20B 5spd '90 in Okinawa!

[LoneStarS30Z]

Evening ladies and gents. Just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Will and I live in Okinawa, Japan and just purchased my Cosmo from Gunma, Japan.

This site has been a great wealth of information up until the day I pulled the trigger and sent the funds for this car. It's not my first rotary, but it's my first Cosmo.

It's a '90 E-CCS with some awesome mods including a 5 speed swap using a FC trans, FD front calipers and wheels, JIC coilovers, some sort of stainless steel exhaust (can't find any brand marking), and a Mazdaspeed front lip. Once I saw this thing for sell, I knew it had to be mine! It'll be coming back to America with me in 2015 for sure.

I've had it for a week now and I'm still waiting on he the title to arrive, in the meantime I've done a bunch of fiddling around with it. One thing I'm stuck on now is the burnt out CCS screen. I've read that it's pretty common for these to burn out right? I've taken it out and found a blown fuse on the back, to which I replaced, only for it to blow again immediately.

I'd like to rip apart some more, but I remember reading that the car won't even start without it, that's a no go. I'll continue to research, but has anyone found a successful fix yet?

Anyways, here's some night time shots! Hope to have some daylight pictures after it's registered, but the hood is in pretty rough shape.

 

[Moogwai]

Hello Will, welcome to our not numerous brotherhood! Saw this Cosmо on sale, I periodically monitor the market for them. I'm not a fan of mechanical transmission, but this solution has the right to life. Good luck with it! Although, in Japan, with this machine is probably all just

 

[cosmojc]

Hey Lone Star,

Nice pick up.

Screens are a bit hard to come by, hard to repair and at 24 years old, not long for this world when they are working. There is also a component in the rear left passengers wall for the ECCS. All of the functions except the fan without the aircon in the on position are also on the steering wheel.

You will find more Cosmo owners on Facebook at, "Cosmo owners group". I'm. Howard James there. You'll also find Cosmo relevant documents n manuals etc downloadable. I'm assuming you are with the US forces? There are other Cosmo-nauts in Japan with the forces also. There was another's guy for a long while on Okinowa as well, but he has disappeared! You will find a trail of his posts in here and on Teameunos.com.au

Kramer

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Thanks for the lead on the Facebook group, I'll make sure to join.

I met the guy you're referring to who's on, Okinawa, Rotorzilla or Tony. I believe he is leaving the island very soon, luckily enough, I was able to purchase this off of him be he left.

I kinda of figured the screens were pretty much dinosaurs at this point, but I would love to acquire a working one.

 

[cosmojc]

Oh Nice!

So Toni isnt into Cosmo's any more?? He had two and an RX7 at one stage!!!

approved your Facebook group as well

Kramer

 

[blackedoutFC3S]

Looks great! It's so clean! Blown fuses are generally a short to ground which might be an absolute pain to find.

Hopefully you can keep up the build in here and let us know what's going on!

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Oh Nice!

So Toni isnt into Cosmo's any more?? He had two and an RX7 at one stage!!!

approved your Facebook group as well

Kramer

Appears so, but he took quite a bit of Cosmo parts with him. Thanks for the add on the group.

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Looks great! It's so clean! Blown fuses are generally a short to ground which might be an absolute pain to find.

Hopefully you can keep up the build in here and let us know what's going on!

True, I'm hoping to find a another one so I can cure my curiosity at the very least.

 

[Chibana]

Very nice. One of the coolest cars ever.

 

[frank20bcosmo]

Hi,, Nice Cosmo,, I see you have the neon side skirts very cool,, I will be fitting my set very soon,, also going manual car is in the garage now being converted see my thread,, how do you find the Cosmo as a manual ?

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Sorry for the late reply. I've never experienced an automatic Cosmo before, but it seems very natural having one in 5 speed. The low down torque is awesome, and it's very easy to find myself creeping over the speed limit without realizing it. Honestly, I couldn't imagine having it any other way.

