Sold A capella. 1989 Mazda 626 content

[RobT]

Best I can manage at a witty thread title, sorry.

Pez shot from last Saturday, as posted in the News 24 Thread. Drove the 240 miles home from Leeds with no issue.





Grey Japanese-ness, which is actually in mintola condition. Shame no leather steering wheel for a touch of luxury, but it is only a mid-spec GLX. Leccy windows all round, but oddly the door mirrors are keep fit.



Lovely, strokeable door cards.



One for trigger. It's not only SD1s that have fanny vents!



ICE



Winning trimz



Rusty metal tabs on the windows. I've no idea what these are for.



Oily engine. Up until 2014 it had only done 32,000 miles. Since then the lad I bought it off has doubled that.



Dealer plate. It was originally a Kent car so it's come back home. Coincidentally my Cavalier is also a GW so there's a nice bit of symmetry there.



Giffer trinket




It drives lovely, with plenty of torque from the 2 litre 12 valve, super light clutch, and perfectly weighted steering. Handling and ride are both good, better than I was expecting, but then I’ve got stodgy Cavalier handling as my baseline so I’m easily impressed.

The stats say 109bhp for the 2.0 carb version, and it feels a similarly lively motor to the Rover 220 of many, albeit not as brisk as that’s got close to 140bhp and is lighter. Mind you I’m a giffer at heart so the fact it’s comfortable is more important TBH, which it is.

Here's the reason it was cheap.



It's stuck shut and the MoT is due in a couple of weeks, so plan is to do a bit of panel beating (not done any before) and hopefully get it tested soon afterwards. I'm trying to get ahead just in case the door turns out scrap, so if anyone (DW or spottedlaurel?) knows of classic Japanese breakers who are worth contacting that'd be great. Cheers! I can't imagine there's many sitting around in general scrap yards these days.

[dollywobbler]

Your window bumps are because the glass is flush fitting, so doesn't use the normal window channels. I hadn't really realised that this was what those were about - they're on the Lexus too. Audi perhaps the most obvious candidate for their use.

[egg]

Worth a try?

 

http://www.mazdasparesuk.com/contact.php/

 

Approve of Kent repatriation.

[RobT]

Thanks. I did see them on a quick search, but then noticed the location. Would prefer somewhere down south to aid collection, but I may have to take what I can get!

[Guest Hooli]

I'd suspect you'll find the rods inside the door is bent & that's why the handles don't work.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Very nice indeed Rob Get one of those dent 'suckers' on that door, it might pull the metal out enough so you can get the door to unlatch, I reckon Hooli is correct- the actuating rods have taken a pasting!

[RobT]

Yep, the rods have come away from the handle as I can see enough down without the trim finisher being there (I've still got that which is handy).

 

I had my first FTP this evening. Battery dead. Not sure why as I hadn't left an interior light on or anything, so that needs investigating. The battery does look old so I might get a new one anyway, plus the alternator belt looks past its best. Tension seems OK though. So I connected it up to the CTEK and proceeded to give the engine a half arsed degrease. I'm not normally that fussy but oil is everywhere and the HTs and distributor were caked, which isn't ideal.

 

I hope this bonnet up stance doesn't become a common occurrence...

 

 

I also painted the rusty window tab things as it was something to do.

[vulgalour]

For the door, warm the panel with a heat gun or hairdryer and then get the largest diameter sink/drain plunger you can and you should find most of it will pop out.  That might help getting to the various innards a bit more to get the door open.  Chompy and I did this on the similarly bashed in Applause door and were surprised it worked.  A bit of care with tools afterwards saw the door looking smart, if not perfect.

[Spottedlaurel]

I like it! Mazda build and design quality was on top form back then and I can imagine it'll feel like a sophisticated bit of kit - I was impressed by the 4x4 version I had a drive of a few years ago.

[spartacus]

That looks really nice, despite the door. Good luck with finding a replacement or fixing that one.

[ProgRocker]

That looks bloody brill! Good luck with sorting that back door out.

[purplebargeken]

Approval rating 9/10

[inconsistant]

Nice vehicular selection Rob. With that back door I think you should push it out by opening the back door on the other side and do a running jump kick at it through the car. The strokable door cards will help avoid injury.

[RobT]

I'll probably end up doing something like that when my dent removal skills fail!

[bramz7]

Excellent purchase Rob. I've been considering venturing to something Japanese too just to see what it's like.

[kinkersaab]

Thats a blast from the past.  Seeing the pics makes me think of stupidly small ingition key... and slow to go off auto choke. and lots of road noise from the rear tyres  .I had a few of those and they all seemed like that.  Nice to see. oh, and didn't they have a little lights on bell, rather than a buzzer?  might be wrong on that...

[RobT]

Thats a blast from the past.  Seeing the pics makes me think of stupidly small ingition key... and slow to go off auto choke.

 

Spot on.  The key is comedy and it races like a bastard until warm.  Good job it's not an auto.

[inconsistant]

That ICE is well wicked. The tape forward/reverse buttons are a bit Y Tho.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Spot on.  The key is comedy and it races like a bastard until warm.  Good job it's not an auto.

Standard J fayre untiil recently. My 03 MR2 revs when it’s cold, which is rather annoying. Lovely purchase, and the pinnacle of Jap build quality I reckon. I had a rare 2 door version of yours in my eBay watch list for ages, and now wish I’d made a move!

[DVee8]

I have used these before but they are in Stockton North east

 

http://www.japparts.com/lights-and-panels

 

http://www.japparts.com/home

[inconsistant]

Ive been trying to work it out all day but i still dont get the thread title.

