I'm looking at a set of used housings, its the front, intermediate, and rear housing, but he's not sure what year 12a they came from. According to mazdatrix the front and intermediate are the same for all first gens, but the rear is listed as different for 79-82 and 83-85, is this just because the water outlet is different for the different oil coolers, or is there some other difference? I would like to buy them, but they need to work with an 83. Thanks
Sean

 

83-85 has the "T" water outlet. also, pre-81 housings did not come fitted for an oil pressure gauge. to make it work for an 83, you have to fabricate OR junk the oil-to-water cooler. I have several plates for pre-86 (except for 6port motors) but im very very lazy when it comes to shipping parts.

 

The car they would be going in has already been swapped over to the front mount oil cooler setup, so thats no biggie. Oil pressure is no biggie either since I have the RB block to use aftermarket gauges. Thanks for the info.
Sean