My 6'3" husband read the load capacity posted on the door.
Front seats 2. Rear 0. weight 340lbs.

One of us has to loose 20lbs.

 

Thanks all...I was stunned to see that car was even there, let alone almost completely intact. If it had been at the Pick-n-Pull across the street, it would have been completely picked over by the time I found it. It's caged too...welded in, so no getting it out without serious time commitment.

Today I went back and got the rear springs and Tokico shocks (which turned out to be in excellent nick). Also got the front swaybar which turned out to be a Racing Beat bar, not an RESpeed bar. Finally, the rear brake calipers looked to be in great cosmetic condition, and they were original, so I pulled those. They'll need rebuilding as the pistons are stuck, but that's no biggie. The calipers also came with stainless steel brake lines. The guy made me a smoking deal on all the parts I pulled, so a good day.

The LSD axle is still there, as well as a front mount oil cooler that seems to be in good nick. I'm not planning on getting the LSD, although the oil cooler is tempting...I will need one in the future, but I have one lined up already.

MsDIY, congrats on getting her running again. I figured it had to be something else. You don't just lose all compression on both rotors at once...at least not unless you're beating it, which I suspect you were not.

fm

 

First I phoned O'Reilly and told the manager that their incomplete compression tester forced me to cross the threshold of an AutoZone store. He promised to replace it.

Then, I went out of the driveway and took a Left - (Out-of-town 45mph, 55, 60) instead of Right - (the usual 45,40, 35, 25 work). What a delight. After all this crisis… she has gotten REALLY better! Instead of shifting gears at 3,200 rpm (automatic don't ya know) she's up to 5k! maybe 5,200. All my grief is paying off.

 

What an astonishing find, fungus!

Color me super-jealous. I'm jonesing for an LSD right now, but I'm doing my best to execise self-restraint. It's winter and the car is parked anyhow, so it's not as though it would do me any good.

 

wooohooo ... a little something to be thankful for today

 

New spark plugs and got it started!

 

4 Brand new Falken Azenis tires, now gonna go change the tranny oil with redline shockproof! Yay! new tires!

 

That's where I looked first and I'm considering all options. I found an original one with very low mileage for a very good price (1/5 of the eBay price) and I'm hoping to get that one. Will be PMing the guy here, but I'm not in much of a hurry right now anyways.

Dude that is the mother of all parts car finds! Congrats on that!

I had surgery on Wednesday so I've been pretty out of it for a few days now. Got my Xbox One Day One Edition so I've beaten Ghosts and I'm working on Assassin's Creed 4 and have Battlefield 4 lined up next. It's the only thing keeping me in the house and resting like I should be versus going out and rebuilding my carb and putting together the rear end

 

85 GSL-SE:

Had an almost warm Saturday so I changed the oil (after my 7 Stock trip) and gave her a bath. Added a little coolant to the overflow bottle. It was at the minimum line. Both tail light assemblies are leaking a little under a pressure wash so that needs addressing. I need to look closely at the brakes because there is a little howling under light braking force usually in a corner. It may be it just needs a little copper grease on the back side of the pads. That is the best case. The worst case would be new pads and rotors are required.

85 GSL EV:

Applied carbon fiber to the top and bottom of my high voltage board in an attempt to stiffen it up enough so I don't have to reinforce it in other ways. This ended up making a really nice looking piece with that deep carbon fiber look. It was my first attempt at a vacuum bagged CF part although I had made a couple of test layups before. It is about as good as can be expected with this technique. To eliminate all the surface imperfections I would need to do a vacuum infusion process instead of just a wet layup. I think the part is stiff enough that I will finish drilling the holes and sealing the edges today so I can put it back together and drive it.

I didn't take any pictures yesterday so these were taken this morning. The most glaring issue with the GSL-SE is the windshield trim really needs attention.

 

Your sunroof is MUCH larger than mine. Did they change sizes throughout the years or something?

 

Not that I know of but it is certainly possible. I am pretty sure the size was the same in 82 as in 85 though. What year is your car?

I am still in the process of refinishing a red roof I bought from someone parting out a car. It has a little rust that needs addressing but is in good shape otherwise.

 

Mine is an 85. Maybe it's the same, yours just appears larger.

Took my RX out on its maiden voyage since returning from deployment and sorting everything all out, all I can say is wow! 7,000rpm shifts while spinning the tires and having the back end step out is amazing!

Just need to fill up the gas tank now (since I ran it hard till the gas light came on) and figure out if the smokey exhaust is from the ATF treatment, old oil in the gas from the previous owner, or something more sinister.

 

The roof openings are same size 79-85. Mazda did change the attachment method from the flip up latch to the rotary **** begining in 1980. If you have an oval shaped roof its a complete aftermarket roof, cut and installed into a non-sunroof car. A semi popular upgrade at the time.

The factory sunroofs are all rectangular. The first couple years, Mazda only provided body colored roofs, but you could get glass "Moon" roofs from Pacific Tee Tops and Rotary Engineering on the aftermarket. Begining in either 81 or 82, Mazda began offering their own smoked glass roof.

 

Mine is an 85 model with a flip up latch style. It's smoked glass like you describe a moon roof to be.

 

Sounds like you have an aftermarket for sure

 

I'll take some pictures tomorrow if I get off of work when it's still light out. It looks pretty stock, so if it is aftermarket, they did a good job.

 

All the aftermarket roofs were glass. If its semi circular on the left and right ends its aftermarket. Factory roof openings were all rectangular.

 

I started a rear disc brake job on my '83 about two years ago and stopped about half way through it. I finally finished it over the weekend. Then I changed all the fluids and put a new battery in it. Today I got it insured and registered so I could take it out on the highway for a spin. Incredibly, I saw a 1st gen on the other side of the highway (very rare these days) and we both flipped our lights at each other at the same exact time just like back in the old days. It was too AWESOME!

 

Pulled the front suspension apart after hearing some scary noises on the B3R run last month.

Right ball joint was loose, right brake hose was getting rubbed on, probably due to loose ball
joint. The tie rods are all loose. The brakes and rotors are toast but the bearings were good.

May go with the RB adjustable LCA to get some extra neg camber. Also will upgrade to the
MOOG idler arm as well. Plus all new rotors, bearings, brakes (Hawk HP Plus), and tie rods.

 

My A/C isnt working and was told i need an A/C relay, does anyone have any idea where i can get one?? thanks for your time.

 

^
Try Autozone or O'Reilley. This is a pretty common item that was used in several Mazda models. Here's a link to one at AZ

t_j_farrell, any idea why your ball joint and tie rod self-destructed like that? Scary...

fm

 

What do you think? Factory? After market? Ultra rare JDM only option that will turn this $800 investment into a gold mine?

 

aftermarket

 

So like a dealer installed after market option, like tint and wheels? Or more likely a downtown body shop install?

I never suspected anything other than factory until I saw that one pic a few posts back. Nothing surprises me about this car though anymore.

 

30+ years of service + plus hard driving + NC mountains == failed suspension and
brake components.

It was time for it to be serviced.