i have recently bought a mazda 818 and really wanna sort the suspension out as it sits aruond 7ft off the floor and handles about as well as a yank pickup:)
what parts are available in the uk? also i want sone nice stiff shocks and possibly lowering blocks for the rear leaf springs
cheers pete
Pete leave it standard.
Oh and swap it for my ford focus :D
Quote from: steve garbutt;605005Pete leave it standard.
Oh and swap it for my ford focus :D
gonna keep the standard parts so it can be put back to stock if needed,
oh and gonna keep the car too;)
818 sedan wants a bit of know how does it?
well heres a tip get on to http://www......-rotorsport.com/index.php or go to the sothern hemisphere. where they are plentiful and well known.
think thats the old school crowd called e x i l e ,i think,me mate showed me their site to check old schoolers,being from nz i like to keep up with the old stuff here in the uk as well as the new stuff,give them a call fella
Funnily enough, there are quite a few people on here who know their old school stuff as well...
few pics and the reason why she needs lowering :Laugh
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/P1010038-5.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/P1010039-7.jpg)
oh and maybe a rotary lump too carl:wave
U sellin the house to pay for the car?? ;) Looks a beauty to me...congratulations on ur purchase. :D more pics when u get the chance please :D
Well someone answer the man\'s question!!!!! ;) :D I can\'t...I dunno-sorry Mr Barber!! :o
There are a few manufactureers who can make things to order - the price isn\'t too bad either. I\'ve been doing some digging around to find ideas for the Montrose. IIRC Gaz can do suspension to suit, and theres a lot of other options out there too.
A few google hits (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=custom+suspension&meta=&aq=f&oq=)
Stiffer ARB\'s seem to be a good first step on the older Mazda\'s IMO :yes
Theres a few places in the USA and Aus/NZ doing carb kits as well. What lump do you have in yours atm? (Can\'t get the pics to load at work)
sadly its a piston lump but soon to be either a 12a or 13b n/a;)
Lol - I still have the 2.0L MA boinger in mine - so you\'re not alone :D
so whats the general concensus??? i reckon lowering blocks in the back of it, and a coil over conversion (like an old skool escort type thing) on the front. That way the front would be adjustable and could cope with a rotor in it and not upset balance etc. Because even though there is lots of good adice on here according to brett! :) no one has said that the spring rates on a 818 are different to that on a RX3 yet.
really like the car mate too. Would be sweet as with a nice little 12a bridge in it! keep us all informed on how you get on with it.
cheers, michael.
Does any one know where I can get some fake orange tan and a medallion from please
Quote from: kiwimazda;605687Does any one know where I can get some fake orange tan and a medallion from please
try boots mate, they sell all sorts of .... for retards:mmmm
LOL........if only you knew
Quote from: kiwimazda;605716LOL........if only you knew
enlighten me:yes
Maybe Kiwimazda is Tangotan?
BTW Kiwi - whats your name? :wave
Kiwi :WaveBye
Quote from: kiwimazda;605760Kiwi :WaveBye
What are you, a demon? Afraid that if I know you\'re name I\'ll have power over you? :Laugh
LEDA was the other suspension comapny I was thinking of - give them a call, they can sort you out as well :D
but sort him out with what???? wasnt tha tthe original question....? my guess is that he is going to wack a rotor into the 818, he wants it lower and handling better. So i would reckon anyone on here.......who has an rx3 or an 818 should come forward to say what they have done perhaps. or just go look on another forum, there are loads of good ones out there.
you dont want to just dump it on its guts coz it will handle like a bag of ....e.
michael.
Sorry - should have elaborated, IIRC LEDA & GAZ will make suspension to your requirements, they use your exisiting setup as a pattern and take it form there.
:wave
Personally I\'d start off with a decent set of wheels and tyres - it\'ll never handle with 4" rims and 155 tyres!
As Michael mentioned the 818 is softer sprung than an RX-3, so coil overs at front is probably easier than sourcing RX-3 springs.
At rear lowering blocks will be OK, but you probably will want an extra leaf.
Uprated struts and shocks will be required, Hayden has got a set on the forum I\'m banned from :Nono!
It depends how far you want to go, after that start looking at bushes, thicker anti-roll bar, a bit of caster and camber, tramp bars, lsd etc
Hope that helps.
Ray
Quote from: Brett;605767What are you, a demon? Afraid that if I know you\'re name I\'ll have power over you? :Laugh
Kiwi\'s name is Patrick hahahahahahaha
lets not make this about which forum is better etc, he guy needs help, he either gets it here, or e-x-i-l-e, or ausrotary etc. the point being the more properly sorted cars out there in the uk the better it is for everyone. enthiusiests, dealers etc...etc.
peace love and understanding.
michael.
I\'d forgotten about ausrotary! doh! There might be some poeple on japanese nostalgic car as well :)
cheers for some of the advise guys, gonna contact a few companies over the next day or so, also been speaking to carl hayward about building a motor for the car, not 100% sure on what to go with yet but i think the 12a will be the base, bridge or pp?:p
Damit now its out.