[bramz7]

Ive been trying to work it out all day but i still dont get the thread title.

 

Other markets had the 626 branded as the Capella. 

 

Rob, you should try and bring the 626 to next years FoU, and I'll try and convince my friend to bring his generation older 626....

[RobT]

I will assuming I still have it by then. You know what I'm like. Be good to see his GC loveliness.

 

I suspect the battery is kippered as I put it on charge last night but not a sausage, it's still dead. Managed to find a new one for £44 which isn't too bad considering the last one I bought was £90 (albeit a big 019 for an XJ6).

[RobT]

Ive been trying to work it out all day but i still dont get the thread title.

What bramz said, but it's also my lame attempt at humour....

[chrisjvm]

 

Best I can manage at a witty thread title, sorry.

 

Pez shot from last Saturday, as posted in the News 24 Thread.  Drove the 240 miles home from Leeds with no issue.

 

Collection pez shot.jpg

 

rear view.jpg

 

Grey Japanese-ness, which is actually in mintola condition.  Shame no leather steering wheel for a touch of luxury, but it is only a mid-spec GLX.  Leccy windows all round, but oddly the door mirrors are keep fit.

 

Interior front.jpg

 

Lovely, strokeable door cards.

 

Lovely door card.jpg

 

One for trigger.  It's not only SD1s that have fanny vents!

 

Vent.jpg

 

ICE

 

ICE.jpg

 

Winning trimz

 

Lovely trim.jpg

 

Rusty metal tabs on the windows.  I've no idea what these are for.

 

Window things.jpg

 

Oily engine.  Up until 2014 it had only done 32,000 miles.  Since then the lad I bought it off has doubled that.

 

Engine shot.jpg

 

Dealer plate.  It was originally a Kent car so it's come back home.  Coincidentally my Cavalier is also a GW so there's a nice bit of symmetry there.

 

Dealer plate.jpg

 

Giffer trinket

 

Giffer trinket.jpg

 

It drives lovely, with plenty of torque from the 2 litre 12 valve, super light clutch, and perfectly weighted steering.  Handling and ride are both good, better than I was expecting, but then I’ve got stodgy Cavalier handling as my baseline so I’m easily impressed.

 

The stats say 109bhp for the 2.0 carb version, and it feels a similarly lively motor to the Rover 220 of many, albeit not as brisk as that’s got close to 140bhp and is lighter.  Mind you I’m a giffer at heart so the fact it’s comfortable is more important TBH, which it is.

 

Here's the reason it was cheap.

 

Door dent.jpg

 

It's stuck shut and the MoT is due in a couple of weeks, so plan is to do a bit of panel beating (not done any before) and hopefully get it tested soon afterwards.  I'm trying to get ahead just in case the door turns out scrap, so if anyone (DW or spottedlaurel?) knows of classic Japanese breakers who are worth contacting that'd be great.  Cheers!  I can't imagine there's many sitting around in general scrap yards these days.

 

 

Thats lovely.

 

Always liked them.

 

Good luck with it.

[tooSavvy]

Ah.... You again

 

.... Mine (spent its life in Whitley Bay = salty fret) looked like a pretzel underneath. Nothing snapped off.. I hasten to add

 

Whole suspension is rods/turnbuckles at the back = rust means no adj!!

 

Search UToob for 'miracle - kettle of water panel repair!' >> no, really!!

 

Love engine view... remember I said all that 'ffinn useless emission $hite' went in the skip

 

Likes an ITU does that 12V....

 

 

Enjoy m8

 

 

TS

[RobT]

Armed with a Draper dent puller and full kettle of hot water I decided to tackle the rear door this evening. The puller was nigh on useless even after roughing up the rubber base as it wasn't gripping at all, so I resorted to a bog plunger. That didn't work either. So I stuck a long rod down the inside of the door as there was room with the trim off. I was making some progress then FUCKING BOLLOCKS, the inevitable happened.

 

 

Glass everywhere. I was feeling incredibly irritated at this point. On the plus side I managed to get the door open, despite thinking it was stuck shut. So the next step will be to join some Japanese car forums and try to source a complete door, as I'm not sure it'll be possible to get it looking decent (there's a massive crease at the bottom that will be tricky to sort out).

 

In other news I found out the battery drain was due to the rear door not sitting flush, thus leaving the footwell and door trim lights on. That's why the lad had shoved a bit of card inbetween the button switch thing, so I put it back in.

 

 

 

I replaced the battery with a new one yesterday after removing the tray and painting it as that was a bit rusty, and went mental with the Dynax S-50 in the front wings and engine bay, just to stave off the few rusty areas getting any worse.

 

I wasted 6 quid on the Draper dent puller, but it did have this bonus LDV photo on the box.

 

 

I wouldn't bother, it's shite m8.

[dollywobbler]

Ah bugger. I guess a piece of perspex will suffice in the short term? Not sure if Ratdat knows any Mazda folk. He and his good lady seem to be big into 323s at the moment, so may have some contacts. Sadly, there don't seem to be many good Japanese forums about - Old Japanese Car sadly seems a bit tumbleweed these days.

[omegod]

I'll have a search of a couple of yards locally that have some serious old shite in the very back rows on the, very slim,  off chance there is one of these in 

[RobT]

Yeah they do seem a bit lacking, so I anticipate I'll be waiting a while for a door. Good call re Ratdat, I'll try contacting him via the blue forum (I assume that's where he's most active).