am I in the right forum?
well, anyway, there's this 1976 mazda cosmo at the junkyard, it has an engine tranny, and almost everything in it. its a little beat up, some rust, but not too bad. only real problem, is that its missing some stuff from the front, like grill, headlights, etc. but there's no real dents or big rust holes or anything.


but my questions are, (by the way, I searched):

- how much would one of these be worth?
-I read these have a 13b motor, is that correct?
-how is parts availability?
-what should I check for before I decide to buy it?
-whats the specifications on these cars?(i.e. weight, hp, etc.)
-anything I should know about the car before buying it?

thanks in advance for any help

 

oh yeah, it also has no front windshield.

 

http://www.philmanns.demon.co.uk/

this ones up for £3500 and its in a pretty poor state

I think they have a 10a engine in them

 

No, that's not the Cosmo he's talking about. The Cosmo you just posted was the the first Mazda Rotary car. It does have a 10A and they are very rare and worth a lot of money. Not ever sold in the US.

The Cosmo he's talking about was not called Cosmo in Japan and it's really an RX-5. It was car of the year in Japan and they sold a ton over there. Not very much in the US though.
They were the heaviest pre-Rx-7 rotary and are pretty much the same as an Rx-4 but with a different body. They have 13B motors.

I think it will be hard to find a windshield. Parts availability...I dunno. Maybe Mazda has stuff for them since they are more recent. Hardly anything shows up for them on Ebay though. If the motor is the same spec as the RX-4 (not sure..) then I think it has about 135 HP.

Some crappy things about them is they have a really "mileage-oriented" final drive ratio and their wheel bolt circle is 4 x 120mm which makes it an oddball among old rotaries and all cars in general...In other words any wheels you get for it will have to be special-drilled.

Good things are that they look cool (in my opinion), have a neato wood steering wheel, and they probably have the best suspension set up out of all pre- RX-7 Mazdas.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=141453

good luck finding parts.

 

would this car be worth anything if I actually fixed it up really nice?

are parts from the Cosmo's 13b interchangeable with those of S4 FC's? could I use like rotors, maybe a housing, if I needed when rebuilding the motor? and how about apex seals and all that stuff?

or... would I be able to simply swap the carb setup onto a S4 N/A FC motor? I assume the cosmo is not 6 port though.

would it be worth it to offer $100 for it? the back of the car was filled with parts, so that may not be TOOOO much of a problem.

what's so special about their suspension?

 

I'd buy it for $100. It already has good brakes; they are 4-wheel disc cars.

 

their suspension is considered the best of all old rotors pre rx7. independant macpherson front end and coil sprung rear. parts are dime a dozen in australia as piston equiv are quite common. not so over there hey? if its got the original motor it will be a 4 port so you will need an adaptor plate to bolt on your carby to a s4 motor. most engine parts are interchangeable if you want to plan a rebuild. has a 3.6 diff and a 13b rx4 3.9 diff should bolt straight in as these two models also had same housing and axles also strongest rear end prior to FC's. the brakes are also excellent only needing better pads. only thing wrong with these like all old cars is rust,
check under rear windshield and in boot along the wheel arches. for lots of info and shots check here. want any other specs PM me.

 

I always thought they looked like perfect lowrider material. Gold plate the grill and all that.

 

I think I noticed that the cosmo had a solid rear axle. is this correct? I may be getting confused with the Opel which was behind it?

yeah, I saw that site yesterday after HOURS of searching. its cool how in 76', they put the rollcage in the complettely stock cosmo, and drove it to the 24 hour daytona race, and won first place in its class, and then they drove it back tell that to someone when they ask about rotaries "poor" reliability

I think I'll offer them $50 for it. and if I can't find pats, I'll make it a race car.
thanks for the help everyone. maybe I'll post some pics if I get it.

 

Buy it they are wicked cars.
Car has solid rear axle same as all pre-FC Mazdas but is 4 link with panhard.
It would be very easy to get parts for this car... out of Australia or New Zealand.

Buy it and treat her well.

 

RX5 Cosmos are pretty rare, I'd pick it up for $100 just to sell parts off it. They are damn heavy cars, though, heavier than an RX4. And the 4-port 13B used in the 1976 cars had very restrictive intake porting as a response to the fabled "energy crisis" of the late '70s. Not my personal favorite, but still worth having. -WG

 

Still forsale, eh?

 

I don't know travis, they people did say it was $500 for all cars up there. I guess you could haggle though, considering that they'll never get a better offer on it.

 

Here's my car-buying line: "Well, pard, there's good news and bad news. The good news is the only person even remotely interested in this old car is here speaking to you now. The bad news is, I buy these all the time for $100 or less."

Or, the softer approach:

"I'm sure the car is worth every penny you're asking, but what I have to spend is $100."

-WG

 

thats the line to use.

 

Well, it has worked well for me, anyway!