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I like weird cars. I've owned some weird ones, like my daily driver 1992 Daihatsu Rocky. Or my LeMons class winner 1989 Daihatsu Charade. Or the other 4 Charades. Or the two 1959 NSU Prinzes I'm restoring. I work just two buildings down from the local Goodwill thrift store, which has a warehouse and car dealership. I go there every day at lunch to get away from the office to check out whatever crap they have in the thrift store and the shitpile cars people donate. Sure, I'd love a 1977 GMC Vandura camper with 400K miles for $1200! Anyway, I saw a slightly odd car that I haven't seen before. A 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i wagon with 239,000 miles. For $2000. I expected a barely running shitpile with a peeling dash and a dying automatic transmisson. I was totally wrong. The exterior is in amazing shape, and the interior is near perfect. I couldn't believe it, and a manual tranmission too! After I hemmed and hawed for a few weeks, I purchased it and then discovered that it was one of the weirdest cars I'e ever dealt with. Purchased new at Auburn Mazda for $12,018, it was owned by the estate of a man named George Thomas. I know this because I have the original window sticker, original title, estate paperwork, and the dealership's markup note. I have the original 1987 323 fancy fold-out brochure, and a TSB for valve cover oil leaks from 1989. The only options the car has are the still installed and working AM/FM cassette deck with 4 speakers ($395), alloy wheels ($320), power steering ($230), and custom floor mats ($49). It ran like it had sat for a while, which doesn't seem weird as it did 1900 miles between 2010 and 2012 according to the Carfax. Anyway, I'll get some pictures of the immaculate interior and exterior on Sunday, I have a UTV race 250 miles away to be at on Saturday. DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Aug 3, 2013 |
# ? Aug 3, 2013 05:48 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 14:01 |
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# ? Aug 3, 2013 05:49 |
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Is that the one with the e5 or b6 engine? (Or did you guys get different options from our 323's and rebadged Ford Lasers in Australia?). Looks like it's in ripper condition so far though
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# ? Aug 3, 2013 06:14 |
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Looks excellent, should go well with the 1.6 injection motor. Useful being a Wagon too. I'm currently fixing up an early 1.3 LX hatch with the old E-series. Ignore the primer, it's a temporary look I've been sporting, I've bought the paint. It's only done 55K, but the spec list is much more miserly than yours, LX was the base in the UK so I've got no power anything. Always found the old BD/BF/BG series Mazdas a good drive, nice accurate steering and revvy (but oddly quite thirsty for what they are) engines. Make sure you check under those little plastic covers on the rear arch bottoms, dirt gets in there and rots it out. Suspect that won't be a problem given your location! Enjoy it, looks like a really good one.
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# ? Aug 3, 2013 10:53 |
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D-d-death car. I'm glad you finally bought this thing. It's much nicer than I thought it was based on your initial pictures and description. How much of your 323 GTX pile will fit into here?
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# ? Aug 3, 2013 16:09 |
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Its the 1.6l b6 SOHC. I've had all the variants of the engine, SOHC, DOHC, and DOHC turbo since I have had a 323 GTX, FWD Capri, and a Miata. This one feels a bit more agricultural, but nice and torquey. I do know that the turbo engine bolts in with GTX mounts, and I have a spare turbo engine, but I don't have a FWD turbo transmission or wiring harness, so it would be complicated. That isn't really the point here.
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# ? Aug 3, 2013 17:21 |
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I got a lot of time yesterday evening and all of today to get the 323 reassembled. I finished the water pump install, timing belt job, and even had some time to clean out the engine bay. It looks like both outer axle boots are torn, a right side steering rack boot is torn, some play in the right front wheel (out tie rod probably), and it definitely needs shocks and shifter bushings. I can get most of the bushings short of two, but I can probably find something in the Grainger/McMaster-Carr catalogs that will be better. Brakes are great, power is great. It could definitely use a more aggressive alignment.
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# ? Aug 9, 2013 04:27 |
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I love it.
