oldrx7's - 1981 - Mazda 626

[oldrx7]

So after a few years of living somewhat of a snowbum lifestyle, I made a decision a few months ago to give I guess 'normal' life a try and made the decision to move back to NZ and look for a 'proper' job.  I'd always kept my eye on trademe over the years and once I'd made the decision to move home I thought I'd keep my eye out for an old mazda to buy.

 

And well, I've finally got myself another old car.

 

 

Was on trademe a month or two ago, I emailed the seller asking about holding the car for me if I paid a deposit, he was happy to do that.  And thanks to smokin'joe on here who managed to check out the car for me in before I placed any bids on the auction.  ( i still owe you some beers joe!)

After he gave me the thumbs up I decided to watch and bid.  

 

Paid a bit more than I wanted, but heck, it's something I wanted, and not that its a rare car by any means, and it's not the chrome bumper earlier model, but finding one in original condition isn't too easy anymore.

 

So now I had paid a $1000 deposit on a car in Temuka and I was in Whistler, Canada. 

Id been planning a holiday home in October, and figured this would be a perfect time to go pick up the car and do a road trip back to Auckland with it!  So I booked a flight from Auckland to Christchurch, then a bus ticket to Temuka and met the seller to exchange my money for the car keys!

 

The drive back was quick but awesome, would of liked to take a bit longer, but time was precious, and needed to be back in Auckland asap.  The car goes really well for how many kms it's done, and being the 5 speed model made the 100-110km/h driving a lot easier.  It's not too bad on gas either and the motor has a lot of pep and torque for an old girl.  Met Dave (Horse25) just out of Christchurch on my drive back up and picked up some escort bits n pieces and did a freight run up to Auckland for a nice guy with a mint mk1 escort he's modified for his son. 

 

I did notice on the auction photos of the interior that there was only an AM radio, and for a 14 hour plus drive, I knew that it would not do!  So I took down my little speaker and used the cigarette lighter to alternate between charging the speaker and charging my phone haha.

 

 

So here's a couple more pics;

 

 

 

 

Luckily my friend had a spare spot in his garage, so it's gonna sit there for the next couple of months till I'm back in NZ again;

 

 

 

Plans so far, either get the steel's widened (i quite like the '4 spoke' design of these) or find some other wheels I like that aren't going to cost a fortune, check out the suspension side of things, new shocks, lower springs, new steering bushes etc.  And that will be it for a while, engine will do me fine for now, eventually maybe a rotary, but who knows, I'm just happy to have an old car again, and hoping to get along to a few oldschool meets and events in the future.

[oldrx7]

So ....

I'm back in NZ again, went to pick up the 626 and it looks like the alternator has packed it in.  All hazard warning lights are on in the dash and it only drives a short distance before it dies.

 

Have a 2nd hand one on the way, so hopefully that arrives soon and then it can be driving again and then I'll sort a WOF this coming week.

 

Did a bit of cleaning and fit the all important plate surround just cos;

 

 

 

After that difficult job was done I had a beer and shut the shed door.

 

discussion thread;

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/50482-oldrx7s-1981-mazda-626-discussion/#entry1603115

[oldrx7]

Been a productive saturday morning;

 

Got an alternator on friday afternoon, swapped it over and boom, no more warning lights on the dash and the battery isn't f-kd which is awesome cos I thought it would of been.

 

Took it down to the garage this morning & booyah!  Fresh WOF, only a couple of minor things he noted to look at between now and the next wof, so pretty stoked it passed.

 

 

 

I had also bought some wheels a few weeks ago, and they also showed up this week too!

 

 

Had to laugh at the box they arrived in, sadly they aren't work wheels.  But they're close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

haha!!!

 

They had been advertised as 16" 4x114 astrons, I was gonna run adapters, and I was stoked to find some in 16" as I thought 17" would look too big and 15's would look too small on the car.

 

Once I opened up the box I realised they were in fact 15" , so I thought I'd check the stud pattern too to see if they were wrong about that also.  And yep they sure were, and lucky for me they are 4x110, so no adapters needed.   Tried them on to make sure they'd clear the brakes and indeed they do.

So kind of mixed feelings, happy they fit, also a bit bummed they're not 16's.  

 

Oh well, will get some tyres and see how they look, should look decent once it's lowered.  

 

 

so next up is some suspension bits n pieces.  Not in a big hurry but will look around and price up a few options.

 

 

diss-cuss

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/50482-oldrx7s-1981-mazda-626-discussion/#entry1603115

[oldrx7]

another productive weekend 

 

[oldrx7]

thanks to Archetype for the stickers ! 

