Beginning 1967 110S Restoration Project
 

Everyone,

Approximately a week ago I was contacted by a husband and wife who currently live in the Phoenix area but lived in Japan during the late 1980s. When they returned in 1990, they brought back an ULTRA-rare 1967 Mazda 110S Cosmo Sport with them from Japan. They feel that the car has all of the required pieces, but it hasn’t run since the mid 1980s. They've sent some pics of the car, but I have yet to get over to their house to check it out more closely. I presume since the engine hasn't run in nearly 25 years that an engine rebuild and carb overhaul will be first on our agenda. I've heard that 10A housings are rare if not impossible to find. Any idea (stateside) where we might find parts if needed. Also, they've never registered the car stateside, so please advise as to the kind of obstacles we'll be facing in this arena as well.

Thanks!

It is older than 25 years, and is considered a classic car. For this reason, you will not have much of a problem registering it.

u lucky bastard....much congrats though :D hope the restoro goes great man, lookin foreward for pics both before an after

I'm sure you can drop a 12a or 13b in there with out much trouble, so you can ditch the 10a..

Post up some pics.. I'd really like to see how it looks. :)

keep it original man!!!
10a parts aint that hard to find
(in australia)

Thanks everyone. I'll check with the party today to see if they would mind me posting the pics that I've received so far. Jesuscookies... thanks for the info on registration. I'll check AZ state law, but I think you're correct. As far as the motor goes, we'd really like to keep it original, so our biggest challenge will probably be finding engine parts stateside (fresh 10A housings, etc.). I'll post pics later today if I get the green light!

13b-rew

Stock would be really cool. Definetly keep it that way if you can.

I just last week registered my 1967 Mazda 110s with the Cali. DMV. The inspector guy didn't even bat an eye when he saw it. No problems with the registration process since it is older than 30 years. All DOT, EPA etc.. requirements are exempt..

Don't limit yourself to finding parts in the states. By all means get the parts from Japan! A friend of mine restored a super rare 1964 Mazda R360 and all of the required parts came from Japan. Try to get a contact through the Cosmo Club in Japan. Someone is bound to speak english and point you in the right direction. Yes, keep it stock!

Right. Keep it original and don't get disappointed too soon !
If not overheated, the rotor housings may still be ok. The carbon seals are pretty easy on the housings.
I don't know for the cosmo but the R100 had different rotor housings on different continents (with thermal reactor and without).
If parts for your local specification are no longer available, there might be parts for another specification still available.
If emissions are not an issue, you could use 10a housings from a Euro/Australian spec Rx-3, which are still available new from Mazda.
The Cosmo came in two versions as well (export: 110S and jdm: cosmo). I have copies of a parts catalog of the 110S L10B, if you need any part numbers...

Thanks everyone for the advice and assistance so far. Here's the first pic. More to come next week once I can get over there with my own camera.

Restoration? looks good to me just the way it is.
matt

Weren't 10A's P-Ports from the factory?

This really kicks ass!

I hope you find all the parts needed!

I agree with now,condition looks quite allright to me!

One of the engine Builders Just did a 10A rebuild, They had a full set of pics on their website.

Hades12... what website was that again???

Yes, it does look pretty clean in the pic, but other shots show some paint problems. I'll know more once I get over there next week, but it DOES appear that most of the body panels are very straight. The only molding that I can visually see from the pics that is missing is the "M" that spells out MAZDA on the rear trunk lid. Most other pieces appear to be there, but again, I'll know more next week.

wow, i wish i still went to UofA so i could see that car. Get it back together and on the road, rotary's wern't made to be looked at.

Very Nice. Good luck with it, and it should be considered "vintage" or even "antique" by now so you can register it as that. Many FBs including my two are hitting the "classic" status now, joining the rx-2 thru rx-5 series. And oh yeah, going with the other guys...its a museum piece and youre restoring it. Dont think about "dropping in" anything other than the original, otherwise its not a true restoration.

Wish I could remember, May have been Bonanza(sp?), they had a full 3 pages of pics of the tear down and rebuild of the engine. It was one of the big name builders, the link was from this forum.

I will add more if I can remember it.

Yup. And if it's not original it's value will plummet. BTW, did these cars come in any other color besides white? That's the only color I've seen them in so far.

Wow, and I just saw a 110S IN PERSON last weekend! A 68. Pretty cool. Engine bay on that sucker was empty!

Congratulations and good luck restoring it.

You might be thinking of Banzai Racing. They did an NSU engine rebuild recently that I know of. I'm not sure about a 10A though.

http://banzairacing.net/roof_rebuild_05.htm

AFAIK, the Cosmo's only came in white from the factory.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...973045703&rd=1

price is a little high but they are new parts.
matt

That is the one I was thinking of. If they can handle it then a 10A should not be a problem.

I've never seen the internals of a 10A but that's how the exh ports are? Interesting.

10A's were not p-ported from the factory. You are thinking of the rotary motorcycles.

Looks good, and that thing looks pretty mint from such a far away shot. Congrats!

Everyone,

Thanks for the replies so far. Meant to get over there this week to get some fresh shots, but a proposal here at work has caused me to postpone this until next week. Hoping to get over there Tuesday night and have pics posted by Wednesday of next week.