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# ? Aug 10, 2013 05:56 |
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Finally some pictures Starting out: Interior! Still works, the cigarette lighter and ashtray have never been used, the stereo seems to work fine. Organization isn't my strong point, but I've tried really hard here. All clean and ready for water pump: Water pump, cam gear, and new cam seal (not shown) installed: Mostly done: I have some more pictures to upload later tonight.
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# ? Aug 10, 2013 23:26 |
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drat you Californians and your immaculate rust free cars! Jealous as poo poo.
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# ? Aug 10, 2013 23:39 |
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holy loving dongs that car is mint. Time Capsule is right.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 01:50 |
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Totally ridiculous. The only 323's around here are gigantic rust piles. Goddamn love the interior on this one.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 03:40 |
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This thread makes me miss my "lil red". My buddy's girlfriend would always go on and on about how cute it was so I finally broke down and sold it to her. I don't entirely regret it 'tho because she takes excellent care of it. If you ever decide you want to sell this one let me know. I might be in a position to fly out to California and drive a car back in a few years. Also, good luck finding the Shifter Bushings. I ended up having to make my own with urethane pucks and a drill press. There is a guy on club protege who makes them, but I had no luck getting him to returm my PMs.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 14:37 |
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Leroy Diplowski posted:good luck finding the Shifter Bushings http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=ATM0771303_0349821206
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 16:21 |
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I wish they made aftermarket head units that looked like OEM ones but had an AUX/USB out or something, so I would have to use those tape deck converter things.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 20:10 |
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You can get people who refit classic head units with Bluetooth capability etc, at least in the UK. I've only seen 50s/60s types at shows, but one of the guys doing it said he could build the same thing into whatever head unit you want. I can't believe there isn't a similar venture in the US.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 20:23 |
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Surprisingly less extra buttons than I expected. And a non-tach gauge cluster! What a strange spec. Jealous of your mid-spec steering wheel and better door cards with fabric arm rests though. By the way if you can get hold of the appropriate gauge cluster with tach, it should work plug-and-play straight in with no extra wiring. Does on the Euro-spec ones anyway.
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# ? Aug 11, 2013 22:14 |
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I was gonna bag on you for getting a BF instead of a BG Mazda but that is pretty cool, especially because it's a wagon instead of the hatchback.
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# ? Aug 12, 2013 00:52 |
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Leroy Diplowski posted:This thread makes me miss my "lil red". My buddy's girlfriend would always go on and on about how cute it was so I finally broke down and sold it to her. I don't entirely regret it 'tho because she takes excellent care of it. You're in line after toaster_pastry, who loves weird cars like this. I don't think Mazda made many BF wagons, this thing is totally different from the 88-89 323s, it has different headlights and the engine management it totally different. This thing doesn't even have a check engine light! (I checked the 86 and 87 service manuals I have, and crossreferenced the 88 GTX manual as well.) I found my OEM Mazda ones of those, it seems that I need the other bushings that go on the bottom pivot of the shift lever. animeliker posted:I wish they made aftermarket head units that looked like OEM ones but had an AUX/USB out or something, so I would have to use those tape deck converter things. The service manual has the pinout for the tape deck, and its separate from the radio, so I could easily build one without much trouble. I'd just unsolder the cord from the tape deck unit so I don't have to dig around for the weird 6 pin DIN connector and shielded cable. CharlesM posted:I was gonna bag on you for getting a BF instead of a BG Mazda but that is pretty cool, especially because it's a wagon instead of the hatchback. I have a 323 GTX that I was restoring, but its a very stalled project. Maybe this can get all those nice brand new parts I've been saving over the years. My brother does have a Protege5 wagon, and my parents did have a 1988 Mazda MPV with a 5 speed, so Mazda people haulers are in the family. My brother also had a 90 BG sedan, it was a really nice car and blew away similar vintage Civics and Corollas on driving dynamics. edit: I just realized that I have 100% of the parts to do a B6T turbo conversion, except I have the weak F series gearbox. A Capri XR2 or 323 GT ECU, gearbox and axle donor would make this a much faster car. It'd actually be CARB legal if I used Capri parts, since they are newer. DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Aug 12, 2013 |
# ? Aug 12, 2013 01:14 |
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A Mazda G series trans out of a Kia Sephia would fit wouldn't it? I know the yards around here have shitloads of them. A turbo conversion sounds like the best idea ever, what other performance bits do you have that will fit? Any suspension stuff?
