76 RX-5 Cosmo.
 

Reason why I say "kind of" is because another forum member has purchased the car and next month I will be going to pick it up from them. Talk about being lame and not posting about buying a car that is rare as an RX-5. I am just hoping that she, yes she, does not keep the car.


I will let pictures speak for itself. You can comment all you want, the car will be in my possesion at the end of next month. Plans for the car is really unknown right now. I am not going to turn it into some drag car, if I want a drag car I would buy an RX7. I am positive I will be doing a restoration on the car. It is obvious right away what it needs.


It does include spare parts, but nothing of what is actually needed to fix the damage to the front end. Price will NOT be said at this point. I will try to update as much as possible and answer as much questions as possible.


And now, onto the pictures!

And more pictures. I am surprised at how clean the interior is.

It'll buff out?

Nice car though, just not everyones cup of rotary tea

Sorry, it's 76. Bloody typos.


I agree it's not what everybody else likes, but I like them.

What a piece of shit. ;]

:uhh:


GTFO outta my thread newb!

sorry, i'll go lurk elsewhere. =[

It's funny. Old codgers don't like the Cosmo as much as the younger crowd. :D

Post more, lurk less. ;)


I have always liked the Cosmo honestly. I especially love the rear end. I am just wanting another rotary car, and why not go old school with it? Sure, it's the ugliest rotary car in everyone's opinion, but you know how the saying goes...


I will eventually update the thread with more pictures.


Oh, by the way, the person who HAS the Cosmo in their possesion is Laurel. :) :D

i love the cosmo, & i'm 20. thus proving jeff's point

pf way to ruin it. the tail lights are cracked but there are new ones. ;] I'll probably look at it tomorrow after i go get it registered and whatnot.

+1

...I'm the one who owns it currently. Genius. ;]

lololol.

I love this forum sometimes.

+1

that makes two of us...

:lol:
Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm 40 and like 'em. You still get that rotary hum and power but have the interior creature comforts/luxury to boot! But then again, I keep telling myself I'm not really old, just OLD SKOOL!

....now that I think of it, I have only seen a REPU in person. That's kind of sad actually.

Anyhow, I can't wait to get it home from Laurel so I can start working on the small things it needs, then start with the long overdue restoration. :icon_tup:


Question is, would it be any type of benefit to restore the car? I am not talking about a frame off restoration, but fixing the damaged parts, fixing rust, cleaning/detailing the car entirely. I have been debating about that if it's even worth it. I will of course fix the damage as that is a huge eyesore, but it's not the RX-5 is really wanted that badly to fellow rotor heads.

Thank god ur not turning it into ah drag car man. I get kind of mad when I see the R 100 Rx2, & 3s being turn into Drag cars. But good luck with it keep us updated


Trini

I want a pre 75 (Smog exempt in CA) RX (prolly RX-2) so I can has 20b =D

If you can in your state, you should get a 20b in that puppy and keep it N/A and enjoy a nice ride. 20b is kinda overdoing it I guess someone would say but I think it'd make nice for a old school ride.

I think that is something you have to decide for yourself. I think about what we do with our cars and think how crazy we must look to people that aren't into it, but that doesn't really matter anyway. I personally think it would be great to see this thing returned to it's former glory, but that's not really my say either. And if I were you, I could care less if no one else wants an RX-5, it's still a classic rotary in my eyes and therefore worth it. I tend to go for the more rare cars anyway. Good on you for taking on this project. Good luck :icon_tup:

wow kind of banged up, its been years but i might have all the parts to fix it up,
bumpers, fender, I would have to ckeck the old shed and barn.
only problem is i am kind of far away.
got my cosmo when i was about 18 that was over 20 years ago, still have it to:)
matt

I will put my cosmo against any normal first or second gen and blow the doors out of them. I might even have the a/c on while at it. Yea, they are a little heavy, but my steetported 4 port 13b and weber IDA compensates for it and the rest is stock. Car was built to be a reliable daily driver and not some "drag car".

