stuart in mn wrote:
JamesMcD wrote: </citestuart in mn wrote: I bought a first gen 626 coupe new back in 1980
Aside from the propensity to rust, what did you think of the car
It was a great little car. Comfortable, fun to drive, handled great, got decent mileage and at least in my mind it was attractive. The main problem is it wasn't very fast...the 2 liter engine was rated at about 80hp if I remember correctly. If I had one today I'd drop in a Miata engine.
I owned it for 20 years and about 160,000 miles. It still ran and drove great, but the ongoing rust (plus some cretin ran a red light and T-boned me) led to its ultimate demise.
I bought a goofy air dam from J.C. Whitney and bolted it on the front end...in retrospect it was kind of stupid, but hey, it was the 80s, I thought it was cool at the time. 
I would love to have one of these but they basically just don't exist anymore. Well, my buddy Eric has one he is trying to restore. Getting parts is...difficult.
JamesMcD wrote: I would love to have one of these but they basically just don't exist anymore. Well, my buddy Eric has one he is trying to restore. Getting parts is...difficult.
Every so often I do a search online to see if I can find one for sale, but it appears that at least in the US they're all gone. I found one or two in Australia but that was about it.
edit: If your friend needs a factory shop manual, let me know - I still have one.
stuart in mn wrote:
JamesMcD wrote: I would love to have one of these but they basically just don't exist anymore. Well, my buddy Eric has one he is trying to restore. Getting parts is...difficult.
Every so often I do a search online to see if I can find one for sale, but it appears that at least in the US they're all gone. I found one or two in Australia but that was about it.
edit: If your friend needs a factory shop manual, let me know - I still have one.
His dad is a Mazda Master Tech so he might have one already. But I will ask, thanks.
Is this car the one that was bouncing around CL Indianapolis for a while? If so I think it had a blown or stuck engine but came with the spare F2T to swap in. I don't think the factory engine is a F2T on this vintage turbo 626 coupe.
Yes it is that car. As you say, the FET is stuck (guy says so, I haven't checked) and it came with an F2T and H-series transmission. One nice thing is that the FET has a brand-new turbo on it, so I could use that for something some day.
He was asking $800 and I paid $675...Shoulda been less given the rust but oh well...It is getting fixed properly and I'm going to try to make something nice and interesting out of the car. I don't foresee it happening on a challenge budget though.
I also have an '87 sedan version of this car in black. That one is a turbo also and it is 99% rust free and a lot nicer in general.
novaderrik wrote:
so what, exactly, was "ironic" about the rust in the OP?
I think the irony was related to the sticker in the first picture.....
irish44j wrote:
novaderrik wrote:
so what, exactly, was "ironic" about the rust in the OP?
I think the irony was related to the sticker in the first picture.....
Or the "oxide" in the second...
You actually baught air dams? ??? 
back in the 80's we used that plastic lawn edging stuff. Heated it to tryt and moldit it todoes shape and bolted it on.
irish44j wrote:
novaderrik wrote:
so what, exactly, was "ironic" about the rust in the OP?
I think the irony was related to the sticker in the first picture.....
It's like rain on your wedding day...