 

 

pretty good for a laugh

 

 

Discussions;

 

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/50482-oldrx7s-1981-mazda-626-discussion/#entry16031154

[oldrx7]

And another thanks to Archetype for another sticker I got made up for the doors;

 

 

 

And was getting a bit sick of the bouncy cut springs, plus it'll be WOF time again before I know it, so figured now's a good time to properly sort a few suspension bits n pieces.

 

These are the cuts (1 front and 1 rear) vs the standard height springs, will be taking these to Archers and get them to make something up about the cut height 

 

 

 

Got the struts out, will have to trim down the front bump stops a bit, as the cut spring height was pretty much on the bump stops

 

Sourced some new shocks from Autostop, ended up being quite a bit cheaper than all the other suspension places I tried.  Never heard of VST before, but oh well, almost half the price of Munro shocks so based on price along, I'm sure they'll be great!

 

 

And while I was under there, I had a check of a few of the bushes, will probably end up replacing a few if not all of them.  I also noticed that the passenger side control arm looks like its taken a hit.  Nothing else under or around here looks like it's been repaired or twisted, so maybe it just wacked a rock or something once.  

Will source a 2nd hand one from somewhere and swap this out.

 

 

 

Discussion thread;

 

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/50482-oldrx7s-1981-mazda-626-discussion/#entry1603115

[oldrx7]

Picked up the new springs from archers yesterday; fingers crossed they're as low as I asked ... Always nervous when ordering one off made springs!

 

 

and pretty much all the ball joints / tie rod ends are stuffed eg;

 

 

so ordered these in and picked them up today with the lower arm ball joints from auto lign;

 

 

 

And gave the front / rear bump stops a little skim to hopefully get a bit more clearance

 

 

Still have to shorten the shocks (hopefully get that done this weekend) and waiting on the front bush kit coming in from australia, and then it's re-assemble time.

 

http://oldschool.co....n/#entry1603115

[oldrx7]

So,  finally got this down on the ground again yesterday!  

 

 

Front springs were sitting way too high, even after driving around for a few km's so I'm taking them back to Archers to either trim properly or get another pair made up.  So the cut springs are back in the front temporarily.

 

Rear sits perfect though, and the shocks keep everything captive too.

 

All new front steering bushes, tie rod ends have made it feel like a nicer car to drive too.

 

May be selling this soon too, will see about garage spacing with the new (older) car.  

 

http://oldschool.co....n/#entry1603115

[oldrx7]

So finally got springs sorted from Archers ... Went to pick up my replacement front coils two weeks ago and they had given them to someone else and tried to give me a pair that wasn't going to fit, wouldn't believe me that they wouldn't fit, so I drove back home, got my standard front coil and took it back to show them the diameter differences.

 

So another week later and I finally have captive non-cut front springs.  They sit at the perfect height I was after for too, so WOF's shouldn't be a hassle.

 

However, while I was under there, I noticed that the inner tie rod ends are rubbing on the steering rod ... So now I know Rx7 inner tie rod arms are no good on a 626.  Outers are fine.

 

Managed to find some through super cheap though (fingers crossed, on order) so will see if they are good when they show up.

 

Anyways, picked up some firewood on the weekend, got a few funny looks towing the trailer!!!

 

 

http://oldschool.co....n/#entry1603115

 

once this suspension shit is all sorted, I'll put up a parts list with all parts numbers so if anyone else does this mission they'll have some numbers to use when calling 

shops.

[oldrx7]

Ok, so finally sorted all the front suspension / steering out.  Had a mate help me out with changing the last two tie rod ends yesterday.

 

 

If anyone is interested ; or doing the same in a 626 here's some part numbers that'l be handy;

 

Ball Joint (lower arm to strut bottom) - BJ 149

Tie rod end (outer) - TE514L 

 

Tie rod end (inner) - TE568R

Front suspension Bushes (complete kit) 

 

Lost the receipt that I got with the shocks though - but they were easy enough to source, Autostop prooved to be the cheapest for me.

SPF0433K

SPF2005K

SPF1256K

SPF2092BK

SPF0628-24K

 

Had to use 'onautos' on trademe who ships out of Australia in order to get the Inner tie rod ends and the complete front bush kit (other places would only do bits n pieces).

 

Fresh WOF as of yesterday and now after all the hard work ...  ready to sell .  Don't have long term garage space for both the old cars so gotta sell this one.