As If I needed yet another project, I just officially purchased a '78 RX-7 Cosmo. The ownership will be mine in a matter of hours, and I've already put down the deposit.

Two weeks ago I was driving to a customer's place and passed by a local wrecking yard. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed what appeared to be an old Datsun in primer about ready to be crushed. After swinging in the Insight around and entering the parking lot, it became clear that it just wasn't some old Datsun.

Sitting in the rear hatch area was the clearly visible baby blue air cleaner cover, with that "Mazda Rotary Engine" sticker we all know so well. At that point my jaw sort of dropped...What the heck was it? At first I thought it was an RX-4 but there was one more side window. Yes, it's an RX-5 Cosmo.

Immediately I went into the office and started asking about the car. They were amazed that someone was interested in "that old Mazda" so I was happy with their price and basically told them that I would be picking up the car as soon as they had the registration ready. The previous owner was supposed to deliver the registration with the car but as often happens, it got misplaced and he only recently found it.

The car looks to be in remarkable condition considering. It's fairly disassembled, but at first glance it looks to be complete as most of the interior and trim are inside. Apparently it has a relatively new engine but I was unable to open the hood so I can't confirm what's under it.

The plan is to put it in storage for now until I'm finished with Tina, and then get to work. Minimal body work is necessary since the car is fairly straight and rust free. The drivetrain will be simple. Probably the 13B and electronics from the GSL-SE that I have in storage (the SE's body is rusted). I'm currently thinking dark metallic blue with a blue/black interior, shaved trim and door handles, a bit lower and maybe dog-dish hubcaps with a slight white wall.

Here's the current pics. I'll take some of the engine bay when I have the car in my storage lot.

 

Well done Aaron, nice catch.

 

You always find something interesting when you're driving around.

Congrats!

 

Lucky find man. I love the look of the Cosmo's.

 

Good stuff, just a little polish and it will look new. ( and tire shine )

 

That is actualy really clean lol. Needs new poaint though :P lol

 

awesome. Wish I could find an rx3

 

Nice Aaron!, it definatly needs some attention.

Funny thing is I saw a grey RX-5 Cosmo in the trader a while back and it was located in London, I called just about everyday on it but no one answered....

Pretty sweet find though!

 

The car is rough, but there are very few bad areas. It looks like most of the work has already been done to replace any rust that might have once been there, and it's been sitting in primer for a few years. All in all I don't think it will be that much work to make it look decent. Strip off the old primer and filler, pull some dents, fill and block, then paint. The real trick is going to be finding any missing trim...likely some ordering from Oz will be required.

I'm also very curious as to what "new engine" means because I doubt that you can walk into Mazda and buy a 4 port 3MM 13B for an RX-5. Could be anything from a junkyard 12A to a rebuilt 13B. Regardless the plan is to install the 13B from the GSL-SE using the ECU and wiring harness, then Megasquirt it over time.

 

If my eyes didn't deceive me I saw new RX-5 housings on ebay this morning in AUS... $470 USD each Not that this helps you but you never know...

Here they are...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mazda-13B-Rotor-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Nice find! While it does look rough in some areas, there's no doubt that there's lots of potential in that one! Looking forward to the future updates... Funny, I see lowered, metallic white riding on a set of minilights.....

 

hardcore

 

That's cool, I like the front end. Let the madness begin, LOL. It'll probably end up like most projects and grow to insane amounts of work, but you'll love it! I'm almost due for a new project.

 

Brand freakin' new! Too bad my PayPal account is screwed up (credit card expired, now I have to jump through hoops to make it work again...) or I'd be all over those. Send 'em off to the machine shop for some PP action....


Metallic white? That's something I had not considered. I've always thought dark blue or metallic lime green (Savanna...).

All things considered, I don't think it will be a huge amount of work. The body is in remarkable condition with virtually no rust anywhere save for a little surface rust on the inner floor pans. The drivetrain is in place and looks to be nearly mint, even the brake lines are virtually perfect. Under the hood, there's a somewhat new 13B 4 port that I bet would fire right up with a bit of fuel in the (new) fuel tank. The only real hassle is going to be finding trim pieces but most of it is going to be shaved anyway...

Here's a few more pictures:

 

Definately a nice find. Got a good eye there Aaron

 

It has your favourite! BURGANDY INTERIOR! lol

Do you ever go to the car meets on sunday night at the canadian tire by fanshawe college? Seems to be older muscle cars but there was a couple S14's there when i drove by a couple sundays ago.

So when is the big move to your own place where you can have all your rotary creations under one roof?

 

Awesome find Aaron, how come we never see stuff like that lying around London? Let me know when you get started on her so I can come takea look and get in your way. Also you oil cooler cracked on me, I was wondering if you would be willing to weld it for a decent price. PM me

 

Wow you've got the Italian wiring harness option (spaghetti!)
This looks to be a very cool project.

 

I was there once, but the attitude was terrible and it was clear that I was not welcome, so I didn't bother showing up again.

As soon as I find a decent place, I'll let you know. Houses with multiple car garages are a bit scarce where I'm looking, and I have pretty specific interior style in mind as well which really narrows my choices. I much prefer older neighbourhoods with classic tree lined streets, unique houses and traditional architecture. Can't imagine living in the suburbs.

That's just it, we never see stuff like this around. It was a fluke that I happened to be driving by at the right time because another few hours and the car would be a small cube of twisted steel. It's going to be at least a year before I get started on this car since Tina still needs interior, suspension and brakes.

Crap. Did it crack around the nipple? Common area if the line has been overtightened in the past. I'd fix it for free if I had the equipment to weld aluminum, but I don't. I'll send a PM in a little while with other options...

 

awesome thanks, and yeah, thats right where it cracked

 

if you make a list of things that you need i partsed a couple 76 cosmo s
years ago and i still have a bunch of stuff in the shed.
matt

 

this will be a very unique project at least, looking forward to seeing the outcome. good luck with it!
oh, look to the Aussies and NZ for ideas, it seems they are always pimping the older rotary vehicles.

 

S W E E T !!

 

On Saturday, the car was towed to my super secret storage location. Aside from almost being rear ended and side-swiped on the way, the trip was uneventful. While the car was up on the tow truck I was able to look underneath and it's even better then I thought. Aside from the dirt and spiderwebs, it's as if it rolled off the showroom floor. There's not even a single bubble of rust anywhere. Aside from a few minor imperfections to the outside sheet metal, the car is very clean. Most of the trim (both interior and exterior) seems to be present inside the car but I won't know until I inventory it. Bumpers are nowhere to be found though.

Sunday afternoon I had a little time to kill so I figured it was time to take a good look at the engine. After dumping some oil down the carb and cranking it over by hand the compression came right up. It was jumpered to the battery in Tina, a few ounces of gas dumped into the carb and cranked over. Fired right up on the 2nd crank and ran on the fuel in sitting in the intake. Unfortunately it looks like the floats are stuck so soon the carb overflowed. Overall the condition of the engine looks to be excellent.

This is going to be a great project...Here's the YouTube video of the car starting up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmHLbUyY0k

 

Wow! You're too hardcore Aaron!!
That startup was very smokey! But at least you know it runs!