The Leading Lady

[Luceboy]

Datsun may have had the Fairlady, but Mazda had "The Leading Lady". The Mazda 1800, known as the Luce in Japan, was powered by a 1796cc OHC four cylinder engine with a single side draft Hitachi SU carb. Rated at 104 HP from the factory the performance was only average but did include some nice upgrades as standard including a fully finished trunk.

I rebuilt the engine in this one two years ago but suffers from worn throttle shaft bushings and runs on the lean side. I try to compensate by running a heavier weight oil in the dashpot and cheating the choke out 1\8". Contacted ZTherapy about rebuilding the carb a few years back but they passed as they were unfamiliar with this model. Some have resorted to a Weber conversion but for now I will leave as is.

[Randalla]

Interesting bit of Mazda history I had not heard before. Your car looks a lot like the love child of a Datsun 411 and a 510. Curious to know what the carb looks like. Do you have any pictures? Are parts available? You'll have to bring it out to our next event. Thanks for posting.

[L320-Dale]

Very cool Mazda. I'm not familiar with that model. I like it

Dale

[Luceboy]

There were several variations of the carb over the years with the last ones having an accelerator pump and a fuel cutoff solenoid underneath to curb dieseling.
No sources for new parts that I am aware of. I replaced my brittle fuel lines with Tygon tubing years ago and have never had an issue with it. One day I will have to tear them down side by side with some Datsun carbs and see what if anything is interchangeable.

[Randalla]

Thanks for posting. I'm a bit of a carb junkie so was interested to see how similar they are to Datsun SUs. I imagine your's have pistons, needles and float valves similar to the Datsun carbs. The principal of how they work is probably the same. A couple of us on the site have a lot of experience with Datsun SUs and would be happy to discuss options for dialing your carbs in to eliminate the lean condition you mentioned.

[Toywagon82]

Very nice 1800! Ive owned a 72 and rotary swapped my mint 70 that recently made its way los angeles. Where are you located?
Do you know sonny? Hes another local with a few of these.

[Toywagon82]

I also have alot of left over glass, a hood and other misc parts laying around if youre ever in need of stuff for it. Is this a 5 speed model? Id love to see this in person.

Heres a running video of the BP 13B

https://youtu.be/SWqcR8AFIuY

[Luceboy]

Nice Aaron. Glad you got that swap all sorted out. This is Sonny, over here representin' the far east side . One day we will have to meet up in the middle again and compare notes.
As for parts, I am only chasing a trunk lid at the moment but suggest you hold onto it if you have a spare. They are very prone to rust as I have 3 of them that are rather crispy.

Talk soon.

[Toywagon82]

Lol welcome aboard sonny! Just let me know when you have time and we can meet up sometime or catch up when we host another event.
My trunk lid was pretty rusty unfortunately.