mazda 1300 brakes????

[bikerdave]

just bought a mazda 1300 2 door with a 13b and series2 rx7 5 speed and mvr won't register it with anything bigger than a 12A... now... not wanting to go back to a 12a! what kind of brakes can i upgrade to on the standard 1300 struts or what struts can i change to?
i have a set of series 1 Rx7 struts complete with front end bits... could i use anything from them... the calipers or disks?

thanks heaps for your help people!

[THRSTY]

im not sure about the rx7 struts, but the rx2/cappella struts fit straight in, and the brakes are better than the 1300. also, 808 and early 929 are even better, but require a bit of fidling

[bikerdave]

what kind of fiddling to 808 struts need??
is the spring size the same?


... i might be able to buy a very cheap 808 coupe that was registered with a 13b and now has a 12a... advantage of this is the spare gearbox i'll get and a 12a to drive around with when the 13b in my 1300 comes out to be bridge ported later on... good option?

[Spac]

Have done this since I typed that, so an update (ie working off recent memory, not old memory - a big help at my age...:)).

If you go for the 808 option, you DO need to put 808 tie-rod ends in to match the 808 sterring arms (Capella /1300 have pissy little ones).

The strut tops aren't directly inter-changable. The 808 strut inserts have a different shoulder machined into them, so won't take 1300 strut tops. And 808 strut bodies are too short to take the 1300 / Capella inserts. I am pretty certain that 929 strut inserts will take 1300 strut tops easily, though.

To repeat (hopefully making sense this time...:)):
1300 strut top.
929 strut insert.
929 strut body.
1300 or 929 spring.
929 brakes.
808 steering arms.
808 or 929 tie-rod end.

RX-7 bits are do-able. Same issues with the bottoms, and obviously the same solutions. Tops, I think are the same as 929, so if my memory serves me correctly on the 929 bits, RX-7 bits will work just as well.

The thing that will bugger you up here, is the RX-7 springs are much bigger in diameter than the earlier cars'. Look at cutting off the spring seats from both struts and getting the 1300 ones welded to the RX-7 struts. Take it to an exhaust shop if you're not game - they'll be cheaper than most engineering shops, and they weld around pipe all day!

RX-7 struts are significantly shorter (total length) compared to all of the others, so you might find the car sits too low. Getting the spring seats welded on higher will raise the car, but will also greatly reduce the suspension's droop travel - not a real good way of going about it.

[Match-Da-Clown]

I know someone with a 13b with a t78 turbo.....crazy shit. Anyway it's in an Escort. Which is illegal. So he got the "13b" ground off the engine and replaced with a "12a"....just a thought.

[bikerdave]

spac... you are a legend! it's good to know some facts about what i'm trying to do here... thanks heaps... yeah i work at a fabrication shop and already talked about cutting off spring seats and tig welding them on different struts... but i didn't know if the bottoms were ok to go on or not though... it all looks good... the car arrived today... this weekend it is all gunna happen. hahaha... hopefully.

thanks again.

ps. your turbos suck comment is spot on... and i got one for ya!

i don't spool, cause i'm old school.

go the NA rotors!