I just noticed that you have toyota baby supras rims on it. they must have been ovaled out.

lucky dog

One's slightly bent i believe.

I don't like when they are turned into race cars, but it's the person's choice to do what they want with it. But I like Judge Ito's RX-3 as he has put alot of dedication into it, and I don't even think he is gotten the record that he wanted at the strip.

If I wanted a 20B, I would pick up an FC or FD and do the 20B swap that way. But although, a 20B Cosmo would be one HELL of a sleeper. :naughty:

I thought about doing a TII swap into the Cosmo, but like I said I would rather pick up a TII and start from there.

Thanks man. I will keep everybody updated as much as I can. It will be a very slow project as my space availibility really sucks.

You will be probably getting a PM from me in the next few months. I don't mind the distance, shipping is not THAT bad. :)

Damn, your Cosmo is for sale? I would keep it. But that's just me.

Thanks! :D

3rotor chyea!

So yeah, it's been months, but it's coming home in.....8 days or so. The body damage will be fixed in the fall, and will be either repainted flat black or white again. There's even more rust than what I thought there was, but I am hoping to have it media blasted and have all of the problems sorted out. I am going to be doing all of the body work by myself, and I will try update this thread as much as possible.


Engine choice is still up in the air, if anybody has any recommendations I would love to hear some. Luckily the 4 port 13B has around 40k miles on it, so I don't see any reason to ditch that motor completely, unless somebody was interested in purchasing it, or if there was a way to turbo/supercharge the motor. I will need to do more research on that.


Just figured I would give an update. I am getting excited. Also, Laurel is getting excited that I am finally coming to pick it up. :) :)

Justin

20B NA. That is all.

Haha Shaun. That thought has crossed my mind. There's a thread in 20B Forum with a 3 rotor N/A RX-4. I should show them up and do a 20B Peri-port. :D


Everybody says to do 20B, but goooood god! Damned motor alone is 3x as much as a 13B-RE.


It's either going 13B-RE or I will TRY to find a bridgeported S5 TII motor. Either one would be fine. :D

Maybe because it is an Rx-7 interior (at least the seats and the steering wheel are).

Jerry you wouldn't what you are tallking about when it comes to having fun with a Cosmo (LOL) which one should I talk about I probably have more of them than all the people that have responded to the thread so far.

Lets see that would be 1,2,3,4..... wait a minute I have to take my shoes off

1976 RHD cosmo 130ap
1976 #109 (resto project)
1976 #111 (resto project)
1976 White POS parts car
1976 brown wrecked shell
1976 marron POS parts car
1976 silver parts
1976 white builder
1977 white (resto project)
1978 Blue (resto project)
1978 Silver (wife's project car)

we never meant to have this many but like rabbits they reproduce.

Seriously they are a lot of fun to drive the bad part is to own one you need a parts car or two. we cosmo owners are a select few and we tend to stick together.

You said something about a supercharger? I'm actually in the planning stages to supercharge my '76 4 port 13B that came out of my Cosmo. It's going into my REPU - the stock ports will be utilized for great towing ability. The Cosmo itself got an upgraded engine as well consisting of a 6 port 13B RE-SI (J-spec small port version of a GSL-SE) and a '74 engine. I grabbed the good (desireable) parts of both engines to make a monster. :D

If you want to discuss supercharging your Cosmo engine, I'm here.

Sweet, thanks Jeff. I think supercharging would be cool and completely different than doing the typical turbocharging or motor swap. I am stressing out right about getting a trailer. U-Haul quoted me 378.00 for a full car trailer which is not bad, but I am a cheapskate, and I don't want to pay that.


I am hoping to first start on repairing the body as much as I can, and then start with motor stuff. I will probably start on the motor stuff around October as that's when it starts to get cold here. I want to enjoy the Cosmo over the Summer.

