knightsports are running a 13B PP in the Japanese NA series, it makes the same HP as the RE Amimeya (sp) 20B, yet will run more revs and last longer. When we were in Japan in '99 Mazdaspeed had boxes of f#*ked 20B engines and were still doing warranty engine jobs....sorta makes you think why Mackaz, the engine is an early all ally 10A, looks like a beer keg when its assembled. The same engine was also fitted to some of the earlier R100/Presto Lowlancer, the body is the first priority, and as the car was "tagged" for structural rust when it arrived, it will need to be done to the current standards = expensive! My thoughts are to either run a standard "beer keg" 10A,or a RX3 10A with a stage two kit and a IDA, so long as the late 10A can be adapted up to the box without having to mod the box. One of my mates up north reckons he knows where there is a complete early engine. UJ, thanks for the offer, but I should be right. I was hoping you were going to show up at lunch on Friday, since we havent really caught up since Carl's last XMAS lunch

Here's the latest addition to the Sumo fleet. The ads say its a Supercar. 1972 Mazda Cosmo Sport L10B It looks a little worse for wear at the moment The car was imported in NZ back in 2003, as a rebuilder. The engine was removed, and the stripdown was started, but unfortunately the original importer of the car was killed in a road accident within 6 months of the car getting here, and the car has sat in dry storage since. The body has some quite bad rust in the lower guards and the passenger side floor, and the motor is cactus. However the car is complete, which is quite rare for Cosmo Sports. The master plan is that the car will sit in the garage for a year or two until I've found a money tree to fund the project. The car will be retained as original as possible, the engine will be a mission as I need to find another early R100 or Cosmo Sport engine,with good housings. I'll update with some better photos once the car is removed from its current storage Discussion page //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/24490-rxsumos-heroic-cosmo/?hl=cosmo

Day was cancelled after practise. There was about 8 inches of water spread across the intermediate straight, and the entrance to the esses was also basically washed out

Sprints are happening on Sunday, kicking off around 10:00am. I'll have the 535 out for another skid,hopefully it wont rain...weather forecast isnt too flash

Can help if required with either the RX3 or the BMW The BMW would make the better car as its roomier

Sweet looking wagon...and the pick of the lot....a turbo GT, the lightest and fastest of the first generation '7s. Question....whats the deal with the top of the dash,looks like it has some form of cover or replacement dash...or just a funny camera angle? I might have some "trinket" stuff lying around for the turbo....things like injector seals etc, if you are interested....

Well the 535 is on the road Since the last update the car has had a fair amount of time spent on it. The brake hoses have all been replaced with braided ones. Spent most of the day on the car today getting ready for the sprints next weekend. The new driveshaft that we had built obviously wasnt really checked well before balancing as the centre bearing was fcuked, which gave a rotation noise under normal driving. The 528i has donated its driveshaft so that should solve that problem. Another issue that needed sorting was the exhaust manifold touching the steering shaft on hard acceleration, after suspecting a stuffed engine mount,found that the RHS engine mount bracket was bent, and one of the last owners had fitted a larger mount to compensate. So we ditched the bracket, and the wrong mount, its still hitting a little, but I suspect some new engine mounts wouldnt go amiss. The list is getting a little smaller. Still to do is to fit the race seat, get the heater working, fit the chrome on the LHS,fit an alarm.....

The brake booster is only there to reduce the amount of effort you require to get the brakes to operate. Whether you require one or not depends on your personal preference and what brakes you are running...is this a street driven car? Typically running discs with 4 pot calipers, there is no need for a booster. If you are just setting the brakes up now, you might want to talk to one of the companys that build race brake setups and ask them about the setup you intend to use

can help.... will need a trailer to move it...its a heavy mother not being used at the moment, so no issue for how long you need if for....

The way round it, last time I had to re-reg a vehicle was to go to the Police, and get a "no interest by the Police" statement for them. That was enough to prove ownership

Spent the last week working on the car. I scored another front and rear spoiler off TradeMe, so decided to fit that rather than my original one. It will probably will stay with this colour scheme for a while, I want to get the car VINed. On the list still: Brake hoses Work out what other rust needs to be done.

The other thing that the thermostat will do is regulate the water flow through the radiator. An engine running at high RPM, will have the flow determined by the speed of the water pump, this means that the exposure to the cooling fins within the radiator that the water actually gets is determined by how fast the water is flowing......fast water flow, very little time spent cooling before being shoved back into a hot engine... the thermostat places a restriction in the line to regulate the flow.

