First Drive in FOREVER. 1980 Mazda 626, Quick Drive Around The Block!

Please Subscribe!
I've been a pretty terrible car owner and have let my '80 Mazda 626 Coupe sit for way too long. In this video I get it started, and take it around the block. Have a decent round of work to do to it so I can take it to shows later this season.
If you haven't, watch the other video on this car which explains how long I've had it, how I bought it, etc.
Enjoy!

[@perfectenglish5586]

I had one 1980 silver blue one ... I drove it until it had 225,000 miles and gave it to a friend who drove it for a few years later... I love this car.

[@stevengagnon4777]

Hope you got those new shocks in by now. Drives nice doesn't it. It was the last thing I did before it was stolen. The back roads were home for it. That car really deserved something other than the engine from a truck ( but always ran ) . Had a white four door that my dad bought new around the time Mazda went front drive with the 626 not a bad car though (amazing trunk unbelievable how much you could put in it)had one of those too just not the same car. Really miss that first generation 626. I think this car was Mazda's little car manufacturer's introduction to the world as we can play too. Really would like to see them do this again but the numbers just aren't there. A small rear drive sedan with a large trunk doesn't exist in the current market place unless it was made in Bavaria too bad because I think Mazda would build one that costs less to own and be more reliable. Just think a Sky Active turned longitudinal in the engine bay and 2800lbs ( I'd settle for 3000lbs) balanced 50/50(or better slightly to the rear ) I would be in the driver's seat of that if at all possible. Until then I will need to get one of my broken Bavarians back on the road. The 99 two door with the M-3 rear end was certainly fun too just begging for more power. Just like the 02 Trailblazer is begging for an extra gear. Oh yeah back to the subject mine always responded well to the Italian tune up too... the benefits of the truck engine .

[@gilbertgemayel]

Had the same one in blue naught new by my uncle in 1979 the audomitor turned 5 or 6 times before the engine died around 500,000 km only changed the clutch once. It is literally an indestructible car. I loved it all electric worked perfect and the ac was never changed and by the time I totalled it it was still running. I regret totalling it but I had to because I lost all its documentation.

[@jboss729]

I LOVE this! Id pay top dollar for it!!

[@storm-357]

Imam ja ovakvu mazdu kupe imam i mercedes 123 dizel, prodao bih jedan od ta 2 auta

[@johngidman4574]

Me too! 😁

[@shokid]

Nice clean car, I have an 82 626 with 72k original kilometres. Roughly 45k miles.

[@scottbobo6194]

Been watching your engine teardown videos for a while and was surprised to see this! I had a '79 626 coupe (white/tan) bought in 1980 in Ohio. Didn't know it at the time but the previous owner had overheated it and the head gasket had developed a small crack. After the fix it was a very reliable and sturdy little box. Loved it. Saw that you had no A/C on yours - installing an aftermarket unit is actually very easy. There's no dashboard work to do as the evaporator, ducting and all the wiring is already in place. Drop in a compressor and a dryer, get a charge in it and away you go. I do remember taking a hole saw to the firewall for the coolant lines, now that I think of it. And perhaps a fuse. Anyway, it's a two hour job at most. Nice to see one still running =)

[@mikevale3620]

I bought one of these 626's brand new from the dealership in 1980. Gold with neutral interior. I ordered the left side mirror option (I'm in Australia) mudflaps and I think factory air was standard. Where yours has chrome, or stainless steel, the Australian delivered coupe's had black. Black metal bumpers with overriders like yours, shiny black rain gutters, radio aerial, door handles, window trim etc...all glossy black. Definitely looked very cool for 1980...geez that's over 40 years ago!!! I traded it in 1983 for the first FWD Mazda 626 SE hatch. ($17,500.00)The 626 SE in Australia had factory alloys, power steer, digital dash, A/C, power sunroof, swing centre air vents, multi-adjustable seats, digital tuner with graphic equaliser....all factory. I had it for 21 years. The engines were good for 250,000 Km if you looked after them.

[@I_Do_Cars]

Mike Vale that’s awesome! I love the GC chassis, my first car was an 87 2.0 injected that I upfitted with turbo alloy wheels, digital dash and oscillating vents. I miss that car!

