RE: Mazda 626GT: PH Carpool
Monday 25th September 2017
Name: Joel Parsons
Car: 1989 Mazda 626 GT - 2.0 16v (no cat) with 4-wheel steering
Owned since: 2006
Previously owned: Ford Orion(aka Onion), Rover 220 Coupe, Rover 620TI, Saab 9-3 (modified), Nissan Almera, Nissan Primera, Saab 9000 Aero (lightly modified) and Saab 9-5 Aero(lightly modified and still own....awaiting valve replacement)
Why I bought it:
"I was bored at work, trawling through "no reserve" auctions on eBay. This Mazda came up with a few hours left and looked interesting, it was nearby and really cheap so quick phone call to Mum...."Lend me 80 quid, mum!" and I won the auction a couple of hours later at exactly £75.50... taxed and tested!"
Things I hate:
"I did hate the fact the driver's window kept falling but I have recently fixed it with parts from a donor 626 GT I bought last year. The intermittent 4-wheel steering is annoying but once I get a new set of shoes and get all four wheels tracked, that'll be sorted. The sunroof is rusty but I have a glass sunroof from my donor to go in and I'll replace the ripped interior while I'm there. Bodywork is tarnished... really it needs to be resprayed but I hate/love the "scrap it!" look. Parts aren't always cheap or even attainable, especially the 4-wheel steering components."
Where I've been:
"Nowhere particularly memorable to be honest but it runs well. I went to Portsmouth and back a few weeks ago and it coped well with the 600 miles that day.
Mazda 626GT: PH Carpool
Can an £80 car really be a keeper? Let this PHer explain why he believes it is
Car: 1989 Mazda 626 GT - 2.0 16v (no cat) with 4-wheel steering
Owned since: 2006
Previously owned: Ford Orion(aka Onion), Rover 220 Coupe, Rover 620TI, Saab 9-3 (modified), Nissan Almera, Nissan Primera, Saab 9000 Aero (lightly modified) and Saab 9-5 Aero(lightly modified and still own....awaiting valve replacement)
"I was bored at work, trawling through "no reserve" auctions on eBay. This Mazda came up with a few hours left and looked interesting, it was nearby and really cheap so quick phone call to Mum...."Lend me 80 quid, mum!" and I won the auction a couple of hours later at exactly £75.50... taxed and tested!"
What I wish I'd known:
"Research? It was a random buy one boring afternoon at work. I've found a fair amount of info on the engine since, it seems to be quite a pick in the USA, NZ, and OZ to put the 2.0 16v "FE-DOHC" engine into MX-5s as it's easily modified for turbo usage without any internal work. I've read that 300hp is quite easily attainable before engine internals need to be upgraded."
Things I love:
"The 4-wheel steering is great fun when it works, although it handles pretty well for an old car anyway. All four wheels need tracking again for it to be reliable though. I also love how it needs to be revved out. The need to hit the limiter in every gear and the look on people's faces as you scream past them in a 28-year old "family hatchback" is just great! I love how you feel the road too, not like most cars from the last two decades, and that it's different to what you normally see on the roads. It's totally uncommon and I'm the second owner with only 80k+ miles on the clock."
"I did hate the fact the driver's window kept falling but I have recently fixed it with parts from a donor 626 GT I bought last year. The intermittent 4-wheel steering is annoying but once I get a new set of shoes and get all four wheels tracked, that'll be sorted. The sunroof is rusty but I have a glass sunroof from my donor to go in and I'll replace the ripped interior while I'm there. Bodywork is tarnished... really it needs to be resprayed but I hate/love the "scrap it!" look. Parts aren't always cheap or even attainable, especially the 4-wheel steering components."
Costs:
"I get somewhere between 22-27mpg but hell, who cares? I live six mins from work and love pushing it hard. Insurance wise, after I made three write off claims in one year (those are other stories... one of which saw a thief lock himself in my Nissan), I put the old girl back on the road about two to three years ago. She was literally the cheapest car I could insure at the time, so I spent some time on the suspension, replacing springs, shocks, joints, bushes, exhaust and got her through an MoT. Hard to say how much I've spent exactly but no more than £4-500 I suppose. I also fitted some polys and stiffer rear anti-roll bar as well."
