jim west wrote:

the yards in Corvallis Or. have 3 13bs, two are in cars, one running 
1 in a 88 convertable not sure if it runs.

Running is good. I would not buy from a junk yard unless the engine
will turn over and you can put a compression tester in the spark plug
holes. If you can't do that I would not pay more than $300 for the engine
as it should be considered a core and you may need new rotor housings
regardless of how many miles it has on it. The 87-88-89 years also
had a problem with cracked end housing O-ring grooves. Probably
good years to stay away from. You can check for this by pressurizing the
cooling system to 20 psi and see if it leaks down.

Make up a test system consisting of two 1-1/4 inch ID hoses with plugs 
in one end with a fitting and pressure gage and a hose clamp for the 
other end that you can attach to both inlet and outlet on the water pump. 
A manual tire pump would be fine for building up the pressure. 

If you are serious about this shopping and the junkyard has the engine 
separated from the transmission with no starter you could make up
a engine turn over kit. A 13 inch by 13 inch piece of 3/4  oak plywood 
or 1/2 inch aluminum plate and three four inch long ten mm bolts with 
a Mazda starter bolted to the plywood would probably turn the engine 
over so you could get a good check on the compression. The spacers 
for the bolts should be about 2-3/4 inch long.

Take the Schrader valve out of an ordinary compression checker
gage and look for uniform 50 to 60 psi pulses as the engine turns
over. One pulse per rotor per engine rev. If there are missing 
pulses one or more seals are bad.

I will see if I can do a drawing in the next few days of the hole
pattern in the plywood for the 10 mm bolts and the  starter.

Be prepared like any good Boy Scout.

If you can avoid it don't buy from junkyards. You are unlikely to get a
bargain. Best to buy a running car as you will be sure to get a lot of
other very useful parts that work.

Paul Lamar
 
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