Please just call me Pat if you wish to be formal:eek:
As for engines there is a load of builders, WGT, Rotechnics,Lindop, Era Re worx or do it yourself
Quote from: kiwimazda;605998Damit now its out.
Please just call me Pat if you wish to be formal:eek:
As for engines there is a load of builders, WGT, Rotechnics,Lindop, Era Re worx or do it yourself
got the engine builder sorted mate, worked wonders with my FD ( cough rear quarter :Laugh)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/sw45.jpg)
Looked good in my workshop as well Pete :yes
Quote from: peterbarber123;606006got the engine builder sorted mate, worked wonders with my FD ( cough rear quarter :Laugh)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/sw45.jpg)
shame it never saw the dyno to see how much power it did push out would have been interesting
well i\'ve just taxed the car today and been for my first dirve and i have to say i\'m very pleased with the way it drives, but the handling and brakes leave a bit to be disired:eek:
also called gaz shocks today but to be honest i got nowhere, they just said they have nothing listed so wouldn\'t be able to help out:(
someone mentioned earlier on in thes thread about mk2 escort front coilovers or suspension parts possibly fitting. would it take much converting and what would be involved??
cheers pete
Hi Peter have you thought about going down the custom route and getting the suspension set up specially for you cars needs.
possibly give someone like http://www.springcoil.co.uk/ never used them and I\'m sure there are other companies around that will do the same thing and maybe someone closer anyway give them a call i\'m sure they\'ll be able to get something made up for you and take future mods into consideration.
Sorry not sure what off the shelf springs/coil over set-ups will work or be a reasonable match.
Gary from Rotary Art has helped me get some parts for my cars in the past and there are a few sponsors on here that I\'m sure could point you in the right direction.
Good luck and keep us informed of your progress looks to be in good condition.
Your FD looks sweet what sort of power have you got out of it and what sort of mods, or point me to a link with the details of the car please.
ohhh does anyone know a guy called Gord lives in Evesham area or know how to contact him? he uses/used his 818 as a daily driver he might be able to help you out or at least point you in the right direction.
cheers for the input mate and i\'ll give the link a try, only trouble i have really is the funding as custom stuff costs lots , i know the engine i want is gonna set me back a fair wack and therefore other areas of the car will have to wait if i did it now,
i might put a stock 12a in there and sort the suspension and wheels out then do the bridge later on in the year
Hi Pete,
First up, the cars real nice and it\'s good to see that along the way you have become more more and more of a Rotary fan,
As with any mods how well you do it will depend on how much money you want to spend,
Ray above gave some really good pointers with a set of wider wheels and tyres being a starting point,
I converted my RX-4 to coil over at the front purely to get the car sitting right, so yes this can be done and to get the car sitting right at the back the correct way any good spring company will be able to de-camber your existing springs without lowering blocks that can promote axle tramp,
For rear shocks you will probably find that spax will have something dimensionally correct as the back will need a better shock,
Then to finish the back a pair of Escort style anti tramp bars would help
Next up would be the old trick of clamping a second smaller anti roll bar of similar shape from another type of vehicle under the existing one and to finish off, pull the lower track control (TCA) arms forward an inch via the roll bar to alter the castor which will help stability a lot,
Last would be to chop the eye off the TCA where it joins the cross-member and mount a rose joint there instead as this will let you give the front around 1 degree of negative camber and more importantly stop the front wheels tucking into positive camber on turn in.
All the above would be the best suspension configuration with out cutting or drilling any thing to the shell and could be put back to bone stock in just a couple of hours which keeps the car how you said you wanted it in the first post,
If money or time does not permit the above then as mentioned, put lowering blocks with long "u" bolts on the back and then from memory fitting shorter Gen 1 front struts will lower the car considerably at the front,
Hope this helps and good luck with the project,
thanks for your very good input clive it is much appreciated, i\'m gonna contact a couple more companies and see where i get too tomorrow,
i\'m not that fussed if the car is\'nt massively quick through the corners and its not like i intend to do any track days in it anytime soon.
i just want the car to sit nice and to have a rotary sat in there, i can mod the car further in time and when the budget permits.
any wheels that are for sale would be good too :)
you can give me a call if you want some advice as i\'ve been sorting out custom shocks for my rx3. I cant type quick so its just easier. 07776234772 just leave a message if no answer as i might be out on pushbike.
Alex
isnt this the same as carls drag car .....
im feeling 20b mate >:))
Quote from: batman;606380isnt this the same as carls drag car .....
im feeling 20b mate >:))
lol, i however am not mate, its just a cool old skool run around for the weekend, can\'t be spending thousands on it when i have the drifting comps coming up thick and fast, don\'t worry tho it\'ll be a rotary :mmmm
Pete when you bringing it down to ours so i can have a drive, errr i mean pop it on the ramp and have a look underneath :driving
Quote from: peterbarber123;606383lol, i however am not mate, its just a cool old skool run around for the weekend, can\'t be spending thousands on it when i have the drifting comps coming up thick and fast, don\'t worry tho it\'ll be a rotary :mmmm
ahhh well what a retro runaround mate top car you ll have to adon the big mustache and love rug and gold chain
well i was busy yesterday fitting the wheels, sounds an easy job i know but turned out to be a nightmare, the wheels are off a mk2 escort so the pcd is 108 and as many of you will know the pcd on this is 110.4, so i had to use off set wheel bolts and spigot rings to centralise the rims to the hub centre, then i had to mod the spigot rings as the sizes were a fraction too small going onto the hub :rolleyes:
well this is the result and yep the wheels are gonna be painted sometime soon,
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/P1010041-10.jpg)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l66/ae86pete/P1010042-8.jpg)
also the tires are 205/60/13 at the moment but will be getting changed for 185/60/13 as its close to catching on full lock,
more to come folks
did your brother buy my soarer the other week !?! i coulda sworn he was talking about this 818 to me!