"Nowhere particularly memorable to be honest but it runs well. I went to Portsmouth and back a few weeks ago and it coped well with the 600 miles that day.
What next?
"Keep it! I have no intentions of ever selling her. I'd like my son to have her one day if possible. I have a spare engine from the donor so I really, really want to turbo it and put that in. Just time and money but she'd be an awesome "sleeper". There are quite a few jobs to do using parts from the donor but I should hopefully have everything I need to keep her going for the foreseeable future."
Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!
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Discussion
I love shedding as much as the next man (although I'm only brave enough to do it vicariously), but pseudo-Clarkson waffle like "handles well", "you can really feel the road" and "engine capable of 300bhp on standard internals" make me absolutely cringe when we're talking about an £80 banger.
Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
My first car, I bought it off my mum for £0 + fixing it so it passed an MoT.
Given mine rotted away to uselessness in 2003 I'm always amazed that another one has lasted another 14 years!
They do rust on the underside (my dads Mazda 6 is going the same way) but if yours is low millage I imaging everything else has probably aged quite well.
Moral of the story don't drive Mazda's on rough, stony Northumbrian roads in winter!
Given mine rotted away to uselessness in 2003 I'm always amazed that another one has lasted another 14 years!
They do rust on the underside (my dads Mazda 6 is going the same way) but if yours is low millage I imaging everything else has probably aged quite well.
Moral of the story don't drive Mazda's on rough, stony Northumbrian roads in winter!
We sold one of these to a guy I worked with, the chap was tall, and wide, very.
A bit like Hightower in Police Academy, ironics as we worked for Greater Manchester Police, the seat was removed an the runners welded six inches further back so he fit in, he drove it happily for years, the seat was bent into his personal shape.
A bit like Hightower in Police Academy, ironics as we worked for Greater Manchester Police, the seat was removed an the runners welded six inches further back so he fit in, he drove it happily for years, the seat was bent into his personal shape.
C70R said:
I love shedding as much as the next man (although I'm only brave enough to do it vicariously), but pseudo-Clarkson waffle like "handles well", "you can really feel the road" and "engine capable of 300bhp on standard internals" make me absolutely cringe when we're talking about an £80 banger.
Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
Why can't he say that? It's completely plausible. Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
Handles well can be said of cars irrespective of age. Arguably the older cars often better given they're devoid of heavy safety features. The mileage of this one suggests mechanicals won't be completely shot.
Feeling the road again completely believable. This car is the same generation as MKI MX-5s. Simple hydraulic steering as opposing to overly fat rimmed, electrically assisted systems.
Power up to 300bhp. Again, similar Imprezas and Evos from that era were making such power from 4-pot engines. And as the writer says, 'up to' so recognises something may well go pop.
Watch Chris Harris' piece on his 205 Rallye vs. the new 911 (991) R. Then get off your high horse.
Thought it was a fascinating article given a working automobile has been purchased for £75.50. Brilliant motoring.
MrHooky said:
C70R said:
I love shedding as much as the next man (although I'm only brave enough to do it vicariously), but pseudo-Clarkson waffle like "handles well", "you can really feel the road" and "engine capable of 300bhp on standard internals" make me absolutely cringe when we're talking about an £80 banger.
Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
Why can't he say that? It's completely plausible. Can't we just say that it's not a shed, and it might last a few months without major expense?
I'm not trying to drain the joy out of this - but surely the joy is getting a working car for £80, not pretending it's something else...
Handles well can be said of cars irrespective of age. Arguably the older cars often better given they're devoid of heavy safety features. The mileage of this one suggests mechanicals won't be completely shot.
Feeling the road again completely believable. This car is the same generation as MKI MX-5s. Simple hydraulic steering as opposing to overly fat rimmed, electrically assisted systems.
Power up to 300bhp. Again, similar Imprezas and Evos from that era were making such power from 4-pot engines. And as the writer says, 'up to' so recognises something may well go pop.
Watch Chris Harris' piece on his 205 Rallye vs. the new 911 (991) R. Then get off your high horse.
Thought it was a fascinating article given a working automobile has been purchased for £75.50. Brilliant motoring.
If you want to get lost in wordsmithery and b*llocks, you're absolutely welcome - I'd much prefer the guy to actually tell us what it's like. As for comparing it to an MX5, I can only imagine you're joking...
