The Mazda S-2

[katanaman]

  Hi.  I am working with the neighbor preparing his trailer for the trip to Moreno Valley to pick up the Europa.  I didn't get a response from Mr. Spencer re: help with the Mazda engine, but my neighbors here are confident that they can get it going, as it runs as long as the choke's on...  Another neighbor will double check my work with the wiring and hooking everything up behind the dash.  I am still unable to find the length I'll need for the wiper arms -- I see that I can order this stuff from Banks if all else fails, though I just need someone to measure the length of his so I can figure out some alternative...   I see that the Spitfire arms are nearly as short as my MGB arms, so neither one of these will work -- must be from something like a MGB-GT or a GT-6+ at least.  I do have the motors and heads, just nothing else.  Now that I know that I'll be trailering the S-2 back home, I have ordered a bullet connector kit from Moss and will redo my (temporary) Harbor Freight repairs with the correct parts and wiring.  I have been cautioned about just how hot the Mazda rotaries run, but I see others have accomplished this so there has to be a way.  Now that I am home with more manuals and photos at my disposal, though, I find that the people involved in this conversion have (ahem) reappropriated things -- the last I noted, since the CD manual talked about it, though I couldn't find it, was the fan used to push heater air through the cores was the one I found mounted in front of the added on radiator.  I still think that at some time in the future I will find a better way of providing a reservoir, and space for it, for the clutch master cylinder. Then I'll look at getting the windscreen washer back online like it was meant!
  Also, for those who have done it, I would like to hear recommendations on windscreen replacement.  I don't particularly care for the mottled appearance of the gasket trim (appears to be plastic coated foil, weathered of course) and see some examples that have just the black gasket without the chromed trim.  And, is there only one method used for installing the windscreen?                                                           Thanks, Dan

[EuropaTC]

Dan,

Good to hear that you're getting yourself sorted.

I can't help with the wiper arm measurements you are after because my car has a single wiper, but I can tell you that the single system has a wiper arm of 15" with a 16" blade on my car.

I also fitted Spitfire arms to my Elan this year and know that the arms are 10" long and I fitted 11" blades (12" blades would probably be better). The Elan has a smaller screen depth so I'd guess you're looking for an arm of maybe 12" ?  I think the MGB GT uses the same screen as the MGB, and the GT6 also used the spitfire screen, so they are probably the same parts.

When buying mine I found this page http://www.texautomotive.com/classic_wiper_arms.html  to be very helpful as Tex manufacture a lot of parts for older cars. It explains the differences in arm width, fixings and the extendable range of each arm which is handy if you decide to go and select your own parts from a local shop.  I fitted their wedge-lock system as the aluminium splines were getting worn on my car and it really does work well.

Windscreens - mine is the plastic "chrome" version and I replaced it myself several years ago. The chrome strip was easy to source then but the corner pieces were more difficult, so that might be a problem now.   The black rubber gasket should be easily available because you can just cut strip to length and use sealant at the corners (as you do under the chrome stuff anyway).  I would think either method would work, just down to personal choice.

Brian

[benbeames]

I wonder why Mr Spencer didn't reply.  He's usually at the autoX's that I go to so I may see him this weekend.  If I do I'll ask him about it.

Ben