Quote from: ramirez;607204did your brother buy my soarer the other week !?! i coulda sworn he was talking about this 818 to me!
indeed he did mate:yes.
Quote from: peterbarber123;607206indeed he did mate:yes.
nice one... firstly this motor looks sweet.. secondly, let me know how he gets on with the soarer... is he doing a manual swap on it?
Quote from: ramirez;607209nice one... firstly this motor looks sweet.. secondly, let me know how he gets on with the soarer... is he doing a manual swap on it?
he\'s saving up mate to do the conversion, won\'t be too long tho:Thumbs-up
Pop your 818 pictures up on ..... rotorsport- theres a fair few oldschool nutters on there now who would love to see it and can give some advice as well. :Talking1
Ausrotary as mentioned above has loads of info- almost too much! Lots of knowledge there though!
Alex
Quote from: yoeddynz;607409Pop your 818 pictures up on ..... rotorsport- theres a fair few oldschool nutters on there now who would love to see it and can give some advice as well. :Talking1
Ausrotary as mentioned above has loads of info- almost too much! Lots of knowledge there though!
Alex
will do this on friday mate, need to register to the site, also should have more of an update too
Peter,
If you want a personal intro to Warren Gazzard at Gaz Shocks I\'m more than happy to do it. You might find a more accomodating position if they know some more about the car and the work they\'ll need to do.
Lowering the car will reduce the weight transfer through the CofG and therefore will decrease the roll for a given roll stiffness.
So I\'d suggest you get the ride height roughly where you want it before making too many changes in terms of camber and the like.
In terms of engines I have a championship winning and lap record setting 12A bridge port in a plastic box in the back of my car at the moment. Still wondering what I\'ll do with it (this is my old Group 1 Touring Car engine). Still going strong with dyno to prove. I\'m not going back to Group 1 so if you\'re interested let me know.
S.
Quote from: Brett;605768LEDA was the other suspension comapny I was thinking of - give them a call, they can sort you out as well :D
The Dave (DA) from Leda is now at Gaz.
The new Leda seem a fair bit dearer than the old faithful club racing set up we knew and loved.
S.
Quote from: stacy;608051The Dave (DA) from Leda is now at Gaz.
The new Leda seem a fair bit dearer than the old faithful club racing set up we knew and loved.
S.
give me a shout mate re the engine, my number is 07727612913
cheers pete
Quote from: stacy;608051The Dave (DA) from Leda is now at Gaz.
The new Leda seem a fair bit dearer than the old faithful club racing set up we knew and loved.
S.
Worth knowing :yes Thanks Stacy :Thumbs-up
Congratulations on your 818! :D I have such fond memories of these as it was the first Mazda my Dad bought and it has seemed to have a bit of a Mazda impact on my life from there on in! :D
have you had the front converted to coilovers yet ,ive 818 struts in my rx323 and if the price was right would get them done as well,:driving
and hope fully a discount on the 4
Id be interested to know the cost too!
anyone out there mod suspension?????
Quote from: THE MAD KIWI;631383anyone out there mod suspension?????
One of the very few mods on our RX-4 was to convert the stock struts to coil over so the car didn\'t sit like a speed boat as most did,
Talk to GAZ in Essex for any type of custom suspension mods,
sorry guys, really should have updated this one,
i was nagged to death by an irish fella for this so sadly it was sold.:(
:Grrrare you mad take away his membership
Quote from: peterbarber123;631505sorry guys, really should have updated this one,
i was nagged to death by an irish fella for this so sadly it was sold.:(
A mate was speaking to the guy that bought this, apparently he had been looking for one for some time.
Quote from: ghostjd;632029A mate was speaking to the guy that bought this, apparently he had been looking for one for some time.
think he told me he had been looking for several years and at the time i was skint, well still am lol but that was the main reason it was sold
Hi pete was just looking through the forum and saw your post.the 818 is going really well.The first day i got the car i brought it out to a kiwi called Glen who now lives only 2 miles from me here in Northern Ireland.he works on mazda rorarys rebuilding rx7s.Perhaps someday I will go the conversion route to an xr3 as he has all the gear for a full refit.However at the moment I am still enjoying the car bog standard.Just seeing it in the drive each morning brings me back to 1979 when a blue 818 was my first car.(Its not only Delorens turn back time mind you they were made in Northern Ireland as well.
BEST REGARDS COLIN
Mint car but needs the conversion to a rotor. Do it :guinness