C70R said:
but pseudo-Clarkson waffle like "handles well", "you can really feel the road" and "engine capable of 300bhp on standard internals"
I can't comment on the power claim. The article doesn't state what sort of cars are being used as benchmark for comparing the handling and feel. Good compared to what?An elise? A boxster? Probably not.
An equivalent modern family car - almost certainly yes.
My old Mondeo had massively better feel and handling than my wife's Z4, so I don't find it difficult to believe at all.
Fantastic stuff!
I thought I did well back in the mid-noughties when I picked up a boggo J-reg 626 1.8 saloon for £300, did nothing to it at all, and then sold it a year later for £200 when it failed its MOT on brakes. But this is a much better - and cooler! - result.
I don't recall being blown away by the handling of ours, but then it didn't have 4WS which I guess helps matters.
Good work OP, keep on shedding!
I thought I did well back in the mid-noughties when I picked up a boggo J-reg 626 1.8 saloon for £300, did nothing to it at all, and then sold it a year later for £200 when it failed its MOT on brakes. But this is a much better - and cooler! - result.
I don't recall being blown away by the handling of ours, but then it didn't have 4WS which I guess helps matters.
Good work OP, keep on shedding!
Not familiar with that exact model, but my French/Dutch brother in law had the 2 door coupe 626 which eventually died in 2015 of overheating issues after 250,000+ km. Am unsure of the age but I think it was over 30 yrs old then, and quite a cool car in its way, and presumably a variant of the 4 door featured here.
Hi all. Apologies for not posting sooner but I didnt know they actually put my car up on here. I must have missed that email i guess but fair play, this has made my day, thank you everybody :-)
I only found this after a random search to see if there was anything about.
Anyways, to answer a few questions....
Yes its Ogmore and yup, rust is an issue!! This winter has particularly hit hard and the sun roof isnt looking too good and leaking. The boot is suffering too but fortunately I have a nice clean one to replace it with...complete with a rare dealer bought spoiler and a nice clean glass sunroof too. Both yet to be removed from the doner but pretty much the last things to be removed before the "carcass" get carted away.
The 4ws is a mix of electronic and mechanical. I know its hooked up to the power steering and has its own PS fluid along with a fair few sensors involved. Heres an interesting read covering both Honda and Mazda's variation of 4ws - http://what-when-how.com/automobile/four-wheel-ste...
It's definitely a shed, it sure looks the part but this £80 banger has lasted me 11 years. Hasnt been on the road for all that time but its moved with me from house to house about 6 times i think...sometimes garaged, sometimes not. Like i said, this year you can see rust is starting to take its toll so as of literally last week, it's replaced the blown Saab 9-5 I had in the garage, complete with its "spare engine" in the boot!
As for the power, it showed it still had 143 horses last year on the dyno but from what i've read on various sites/forums, the engine was built for a turbo to be added. Its a FE-DOHC engine (or also FE3) if you want to chuck that in google and youtube. Theres plenty of info about and a mental 500hp wagon in oz thats worth a look! Surely not stock internals but the stock engine can cope with a fair amount before blowing it up!! This guy talks a lot about the engine and its characteristics/specs and comparing it to the MX5 engine etc. http://fixjunk.com/solomiata/solomiata/FE3.html
An MX5 it is not....but it is pretty much an MX6! The chassis is the same and apart from body panels and engine, everything else is pretty much the same. Ford Probe also shares the same....hence https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB79...
Thanks for looking everybody and any questions/comments(good or bad), I'm welcome to them :-)
I only found this after a random search to see if there was anything about.
Anyways, to answer a few questions....
Yes its Ogmore and yup, rust is an issue!! This winter has particularly hit hard and the sun roof isnt looking too good and leaking. The boot is suffering too but fortunately I have a nice clean one to replace it with...complete with a rare dealer bought spoiler and a nice clean glass sunroof too. Both yet to be removed from the doner but pretty much the last things to be removed before the "carcass" get carted away.
The 4ws is a mix of electronic and mechanical. I know its hooked up to the power steering and has its own PS fluid along with a fair few sensors involved. Heres an interesting read covering both Honda and Mazda's variation of 4ws - http://what-when-how.com/automobile/four-wheel-ste...
