Chris' Mazda 323F V6

[hoodedreeper]

I've been concious enough speaking infront of the camera let alone worrying about my accent lol

[hoodedreeper]

Inbetween the rain showers I finally managed to wash the car for the first time since purchasing it.









The ZXi models originally came with some stickers underneath the side repeaters. I'm pretty sure both of the front wings have been replaced at some point and have been painted.

I spent an evening re-making the graphic and my friend Ross at Vinylution kindly cut them for me. He was able to do a two layer vinyl giving it an outline. These are now available from Ross in a large selection of colours, making them customizable for all builds and colour schemes.









You may remember back when I first got the car that the exhaust was blowing. I ended up using 4 repair bandages to seal it enough to get it through an MOT. That 'repair' only lasted a week or two so something needed to be done sooner rather than later.

I searched and searched for a replacement centre section but failed. I dread to think what Mazda would have quoted especially with shipping from Japan. The only other option was to go for a custom stainless exhaust (what a shame! I hear you all cry)

I contacted a few local companies and they were coming back with quotes nearly £1000 for a cat-back system....holy hell! I understand inflation is a thing but DAAAMN has stainless really shot up in price that much in the past few years?!

One company got back to me with a reasonable price (still expensive IMO) but it was the best of the bunch. That company was ISC Power Flow in Ipswich,Suffolk so not too far away being >50 mile/1hr 30mins each way.

I didn't get any footage of them building the exhaust. Mainly because I was too shy to ask and the other reason being not everyone wants to be filmed. I did get a cheeky photo though.



They decided on a 2.25" system from the cat-back, fitting a larger centre resonator (it's probably 2-3 times the size of the stock one)



Majority of the pipe work was bent rather than cuts and welds which was a nice surprise. There's a short welded in piece where it goes over the rear subframe, then a single piece at the back



They held up a couple of different rear resonator/silencers but even their smallest one made the car quiet. The larger centre resonator probably didn't help.

In the end I decided on NO rear silencer and it's just the right volume. Its not too droney sitting at 60mph and not too deafening on acceleration. It's a nice deeper tone rather than rasp like a 350Z, not that there's anything wrong with a raspy 350Z

The original exhaust is a twin round tip backbox, I decided to go with a twin oval which fills the cut out in the bumper nicely

[—Martin—]

I've been concious enough speaking infront of the camera let alone worrying about my accent lol

Nooo!!! Don't worry about it, I love how Brits speak. Better than my homeland's weird Dutch accent. Sorry to any other Dutch here.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Sheesh, we're not savages. We only make fun of your breakfast beans on toast, not your accent. You should hear Arkansas accents.

[hoodedreeper]

I got the car up on a ramp at work to have a closer look at the new exhaust and to also check the exhaust hanger rubbers. The exhaust company mentioned the hanger rubbers aren't covered under their warranty. If they failed causing the exhaust to drag along the road, which in turn damaged it i.e putting a hole in it then it wouldn't be covered in the warranty.

It seems two out of four had been replaced, why they didn't swap the other 2 is beyond me. But they look to be a good condition anyway so nothing to worry about just yet.









I've been eyeing up another camera to help with the content creation. I'm hoping to move over to my Canon SLR but thats too bulky when it comes to filming tight spaces, like the suspension/brake areas, underneath the car etc.

Back in the day when I used to go drifting I used GoPros, starting off with their original Hero (which I still have, the battery has swollen though), Hero 3 and a Hero 3+ (you can see how long ago this was). After having numerous issues with the 3s I gave up and lost faith in the brand.

I was planning to go back to the brand and pick up a Hero 10 until I came across DJI's version, the Osmo Action.

Their latest model the Osmo Action 4 is compatible with their Mic 2 which I purchased not long ago. After watching a few videos I decided to take a gamble and ordered one.

In my latest video I talk about some features of the camera before heading out to capture some videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmgVWhjtn0Y

A couple of photos while out on the drive





I'm keeping an eye on the weather for the next week or so, hoping to take some annual leave to tackle one job I've had planned for some time.

I also have a replacement clutch kit ready, just waiting to hear back from a friend about helping me if not I'll have to get a garage to do it due to the lack of free time.

[hoodedreeper]

I've been planning an engine bay refresh for a little while. If the bodywork was sub-par then I could at least make the most interesting part of the car look better IMO.