[@mikevale3620]

@@I_Do_Cars We were a Mazda family for a while. My mother bought a 1985 Mazda 929 coupe, light silver over dark silver metallic. It had 15 inch wheels with Bridgestone Potenza's from the factory...digital dash. vertical cassette payer/tuner with graphic Eq, pop up headlights, adjustable suspension but better adjustment than my 83 626 had, plus all the bells and whistles those beautiful 929's 2 doors had. The EGI made the 2.0 litre engine a good performer compared to my carb 626 and it had shorter gear ratios to make it a sportier car. 5 speed manual as well. www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F7430965%40N05%2F4446528196&psig=AOvVaw3PO2j8cy9n4wYv8VXhkg33&ust=1599291502797000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMiFjaf_zusCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ Thanks for your reply...Mike.

[@sidv192]

I owned one and it was my fav car of all time

[@eaglescout121]

Great video. Thanks for the flash back. My first car was an 82' 626, 4 door. WIth roach'ed out rear fenders and trunk. No power steering, no tach, no power windows/locks. But it had AC. I wanted a CD play in the car but could'nt justify the cost of a Sony CDX-7520 or Alpine 7909. I was barely 16 years old. Those headunits were very expensive. But a used D-11 Discman was affordable. So, my buddy Greg and I modified the stock AM/FM radio. Scraped the stereo traces off the circuit board at the input to amplifier circuit inside the radio. Diverted radio tuner audio signal through A side of an A/B switch. Chopped wires off an old pair of headphones, and connected the 1/8" jack and wiring to B side of switch. Mounted A/B switch to knee panel below steering wheel. Position A let radio tuner signal feed back into the amp circuit. Position B let my Sony Discman's headphone jack output to feed into the amp circuit. :) Front passenger had job of holding the Discman because that was before ESP. If you know what ESP stands for, they you remember. lol

[@LuizLeonel]

the best thing of this car where you never get a ticket from speed! Hugs my friend!

[@cardiffchris]

Those rims really give the car an improved sporty character. My Mom's traded her 78 Monte Carlo for a Silver 626 in late 1979.....awesome car that was half the price of a BMW 320i In those days American cars were like bad breath.....nobody wanted them. You can really travel in one of these....you can sleep with your feet in the trunk.

[@chrisl1751]

Working my way backwards from your later engine teardowns to your vehicle projects. Was pleasantly surprised to come across your 626 ivory 2-door. My dad had this exact 1980 model, 5-speed, same color. We had many great cross country trips in this car from St. Louis to Los Angeles. Never a mechanical issue except for the A/C which in those years was a dealer installed option. I recall the 2-liter was a Mazda truck motor that wasn’t quite up to high rpm duty like Hondas of that era but it worked great. It was a great looking coupe for its time. Thanks for keeping it on the road!

[@Bonzoguy66]

I had a 1979 metallicblue , tinted windows and sunroof, in Denmark .Nice to see this mazda model again

[@georgekaplan6451]

My parents got one in New Zealand in 1981. I learnt to drive on it in 1982/83. For the era they handled pretty well.

[@Chudhole]

Such great looking cars. The 60s 70s 80s Japanese stuff is just the best.

[@I_Do_Cars]

I agree. Shame cars don’t evoke the same kind of emotion they used to

[@jorgecampos9659]

Really good looking car for 1980!

[@theluckycatcollective8788]

I love that car so much!

[@fehlrock]

Adam Sandler ????

[@fehlrock]

Lol

[@misspeta7937]

My family used to have the 4 door sedan same colour and year model... was such an awesome car 😁 yours is such a beauty 😍 greetings from Australia 🇦🇺

[@944play]

My family had a four-door too. My dad bought it new and kept it for at least a dozen years. We called it Tan Man.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

These old cars always get a bad rap cause they're underpowered and basic. But they were designed to be cheap and reliable. And they were. Unfortunately there aren't enough left around today. We need to save old cars like this. If nothing else, for historical purposes. Kids need to see how things have changed

[@crazycatman5928]

This was my first car. My dad bought it for me in 1992 for $1100. I miss windows you roll up yourself.

[@lorieandpatrickdavies7483]

Nice car, haven't seen one on the road in decades. My parents owned a 1982 626 sedan, blue with blue velour interior, purchased new. Loaded car with power sunroof, aluminum wheels, auto, power windows, locks etc. Can't remember if it had AC. They had it for about ten years, and it was mechanically pretty reliable, but had a lot of little, irritating problems. The power locks had issues, all the chrome trim flaked off, the wheels clear coat failed and they got all corroded, and rust destroyed the body. I can recall the car being pretty scary to drive on the highway, as it had so little torque you definitely had to be careful when you wanted to pass somebody. It was towed off to the junkyard in the early 1990s.

[@club1fan552]

It may be the slowest car you've got but it's the best! The front end is particularly handsome. Would have had an even greater impact in '79.