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# ? Aug 12, 2013 04:30 |
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A manual transmission wagon is always an awesome choice. I had an '86 sedan that was unstoppable, until my brother killed the clutch. It had drat near 300k when i scrapped it. It was just too rough to keep around. I do miss running the balls off that poor little car though.
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# ? Aug 12, 2013 07:05 |
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I have a FWD g series from a 92 Proteg in Northern California. In fact, I have a lot of Proteg parts there I need to clear out. :/
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# ? Aug 12, 2013 10:36 |
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CharlesM posted:I have a FWD g series from a 92 Proteg in Northern California. In fact, I have a lot of Proteg parts there I need to clear out. :/ I'll take it if you want to part with it. What else do you have? leica posted:A Mazda G series trans out of a Kia Sephia would fit wouldn't it? I know the yards around here have shitloads of them. Yep, same thing. I don't have any sporty suspension parts from my GTX that would fit, so I'd just be getting the best shocks I could and maybe some custom springs from Hypercoil or something. That really isn't the point, though it would definitely be fun!
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# ? Aug 12, 2013 21:28 |
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Just wondering whether the manual AWD gearbox from a first gen Kia Sportage would fit a Mazda motor? Maybe they are a substitute for the plate glass GTX box
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 00:53 |
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You Am I posted:Just wondering whether the manual AWD gearbox from a first gen Kia Sportage would fit a Mazda motor? Maybe they are a substitute for the plate glass GTX box Those were true RWD though, being longitudinal.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 00:53 |
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DJ Commie posted:Those were true RWD though, being longitudinal.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 13:10 |
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gently caress, 1987????? You aint kidding about it being a time machine, I've never seen a 1987 anything in that good condition for many years and you know, the whole Australia thing where cars barely seem to age for 20 years. Keep it stock and keep blowing minds how good it's lasted.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 13:18 |
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poo poo, I accidentally downvoted. It wasn't intentional. I was getting up to change music, and fatpalmed the interweb screen. I quite like this project, and wish I still had a car with a cassette player and weather band.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 13:23 |
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DJ Commie posted:Yep, same thing. I don't have any sporty suspension parts from my GTX that would fit, so I'd just be getting the best shocks I could and maybe some custom springs from Hypercoil or something. That really isn't the point, though it would definitely be fun! That's cool, so you could customize the spring rates for a happy medium between performance and comfort? It would look awesome lowered an inch or two with some nice wheels as well. You could also put a roof rack on it to add to the utility, the longer roof really helps with that. I'm jealous
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 15:59 |
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leica posted:That's cool, so you could customize the spring rates for a happy medium between performance and comfort? I'll see what its like with new struts and bushings, unfortunately the wagon rear anti-roll bar is the biggest of the possible options, so I'm somewhat out of luck on that. I'm getting the wheels from this for the wagon, they're 13x5.5 Enkei Meshes:
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 16:19 |
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Isn't it getting harder to find non-racing 13" tires these days? I wouldn't be surprised if 14" tires are cheaper. [edit] Does the wagon have gutters? I have some Yakima gutter mounts I'd sell you for cheap if you're interested. Applebees Appetizer fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Aug 13, 2013 |
# ? Aug 13, 2013 16:34 |
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DJ Commie posted:I'll see what its like with new struts and bushings, unfortunately the wagon rear anti-roll bar is the biggest of the possible options, so I'm somewhat out of luck on that. I have a set of those in red, one of my favorite wheels. I used to use them on my Toyota racers. Finding 13 inch non race tires is still easy as pie. I just picked up new Generals for my daily dirt car, it runs 13s.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 17:01 |
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DJ Commie posted:I'll take it if you want to part with it. What else do you have? 2 BP blocks (one from a GTX, one from a Protege LX), then just a bunch of random parts I think. I'm not really sure, they're at my parents house and my parents are selling the house so my storage space is disappearing . I won't be there until the first week of September though, probably.