I started to hoard parts including service items

Magnatec 5W40 (oil viscosity has always been a topic of discussion amongst owners. Some say 5W30, some say 10W40 so I went with inbetween)
Oil filter
Magnetic sump plug
Engine flush
Spark Plugs (NGK BKR6E-11)
K&N Panel Filter (found this one new old stock)
K&N Recharge kit
8mm Ignition Leads from (https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_s....m3561.l161211)

Inlet Manifold Gasket x2 (BGA MG6500)
Rocker Cover Gaskets (Elring 658.220 & 658.980)
OEM PCV Grommet (E30113338A same as a MX5 NA/NB)
OEM Oil Cap (045310250A same as a MX5 NA/NB)
OEM Inlet Manifold O Ring x2 (K80113163B)
OEM Throttle Body Gasket (KL4713655}
OEM Idle Control Valve Gasket (K80113W89)

I also stocked up on various stainless hardware (obviously measuring the ones I need)

Stripping it down 'should' be quite easy. Having only removed the airbox prior I was keen to learn more about this particular engine.



I started off with removing the airbox,intake hose and disconnecting the solenoid plugs and hoses on the side of the airbox. The inlet manifold has x8 8mm (13mm head) bolts and x4 8mm nuts either end of the flange.

Followed by the ignition leads, PCV breathers, fuel rail hoses and plug, brake servo hose, idle control valve and the associated solenoid plugs around the back of the throttle body.

There's a Y joiner to the left side of the inlet manifold, these vacuum lines goto each VRIS actuator and solenoid. While disconnecting this I ended up breaking the one way valve. I cover more of this in the Youtube video.

There's a bracket brace at the back of the inlet manifold, which was the last thing to remove.



Youtube video can be seen here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emkthVWC_6w

[hoodedreeper]

With it finally on the work bench I could begin cleaning it inside and out. I didn't realise how bad it was inside, nothing some aerosol brake and clutch cleaner couldn't sort.

With the top cover removed, it revealed one of the VRIS butterflys



And here's the other butterfly on the end, which has the link pipe connected to it.



Other side of the link pipe





Inlet side behind the throttle body



Throttle Body



Eeeek!



The previous owner had painted the rocker covers last year in what looks to be a wrinkle black finish. It was ok, but I felt the engine bay needed some colour



I used some Motip Paint Remover to strip the paint from the covers. The first one took a little longer because I was too impatient in the video and started to scrape it too soon. It's best to leave it for 5mins+ and let the paint really bubble up.





With the various componants now prepped and masked up it was ready for paint. Etch primer followed by Simoniz Wheel Steel and then their Clear Lacquer





With both rocker covers now back to bare metal, they were degreased and had the baffle plates removed ready for etch primer and then white primer.



Next up was the top coat, I went with Honda Indy Yellow Pearl



It's hard to see the flake because it's so fine but it does pop nicely under direct light



With the lacquer left to dry over night, the next day it was finally time to reassemble. Starting with the baffle plates, I used some RTV sealant around the plates along with some threadlock on the screws.





Going back to the broken one way valve under the inlet manifold. I got a universal valve from work but made the hose coming off the vacuum chamber longer, making the valve more accessible. While I was trimming down the hose to make it fit better, instead of pulling the valve off, I ended up pulling off the barb I had previously glued on.

Annoyingly this was the LAST thing to do. I retraced my steps and removed the inlet manifold (again) to gain access to the broken barb.



I should have done this on the work bench, but you live and learn The barb pushes in but without doing a smoke leak test I'm unsure how well sealed it is.

So to conclude this update, here's a before photo



After





I painted various brackets and pipes in Simoniz Tough Satin Black, it's one of my favourite paints to use



It turns out the dipstick handle isn't designed to be leant on, ooops! Luckily I had a solution stashed away which I knew would come in handy at some point.

Jass Performance make a handle specifically for broken MX5 dipsticks and luckily it fits the 323F too



Strut Brace nuts still need replacing after I found out they're M10 x 1.25





Stainless hardware makes all the difference (don't worry, I used threadlock on every single one). Zinc was an option, but I didn't know if it would be too much yellow







My Part 2 video on Youtube can be viewed here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpzIe_HieNU&t=9s

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Beautiful! I already love the V6 but that top end dress up is stunning.

[hoodedreeper]

Since the day I went to view and test drive the car, the clutch biting point was very high. To the point where my foot would only rise half an inch after the bite to the end of the pedal travel. Knowing this I've been driving with care to prolong the life before I could get it changed. It hadn't slipped at all up until 10 or so days ago.