Contacted Paul Yaw of Yaw Power here in the Valley and he is interested in doing the 10A engine rebuild, so I'll advise the owners of his interest and expertise. From what the owners tell me, they have at least one new rotor housing and several extra parts including a set of apex seals and many other items. Can't wait to get over there to see what they have!

Tim

First pics as we begin!
 

Everyone,

Well, last night was pretty incredible! I can't wait to follow the progress! Here's where we're beginning. Excuse my pic post ignorance if this gets messed up!

More pics

More pics!

A few more still coming.

As I mentioned earlier, most of the parts seem to be there, and Pam and Paul are considering doing a complete frame-off restoration. We're pretty sure we'll need some new or gently used 10A rotor housings, and I'm sure that the list will grow as we get deeper into the project. It appears that the last time the car was registered in Japan was in 1985. Let me know if you have any questions!

So, have you started the restoration yet?

The car should be loaded on a flatbed sometime this week to head to the shop. I'll take pics and keep everyone posted once things start happening. Also planning to work with RX Tuner on a possible series of stories to document the process from startup to completion.

Man you are so lucky to get something like that. I would do anything get my hands on one of those becouse that is like the begining of the rotary Mazdas.

Why can't I be that lucky? That would be sweet to own.
PM me so I can get some pics from you for my rotary room.
Thanks

:bigthumb:

I'm glad to hear the work is going to begin soon. I love Cosmo Sports, mostly because of what they stand for. They also look pretty good.

I can't wait to see the finished product one day.

Rotarycrazy... just so you and others understand, I'm just the president of the local rotary car club (RCCAZ). The actual owners of the Cosmo Sport live here in the Phoenix area and contacted me because they were saving up their money over the past 10 years with the intent of doing a full restoration. I'm simply a very passionate and interested third party here trying to help them make quality connections with a body shop and engine builder. Obviously obtaining replacement parts will be the hardest part of the project, but our intent is to keep as much of the car original as possible.

Was wondering who is going to do the body work? Have they done a Cosmo before?

this is a dream come true. please post as many pics as you can because this is probably the closest i'll ever get to one of these again.

especially pics of the 10A.

thanks!






:mspank:

Flossing888,

Not to worry. The couple has hired Glenn Roberts from Finishing Touch body shop here in Fountain Hills. You may recognize his handywork. He totally restored the beautiful light blue Mazda R360 that graced the courtyard at Sevenstock 7. His attention to detail is impeccable, so I think that they're in good hands. Here's a few shots of Glenn picking up the car from them and a shot of the Cosmo alongside Glenn's R360. Incredible when you think of the fact that Glenn restored one of Mazda's first production cars (the R360), and now gets the opportunity to restore their first model year production ROTARY car. More progress to come later!

Great story.... How much did they pay for the car and to ship it in the late 80's? This is also very important to document....

Not sure of the exact story, but I think Pam told me the car was a gift to them. Pam was working in Japan during the late 1980s as a translator for a large multinational company. They spotted the car loaded on a flatbed truck in a boneyard and inquired with the yard manager about the vehicle. The manager connected them with the owner, who apparently was president of the Cosmo club of Japan at the time and had several fully restored Cosmo Sports. He was having the yard hold this one until he got around to fixing it for his collection. I'll verify more details when I speak with Pam next time. Also, watch for a series of articles in RX Tuner once we get started with restoration.

Here are the final pics. Notice how nice the floorboards are in the car.

Glad to hear Glenn is restoring the Cosmo! He is also currently restoring my 1973 RX-2. His shop is first rate and before relocating to AZ he was in Detroit building concept cars for the car companies. This guy is A #1. Check out his website on some of the the cars he has repaired or restored. www.finishingtouchaz.com
If my car comes out even close to the quality of the R360, I will be very happy indeed.

hell i would love to drive the 110 , i got that car on my gran turismo 4 and it hauls some major ass and handles like a beauty . not to mention that it is probably the rarest rotary powered car there is

Hey John,

Nice to touch base with you. Monte Mullins told me that you were having Glenn do your RX-2. Can't wait to see that when it's done. Has Glenn sent you any pics of the restoration so far? Stay in touch!!

Hi RCCAZ,

The car has been media stripped and is currently without any paint. All the chrome pieces ( bumpers, door handles, emblems) have been replated and the aluminum pieces (window trim and rain gutter pieces) have been polished. The mechanicals have all been redone by a shop in California. The car is kind of special in that it only has 10,300 original miles and maintains the original motor from the factory making it a "numbers matching" car. It also has the original tires that came from the factory though they are pretty dry rotted but still hold air. The "capella " badges on the C pillar are missing but under the front seat I found a set of new unused badges still in their plastic bag from Mazda along with the original dealer placard from the license plate location. The car was owned by retired lady who passed away in 1989. After her death, the car was parked outside where the sun ruined the paint and cracked the dash. Glenn is going to fix the door dings and repaint it sometime this summer.

Man John, I can't say that I've ever seen a cleaner "original" engine bay. Incredible find. Should be pristine when Glen is finished. I can't wait to see the final product!