1972 S1 SNA Mazda 'Capella 616' NAB Series 1600

[karsaz.engineers]

Muzaffar Sb is there any way to fit the 1974 mazda 616 twin head lights front to the 1971-72 model ?

absolutely. all it needs is a new front headlight panel, new grille with twin headlights' backing plates and you are good to go. i did consider the conversion on mine but then changed my mind because s1 capellas with square headlights and round tail lights are more sought after

here is a video discussing the difference of the two front headlight panels

//youtu.be/https://web.facebook.com/mayson.day/videos/10156353295435434/

Link (Facebook)

[karsaz.engineers]

early sunday excursion - tore everything on pella suspension apart to assess what needs what

all rubber bushings on the front and the rear would need replacement. all new tie rods (inner & outer). both ball joints. pitman arm. centre link. body arm bushings. all struts with inserts. new disk pads and rear wheel brake cylinders. all new brake flexible and stainless pipes. calipers would need rebuilding/servicing. front and rear wheel bearings including axles with gaskets and seals.handbrake cable (drivers side)

everything would need blasting, rust treatment and re-paint

[karsaz.engineers]

under all the layers of loose rust, just wanted to see the true state of affairs so some wire wheel action helped understand things better. more being striped of loose rust.

replacement parts will be removed and the bits will be blasted and painted for re-installation of replacement parts and then onto the pella shell once its done

[karsaz.engineers]

hobby friends are a blessing because they are on the look out when you are not. one such friend resides in netherlands who picks up everything related to my projects which he thinks is cheap or impossible to find in pakistan. one such a pick up was the highlight of the day. the elring complete capella 616 engine rebuild kit. thanks to marcel who spotted, bought and hoarded in netherlands for this project

[karsaz.engineers]

out with the doors and the peeky factory original herschel orange

[karsaz.engineers]

went on a hunt, into deep dark dungeons of the ex-mazda dealer (dont think me dramatic, its only the truth) and came out winning these "non-existent" capella bits which literally were un-imaginable to be found in pakistan till date, some NOS, some taiwanese (rear suspension bushes) but mostly NOS

what you see above is complete capella factory suspension renewal kit except the sway bar D bushes and the shocks and a total bargain!

some close-ups

NOS steering control arm bushes (capella 616 only part - non-interchangeable with rx2 bushes) aka chimta bush

NOS ball joints

NOS sway bar "round" bushes (on capella, same as 1300)

NOS 555 brand inner and outer tie rod ends

NOS 555 brand pitman arm, centre link & body arm bushes

rear suspension bushes, including pan rod, upper & lower control arms

[karsaz.engineers]

14x6jj - 4x114 original work equip 01s, all ready to be worked on

[karsaz.engineers]

while removing the front screen trim from the pella, i realised the A-pillar pass side bottom corner was filled with bondo. stripped it, no wonder why i had the feeling!

before

after

its going to be lot of work ahead. those who were envious of the pace a few days ago should now give their envy a rest

the correct way of fixing it

[joinami]

Best of Luck with this project and your attention to the detail is marvelous .
your love with Mazda have started a Bug in me to build a mazda too in near future .
But it will Be 808 i suggest ...

[karsaz.engineers]

Best of Luck with this project and your attention to the detail is marvelous .
your love with Mazda have started a Bug in me to build a mazda too in near future .
But it will Be 808 i suggest ...

thank you my friend. all these old cars deserve nothing less than attention to every single detail while being rebuilt because if you dont attend to details, all you would end up with will be a newly done car with frequent breakdowns here and there and we dont want that or do we now?

"do it once, do it right" - is the very relevant phrase to my builds

about attention to details, i would suggest that you wait till this build progresses as i have decided to build the capella first and luce second because luce is lot more easy a build as compared to this build. beside, for luce, i have every part that i need to build and complete it at any point in time. with capella, it however is different as i am still facing scarcity of parts to complete the build so will source parts as i start to build the shell and the suspension

808 is a wise choice to start with. 808s are relatively easier builds than luces and capellas, respectively. capella being the toughest - while you are in pakistan as the parts are the hardest to find on the capellas. when you start that build, just give me a shout, i can be of help in sourcing parts locally as by now, i have sifted through large stashes of a few ex-mazda dealers so know who'd got what and for how much

meanwhile, i can keep a look out for a suitable (read original) 808 for you to build

[karsaz.engineers]

the shock absorbers and all the associated bits on the pella are all shot. front ones are stock but have received repairs in the past (read inserts/cartridge replacement). rear ones are out of some honda (dont know which one yet). also to accommodate the higher perches on the honda shock, PO has cut down the stock length coils to work. a headache to find the original length/specs coils. thankfully i am converting to coilovers

all four of these will be replaced with NOS units which then be converted to coilovers

these are the sleeves that are going to be used to convert the stock shocks to coilovers. for those who wish to know, it is during this process when you can reduce the shock stock height by using shorter inserts/cartridges - s3 rx7 shocks are perfect height reducers as they are short from factory but are same fittment

for future references, here is pic showing stock capella rear shocks. note that the perches on these sit lot lower than the honda shocks on mine