I don't have any of the cosmos s/c at this moment I do have one of the Rx4s s/c I think Jeff saw it about 4 years back when I was stationed up at Ft Lewis. I love it, i recommend that if you are going after a camden kit you use the 5 inch blower over the 7 inch I have been running mine on the same engine for quite some time and we have put quite a few miles on it as well.

But what are you doing about it being carbed? I am scratching my head about this one.

Dude, I think I saw your 4, it was gray but I doubt I looked in the engine bay. I have no memory of it.

Yes, you MUST get a 5" as the 7" WILL NOT FIT!!! Seriously, the 5" barely fit in the engine bay of my bro's RX-4 wagon. I had to grind off a little of the aluminum chunk that sticks out of the side of the casting, and it still rubbed the raised threaded hole that supports the brake line on that side. A 7" actually sits about 1" further toward the passenger side making it practically impossible to install in an RX-4/Cosmo engine bay without resorting to hammering the strut tower. Not a good idea when a 5" simply bolts right in with just a little trimming like I said. Save the 7" for a 1st gen chassis or possibly an REPU, but you gotta trim the sheet metal suspension cover blah blah blah - that is why my REPU is getting a 5" because I think I will need to trim it a lot less or not at all.

The carb is the easy part. An Edelbrock 600 right out of the box works amazingly well. 84stock will agree as he says it's a smoother carb than the holleys he's tried. Plus my friend has been using an Edelbrock on his 5" since he got it back in '01 before Atkins bought Camden. It stands the test of time. He also has a 7" with a Holley in his REPU (cough) and it's not as good. It is less smooth and slower.

One more thing to consider is the flywheel if I haven't mentined it yet. Since the Cosmo is a heavy vehcile (weighs similar to an REPU) but has a very tall geared diff at 3.636, you will want to go with at least a light steel flywheel with an SC. If you werre keeping it NA I'd highly recommend a 27 pound GSL-SE flywheel (N304) to match '76-'85 13B rotors, or whatever equivilant stock flywheel matches whatever rotating assembly you decide to go with if choosing a 2nd gen engine and a turbo or whatever, such as the 26 pound N326. However since you;re wanting to do a supercharger, you can get away with a light steel flywheel because the extra rotating weight of the SC (and the extra drag/frictin etc) makes it feel more like a stock flywheel and less like an aftermarket light flywheel. In other words the rotating assembly will retain enough mass to get over the horridly tall rear gearing, but still be light enough to rev freely and be a pleasure to drive.

I know what I'm talking about because my bro's RX-4 wagon, with the 5" SC and same tall geared diff, had a GSL-SE flywheel and it felt perfect while NA, but when the SC went on it felt heavy sluggish and slow. A big mistake. Then when the SC came off it went back to feeling perfect again. conversly the SC went into my 1st gen with a light steel flywheel and it felt tons better all around. Of course the chassis is lighter and rear gearing is lower so I knew I could get away with an aluminum and it would feel more like a light steel, and you something... I was right. The extra rotating weight added enough mass to keep the aluminum flywheel from being dumb. It is quite easy to start facing uphill and whatever other foibles of aluminum you're warned about before buying one from RB or MZTX don't apply. :D It was the right upgrade for a 1st gen but would be too light for a Cosmo I'm affraid. Especially if you're just starting out with the project.

