Can anyone suggest to me a set of shocks to put on a 1980. all the websites i have been to dont have any that will fit this car. if not is there any specific shock style of pattern i would need?

 

Check with mazdatrix.com or racingbeat.com or ReSpeed (my preference). Tokico Blues are a good quality shock, but if you intend to race or anything then you might want to step up to the Tokico Illumina 5 way adjustables.

Otherwise, if this is just a daily driver and you're looking for a standard (cheap) replacement, check www.rockauto.com

 

Do a search in this section just using the one keyword koni. You will find a ton of threads there.

 

sets of SA -spec shock sets on ebay for $110 all the time
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Yeah, lots of threads on the crap old-stock Konis that either arrive DOA or last all of a few months before blowing up.

Real good advice there.

Here's what I'd advise:

Get 81-85 front strut tubes. The benefits include:

-wide selection of strut inserts
-better suspension travel
-less bottoming during cornering over uneven surfaces

In my case, I had a set of camber/caster plates so instead of getting the '81-85 tubes, I cut mine above the spring perch. That gave me an extra inch of travel without altering ride height. I suspect that the '81 and up strut tubes are the same, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

Once you do the conversion, I'd recommend Tokico Blues for street/light auto-X use. They're a good upgrade from stock and stand up to quite a bit of abuse. If you're more seriously into solo or lapping, Mazdaspeed offers Bilstein inserts, which are teh sex.

If you're dead-set on keeping the stock strut tubes and aren't interested at all in competitive driving, you could go the KYB route. There are sets of KYB's available all the time on eBay, as Stu mentioned. Those will give stock or close to stock ride and handling quality. Just don't take them racing, you'll regret it.