 

[frank20bcosmo]

That is what I have been told,, I believe the transformation is amazing,, I should be able to report back soon (cabpatch)

 

[Antoine]

Welcome (sorry for the delay)...Looks like you've got a super sweet setup already on your Cosmo...Do you have any videos up? It would be great to see what it's like to drive a manual Cosmo...Also, how's ride and handling with the JIC suspension? One more question...How effective are those FD front calipers?

Thanks for joining Mazdas247 and posting about your Cosmo!

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

No worries, thanks for the interest!

It's a beautiful day out here in Okinawa, so I think I may make a couple videos. I know of a certain tunnel I'd like to make some noise in.

As far as driving a manual Cosmo goes, like I mentioned before it feels very natural. My FC trans is in good condition and shifts well with the short shifter and AMSoil fluids. It gets up and goes very nicely, I get a giggle out of just giving it low rev spurts just to here the turbines spooling and whistling. But it's quick to remind you about it's torque in the rain with the skinny stock tires! I remember getting in the slowest race of all time trying to over overtake a pesky Kei car so that I could cut over into the turning lane, all the while trying to manage grip and stay out of boost lol.

As for the coilovers, it's no worse than any of the other cars I've owned. Since I've been Japan I owned and a FD and S2000, both if which were more harsh ofcourse.

The Cosmo seems to do just fine while still be pretty comfortable. It's doesn't stray off to either side, or have nasty bump steer when going over uneven surfaces. I'm sure my JIC's are a bit tired, so I'm looking at having them rebuilt as I actually have 2 different models of JIC's, or trying out another set of Largus coilovers from Yahoo Auctions. I'm sure the Largus' are just another Chinese special, but I had them on my S2000 and they were surprisingly good enough that I installed a set on my daily Forester. Good simple coilovers for the price actually, especially considering we don't have any real high dollar coilovers like my previous FD and S2000 had available.

Oh! I did finally find a working CCS monitor. I'm extremely happy about that! Now I have to go knock on wood and hope it stays working for a long time to come.

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Sorry forgot to answer about the brakes. They have really good initial bite and feel. I can still tell I'm stopping a heavy car, but I feel like I can do it with full confidence. The previous owner who did the conversion machined conversion brackets and spacers for the caliper to fit, so I'm pretty excited that I should also be able to run any FD BBK I might want.

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

Made a video the other day.

Antoine, if you're on Facebook feel free to join the Cosmo group called Cosmo Owners Group. It's a lot more active than here.

 

[frank20bcosmo]

That does sound good, I will have to post one when I get the Cosmo back,, just need that tunnel (bowdown)

 

[Herblenny]

My friend Jesse Lau sent me and email about this Cosmo.. You know him?

 

[Antoine]

Wow...Great vid and thanks for all the info!

I'm planning on replacing my definitely tired suspension with custom fully adjustable coilovers from http://www.spirit-shocks.jp They're going to be pricey but hopefully worth it...I've been told I can maintain a comfortable ride and greatly improve handling at the same time with these babies...

Are you running a piggyback ems, if so which one and does it work well..?

As for brakes...Sounds like an FD conversion / upgrade is a very cost effective way to go...Mine are totally stock except for Dixcel pads...

Ps...Thanks for the heads up about the FB group but this site is my home for anything Mazda including the Cosmo!

 

[LoneStarS30Z]

My friend Jesse Lau sent me and email about this Cosmo.. You know him?

Sure do, he's buying my previous FD to hopefully resurrect it from someone who bought it and got in over their head.

Wow...Great vid and thanks for all the info!

I'm planning on replacing my definitely tired suspension with custom fully adjustable coilovers from http://www.spirit-shocks.jp They're going to be pricey but hopefully worth it...I've been told I can maintain a comfortable ride and greatly improve handling at the same time with these babies...

Are you running a piggyback ems, if so which one and does it work well..?

As for brakes...Sounds like an FD conversion / upgrade is a very cost effective way to go...Mine are totally stock except for Dixcel pads...

Ps...Thanks for the heads up about the FB group but this site is my home for anything Mazda including the Cosmo!

I was able to find to find one of those RE-A ECU's that didn't cost an arm and my left testicle.

The Sprint shocks sound interesting, I'd like to hear how they turn out for you.