Hi Everyone,

I've done the introduction part so now I can hit up folks for advice and recommendations right?
So I'm excited to build a good looking functional rotary that is a blast to drive but not a headache to build. I think I've started off all wrong when I look at the **** of the car. The wheels do not appear to be centered at all. Actually the appear to be an inch off to the passengers side. I've replaced the shocks that i got with the car and obviously this has not resolved the issue. Here's some pictures. I'm hoping that swapping out the bushings or getting a new Watts linkage with the strengthener from Mazdatrix will resolve my issue. I just don't see anything bent underneath. But the Watts linkage does look a little twisted.


And yet this tire is barely showing at all.

Like this one.

You can see so much more of the wheel.

Like the whole tire circumference

 

Sounds like watts link hardware, maybe the car hit a curb or something in its previous lifetime? And I would go over the entire rea end hardware to look for any other signs of damage..

Not seen this one before.

If it helps, the watts links and the bracket are all available new from Mazda.

 

It does that because you have it up in the air. The watts link follows an arc. Put it on the ground and see how it looks. This is kind of normal for 1st gens anyway. If its really off do this; raise it on jack stands like you have it, loosen the watts link attachments. Then raise the rear axle until the car just comes off the stands. Then tighten the watts link attachments back up. That will be the best you can get it to be even.

 

for sure it did, they all did. even in the road test in the magazine they are sideways...
these cars are fun, people drove them like they were stolen (and some were).

 

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Not sure if I'm replying correctly here.
Yeah even on the ground is an inch heavier on the right side. Driving me nuts. I'll give it a try. Thanks for the advice. I took a good look the other night, I'll get some pictures up, and I'm pretty sure there's a decent twist in the Watts linkage. Amazing that little bracket holds up so much tension and stress from everything below and beside it.

 

Maybe it is bent. You have another 7 to scavenge parts from right? Take a look at it and compare.

 

Yeah but that's a GSL and has a different wheel hub bolt pattern too. I mean, does the LSD in the GSL fit the GSL-SE with simply different axle shafts?

 

Maybe not but the watts link hardware is the same I think.

 

Watts links and pivots are the same across all 1st Gen cars. For 84 and 85 cars, the lower trailing arm front pivots at the body were lowered by about 1cm to help with handling at the limit. This still has no effect on trailing arms or Watts links - they are all the same on 1st Gen cars (SA & FB).

 

Well.... I think I might have found the reason for the cockeyed rear camber... One side, the drivers side, has what appears to be an extended Bump stop that is hitting!! I'm hoping this is one of the causes for this. But I would still like to finish overhauling the bushings and the Watts link. Crazy. The rear springs also have what appears to be FC spring part numbers on them and not FB springs.

Drivers Side

Passengers Side

 

many years ago, on a rainy morning, i lost the car and hit a curb on the way to school. i wasn't speeding, wasn't being aggressive, just driving in the city limit, made a left turn and maybe an oil slick or something - i have no idea - so i didn't think i hit the curb that hard. however, the rear end shifted to one side just like your car. upon inspection, the problem wasn't the Watts Link itself, but the mount (that stud that is attached the diff housing itself) was bent.

you will want to check that thoroughly before anything else.

 

Again. Crazy that so much hinges on that simple pivot point/ fulcrum. I guess I'll have to take it all apart and replace the bushings while I'm doing it. How much would you think it's out of straight by, if it is the pin, judging by the wheel reveal? What was the angle yours ended up at and what was the remedy? Bash it back straight? I'd be worried it'd snap off.
I had my wisdom teeth taken out the other day so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get under the car at the moment.
But I'll get some pictures of the guts of it.
Thanks for sharing. Super appreciated.

 

just really quick,

1. its supposed to have bump stops on both sides. they are NLA, i've been looking for a more modern urethane replacement, i've found a couple that look promising, but need measurements. i think one was a Jeep and the other was a Tribute/escape?
2. can't help you with the springs, but its been apart before...
3. the Watts link stud is BIG.
4. since the watts has levers a small tweak will make a big change at the wheels. mine had a tweaked watts bracket, i bent it back, and then ended up making a heim joint watts link on one side, mostly to center the diff

 

i'm nowhere near good/qualified enough to hazard a guess.

first, it was an awful long time ago. second, i never thought to measure mine because it was a time when i had parts aplenty, and the plan had always been to change the rear end to my LSD rear (because it was a drum rear). i drove it like that for several months - no worries.

what i can say for sure is the few times i did look under the car, trying to figure out what was wrong, i never saw it. i'm sure i didn't know what to look for either, so that's definitely a factor. in the process of pulling the rear, i still did not know what had happened until the rear ends were side by side. only at that point was it obvious to me, the stud was bent pretty bad. as i said earlier, repair was not in my frame of mind at the time though, so i didn't think about trying to straighten it. i just swapped my new rear in and went on with life. i suppose if you knew someone with the right tools and "know-how", it could be repaired, but as J9fd3s mentioned, it is pretty big ... and thick! ... so i don't know.

 

Well I got some pictures of the Watts link and yeah it looks like the pin has a bend in it. Not much but I guess it doesn't have to be much.

 

bracket maybe too, quit taking pictures and pull it apart

 

Hahaha! I want to! These gaping holes in the back of my mouth from getting my wisdom teeth removed are so bloody annoying though.
I'm going to start wrenching away on it next week. Parts have been ordered.

 

 

What does that mean?

 

I was siding with j9 here lol

here this guy has a smile saying rebuild

 

OH man. I'm super excited to get to work on my project(s). I'm not even home with the car at the moment. Forced vacation by work has me out of town. When I get home though the first task is dropping that differential.

 

I just looked at mine when I got home and it's not centered just like yours. I also noticed my rear driver's side wheel is leaning out from the top (like positive camber)..........
that can't be good

 

you do need to get under the car, but other than that its not hard. with mine i think i had all the arms out, but not all at once, so the rear end actually never left the car. the Watts link can come completely out, and you can still drive the car enough to park it, wouldn't go faster than that though

 

Once a car chins a curb it's been deflowered and should be junked .. but of course, people sell them and then you find out your car had its rear giblets pushed in.. I feel that's a benefit of modern-day aluminum wheel's , the rim gets destroyed not the chassis or suspension .. but then again modern wheels cost 700$ a pop and for around that you can fix all of your issues and even have a body shop straighten the poor thing out, I mean it looks like some one hit the car smack dab in the middle of the wheel arch according to that dent .. very sus.

 

With all the body shop technology, I hardly think you should total a car because it hits a curb. That seems a little excessive.

Someone should be able to heat that up and nudge it back into place, or very close to it.