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# ? Aug 13, 2013 18:47 |
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I ended up getting cap/rotor/wires to replace the possibly new stuff since I'm still chasing a rought idle condition. Too bad the stock muffler has fallen apart inside, it'd be great to keep all original exhaust I decided to take the 323 to the Concours D' LeMons instead of the Rocky, so if anyone is around Monterey this weekend, you'll probably see me there at Laguna Grande Park. CharlesM posted:2 BP blocks (one from a GTX, one from a Protege LX), then just a bunch of random parts I think. I'm not really sure, they're at my parents house and my parents are selling the house so my storage space is disappearing . I won't be there until the first week of September though, probably. Well definitely let me know. Did you used to have that big shelf of GTX parts posted in one of my GTX threads a few years back? I can just show up with a pickup truck and get any/all of it. DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Aug 16, 2013 |
# ? Aug 16, 2013 16:19 |
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Fun times were had at the Concours D' LeMons, the car was a surprising hit and I think toaster_pastry is in love with it. I saw some cool cars that were far more oddball than actually lemons. I got 34mpg going up to the show, and didn't drive particularly slowly. Car was pretty good, it definitely needed some miles to smooth it out from sitting for so long. Some other cars from the show (that I'll re-post all over AI) Fellow wagon bro: Honda AN600: My "Soul-Sucking Japanese Appliance" next to the eventual winner in the category, a 2wd non-turbo Impulse. edit: also its hard to realize how small the car really is... DJ Commie fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Aug 23, 2013 |
# ? Aug 23, 2013 20:28 |
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I'm sorely disappointed that this thing doesn't appear to steer with the wagon handle.
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# ? Aug 23, 2013 22:37 |
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Things like the 323 always ended up in the hands of new drivers and people without the money or desire to maintain them. Solid cars but they all got thrashed to death. Where I live cars don't seem to age much. It's moist and the sun is brutal but there are a lot of daily drivers which I'm sure the original drivers bought new on the far side of the '70s. Is it still running rough? The easiest question would probably be what haven't you replaced yet? I think the Niva had vaguely similar kms in the last few and sat for at least a year. It is such a bitch getting a rough running motor that's been sitting to behave properly sometimes. Driving the poo poo out of it and not being nice about it is helping. Thorough Italian tuneup I suppose. How much distance have you put on your Japanese beastie so far? I don't ever recall them idling amazingly smooth but if anyone can wake it up properly you can.
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# ? Aug 23, 2013 23:05 |
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General_Failure posted:Things like the 323 always ended up in the hands of new drivers and people without the money or desire to maintain them. Solid cars but they all got thrashed to death. Like look at that Amazon wagon - it's gorgeous and desirable now but when it was new it was just a pedestrian car. Probably very few have survived to the current day, and almost none in that condition are original. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Aug 23, 2013 |
# ? Aug 23, 2013 23:05 |
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Kinda makes you wonder, what standard appliance cars from today will be the cool old cars of 40 years from now?
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# ? Aug 23, 2013 23:11 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 14:01 |
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Fucknag posted:Kinda makes you wonder, what standard appliance cars from today will be the cool old cars of 40 years from now? I'm still blown away that people are restoring XD-XF Falcons. Last year I saw a house in town that had your average Holden ute. Then a fairly straight Kingswood appeared in their driveway. They did a Kingswood front swap on the ute and sold the Kingswood sans front. What decade am I living in? The '80s surely. I remember when the ACVWs were just appliance cars and splitties could be had for essentially nix. Now they are worth more than my house. You know what I think should fetch $$$ at auction? Unmolested Toranas. I have seen two.
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# ? Aug 23, 2013 23:27 |