83 Gs Misty Blue Coupe, All Options, Upgraded Engine, By Original Owner on 2040-cars

Purchased new and garaged mostly since, this much beloved vehicle is showing its age in many ways, but many thousands worth of engine and other modifications mean that it runs and drives better than when new. It at its best as a special joy for occasional use.

    Overall mileage has passed 196,000, but only 10,000 of those are on its reworked and upgraded engine core. This car has been garaged for most of its career when not being driven, and maintained with what can legitimately be described as loving care. It has been consistently reliable, but the owner’s in-house mechanic husband is no longer young, and has a bad leg that has created additional difficulty with shifting more than a few times. Hence, this car needs an appreciative new owner.

    At present, all of this classic Mazda’s functions work, including the air conditioning, popup headlights, and power radio antenna. There are several honest quirks, such as the AC switch requiring a bit of a wiggle to engage fully, the windows are stiff to raise when wet, and, to become automatic again, the oil pan connector to the sub-zero starting assist requires re-soldering (although it has never been needed).

    To improve performance 20 years ago, headers were installed on the exhaust side, together with the appropriate associated modifications to the engine’s operating system by a exceptionally experienced, ex-Mazda factory racing team mechanic. That set of overall component changes lightened the car by about 100 pounds, while increasing horsepower and gas mileage by more than 10 percent. An alternative automatic pathway was created to provide warm air for the carburetor during near-freezing weather to keep ice from forming. These changes do mean that registering the car in places with emissions testing will require obtaining vintage or specialty license plates, which may restrict daily or commuter use, since with the headers and subsequent flow improvements, it cannot pass combustion completeness requirements at idle, even though it runs as cleanly as most above that.

    The 12A rotary engine core was rebuilt in November 2009, at 185,666 miles, because of troublesome oil leaks. This rebuild included ported and polished intake and exhaust passages to improve high end power output by Atkins Rotary Specialties, Puyallup, WA, chosen after careful research. The owner’s mechanically experienced husband reinstalled this core. The result has run faultlessly ever since, and is notably more powerful than the original. This project required the investment of more than $6,000 in parts and machine work. That sum does not include the value of unpaid weeks for removal, cleanup, and installation labor.

     This engine core swap was accompanied by the installation of the following new parts (almost all OEM): 

Water pump, fan and fan clutch, radiator, thermostat, all coolant hoses, Mazdatrix doubled-belt fan/alternator pulley (solving higher rev belt slipping problems with the factory setup), platinum plugs, plug wires, clutch, throwout bearing, pressure plate, and starter. In recent years additional improvements have included: Heavy duty battery, complete exhaust system aft of the headers, rear brake cylinders and shoes, alternator, new coolant and washer reservoirs, Hella high intensity halogen headlights, Italian dual tone horns, and gray tinted internal overlay for hatch and rear side windows.

The minus side of the inevitable truth with aging:

    Seat coverings have several short tears in their vinyl edging. The hatch area carpeting is somewhat worn and stained. A single crack in the dashboard top surface is not visible to the driver. The windshield is pitted, has a crack that has expanded since this photo set; the price could be discounted accordingly, or simply replaced. There is a substantial cosmetic exterior ding, on right front fender alongside the headlight from a gentle but embarrassing encounter with the garage door edge, exacerbated by a deer running into the same spot.  Another less obvious error is near the bottom of the right rocker: Visible body edge rust has reappeared along the left rear fender well edge, paralleling the scattered underbody panel rust, where several places received small fiberglass reinforcing patches as a result. These areas, as well as adjoining zones received careful zinc chromate anti-rust treatment. Despite these unsettling appearances, all structural integrity, including suspension parts and their mounting points, feels, appears, and sounds to a hammer to be intact and solid. The engine uses about a quart of oil every 500 to 700 miles during short trip driving, much coming from the traditional moderate rotary exhaust blue cloud on startups after several days rest, but it uses little or none at highway speeds. There is no visible smoke other than that initial puff.

Further compensating pluses:

- Original owner’s manual, along with the Mazda factory and Haynes supplemental shop manuals, and original sale price and equipment window sticker.

- Complete maintenance records, reflecting consistent, regular, both routine and supplemental care.
          - Both the solid original sunroof, with matching factory paint, and a separate heavily tinted glass moonroof, with padded vinyl cases for each.
- 4 BF Goodrich Touring TA T rated P185/70/13 all season tires, mounted on refurbished original factory optional aluminum wheels.
          - 4 Vredestein 185/70/13 winter tires on the as delivered factory steel wheels, with their pop-off center caps, not used for many years.
         - Original, unused, mini-spare tire in the under-hatch well.
          - Driver side and passenger carpeting in nearly mint condition, having always been covered by additional mats.

- Many miscellaneous spare parts, including the original gas tank (unnecessarily replaced for just a bad gasket), various rubber edge seals, a starter core, the original clutch and pressure plate (still in good condition), and enough top quality paint for coverage of all dings and rust spots.

     In sum: 

A genuine sports car, perfectly balanced, thoroughly fun to drive, notably faster than stock, proven reliable--albeit with caveats about not being a prophet for the future, but likely with a lot of life left in it, especially given all those expensive new parts and related work.

Alternatively, for those with another, a superb parts car, including for an engine swap, or simply for other uses, including as a fully prepared source for marine power. 

Buyer will be responsible for pick up or shipping costs from Northern Utah, with delivery after confirmed payment.