Turbo diesel rotary wagon

Okay I lied about the diesel part.

I posted a thread about two years ago when I was trying to buy an RX3 Wagon from my buddy. Well our schedules finally lined up (we're both gone a lot) and I got the chance to look at it this past weekend. Bought it on the spot.

Behold! A complete 1973 RX3 wagon...sans engine and drive shaft.

Rear RX3 badges and the lid trim piece are in the trunk.

This thing doesn't have a speck of rust on it and the chassis hasn't been hacked up. Interior is original and in need of recovering but it's all there.

So unfortunately I'm leaving the country again for work for 6 months and changing jobs after this trip so I need to have it transported across the country to Pennsylvania along with my family and everything I own. Should be interesting and hopefully Reliable will transport a no engine car or I'll have to trailer it myself.

Build thread to follow after the move. Currently planning a 13b swap but I'm open to a 20b if I can find one and it fits. The exterior is going to remain stock unless shiny bits need attention. Maybe BBS meshes if a set comes up inexpensively enough.

Neato. Never seen one of those before, great grab!

Looks fantastic, reminds me that I want a fun wagon.

Awesome. A rarity for sure

That is beautiful

At the very least the rear axle has been upgraded to a RX-7 GSL-SE unit. I say that because it has GSL-SE wheels which use the much more common 4x114.5 lug pattern. The stock RX-3 is 4x110. Excellent score by the way I am very jealous. I found a 73 that is all stock aside from a color change with rattle cans on Martha's Vineyard island about 4 years ago now, and I still can't buy it after brokering a deal with the seller. He doesn't have the title, but said it wouldn't be long until he did. 4 years later it is still sitting.

LS swap!

WOW - really random. Would be really cool to keep it OEM+ with a turbo rotary...

Man that is sweet.

Very very nice. Your plans sound great. How hard is it to change the front hubs to match the rear bolt pattern?

Streetwiseguy wrote: LS swap!

Mazda also made a 808 Wagon which looked almost identical to this one save for it not being powered by magic spinning Doritos. Those would be more worthy of a LS swap. They tend to be cheaper to acquire as well.

Meshies always look good on mazdas. Not sure why. Someone should do a study on this. Some cars just always have a rim that looks great on it. BMW's also look great with mesh.

That looks awesome! Nice save!

Front hubs have been changed, too. Those are FC RX-7 (4x114.3) spare wheel donuts.

Also, I need new pants.

Beautiful find. I've always loved the RX-3 wagons. Good luck with it when you get back to it.

Thanks for the compliments and the help identifying the hubs. It's a 1973 chassis code and originally a rotary which is the way it's going to stay since I've always wanted a rotary wagon.

I wasn't sure about the hubs but that'll save me a bunch of work and sourcing parts.

The end of the year seems awful far away at this point and I still need to buy a new house as well as sell my current one, which I was just about finished upgrading when the opportunity came up.

Anyone in the San Bernardino area want to buy a freshly upgraded house (new windows, HVAC duct work, floors, trim, paint, and doors) with a detached shop/garage and huge shed with a concrete floor? In Apple Valley.

now i'm curious, is a diesel rotary possible?

Streetwiseguy wrote: LS swap!

It seems "LS swap" is becoming answer B.).

kanaric wrote: now i'm curious, is a diesel rotary possible?

It should be possible to build one.

rslifkin wrote:

kanaric wrote: now i'm curious, is a diesel rotary possible?

It should be possible to build one.

I don't think there's any fundamental reason it couldn't work, but I doubt you could build one out of existing parts. Given that diesel piston engines need beefing up to withstand the compression ignition, I hate to think what that would do to apex seals.

Very very nice find, a 13b-rew with upgraded turbos (keep duels for the smoothness) and it would be perfect!

Good luck with the build and will definitely be keeping an eye out for this!