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