My friend Danny came to the rescue and offered to help guide me through the job. I've only changed one clutch and that was on my Colt CZT with the help of another friend.

I apologise for the lack of photos, I did make a short video for Youtube but was unable to do a full on one due to copyright music in the background.

First start off by disconnecting the battery and remove the battery clamp, battery and battery tray. Next up is the intake hose and airbox, make sure you mark the vacuum hoses and put them back on the correct way.

Locate the starter motor on top left side of the gearbox underneath the distributor. Disconnect the two 12mm nuts and unplug the space connector on top. The starter motor has 3 bolts fixing it to the gearbox.

We decided to keep the slave cylinder connected and removed the 2 bolts that holds it to the side of the gearbox. Follow the clutch line along and it'll join to a short flexible hose which is attached to an L shaped bracket, this needs to be unbolted from the top of the gearbox.

Behind this towards the engine block is a large bracket that secures part of a electrical loom, this also needs unbolting.

Further to the right towards the rear of the engine block is the fuel filter in a cage bracket. I removed the long 10mm bolt on the cage bracket and pulled the filter out. There's two trim clips holding the electrical loom to the same bracket. Follow the bracket along the back of the engine and there's a bolt and captive nut, we slackened this to allow the bracket to move more freely.

In this area there's two plugs, one is the speedo drive and the other is the reverse light switch.

The last thing to do (from memory) at the top of the gearbox is to crack off the bell housing bolts. At the top centre there are two and one more to the right. On the left hand side of the gearbox, there's two more bolts and a third the opposite side (exhaust downpipe) which we originally missed.

Time to raise the ramp and start the removal underneath.

There's a horizontal curved brace with 2 bolts either side, this needs removing. Next was the long brace that goes from the cross member to subframe. The front has 2 bolts and the rear has 2 nuts. Towards the front of the brace is the front gearbox mount, there's two nuts here. With all of those removed the brace can be lifted away. The front gearbox mount has a single bolt that passes through, the round mount will then pull out. Make sure you don't loose the large washers and rubber bushes for the long brace.

You'll see two rods coming from the bottom of the gear stick,one is longer than the other. The short one is the gear selector and has a single bolt. The other goes to the gearbox and has a stud, the nut on mine stopped turning so it ended up removing the stud too.

We'll come back to the rear engine mount in a moment.

Drain the gearbox fluid. The drain plug is on the bottom of the gearbox, its a large bolt 22mm or 23mm (I can't remember sorry)

It's time to remove the wheels. The driveshaft hub nut is 32mm. Unbolting the lower ball joint will help swing the hub up to the side, giving you more access to the driveshaft once its been released from the hub. There's two options to remove the ball joint.

Option 1: Remove the pinch bolt leaving the ball joint on the suspension arm. This carries a risk of splitting the protective boot.

Option 2: Remove the ball joint from the suspension arm. There's a nut and bolt nearest the front and a single nut on top.

We went with option 2

The driver side driveshaft has a centre support bracket/bearing. There's two bolts attaching it to the engine block. With those removed, use a pry bar to help lever the driveshaft out from the gearbox. You may need to wiggle the inner joint while doing this to help.

The passenger side drivehaft is shorter so no need to remove any additional brackets. Removal from the gearbox is the same.

Lets re-look at the rear mount, this had 3 bolts. Two are above the passenger drive shaft and the other is slightly lower down next to the longer gear selector rod that you removed (the one with the stud)

With a transmission jack we took the weight of the gearbox and removed the bell housing bolts. Making sure nothing was getting caught on and around as we slowly lowered it down. Luckily it didn't need lifting/tilting, it came straight down.





We gave the gearbox a thorough clean inside and the areas which were damp on the outside. I checked the clutch plate went on the input shaft spline to check fitment and it was all ok. Using an alignment took, we could make sure the plate was central on the clutch cover before we bolted it to the flywheel.

The release bearing supplied was wrong. Left is the original and the right is the one supplied



Although it slid over the selector fork fine, the top part of the release bearing where the cover/cage crimps to itself that was fouling the inside of the gearbox. It's the part at 12 o'clock, on the right side item. We had no option but to re-use the old one.

The old (ADL Blueprint) correct release bearing FCR54-58



The new replacement (ADL Blueprint) and incorrect release bearing TKS54-33K



A photo of the old release bearing installed. You can see the clearance at the top near the casing



While I was making sure the clutch plate and cover was aligned, Danny gave the face of the flywheel a clean with some brake cleaner and sandpaper.



