My Mazdas - old and new!

[timmy201]

Hey guys, I've got a couple of Mazdas

A Neo sedan which I got new. It's now at 20,000kAnd a 323 wagon, which I got like this And now looks like, after 2 years, an engine swap, then a rebuild a couple of months later..I'd like to get some MPS rims for my 3, preferably BL ones, but id settle for BK ones.And the 323 has some new wheels to be refurbed at some stage too, along with some lowering too.

[MPS190]

Nice looking Neo.

And that 323 wagon is excellent !!!

[Caffeine Fiend]

Hi and welcome




Those wheels used on the Mazda SEMA cars are actually 19" forged BBS wheels from the Mazda RX8 GT. Very expensive, however one member here does have a set on his MPS

The design of the BL MPS 18" alloys is effectively the same though. They're just not forged, so much cheaper

[LittleredMPS]

Dont know what he is talking about, he lies alot, so just discount the rumour that someone has RX8 GT rims.

[timmy201]

Yeah, the 19x8 rx8 rims would be awesome, but id settle for the mps ones (i couldn't find a pic of a sedan on mps rims )

[dru]

Very nice!

The old 323 Wagons were RWD weren't they? I'm pretty sure I've seen people fit 13Bs into them.

[timmy201]

Very nice!

The old 323 Wagons were RWD weren't they? I'm pretty sure I've seen people fit 13Bs into them.

Yep, they are RWD. They have the same engine bay as an RX3/808 so most of it is bolt in. In NSW you can only legally fit a 12A because they weigh only 850kg.

I got the 323 in late '09 with an unknown engine. It had been parked up for almost 10 years. We couldnt get it started and running well, and it needed alot of parts to get it reliable. It got swapped for a good priced complete reco'd stock 1.4 + auto, the same as was in the car originally. I worked on it for a few months replacing pretty much everything than was worn out and got it through rego in March '11. It ran really nice for about a month / 900km till it got a bit of a knock..

Big end bearings (x4), Main bearings (x4)

And the crankshaft. (x8)

Which was due to oil issues...


So I bought 2 engines from a wrecker, put one in and it had no compression.. So I rebuilt the first one using bits from the wrecker one.It came with a 5 speed so I swapped to a manual too.


A little OCD with the rebuild... The head gasket didnt seal the first time, probably due to the engine head combo.. the block from a 1.4 with a 1.3 head. I used the 1.3 gasket the 2nd time and no issues

And in place + working again. I got it rego'd again in november and its got 3000km on the clock and running awesome.

Ive recently replaced the rear shocks, and its great to drive. Ive learnt most of the mechanical stuff now, so I'd like to do some body work/painting to make it look a bit nicer. The colour - Thunder Yellow was only avaliable for one year, its a yellow with a slight greeny tinge - its been hard to match paint for, as is shown by the right headlight ^above ^. Im thinking of a more common colour so I can touch it up if needed. Its been surpisingly good on fuel since Ive tuned it a bit, down to 8.2l/100k for the last couple of tanks.

The 3 is the same as the day I bought it new in Jan '11. I got a few extras, but Im happy using it for a comfy daily (fuel use is an average of 6.7 too), the only mods it will get will be some MPS rims and maybe some Eibach springs. The scrapes on my front bumper have put me off lowering it so far!