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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States

      1973 RX3 project

      Hey Guys

      Just wanted to share my build here. I know it’s not exactly the status quo around here but I’ve had a lot of inspiration from this forum over the years.

      The plan:
      I’ve had a lot of Mazda Rotary’s over the years. I bought this car about 14 years ago with big plans for it but never the time or budget. In retrospect, I’m glad because the plans I had as an 18 year old are not what I want now. I’m taking the pro touring approach in keeping it a classic car on the outside but a modern driver. So how to make an old Mazda drive like a new Mazda? Easy. Everything under the body new. Easy right?

      Here’s what I brought to Sean at Better Motorsports just out side of Ottawa in Canada. Sorry I don’t have better pics, but that was my jumping off point

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    2. #2
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      So I bought a rusty miata and scavenged all the subframes and suspension bits. This car was going to see a completely new suspension from a modern car that has enough aftermarket to keep it alive forever. So after some measuring and some creativity, Sean made it happen. It took some problem solving on his end but he ended up making it all fit and look great. The one thing we did that wasn’t originally planned, but worked out great, is using QA1 coil overs in order to not have to build stock shock towers to fit. So that saved some time and headaches. There was also some rust repair he had to do. A surprise to nobody who’s ever had an old Japanese car. Name:  Adjustments.JPG
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    3. #3
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      At this point I had decided on my motor. A 3 rotor Mazda 20b. They were never available in North America so I bought one from a shop that had it imported years ago. They’re fairly hard to come by and the price reflects that. In stock form they came twin turbo. I plan to run it naturally aspirated but built up a little which should have no problems doing 300-350hp to the wheels. Sean made up motor mounts and got going on the rear end. While the rear was maybe a bit more work he seemed to have a plan for that from the get go. Name:  IMG_2627.JPG
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    4. #4
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      So nearing the end of the time Sean had it, he closed in the wheel wells, retrofit the miata brake master and booster, and made the steering shaft. The stock one obviously wasn’t going to work but he managed to make it so I could use the stock shaft inside to car to keep the original appearance. He also had to move a section of the firewall back to accommodate the extra length of the 20b vs the stock 12a. Name:  IMG_2735.JPG
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    5. #5
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      So that’s pretty much where I’m currently at. I’ve not done much work on the car since it came home back in the fall. I’ve moved 500km and the house didn’t have a garage so I bought what’s really just an oversized garden shed. But since this isn’t a long term house, I thought something that was able to move with me or be sold down the road was the best bet. It’s 14x36 so that will do fine for me to work on this project.

      Going forward I want to get the flimsy frame rails reinforced and then paint. I’ve been bouncing around a lot of ideas on paint but still undecided.

      Wheels have been bought. 15x8 front and 15x9 rears. No tires yet but 225 front and 245 rears will be ordered soon enough. I’ll need those for the body work as I’m sure I’ll need to massage the fenders to fit that much more rubber than stock.

      If anyone had any questions, let me know. It’s going to be a long term project but it’s also been a long time coming. Name:  IMG_0413.jpg
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    6. #6
      Join Date
      Jan 2014
      Location
      Austin, TX
      Posts
      636
      Country Flag: United States
      Very cool project....I love seeing different stuff on the forum!
      1972 C20 Suburban
      1964 Corvette Coupe

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States

      1973 RX3 project

      So just a quick update. Have the new wheels on the car. Have a set of fenders from a car that had raced in a few Canadian series. They look good in the front. Need to flare the back but I knew that already.

      Rebuild kit for the motor has been bought and working on options for the trans. I have been considering trying to adapt a c5 rear end. There’s much more room for a transaxle and would help the weight distribution I think. It’s a crazy idea, I know, but wouldn’t it be cool?

      Currently waiting for the covid lock down to end so I can get the car out to acid dip. There’s a lot of bondo in spots so I’m thinking instead of trying to sand everything I’ll just go with a dip and know exactly what I have.

      Finally, here’s a few recent pics, because who doesn’t like pictures. Some with stock fenders and a couple with the flared fenders.

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    8. #8
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Very cool project! Look into the Z06 that Rob Dahm installed the rotary motor into. I believe that was a C5 and he adapted the stock torque tube to the 13b.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States

      1973 RX3 project

      Quote Originally Posted by ryeguy2006a View Post
      Very cool project! Look into the Z06 that Rob Dahm installed the rotary motor into. I believe that was a C5 and he adapted the stock torque tube to the 13b.
      One step ahead of you. Haha. I’ve spoke to the shop that’s making the bellhousing to make it all work. Thanks so much though. Glad you like it.

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      Very cool. Looking forward to updates!

