OK. My car may be finally going somewhere after it's long winter in the garage. I've sourced a fairly good 83 GSL with a good running motor near me, and now I may be using it as a parts car, because the body is in rough shape. So, the questions begin:

1) Will the 83 engine, rad, tranny, driveshaft and rear end bolt up to the SA, or will some mods be nescessary?
2) This seems dumb, but will the center dash piece, where the ventilation controls are, bolt into the SA, or will the blower motor and assembly need to go with it?
3) Are there any other things that could be taken off the GSL, like seats, that would be better than the SA's?
4) How would you go about swapping the auto pedal assembly for a standard clutch/brake assembly?
5) And finally, I was reading the RX-7 book by Mike Ancas, and I read that there were two special edition SA's in 1979. One was a leather sport package. My car has the rear roll bar, what appear to be leather seats, as well as a black interior. It also has a *shudder* automatic transmission. Does anyone know if these are some items that were included in the package.

As always, you guys rule, and any help would be much appreciated! I want to have my car on the road for the summer.

 

i'm interested in that as well. mine has the rear anti-roll bar (gs model) and vinyl seats with a 5 speed. something i read said that the vinyl hasn't supposed to be an option until 80 so i was a little confused.

 

Yes it will all bolt in, you will have to play with brake lines though.

Do not use the '83 radiator and water/oil cooler. It is garbage. Convert to the '79's setup - much much better.

Other than the rear axle, and the distributor, there is nothing on the '83 that is better than the '79 Mazda did it right the first time.

 

That's great. Thanks a bunch Peejay! I've still got the 79 rad, so I guess I'm lucky. So the oil cooler is part of the rad?

 

the oil cooler goes below the radiator.. i would definatly use the 79 over the 83.

i donot think that leather became an option until 80.

just look at what is in the sa, and your fb, and then take the better of the two parts..

MAKE SURE THAT YOU SWAP THE WIRING HARNESS

 

What has to be done to swap the wiring harness? Will I have to go through and re-plug every accesory in the car, or can I just use the 83's engine harness and plug it in to the harness connector that goes throught the firewall?

 

you have two options.. either swap the engine harness (which would be easier) or swap the engine bay harness... to the bay harness, you have to disconnect it from the headlights, un plug everything, pull it ouf of the firewall and interior, and then put the new one back in... definatly some work...

if you are going to a 79, and decide to swap just the engine harness, then you will also want to go back to the 79 alternator. otherwise your car will not be able to shut off with out stalling it, like mine...

 

harness have to match, otherwise you will run into some problems.. does not matter which way you go, 79 engine bay harness and 79 engine harness, or 83 engine bay and engine harness.. that is up to you.

 

Match the harness to the chassis. You're not going to use any of the emissions stuff, so all you need to worry about is the alternator, distributor, and the various sensors on the engine.

 

matching the harness to the chassis will be easier, but since the chassis is a 79, he would also have to change his alternator.

easiest solution would be that.. but the best one would be to use the 83 harness..

 

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated!
But, If I use the 79 harness, would I have to use the 79 dizzy as well, or could I use the 83 and bypass the external resistors? Also, isn't there a way to use a switch or something to shut the engine off with the 83 alternator? That just seems kinda weird that the engine won't shut off with the 83 alternator.

 

i know that people have swapped 81 and up dizzy's into sa's, so you should be able to stick with that one without a problem..

the alternator thing is weird. it has something to do with the current running back through the alt. i think it was just a wiring thing.so it is possible that you will be fine if the wiring harnesses match.. so try swapping the engine harness first, and see if you have the same problem..