Add the driveline stuff as well for the trackcar. Lightweight flywheel, with no inertia for "cruising up hills", coupled with a single or multiple plate clutch system that has no slip....off or on absolutely a killer in traffic. Close ratio gearbox....with straight cut gears, that will deafen you without earplugs

Check the needle valve and the floats are actually moving, and do actually float (no holes). Take the tops off and check the diaphrams, sitting for a while with gas in the carbbie can destroy the diaphram. At the same time check the needle is straight and has no wear. A lot of the Stromberg parts are getting hard to come by and if the needle or valve are worn, that carbs will never work out that well. Personally I'd be looking for a pair of SUs, the Stromberg isnt really a performance carby, it has no accelarator pump, so you dont get a quick throttle response

In my experience the Head Gasket issue generally comes about when the cars have been sitting for a while. They can continue to be problematic because people put the wrong headgasket on them. There are a couple of variations on the motor, cast iron head and alloy head, its more desirable to have the alloy head, as the engine has more HP. The cast iron heads were fitted t the early Hunters, some of the Station Wagons, and the last of the Hunters. NZ made Hunters way after British construction had finished, and the Iranian Peykan contruction started, so most of the late model Hunters built in NZ are actually Peykans. Other things to look out for rust: Front Guards....over the headlights where dirt gets flicked of the wheels and stuck behind the headlight boxes ....and the rear has a box section like an Escort/Cortina which typically never got paints....like the Ford Sills....Check the full length of the inside sill. Engines are generally pretty noisy in the Tappet gear, and they will have "blowby", as the engines base is a fairly old design with not so flash piston ring sealing, a good Hunter engine should pink a little under load...they ran fairly High Compression engines There are still heaps of repair parts for the engines, and belonging to the Hillman Humber Car Club, the Rootes Car Club or the Sunbeam Car Club might be useful. Have a good look at the condition of the wiring, like most British cars of the late 60's design, the Hunter wasnt overly equiped with fuses, and as a result electrical faults generally meant melted wiring .....my Sceptre Wagon had a front loom replaced using "chocolate block" connectors, and a few hours had to be spent sorting that out. Other than that, The Hunter was probably a better car than its British rivals like the Cortina, and the British Leyland stuff. The engines are a good performing (although really not as tunable as the Fords) reliable unit, and the driveline is pretty simple to maintain.

The Momo is now out of the car, replaced by an original BMW Motorsport wheel that I scored out of one of the 5 series that I have wrecked. Supposed to be a really rare wheel only factory fitted to the M1 and the E12 M535i, although I suspect you could order them as a dealer fit/factory option

Probably not much. Has it got the US Spec bumpers, emission control? LHD will probably make it difficult to locate steering parts, once they start wearing out, and the electrics may be a bit oddball as well. As already mentioned US cars in LHD generally mean better prices, and most of the common LHD US stuff is fairly easy to track parts for, either ex the US or from a number of the V8 Engine Speciallists/importers

Something to think about if you dont think you need an airfilter. Whats sandpaper?...nice glass-like dust glued to paper, could be actually sand, its generally quite abrasive. NZ's is surrounded by nice sandy beaches, and where there's no beaches we have volcanoes, the lava when it hardens must be one of the best abrasive materials around, and its pretty hard. A story I heard from one of my mates who was in the Army. NZ Army has (or used to have), some little Jaguar powered Scorpion Tanks, really quite quick lightweight tanks. When used at Waiouru the tracks would be swapped out every 6-12 months. After getting a few orders for new set of tracks, the British manufacturer was wondering what was going on as the tracks on these tanks were expected to last the life of the tank. They couldnt believe that the tracks were wearing out so quick, and sent the experts out from the UK. The problem was found to be the soil, its that abrasive, it was destroying the tracks. The lightweight version of this same shit is spread everywhere in the Central Plateau area.....and if you you aint using a air filter...the engine will be breathing this highly abrasive air...your choice but if I had a engine that I'd spent some good coin on...I wouldnt risk it!

The car is now back from having the exhaust fitted, and I've been tinkering with the car. The interior is now pretty much back together. We have stripped out some spare rear doors, and are converting them over to take the E28 interior...frigging Hybrids , and at the same time getting a front guard stripped, to replace the rusty and dented LF one. The rust in the LF pillar has been exposed, and crap, its a little worst than expected. The Motorsport rear spoiler has been fitted up, but I've still got to kill some rust under the paint on the bootlid, but it wont need fixing as the spoiler covers it. Spent most of the day fitting the towing eye toi the front , and trying to mount the horns somewhere that the front spoiler wont hit.

Parts car turns out to have the correct Front and Rear Spoilers, a set of 7 x 14 BBS Maule's, and as a bonus its got the early Motorsport Steering Wheel and a set of Bilsteins.