Popular Post square Posted April 17, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 I got back into the 323 game, it's been 25 years. I had a 2 door turbo hatch which I loved and a wagon with a 13b which was great til I crashed the shit out of it. So full circle, I couldnt justify spending 20k on a raped bugeye shell for a side project so came back to these. Picked it up today, 139 ks, 3 owners since new and it's a peach.its been off the road for a couple of years, but runs sweet. It needs a bit of rust pulled, nothing major that needs cut by the look of it but there's a nasty repair in passenger floor that I'll change. There one patch in spare tyre well I'll.chop out at some stage. So the plan for it : - rust - wof check - find bigger / more suitable fwd 5 speed - Wang a rotor in it I want to retain the fwd, and it needs to look stock, maybe widen standard wheels a touch. I'm expecting a fair bit of fab work. I'm thinking smart thing might be to buy an atenza or sp20 and rip trans, axles, hubs and struts out to swap over, then I get bigger everything including brakes. FOr the engine id like a 12a Bridgeport but don't fancy my chances of finding one that hasn't been built in a lounge out of fucked parts. For the drive I'll make an adaptor, I've got some learning to do on engine bolt patterns etc, but something similar to this bfmr one from moons ago. I'm open to suggestions with this, apart from making it rwd, this isn't the car for that carry on 11 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post square Posted April 17, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 The filter needs to stay, current trans is the size of my fist, wrong way hood, shit headlights, so good ! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post square Posted April 19, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 19, 2023 Ive started looking more closely at this thing, cut some rust out of trunk lid on outside, will do inside next then bottom corners of front doors. Went in for its forst wof in a few years, just failed on an exhaust leak and a brake dragging , easy as. They didnt mind the torn cv boots or oil leaks out the front. No more surprises yet, its very tidy in places I had a good look underneath, no rot which Im pretty happy about. Front end isnt what I expected, rack is bolted to firewall and tie rods come in from the back of spindles so thats easy. Front axles have plenty of clearance around them too. One thing with the newer ones is that the long shaft has an idler which might make them a pain in the hoop to use unless theres space on the motor for a mount, but itll be busy enough with water pipes and exhaust etc I also went a saw a mate locally who froths triangle powered stuff and old mazdas in general, he has a couple of these things and he may have an engine and honda trans I can pry off him, as though the jesus just shat them into my lap, its got to be a sign to push forward. 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post square Posted May 4, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2023 Some progress on this lemon, I've been googling tranny's more than usual. I've read posts from Honda guys ( most special ), Toyota sprinter / guys ( less special but still ) and hardcore Mazda guys ( generally good ). Gist of it is older Mazda trannys are shit and not worth using, regardless I've got hold of an F series one with shifter and pedal box etc. I also have this Toyota sprinter/ Levin etc 6 speed c160 box with shift linkages etc. Finding this was a bit punishing, the box doesn't feel great so I'll either find another one ( ideally with LSD ) or rebuild this and fit a slipper. Flywheel and clutch are small and apparently Toyota axles with slide into bg Mazda hubs, which I also got, so can run later 323 struts and brakes etc. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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