So anyway to make a long story short (too late) you can get away with a light steel flywheel because I could never let you get away with using the stock Cosmo 30 pound flywheel with an SC. Nor could I let you slide with a GSL-SE flywheel because you'll just hate the setup every time you drive it like my bro eventually did with his. My friend's 7" in his REPU has a light steel and it feels right for the weight of his truck with the relatively tall geared '77 rear end. And since my truck feels like it too has a taller rear end than it should (it's about a mid '74 so I'm guessing it has a 4.3 or 4.11), it has the same RPM at the same speed as his truck so it must be a combination of tire size and diff gearing some how matching up perfectly. So I'll be going with a light steel in my REPU as well when the SC goes in. Incidentally my other REPU has a true low geared '74 diff with 4.625 and you really notice the difference. I can get away with a light steel and no SC in it, and it behaves just fine. Infact the PO used to tow using an aluminum flywheel and a Holley on an RB manifold! Totally old school but it worked. He couldn't burn out with it, and when it would hiccup and stall, as it often did because it's a Holley, it would go from 4k RPM to 0 in a split second. Towing was a chore but he did it anyway.

Wow I got off topic a little. Ok a Carter fuel pump will fit in the stock location but you can't use the stock fuel pump cover. Also you'll need to adapt the lines from 3/*" of the pump down to 5/16" because if you try to shove the lines on a 3/8" nipple, they'll crack and leak.

Theres a couple of car dollys for sale here that you could buy for like 400 and use it to pull it there and then resell. that way you aren't really wasting that much on towing it... sorry. I took it for a spin today. I got a lot of weird looks, as usual.

Hey, I'm doing the exhaust on my Cosmo today. :) It's just a quick setup with an exhaust manifold because my brother needs it to run in two weeks as he's coming over from a Utah and needs something to drive while he's here (and has no money for a header). Then he'll have it shipped over there in August, giving me a chance to work out all the bugs from now until then.

It will just have a modded 1st gen exhaust manifold like what PercentSevenC has on his 13B in his GSL. His car is pretty powerful so it must flow kinda ok. Then from the stock downpipe a long piece of RB thickwall pipe to replace the heat exchanger. Then into the stock connecting pipe and into the stock presilencer right before the rearend (I hope it quiets enough for him without an RB presilencer, plus I'm counting on the exhaust manifold to be quieter than a header). Then over the rearend into the stock muffler.

When this car ran before, its exhaust was whisper quiet, and you could often hear the intake roar over the exhaust. It only had an exhaust leak right in the middle at the heat exchanger, which is why it came out. Plus the thermal reactor went bye-bye (kinda melted internally and caused a minor restriction) so no need for the restrictive heat exchanger if its siamese twin (reactor) comes out. The presilencer is straight-through and then the pipe squeezes down to 1 7/8 after it which is ok as the gasses contract keeping velocity up, so I'm keeping all that on there for him, hoping it's all quiet enough.

I found a TII block here locally but it's blown so that's another option to choose from. I am still really considering a supercharger.

Thanks alot for the info Jeff. It's much appreciated. I think my brain and your brain is going to collaborate in the next few months on what options I can choose from.

I would totally go with a supercharger. It provides low end torque so it is more appropriate than a turbo in my opinion. A turbo is better for mid to higher RPM but won't help your launching ability, where the Cosmo literally needs the most help due to the tall geared diff.

You say your Cosmo is a '77? That means its tranny has the close ratios but taller 1st and 2nd with a taller 5th. Even more reason to go supercharger! It will feel like you're starting off in 2nd all the time. A turbo wouldn't much like that.

See here for ratios. http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/ratios.htm

Cliff notes:
My bro's '78 RX-4 wagon had that '77-'78 tranny and it sucked for take off. You'd have to ride the clutch out for a while. Then I swapped in an '81-'83 after relocating the shifter forward into the early position. It fit fine and the lower 1st was great! It was still too tall though. Stupid 3.636 diff!

The GLC has a slightly lower geared diff of 3.727. It got the '77-'78 tranny. It didn't feel quite as tall thanks to the lower weight and shorter (slightly) tires. It still felt too tall though. I recently installed a'79-'80 tranny (same gears as '81-'83 but shifter fit without mods) so it should show an improvement along the same lines as the 4 did. :)

These SA trannies are weaker than earlier or later trannies so I'd advise against them for the Cosmo, unless you have a large supply kicking around. They do bolt right in (to the Cosmos but not '74-'76ish REPUs since they came stock with 4 speeds which have a shorter tranny mount location and require modding the crossmember to fit a 5 speed).