Clutch installed and torqued to spec



Refitting was the reversal. Make sure you refill the gearbox with 75W90, capacity is 2.7L.



Some Torque Setting

Front Hub Nut - 236>319 Nm
Clutch Cover - 17-23 Nm

My Youtube video can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBK5y1KLZh4

[hoodedreeper]

I'm doing some catch up with the build thread. There's been lots of little jobs but nothing really worthy of its own update.

While doing the clutch change we swapped over the passenger side gearbox mount. The bracket that bolts to the gearbox is different on the V6 and I so happened to have ordered a 1.5/1.8 mount *eye roll*

Luckily that bracket is on a spindle that passes through the bush mount and is held on by a large nut. The bush itself looked the same so we swapped the bracket over and it all bolted into place.

The reason for the change was because I get a knock when changing gears and sometimes under harsh acceleration. I had purchased all 4 mounts but we only had time to do the one (which made sense because of the clutch change).

Although we did look at the front mount, but the one supplied was incrorrect. Turns out the studs are wider on the V6 model.

The driver side mount was the next one to look at. With the engine supported with a trolley jack and a piece of wood it was time to loosen the nuts.



There's 4 nuts on the top, one is for an earth strap which sits ontop of another nut.



There's 2 bolts that hold the mount to the chassis. There's also a 10mm nut that holds a bracket onto the main mount.



The powder steering reservoir needs unbolting and lifting up and off from the bracket. From here the mount can be removed while navigating under the hose.



The mounts look pretty identical with a couple of minor differences. The top stud is longer on the new one and there's an additional bracket? on the right hand side which faces the bulk head.



At first thought I didn't think it would line up. But I threaded in the bolts by a couple of turns and they equally tighened up. The top bracket dropped straight on





Unfortunately I still have the knocking noise. I've got front lower ball joints and stabaliser links to change. But I've got a strong feeling it's going to be the rear engine mount. To do that the subframe needs removing because access to the bolts is blocked by the bulkhead.

The next job was something that was being revisited from the engine bay refresh update. You may remember me breaking the check valve and barb on a vacuum chamber which are bolted to the underside of the inlet manifold.

I made an(other) order with Amayama for some replacement parts to fix the issue. I decided to buy both chambers, check valve and the elbow hose.



After the refresh I knew something wasn't right, the car was lacking a severe amount of power (well...what ever is left lol) So I knew it was related to the check valve I got from my work.

It didn't take long to remove the inlet manifold (I'm getting pretty good at doing this now!) to see what was causing me problems.



The barb had pulled itself out from the chamber (I already knew the glue had failed from last time), that would explain alot!

It didn't take long to fit the new parts, it's a good job I purchased the other chamber because that barb had snapped off to.



I'm kicking myself for not ordering a new foam buffer ring thing that goes around the check valve, it's just to stop the check valve from rubbing against the inlet manifold. Hopefully this one lasts a little while longer.

With it all back together it was time for a test drive. My face lit up when the VRIS engaged and the car was back to running normal again.

Youtube video can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLt9-6Hpxps



A couple of Sunday's ago I was invited to the local Mazda dealership for a small event they had organised for the 35th Anniversary of the MX5 (or Miata to some readers), it was also the 30th Anniversary of the 323F . The MX5 club were there having a number of cars on display. I did arrive late due to being at my Cars & Coffee event that I organise.

The rain hadn't stopped all morning so alot of people had already left. The event finished at 12:30pm and I waited till everyone had left so I could get some photos outside the dealership.

Fun Fact: The owners manual that I got sent by another member, that car was originally sold at this dealership back in the mid '90s. The staff even recognised the signatures in the service history.


I managed to find a new old stock K&N panel filter. The bag had been opened so chances were high of the oil being non-existant. I ordered a recharge kit (cleaner and oil) and set about re-oiling the filter before installing.



The Youtube video can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWYx9-LvPlg


The last part of this update was an interior change. The car came with a steering wheel boss kit so I decided to put it to good use. These cars probably weren't designed for larger people like myself and I'm ashamed to admit that it can be a squeeze getting in and out.

With the battery disconnected and left for a couple of hours I could get to work with removing the airbag. There's x4 10mm bolts holding it on. With the airbag pulled out it revealed the loom, a large blue plug that housed a smaller blue plug and an orange one.



