Wait untill mine got a repaint
No, really, Magnus car is great... I hope to get my car on that level soon. The outside should be perfect soon. (remember: it's at the paint shop, and I can't wait to see it again!!!) But the interior needs major attention...
The only good thing about it right now, are the beautiful FD seats, matching the cars colours.
Thats the winter project though...

 

Well, I'm not exactly good enough, in fact, my codriver is a lot more experienced than I am. But I drive anyway, because it's my car

Road rally, jeez... Off-road, all the way, baby!

Man, can't believe how much more shipping costs here. Thankfully, I can have most things sent to me for fairly cheap through U.S. Mail. Big items have to come through Fed Ex, though, and that gets hella expensive. At least I don't have to pay the 24.5% VAT!

It boggles my mind thinking about it all. How the hell can y'all afford to own cars that you have to import parts for?

Ren

Ren

 

Ren...how big stuff are u able to get by US mail to your APO address ?? I have 2 FC alu radiators in NYC and friend with APO address in germany...

Do you pay any taxes when its shipped to APO ?

 

Well, we can't

To be honest, it's a daily struggle, I think. There plenty of things I want. Then I look through a catalogue, say "hey that's a good price", and then say "but if you think I'll pay that twice...nah, not gonna buy it..."
One of my hobbies is building models of mainly RX7's and Le Mans racers. I get a lot of stuff straight from Japan, but I try to get orders under $20 to avoid taxes. It's costing me a lot on shipping, but that's still better...

 

Can't afford stage rallying love to prep a 1st gen for the stages and have a go though (probably not for very long LOL ! ) Road rallying has somthing special about it though maybee its the variety of the roads and that its always at night

its not that different from stage rallying anyway
and its a hell of a lot cheaper !

 

just ordered some flanges from Mazdatrix, to build a custom header for my 13B engine (going in this winter, I hope). Parts around $45, shipping: $45-50!!!
Oh boy, and taxes still to come... :-(

 

i've been holding off ordering stuff from the states because of shipping, it so expensive its usually cheaper to have the parts custom made in the UK

 

I'll do that from now on, as this is way over it!
Anyone heard of "hurley sealings" by the way? Should be a cheaper (but good) alternative to Mazda OEM???

 

hurley offered us even 25% discount if getting 5 or more kits (kit = 6 apex seals with springs), retail prices are here :

www.hurleyrotary.com

 

btw hurley does have for sale :

1990 Mazda Cosmo, very nice condition & fully loaded, only 90,000 Km, Full MOT etc. 20B Engine rebuilt by Hurley Engineering. 3mm racing apex tip seals etc. Engine guaranteed for 2 years

£11,500 ono

 

I need a set, anyone else??? That's the seals, not the cosmo :-) But I wouldn't mind if someone paid the cosmo for me...

 

we are going to order 5 or more sets this winter if u don`t need it in few weeks....u need just seals or complete rebuild kits with gaskets ? he said 25% discount for any combination of seal kits, so we are getting something like one 13B, 4 13BT and one 12A probably....

 

this winter is cool, I don't need it right now, as the rebuild for the 13B is a winter project anyway. Do they sell complete kits (apex+gaskets)? Couldn't find it on the website. I need a complete set. Tell me when you order. I'm going to build a 13B sixport (FC 150hp) but use TII rotors and rotorhousings. (and turbo...) So I guess I'll need a 13BT set!?

 

probably 13BT set...yeah, they should have complete kits...

 

yes, I have found them. No problem, just me being stupid :-) I had some website that wasn't the right one: only part of the info was on. Used your link, works perfect...

 

Glad to find this European forum. I have 2 FBs, 83GS with 115k and 85GSL with 50k (yes, that's right!). I'm thinking of shipping the 83 to our house in the south of France (Aveyron). Costs about $1500. Any idea of parts availability in France? I suppose I go to England for parts.

That 83 is pretty good. I bought it new 20 yrs ago. Last year replaced all cooling system, brakes, shocks, etc. Rebuilt transmision goes in next week. So it shouldn't require much. I hate to part with it after all the $$$ I put in this year - can't get it back at market prices. Paint is like new (Misty Blue), and it still goes like new. Meanwhile, I'll drive the cherry 85 I just found this year.

I live in CA, go to Aveyron twice a year, plan to retire there in 2-5 yrs. So, I can ferry some parts back and forth, as I need.

B

 

Rotary emotions, what did you have to do to fit the FD seats in your FB ? how well do they fit in the car (width, height, driving position etc. ) I was thinking of putting some tan leather ones in mine

 

bliffle: parts should be no problem in France

Mike: the seats fit perfect as for width, height...), but it's not an easy job... The rails are completely different. So you have to remove the FD rails, make some sort of frame (used 5mm flat steel) and weld them to the FB rails. You could also bolt them, but I thought welding was stronger... Now you have the easy one done: drivers side. The passengers side is much worse... Because of the transmission mount, the seat rail next to the tunnel is mounted under an angle. I couldn't come up with any sort of sollution for this, other then having the seat mounted higher then stock, and I didn't want that. In the end I managed a frame that would bolt right to the floor, and be level with the other seat. Problem: seat can not be moved forward/backward anymore. Not a big issue as my wife always had the seat (I had FC seats in there before, straight bolt in) all the way back anyway.
But now comes your BIG problem: my car's LHD, your's RHD, so you'd have to mount the drivers seat in the best location, never to be moved again... So if you want FD seats you'll first have to come up with a sollution for that...

 

yep thats a huge problem oh well the stock seats are good enough for now

 

Higgi,

Hey, u know i don't pay tarriffs part of the bennies of being a US citizen.

gimme a day of so, or e-mail me offlist. that goes for anyone. I have two options available to me: US Mail and FedEx. I can probably only send out via FedEx, but I'll see what I can do.

Ren

 

ren, i actually have nothing to ask you for, rotarymiata is in germany and we could get stuff shipped to him (APO cheap US Mail and no taxes....) and pick it up from him in germany..........

 

well, good, cause I didn't wanna ship to u anyway!!

hehe

Ren

 

Mike, a Benz? For rallying?

Yeah, "paved roads" tends to be a rather loose definition here in Europe, as compared to roads in the States. If it has at least 25% tarmac, it's a road over here.

Ren

 

its not me ... its some other nutters ! the rally thats taken on is over 200 miles long and has 180+ of those miles on unsurfaced roads ! ... you can see why a merc is a good choice! check out some more pics on www.chelmsfordmc.co.uk ... click on preston road rally ... its not our local one but it is my favourite !

 

Looks like fun. I'd send you a link to our races here, but they're not online. You can check this out, but it's all in Icelandic:

http://www.rally.is/



Ren