[@FuckSlowShit]

My 85 Sentra is slower than this car this car has around 70 hp mine got 69 hp

[@stger2384]

That looks mostly like new! Beautiful! And you look so US American with those Sunglasses ;D

[@sonnyzeitgeist2570]

Sweet ride.

[@STREETCARCULTURE]

Two door 626, I like it

[@starlightwolves1525]

Dope ride! I learned to drive in 92 in my parents 79 yellow 2 door. I never thought much of the styling back then but with mods it would hold up next to a GT-R from that era. The cockpit was very sporty and made it fun to drive. It was 2nd hand so I don’t know if the “honeycomb” rims were an oem option but they looked cool and are probably worth a small mint today.

[@Doctor_Robert]

Ah, glad to see you still have it! Now drive it some more! ;) Over the last year, I effectively replaced the entire fuel system on mine (from carby to tank). It's now rocking a Weber 32/36. Whether or not it was originally designed that way, both yours and mine (before the swap) seemed to be really cold blooded. I had to let it warm up for at least a minute before mine was happy. Also, I notice some dieseling. My solution was to just hold the clutch in ready to engage reverse (parking brake on) and slowly stall the car as it turned off. There is a lot of smog gear tied into the engine in California stock configuration, but a lot of it works like computer sensors, auto-tuning the carb a bit here and there in certain conditions--when they work; hard to tell if they are 40 years later. When I did my Weber conversion, I did a complete smog delete as well (being out of Cali now) which has had its own set of problems but the car has opened up a lot. Stock for Cali was 74 HP; I think I'm closer to 90 now. Parts availability is a "challenge." The last two or three years of my ownership has seen pretty much everything break on mine, so I've had to accept the "challenge." By that I mean stuff available, you just have to eat a metric tonne of crow. OEM Mazda stuff from an authorized dealer is next to impossible. The cool thing about Mazda is that they were really small back in 1980, so much on our Capellas is shared with the B2000 truck of the period (engine mostly) and the RX7. My biggest concession so far as been that my front struts were broken, specifically the boot on one side. Nobody makes those anymore (the strut cylinder yes, the rest no) and it was one of the bits of the 626 that it didn't share with anything. I had to break down and get RX7, which does fit but you have to put in a 3 inch spacer. The nicest part was I now have ventilated disc brakes ^_^ but... no OEM. It's an adventure... a Mad Max-like, jury-rigging adventure. Nice to see you over on our FB group! :)

[@I_Do_Cars]

I really, really, really want to keep this car as original as possible. If I do anything for the carb situation? I’ll be going side draft. My brother has a 72 Mazda 1800 with side drafts on the 1.8 ma and it’s pretty quick.

[@Doctor_Robert]

@@I_Do_Cars Wow! First Gen Luce's are really rare in the US! I'm jelly... Come to think of it, one was for sale in Seattle about a year ago. I seem to remember it went to the mid-west... was that your brother?

[@I_Do_Cars]

Doctor Robert if it was maroon, then that’s the car my brother bought

[@Doctor_Robert]

@@I_Do_Cars Wow! What a small world. lolz

[@photo_n_art]

It was my first car, 1981 4 door sedan same color. It lasted almost 15 years, the engine outlasted the body though. When finally scrapped the engine was still running like a clock but the body was rusted to the point where it was unsafe to drive anymore. Best car I ever owned 😎👍

[@michaelv3340]

I remember back when these were new. Always thought they were the most handsome of the Japanese sedans of the time. Did you know a company called Rajay, I think made a turbo kit for these. Remember seeing a test of one in an auto magazine at the time.

[@damian-795]

My Mum had the Montrose version of this car here in the UK back in 1987. It was a 1980 like yours and in red , a beautiful car. I had just passed my driving test and took it to London against her wishes. I crashed into the back of a Rover SD1 in the rain at 40 mph. The car was written off :-(

[@schortii]

Here i am, 2 years later. Just looked for the video with the Koni installation. Guess u did not installed them, until now? But nice car, man!

[@wantapgt]

Here from the video where you said you sold it.

[@FSB-HF]

I love it!!!!

[@cliffweinan3907]

Ha, A video where you are not fighting dip stick ! There is a You Tube video: age of oil is not really the determining factor of worn out oil: it is mileage or hours of engine use. Just keep a glove box notebook to record this maintenance stuff for each car you maintain. Lovely 626, 40 years old, iron block, metal radiator, no plastic expansion tank, standard shift.