I couldn't unplug the short loom that goes to the clock spring. I followed the wiring back and found another blue and orange plug.

** FOR FUTURE REFERENCE ** The Orange plug with single wire is for the horn. The blue plug with 2 wires are for the airbag



Club member Paul kindly sent me a couple of resistors, I pushed them into the blue plug and taped it up. I wrapped the wiring around the boss and pushed the cover for the HKB boss over the top.

Unfortunately the resistor still put the airbag light on the dash. I'm hoping its from a poor connection, but I didn't have my soldering iron to hand to make a little adaptor. I got the steering wheel bolted onto the hub and went for a test drive.



Finding a suitable steering wheel was tricky. The original measures 375mm but most steering wheels seem to be 350mm. I wanted something 90s styled to suit the car better.

After numerous messages to a long list of sellers I finally found this 320mm Momo Tuner on eBay in very good condition.

The youtube video can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DyBocEUXoc&t=13s

Sorry for the long read, turns out it was a larger update than anticipated.

The next update is a big one, I've been wheel shopping!

[hoodedreeper]

Since buying the car, I knew the S14 wheels weren't going to be a 'forever' wheel. They're not a bad looking wheel and they do suit the car, but I felt the large flat spokes were abit boring.

I've spent countless hours browsing through selling sites and despite specific searches, I kept being presented with everything but what I was looking for.

I wanted to stay with 16s, I knew this would limit my search but I wasn't expecting it to be so difficult. Majority of results came back as 15" (I'm unsure if they're fit over the brakes) or 17" (can look too big on the car) or the wrong PCD.

Here are a few options,unfortunately I didn't have a HUUUGE budget which also didn't help the search.

Rota Fighter (Volk Racing CE28 reps) Not a huge fan of multi spokes



Japan Racing JR3/Rota Grid (Volk Racing TE37 reps)



Japan Racing JR11 (Weds SA-99R reps) again, quite a few spokes



I've always liked the Enkei RFP01 design and it works on alot of cars. It was one wheel I couldn't find in the specs I was after (at the time)



The Rota Slipstream were my first choice. I had these on the Motul K11 Micra, its a simple design which looks great



This grey 323F has the real deal Desmond Regamasters (or so the owner says)



Mazdaspeed installed their MS01 wheel on their Lantis models, which came in 16". But as you can imagine these can hold a good 2nd hand value



The more I searched for examples the more I prefered a 5 or 6 spoke design. I did come across a set of Work Equip 05s but by the time they're refurbed it'd be close to a 4 figure total. Plus my days of keeping polished lips clean are in the past from the Work Meister S1s on the purple MX5.



That's when I had a wheel design pop into my head which may tick all of the boxes. An OEM wheel from a rival manufacturer.

I sent out a few messages to people who may know the whereabouts of said wheel, which led me to a seller local to me. I immediately went to view them and providing they were all straight with no major damage or cracks, they'd be coming home with me.



The wheels had been stored for a number of years outside, but the lips had quite alot of brake dust embedded

I tried the strongest wheel cleaner/fall out remover I had and it didn't shift it at all. This meant I would struggle to clean them and the only way was a refurb.



I was able to get my hands on a knackered tyre in the same size as the Kumhos. I used this for testing on the car to make sure they cleared the arches and brakes.



With no spacers it was a pretty good fit and plenty of clearance. A small spacer would be required due to the centre bore being smaller than the 323F hub.

It was all steam ahead so I got it booked in for a refurb. A friend of a friend was able to do them for me for a cash price. I asked for them to be sprayed in a gunmetal colour. Their response was they do a light or a dark gunmetal. I didn't want it too light where it'd be silver, but I didn't want it too dark and it's almost black.

I left him to decide and hoped they came out ok.



I'm very very happy with the colour and the overall condition is great considering how much corrosion and pitting the wheels had originally.

I gave them a layer Meguiars Ultimate Wax to help seal them

Forged Nissan R32 GTR 16x8j ET30 (technically ET27, I have 3mm spacers fitted), 205/50R16 Kumho tyres





I lowered the BC Racing coilovers to eliminate the rear arch gap. Both axles were different heights! The front got lowered approx 10mm and the rear approx 15mm

The distance from the locking collars are:

Front: 40mm
Rear: 135mm













I'm extremely happy with the result!

What do you think?

The Youtube video can be found here (I tried improving my 'cinematic' editing):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6sT7wV61-c&t=2s