figured i’d show you guys this rare hot hatch I picked up a few months ago, she’s coming along and almost ready to go back on the road.
she’s an 88 323 GTX, 5 speed AWD 1.6L turbo with a locking center diff. mazda’s version of the WRX, before there was a WRX. it goes well in the driveway with the STI anyway.
Always thought these cars were cool, never thought i’d see one let alone get the chance to own one.
100% stock when i got it,save the radio. amazing its survived this long
it has power steering, mechanically the engine and trans are great.
as of now i’ve either replaced or am in the process of replacing:
rear upper shock mounts with camber plates(no OEM replacement available)
custom shocks all the way around with mr-2 inserts(no OEM)
ground control coilovers, have two sets of springs with different rates, going to see which works for me(also no OEM replacement option)
drilled rotors all the way around
new pads
inner and outer bearings all 4 corners
gauge cluster(digital one was burnt out, have an analog waiting to swap in)
saved my nardi wheel from the RX-7, thats already on the 323
ditching the airbox and have a cone filter adapter for the MAF
once these things are done i’ll put it on the road and then its gonna go into another garage for some rust repair, she’s got a little rot in a couple places underneath. nothing we shouldn’t be able to patch up though.
probably recover the front seats as they have a few rips in them, replace the carpet as i’m sure we are going to destroy it when welding the floor.
i think thats about it, so a big list. all good though i got the car for an amazing deal from an exes father. he just wanted the car to go to someone who wouldn’t part it out or junk it as the parts are worth more than the car as a whole
I already have a set of BBS vert rx7 wheels, 5 lug hubs and the 4 pot brakes for it off of a TII, that will be happening before next summer along with new suspension and such. needs tuning and a bunch of other things i’d like to do before i register it
Solid, those BBS will look so much better. I have been an RX-7 fanboy my whole life. Obviously would love to own an FD but I’ve been tempted to look at FC and FBs for something more affordable.
this is my 4th, have owned 3 FB’s and now this FC.
I love them, i’m not sure why but i just do. then again I enjoy cars that aren’t what everyone else has, most people have no idea how a rotary engine works and that it even exists in cars. my mother still doesn’t know what i go on about when i try to explain the differences. she just knows its loud and smelly haha
the FB’s were fun but there’s only so much you can do with a recirc ball steering setup. suspension is the same, its dated. on top of the fact my last one was clean enough and low enough miles i would have felt bad doing any sort of modifications to it.
Right there with ya, definitely have an appreciation for those unique cars. Those 323s are few and far between. Keep this thread updated with the progress, would love to see more pics.
its almost crazy the response the 323 gets, i was talking about it with some of the guys in the rx7 discord. they were shocked as hell and all excited over it hah
the fb’s were a blast to own, the number of people that would stop me in parking lots and gas stations was unreal. everyone over the age of 30 knows someone that owned one at some point and has some crazy story about almost dying in one, or something along those lines.
well as of yesterday, the 323 gtx is driveable again.
list of things replaced:
bearings
hubs
springs(ground control coil overs)
shocks(4-way adjustable)
rotors(drilled)
pads
analog gauge cluster
Intake
rear calipers
I like how it sits now, doesn’t look like a monster truck anymore, could go a little lower if I wanted to but i think this is a good spot to be in. the tires are the weak point now, they have a lot of flex, the suspension, not so much
couple small issues with it still, need new lines for the parking brake, need to wire in the horn. I also think that the front passenger driveshaft needs replacing, at almost full lock she knocks no matter the speed, only in the one direction though
most of the interior is beyond saving, the front seats are fairly stained and ripped in places. luckily the bolsters are good and its only the center section of the seat that needs some love. hopefully that isn’t too hard of a job to do.
back seats are pretty good still, those should clean up nice. overall i guess its not that bad inside, it just bugs me a bit.
i’ve still got to get this car in to cut out the problem areas on the floor and weld in some new metal, hoping to get that done before the snow starts flying. we shall see if any of my welding friends are available before then, fingers crossed
well we’ve had some ups and downs this last week, replaced the front calipers, that went fine, brakes are good now
got the back end of the car in the air to try and replace the parking brake cables. couldn’t get most of the bolts off of the brackets under the car. will have to revisit that. while doing this i noticed a nice large crack in one of my new rear rotor, have to be kidding me, there may be 20 miles on these rotors…back to square 1