[@alexgilbertoarrascueparede1598]

Tengo un 626 1982,mi padre lo compro nuevo en el consesionario,1800cc dos ouertas,rojo,aire acondicionado,timón y ruedas del rx7,ademas le pusimos header.Hermoso auto lo tengo muy conservado pero aun asi quiero restaurarlo,amortiguadores y terminales y rotulas no es facil encontrar en Perú,saludos.

[@soloracer1]

I watched many of your engine tear down videos. I was surprised to come across this one.My wife had one of these when I met her. Same color too. Nice body lines for that time. I had the 1982 RX7 , I still have it . Mostly used for AUTOCROSS. Are those shaved Nitto 555s up against the wall.

[@brapdaddy]

I have one of these as well!

[@jamesmcdonald2680]

I still have two pairs of those koni rears for some reason.

[@reallyman941]

Nice... I had one as my first car, back in the day. Now I have a 1992 626. Question: how do I recharge the A/C? I have a manual and an online manual, but, nothing. I only see one pressure valve. Help.

[@kirisgarage8590]

I had the same Mazda and was very good. Just eating to much oil😊👍

[@photo_n_art]

True, I had a quart of oil in my trunk at all times. It was burning oil but the engine outlasted the body in my case 🤷🏼 checking the oil levels every time I was filling the gas and it was never a problem.

[@victorwankel]

Nice mazda. I got a 12a carb engine Same blue air cleaner that will look like factory for that car. Or a 13b turbo if you want to go wild

[@red.5475]

My Aunt had one in the early 80's, I thought it was tight.

[@Tommend]

Adam Sandler?)

[@solarflare1008]

Nice for rotary swap project….

[@s.t.phillips5404]

This was my first car. Had so much fun with it. Would you sell?

[@storm-357]

Imam ja ovakav auto 1981 godište. Potrebno ga je srediti. Prodao bih ga.

[@nowucmenowu0000]

She looks n runs great...i thought these had a manual choke?

[@robroyce6845]

...with a Ford Ecoboost 3.5 litre v6 engine & Ford OD tranny transplant (gasp!),that Mazda 626 coupe would rule the roadways!

[@emmexfyv]

That would be quick but a lousy engine. A Lexus GS 3.5 or 4.3 would be amazing.

[@JWOLDING]

If these are like the Australian model with the MA they should have a manual choke, no priming or revving the shit out of it required.

[@FuckSlowShit]

No need to rev it, hold the gas peddle at around 1500 - 1850 rpms for a 2-3 minutes it'll warm up you just need to have patience.

[@Hermiwalle]

These arent rotary original right?

[@tomcook8711]

The story goes that the car was originally intended to be a rotary. Mazda made and 11th hour decision to go with the truck motor in a nod to better gas mileage and that's supposedly why the interior was sort of noisy. The (muffled) rotary was very quiet so the firewall didn't get sound suppressing material the piston engine cars normally would have had.

[@estevanantunez1033]

I actually bought a 1980 626 as my first car and I still have it I’m only 19 and don’t know much about it so I was wondering if you can help me out because I wanna restore the car

[@I_Do_Cars]

Estevan Antunez where are you located? I have some spare parts that I would sell.

[@estevanantunez1033]

@@I_Do_Cars Im located in Perris , California I would be happy to buy parts if you can help me

[@I_Do_Cars]

Estevan Antunez I have a passenger door, brand new rear quarter skin, several pairs of headlight trims, grilles and taillights off the top of my head.

[@estevanantunez1033]

@@I_Do_Cars is there anyway I can get your contact info so we can talk a little more

[@I_Do_Cars]

@@estevanantunez1033 Feel free to email me at [e-mail]

[@mads8139]

Where to find spare parts for it 😁😁😁

[@senior_ranger]

Why are you driving a car with CA plates in St. Louis? (Sorry, it's my CHP past.)

[@tanthiennguyen9133]

Damit alles Jugends & Weltweite Kindern Verstehen.....Welcher Missbrauch Natel & Telekommunikations Techniker & Krankenkasse haben ?

[@jamesperdue2296]

Cool car put webbers on it

[@upconsull]

обязательно куплю...

[@adojap]

Stylish mazda CB2 SERIES

[@gusparra4037]

Adam Sandler

[@novanut1964]

good video, nice car. check put my 1978 mazda glc on my channel. i drive it maybe 10 miles a year.

[@andipajeroking]

You have a wife and that many cars? What is this sorcery?

[@I_Do_Cars]

There are women who are happy when we are happy. 🤷‍♂️

[@andipajeroking]

@@I_Do_Cars You lucky bastard :)). Congrats.