Popular Post oldrx7 Posted April 2, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2020 I did say I wouldn't start a build thread for this - but meh, am a bit bored and it'll give me a reason to document all the little things I end up fixing / changing on this. After selling my rx929 I had a little bit of money set aside to buy another old car. Even though mazda's are silly money for what your money gets you, I just 'had' to get another. Ended up being offered a 323 wagon and 323 hatch for the same amount of dollars. Wagon won, cos wagon > hatch ... hindsight though I probably should have gotten the hatch, cos it was a lot tidier than the wagon was! Had been chatting with the guy in New Plymouth for a few weeks about buying it, and eventually agreed a deposit and I'd fly down and drive it back. From pics it looked tidy ... we all know that story. Anyways, I arrive in New Plymouth, the guy picks me up, and we go look at the car. Starts fine, runs ok, body doesn't look anywhere near as straight as the photos show I ask him about the radiator "it looks pretty shit, does it leak?" "nah it's always been all good for me". First round of hills I'm climbing out of New Plymouth and temp gauge starts rising ... lame. Radiator is well and truly fucked, so I'm filling up a plastic bottle I have with puddles of water (luckily there'd been recent rain) and topping up the rad. Rinse and repeat this annoyance the whole drive home back to Auckland ... Found a better 2nd hand radiator and had that patched and tested at a radiator shop, so that's all fixed. Long story short - probably shouldn't have purchased, but it's a wagon, and I lub old mazdas. Plans will be tidy / fix the little things as they need it, find some other wheels once I've saved a bit of $$ and properly sort the front suspension as the springs I recently got made up aren't captive. And maybe a touch lower in the back too. 1st pic - what the guy sent me before I bought it. 2nd pic - lower springs 3rd pic - pin stripe I added (left overs from 929 wagon). Will probably re-do in black. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 2, 2020 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted April 5, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 5, 2020 The grill and headlight surrounds had a few scratches and paint was chipped in a few spots. Had a 1/2 can of 'r32 skyline grey' left over that I'd used to paint the 929 grill with, so figured having a matching colour for the light surrounds and grill would be good. Quick sand and mask up then paint. Can't really tell the difference between the grey and the black it used to be unless you were looking for something different. Also ripped out the front end suspension and have been replacing the tie rod ends, balljoints and a few bushes. 3rd old mazda I've bloody done this on in the last few years, but always good to replace all the split boots and cracked bushes under the front end. Will give a few bits a clean and paint while I'm under there too. Should have it back together in the next few evenings. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted April 13, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 13, 2020 Got the balljoints pressed in and tie rod ends greased up. Cleaned up a bit and painted some things underneath. Plus did some 90’s colour coding on the sway bar 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted May 24, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 24, 2020 Sold the modgies and found some nice n cheap wheels to put on for now - could do with a re-polish but I'll see if I can be bothered spending the time on them. Need to sort some front shocks as the springs aren't captive, and get a set of 1" blocks for the back. 22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted August 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 4, 2020 sorted some 1" blocks in the back I've got some new rear shocks and new front inserts, I'm going to attempt to use s1/2 rx7 inserts, as they were about a 1/3 of the price of factory 323 ones. Have read that a small spacer is needed on the base of the strut, so will see if the internet is true or lies. Will also look at sorting some rear bump stops, as a previous owner has simply chopped the current ones off on a flat square angle, so that needs to be fixed. Wof has just run out, so will tutu about with the suspension over the next few months and aim for it to be back on the road for November. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted September 24, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 24, 2020 So I didn't end up using the rx7 shock insert, they do however fit the 323 strut, and would be useful for someone not wanting to shorten a 323 shock. Only if they're lowering the car 30-40mm though. Not short enough for my springs. I had myself confused for a bit when I compared the two shock types. I had them side by side and the shock shafts are the same length, but the rx7 shock body is shorter, so in theory if I was to space them up (see my paint diagram below), then there would be no benefit to using them (apart from price). Spacing them 'down' however, with a collar type spacer would work. However, after pulling out my struts and taking a look at the inserts in them, they looked / felt very new, so decided I may as well get them shortened, and sell the rx7 inserts to save myselft the hassle of shortening and making a spacer thing. (reserve met on trademe if you'd like to buy them lol). Had a mate shorten the 323 inserts for me to keep the springs nice n captive, wire wheeled the strut body, dusted them with some black paint, and got them back in the car the other night. Also replaced the rear shocks, cos why not. Have got new brake shoes, cylinders and pads, so will get around to doing that soon also. Will aim to get the car back on the ground the next few days, and hopefully wof time in the next week or two. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 15, 2020 WOF was successful - a few small things to fix before the next one but I'll get around to those in the coming months. Found some chrome end caps for the bumpers - fronts fitted nicely, but the rears didn't quite line up right, and would have meant drilling holes in the bumper which I wasn't too keen on, so on-sold those and will keep an eye out for more in the future. Looking forward to drag day in a few weeks, I'm fairly sure I'll be the slowest 323 to ever race at Meremere! Was tempted to find a spare diff and weld one up for twin spin skids, but people seem to want $200 odd for a diff head - so scrap that - plus I think this thing would struggle to turn the wheels standing still anyways, so not worth the effort / cost of a replacing the diff really. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oldrx7 Posted February 2, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 2, 2021 Had a ton of fun taking this down the strip at Meremere at the drag day back December. Slow racing is just as fun as quick(er) cars I've taken down the drag strip. Was running low-mid 20's all day, then a mate suggested taking off the air filter. Ran 3 mid 19 second passes after that! Sold this as of last week. Had someone approach me offering what I think is silly money for it, so that had me curious as to what people might be wanting to pay. Put it up on FB and it was gone in 24 hours, so must have been priced right and I'm glad it was a quick and easy sale. Was tempted to try a home build 12a and do the rotary conversion on it, but being registered as a 1985 instead of a 1979-81 car may have opened a can of worms during the cert process which I wasn't too keen on potentially opening. Would probably have to be a mazda geek to know the differences, but yeh ... Anyways, it's gone to a nice guy near Hamilton, who wants it for similar reasons I did, to putt around in, and not having to worry about it too much as it's a bit rough around the edges. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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