It's definitely a shed, it sure looks the part but this £80 banger has lasted me 11 years. Hasnt been on the road for all that time but its moved with me from house to house about 6 times i think...sometimes garaged, sometimes not. Like i said, this year you can see rust is starting to take its toll so as of literally last week, it's replaced the blown Saab 9-5 I had in the garage, complete with its "spare engine" in the boot!
As for the power, it showed it still had 143 horses last year on the dyno but from what i've read on various sites/forums, the engine was built for a turbo to be added. Its a FE-DOHC engine (or also FE3) if you want to chuck that in google and youtube. Theres plenty of info about and a mental 500hp wagon in oz thats worth a look! Surely not stock internals but the stock engine can cope with a fair amount before blowing it up!! This guy talks a lot about the engine and its characteristics/specs and comparing it to the MX5 engine etc. http://fixjunk.com/solomiata/solomiata/FE3.html
An MX5 it is not....but it is pretty much an MX6! The chassis is the same and apart from body panels and engine, everything else is pretty much the same. Ford Probe also shares the same....hence https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB79...
Thanks for looking everybody and any questions/comments(good or bad), I'm welcome to them :-)
Ah yes...I almost forgot....
The Nissan!
Well, this is a story I think you'll like.
It was New Years Eve 2013(i think). The time was half past midnight and I had just said goodnight to my son after watching the celebrations on TV.
I hear a banging outside and i think to myself "wtf is that?". I peep through the curtains to see movement in my Nissan Primera (spaceeship shape). Im somewhat confused at this point......"How is there somebody in my car?? How did they get in my car?? How cant they get out of car???" were some of the questions racing through my mind as I go outside and see whats going on.
I look through the car window, wearing my dressing gown and this teenager looks at me and says "Let me out please butt!" in his strong welsh accent.
I laughed and replied with a few strong words basically saying "no" and phoned the police. Fortunately they were literally just round the corner and got to me before I even got off the phone.
They carted him off despite his claims of "just trying to get a lift" and "thats not my weed!" were had. It was quite hilarious to be honest but the ****head managed to destroy the inside trying to get out. He bent the doors to get in but whats the best is that he must have stepped on the button in the centre console which locked all the doors. Obviously if he had pressed it again he would have unlocked them...hahahaha!....but instead he tried to kick his way out. Numpty!!
So this, 15-16 year old got arrested and charged with trying to take a vehicle, theft from the vehicle , damage and possession. I think he had some community service and had to pay me £100(my insurance excess), which i received over a year or so....in £5 cheques. The damage came to about 4k so they wrote the car off for £1700. I paid 950 a few months before so i made there but my insurance has been silly since.....with 2 other claims too(another story).
To be honest though, I have never driven a car so void of any character in my life! The scrapyard was the best place for it
The Nissan!
Well, this is a story I think you'll like.
It was New Years Eve 2013(i think). The time was half past midnight and I had just said goodnight to my son after watching the celebrations on TV.
I hear a banging outside and i think to myself "wtf is that?". I peep through the curtains to see movement in my Nissan Primera (spaceeship shape). Im somewhat confused at this point......"How is there somebody in my car?? How did they get in my car?? How cant they get out of car???" were some of the questions racing through my mind as I go outside and see whats going on.
I look through the car window, wearing my dressing gown and this teenager looks at me and says "Let me out please butt!" in his strong welsh accent.
I laughed and replied with a few strong words basically saying "no" and phoned the police. Fortunately they were literally just round the corner and got to me before I even got off the phone.
They carted him off despite his claims of "just trying to get a lift" and "thats not my weed!" were had. It was quite hilarious to be honest but the ****head managed to destroy the inside trying to get out. He bent the doors to get in but whats the best is that he must have stepped on the button in the centre console which locked all the doors. Obviously if he had pressed it again he would have unlocked them...hahahaha!....but instead he tried to kick his way out. Numpty!!
So this, 15-16 year old got arrested and charged with trying to take a vehicle, theft from the vehicle , damage and possession. I think he had some community service and had to pay me £100(my insurance excess), which i received over a year or so....in £5 cheques. The damage came to about 4k so they wrote the car off for £1700. I paid 950 a few months before so i made there but my insurance has been silly since.....with 2 other claims too(another story).
To be honest though, I have never driven a car so void of any character in my life! The scrapyard was the best place for it
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