[karsaz.engineers]

14x6jj - 4x114 original work equip 01s, all ready to be worked on

so that you could see what work equip 01s would look like on a pella - nevermind that the pictured pella is 74 s2 dogbone sedan - side profile on sedans is the same

[waitnbl33d]

yep thats the plan to chug in a NA 12a with matching box into the pella that i am bringing in from abroad though it would take a while before it arrives but hopefully all worth it

everything is possible my friend the only question is how far you are willing to go in terms of bearing costs because you are not going to find one locally

what mazda do you have? some pics would be nice

I can bear the costs, the only thing is sourcing it. Let me know where it is and I will get it to Karachi, no problem.

I have a 1976 Mazda 929 coupe which I am currently restoring. It has all original interior and exterior except it was painted black about 10 years ago. Now am re-doing the entire car, stuck on engine, I have bought a 3sge beams but still skeptical in putting a toyota engine in a mazda. Need a mazda engine !

this is the car:

[karsaz.engineers]

I can bear the costs, the only thing is sourcing it. Let me know where it is and I will get it to Karachi, no problem.

I have a 1976 Mazda 929 coupe which I am currently restoring. It has all original interior and exterior except it was painted black about 10 years ago. Now am re-doing the entire car, stuck on engine, I have bought a 3sge beams but still skeptical in putting a toyota engine in a mazda. Need a mazda engine !

this is the car:

this is one mazda shape that i need to add to my mazda collection in future as series 1 shark nose rx4/929 coupe are the best rotary shape ever existed. yours is flat nose but still desirable

DONT put in another engine even if its 3sge beams! b/w where is the original piston engine that came with your coupe? hold it if its not already trashed. piston coupe's are going to be very valuable in near future with all the 10A 12A 13B housings reducing in high numbers everyday

i can start hunting two 12A engine/boxes then in japan, if you are really interested? i am already on the watch for a low mileage NA 12a with 5 speed manual there. let me know you want 12AT or 12A and i can keep an eye out?

[waitnbl33d]

this is one mazda shape that i need to add to my mazda collection in future as series 1 shark nose rx4/929 coupe are the best rotary shape ever existed. yours is flat nose but still desirable

DONT put in another engine even if its 3sge beams! b/w where is the original piston engine that came with your coupe? hold it if its not already trashed. piston coupe's are going to be very valuable in near future with all the 10A 12A 13B housings reducing in high numbers everyday

i can start hunting two 12A engine/boxes then in japan, if you are really interested? i am already on the watch for a low mileage NA 12a with 5 speed manual there. let me know you want 12AT or 12A and i can keep an eye out?

ok this is an original 12A rotary car...when i got the car 12 years ago, sadly the rotary had already been thrown out and a 1g 6 cylinder was stuffed in it, which has also died, thank God !

I would need an original 12A manual engine. The driveshaft and rear diff are still original. Front cross-member has been modified a bit to fit the 1g engine which is currently in the car.

let me the cost of the engine+gear as well as shipping to Khi. (on serious basis)

Thanks.

[karsaz.engineers]

ok this is an original 12A rotary car...when i got the car 12 years ago, sadly the rotary had already been thrown out and a 1g 6 cylinder was stuffed in it, which has also died, thank God !

I would need an original 12A manual engine. The driveshaft and rear diff are still original. Front cross-member has been modified a bit to fit the 1g engine which is currently in the car.

let me the cost of the engine+gear as well as shipping to Khi. (on serious basis)

Thanks.

what a sad story that is. but its all reversible. crossmember can be redressed to its original form to receive the original 12A. i will let you know with an update once i have the engine/box hunted down. sending you a PM, please check

[karsaz.engineers]

time to put the coilovers conversion kit to work. both front and rear stock shocks will be converted to coilovers

[supraman2jz]

time to put the coilovers conversion kit to work. both front and rear stock shocks will be converted to coilovers

What struts would you be using with this kit? Won't the stock struts die quicker due to premature wear?

[karsaz.engineers]

What struts would you be using with this kit? Won't the stock struts die quicker due to premature wear?

i would be using s3 mazda rx7 front shock inserts with these. only the casing would be stock 616, inside it the cartridge would be s3 rx7 which is smaller in length but has better stroke than the stock 616 shocks. so not really worried about the premature wear of the stock inserts

[karsaz.engineers]

since this pic was taken, we made some progress. stripped the car completely to the barest of the shells that you will ever see and tilted the shell to stand sideways on a pair of tyres under the A/C pillars and a jack under B pillar, to rub the belly down of all the gunk as at the time we were short of labour to mount it on rotisserie. i will get some pics up next time we start finishing the belly.