      Andrew

      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her


    11. #11
      Join Date
      Aug 2015
      Location
      charlotte
      Posts
      924
      Country Flag: United States
      This is awesome, I'm surprised there's not more Japanese classics like it here considering they've been doing 'pro-touring' well before muscle cars put a name to it. this will be a great build

    12. #12
      Join Date
      May 2018
      Posts
      96
      How did I miss this? I'm dying see where this goes. Down low, fat fenders and 3 rotors at 8000 rpm spitting fireballs on every shift. I can already hear it.

      It sucks how expensive 20B's have become. It makes the LS swaps more appealing

      Excellent build choice. Keep posting!!!
      Jim..Car Junkie
      1969 Vette--Big pistons, No turbo....yet
      RX7 Turbo II--No pistons. Big turbo--now in my Daughter's garage
      68 RS Z/28, '12 Boss 302, 86 911, several RX7's, 3rd gen f-bodies, fox body, and many more..(gone)

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Jan 2011
      Location
      Jefferson City, MO
      Posts
      240
      "And now for something completely different..." right?

      This kind of odd rod is right up my alley! Subscribed, for sure.

      For color, how about a pewter grey metallic with some distinctive non-metallic orange graphics? Maybe something inspired by the factory AAR 'Cuda appearance (see attached). Just a thought.

      Have you seen the "Mongrel" build on YouYube? It's a '59 Ford 100E wrapped around Miata mechanicals, being built over in England. I'm not sure if any of that process will apply to your build, but it might be worth checking out.Name:  41b09e078929760e311df60f4faff7f8.jpeg
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    14. #14
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by jimco84x View Post
      How did I miss this? I'm dying see where this goes. Down low, fat fenders and 3 rotors at 8000 rpm spitting fireballs on every shift. I can already hear it.

      It sucks how expensive 20B's have become. It makes the LS swaps more appealing

      Excellent build choice. Keep posting!!!
      Ya, the 20B’s have got a little out of hand recently. I think I got a decent deal on mine but it was still a bit crazy. But thanks for the encouragement. It will be slow but I’ll keep posting updates as I get more done.

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Peanut1959 View Post
      "And now for something completely different..." right?

      This kind of odd rod is right up my alley! Subscribed, for sure.

      For color, how about a pewter grey metallic with some distinctive non-metallic orange graphics? Maybe something inspired by the factory AAR 'Cuda appearance (see attached). Just a thought.

      Have you seen the "Mongrel" build on YouYube? It's a '59 Ford 100E wrapped around Miata mechanicals, being built over in England. I'm not sure if any of that process will apply to your build, but it might be worth checking out.Name:  41b09e078929760e311df60f4faff7f8.jpeg
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      Haven’t seen the Mongrel build but I may have to check it out. As for the colour, I’m still really up in the air over it. You could be onto something though. Not sure I’d go with orange on the stripe but something along those lines could look really good. And thanks for the subscribe.

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Oct 2004
      Posts
      2,544
      Country Flag: United States
      Love these. Can't wait to see how it comes out.
      Red Forman: "The Mustang's front end is problematic; get yourself a Firebird."

    17. #17
      Join Date
      May 2008
      Location
      Austin, Tx.
      Posts
      1,539
      Country Flag: United States
      Great project!

      When I was in high school, I had a ‘73 Mazda 808 which was essentially the same car but with a 4-cylinder engine instead of the rotary engine.

      I’m looking forward to your updates!
      Ray
      FEW FRILLS, just BIG CHILLS!!!
      1972 VW Bug (427LS/T56 Magnum/9"-3.70 gears)
      18"x10-1/2" (315/30/18) Front, 18”x12" (335/30/18”) Rear
      https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...-Lady-Bug-quot

    18. #18
      Join Date
      Jan 2005
      Location
      Brantford, Ontario Canada
      Posts
      43
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by 454bug View Post
      Great project!

      When I was in high school, I had a ‘73 Mazda 808 which was essentially the same car but with a 4-cylinder engine instead of the rotary engine.

      I’m looking forward to your updates!
      Thanks. I actually had a super clean and low mile 808 I’d bought from the same guy this RX3 came from. The 1.6L and 3spd auto made for a boring drive though. I do miss that car. Here’s a pic of it.

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    19. #19
      Join Date
      Aug 2014
      Posts
      435
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by j_man1100 View Post
      Haven’t seen the Mongrel build but I may have to check it out. As for the colour, I’m still really up in the air over it. You could be onto something though. Not sure I’d go with orange on the stripe but something along those lines could look really good. And thanks for the subscribe.
      The Youtube channel is called "Urchfab" and the dude builds some awesome stuff. Sucks he got screwed by the guy who was supposed to paint it.

      Jay

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Feb 2019
      Location
      Easley, SC
      Posts
      63
      Country Flag: United States
      What the heck???
      This is amazing. Looking forward to the progress!

      What wheels are those? They look like XXR's but can't read the logo.
      Pro Touring Store: Your parts source for all things Pro Touring! We have the best prices & service from suspension, to crate engine packages, to billet accessories and much more!
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