I installed one in my REPU ten years ago and it only lasted a few thousand miles. Had to mod the crossmember and the shifter. In its last year, 1st became increasingly hard to go in and it would get noisier and felt like it had more drag after each time I'd floor the engine. Something was not right in there. It came out and a spare '76 5 speed went in. Gears feel good with the rear end, although a little taller than I'd like in 1st.

My Cosmo got a real '76 tranny even though the '77-'78 was available. Already been down that road in the RX-4. The Cosmo has taller 14" tires too making things even worse. Most old publications say it weighs about 100 pounds more than an REPU. Mine has had a little bit of weight removed (AC crap, spare tire, thermal reactor etc) so I'd say it's about the same. With this lower geared tranny and a GSL-SE flywheel, I feel it will work out pretty well.

I got the manual pedals in yesterday and got them all adjusted and bled. The clutch pedal effort feels appropriate for the car; not too soft because I hate weak pedals and not too hard like an RB SS or something. I didn't want a hard pedal. The power steering works so I wanted a clutch that would match in perceived effort although if I did go with an RB SS, it would not kill my leg. Pedal travel feels about the same as a 1st gen, so if you know how it feels with a stronger pressure plate, the Cosmo should feel about the same. My bro;s RX-4 got an SS p-plate, and it actually felt quite good, although I don't know if the FB tranny and its clutch fork had any bearing on actual pedal feel and effort.

Anyway, the current setup feels perfect. Also got what feels like the friction point adjusted to the middle of the travel (the 4 was always a little high for my liking as I prefer a pedal that's lower to the floor). I'll know more once the new engine is fired up in a day or two. Making progress. :)

It's actually a 76 Jeff. It's a typo in the title. Do you think a TII transmission would do any good on a Cosmo? I am still contemplating the supercharger, but I am still going to buy the block that is close to me. It's only 75 bucks for the block, but one of the rear apex seals went out on it so I may just use it for experimentation. :)

I am also still waiting to get the damned car, I could not find a trailer in time, so it has to wait another 2 weeks before it comes home. :(

The tranny will be fine then. It's the close ratio '77-'78 to steer clear of until you can get a better rear end.

Who makes compatible superchargers? I know Camden has them, but I read that the kit is only compatible with the FC motors because those are obviously fuel injected.

Uh no. I've only ever messed with carbed Camdens on '74-'78 4 port 13Bs. Oh, and only one T2 engine, which also has a carb and the fuel injector holes are blocked with RB's kit. Not sure where you got your wrong (incomplete) info from.

I wouldn't bother with fuel injection on a Cosmo unless you you really have an affinity for it. For a carbed setup it is country-simple to swap in a Carter fuel pump, hook up a Holley pressure reg, maybe a fuel pressure guage (helps mainly when setting pressure in the beginning and then checking it periodically) and finally an Edelbrock carb. It runs very well like this, even on a carb right out of the box.

Don't smash your foot with a sledge hammer dreaming of fuel injection unless you really, really want it. :) Sorry to sound like I'm scolding, but c'mon man. I got my Carter, and the other things mentioned above, installed in a day, and was test running it that night.

Nah, I don't want to go EFI at all Jeff. I was just stating that all the supercharger setups that I saw were for 6-port 13B's. I only searched it for ten minutes, so yes I did have the wrong information. :D


I want to go with a carbed setup, and will most likely go with a supercharger just to be completely different from the crowd by just dropping in a turbo motor and calling it a day. I think once I get bored of the supercharger I will try something different, but I know there are other options for a supercharged setup. I would even try out different porting to see what I could gain.


I would like the Cosmo to be my guinea pig. If I wanted a turbo rotary I would just buy a TII or something already with a turbo motor swapped in. :)