The story of my retro ride
So way back in '06 I started uni and got a job at a petrol station, which used to be an Austin/Leyland/BMC dealer in the 60's and 70's. All of the spare parts had been kept since this time, and some quite tasty cars had been stored inside, from an A30 panel van to Minis and an odd Fiat 500. It became clear soon after that none were for sale, and wouldn't ever be. I was told about an old Mazda 323 which belonged to his daughter that would a good fixer upper for someone like me. It wasn't until '09 when the shed was starting to be cleared out that this came to be.
The car had last been registered in 2000, and had been used as storage ever since (behind was a Leyland Marina Super)
The body was in pretty good nick despite being near the ocean
This was November 2009 and first time out of the shed in a while. The glovebox had the manual and all the service history up to 1993 including the original sales receipt. All 3 owners of this car have lived in a 1km radius!
So when I got it she wasn't running. A couple of used/spare engines were included, which indicated it had gone through engines reasonably quick. The standard engine was a 1.4L UC with a 3 speed automatic.
I had it towed to a mates place to try and sort out the engine. Gave it a good wash too
We tried starting the engine, fiddling and fixing bits, but didn't have any luck. I decided to cut my losses and get another engine. Went for a bit of a drive (450km) and I snagged up a rebuilt engine and auto trans for $500, which was alot less than replacing the bits the old engine needed.
New one in - same spec as old engine
So then I had some go, so I needed some show. 70's Mazdas have the unfortunate PCD of 4x110 so it's hard to find anything around. I was picking up some RX7 wheels and these were for sale too:
MOMO Altairs, 14x6+20, which I've been told were a pricey option for RX7's back in the day. They are a pretty close copy of BBS Mahle rims.. I've only ever seen another 2 sets on eBay! Anyway they got stripped, sanded and repainted.
The car got a new manifold back exhaust, new brakes, new bushes, H4 conversion, interior tidy up and alot of other work and it passed registration inspection first go in March 2011
After that I got some earlier spec bumpers with chrome ends, and drove around lots
And then exactly one month after getting it back on the road the engine let go due to oil starvation..
Bearings were shot
So what to do? Drive 1700 km interstate to pick up two engines and a set of rims of course!
Had nothing but issues with them since day 1. I was assured they were both 1.4 5 speeds, but one was a 1.3 4 speed - but they are interchangeable so it didn't worry me too much at the time. I was assured that they we're both good runners so we pulled them out and brought them home untested.
I also got some Rial mesh rims 15x6+12.
Which fit pretty nice. They are currently without tyres waiting a refurb.
I then fitted the 1.4 5 speed into the car, enlarged the shifter hole and put in a clutch pedal and cable. Wouldn't start no matter what we did. Seemed easy to turn over by hand. Maybe too easy... No compression. I pulled the head off the 1.3 and it wasn't much better. Had enough, went on annual leave for a few weeks
Came back with some mojo, decided to rebuild a 1.4 using the original block and head, with the cam and crank from the one with no compression. Me and a mate had a ball on the rebuild - new bearings, rings, gaskets
And a coat of paint for good luck
I then went for another inspection in November 2011 and the engine is up to 5000km since the rebuild, and is getting better as I tune it up - idle mixture, timing etc
Interior - extra gauges, retrimmed front seats, optioned spec console, RX7 steering wheel..
Now looks like this after the front has some -30mm springs, and new shocks all round
It gets driven semi daily and now drives excellent on the new shocks. Keeps up with traffic too
So way back in '06 I started uni and got a job at a petrol station, which used to be an Austin/Leyland/BMC dealer in the 60's and 70's. All of the spare parts had been kept since this time, and some quite tasty cars had been stored inside, from an A30 panel van to Minis and an odd Fiat 500. It became clear soon after that none were for sale, and wouldn't ever be. I was told about an old Mazda 323 which belonged to his daughter that would a good fixer upper for someone like me. It wasn't until '09 when the shed was starting to be cleared out that this came to be.
The car had last been registered in 2000, and had been used as storage ever since (behind was a Leyland Marina Super)
The body was in pretty good nick despite being near the ocean
This was November 2009 and first time out of the shed in a while. The glovebox had the manual and all the service history up to 1993 including the original sales receipt. All 3 owners of this car have lived in a 1km radius!
So when I got it she wasn't running. A couple of used/spare engines were included, which indicated it had gone through engines reasonably quick. The standard engine was a 1.4L UC with a 3 speed automatic.
I had it towed to a mates place to try and sort out the engine. Gave it a good wash too
We tried starting the engine, fiddling and fixing bits, but didn't have any luck. I decided to cut my losses and get another engine. Went for a bit of a drive (450km) and I snagged up a rebuilt engine and auto trans for $500, which was alot less than replacing the bits the old engine needed.
New one in - same spec as old engine
So then I had some go, so I needed some show. 70's Mazdas have the unfortunate PCD of 4x110 so it's hard to find anything around. I was picking up some RX7 wheels and these were for sale too:
MOMO Altairs, 14x6+20, which I've been told were a pricey option for RX7's back in the day. They are a pretty close copy of BBS Mahle rims.. I've only ever seen another 2 sets on eBay! Anyway they got stripped, sanded and repainted.
The car got a new manifold back exhaust, new brakes, new bushes, H4 conversion, interior tidy up and alot of other work and it passed registration inspection first go in March 2011
After that I got some earlier spec bumpers with chrome ends, and drove around lots
And then exactly one month after getting it back on the road the engine let go due to oil starvation..
Bearings were shot
So what to do? Drive 1700 km interstate to pick up two engines and a set of rims of course!
Had nothing but issues with them since day 1. I was assured they were both 1.4 5 speeds, but one was a 1.3 4 speed - but they are interchangeable so it didn't worry me too much at the time. I was assured that they we're both good runners so we pulled them out and brought them home untested.
I also got some Rial mesh rims 15x6+12.
Which fit pretty nice. They are currently without tyres waiting a refurb.
I then fitted the 1.4 5 speed into the car, enlarged the shifter hole and put in a clutch pedal and cable. Wouldn't start no matter what we did. Seemed easy to turn over by hand. Maybe too easy... No compression. I pulled the head off the 1.3 and it wasn't much better. Had enough, went on annual leave for a few weeks
Came back with some mojo, decided to rebuild a 1.4 using the original block and head, with the cam and crank from the one with no compression. Me and a mate had a ball on the rebuild - new bearings, rings, gaskets
And a coat of paint for good luck
I then went for another inspection in November 2011 and the engine is up to 5000km since the rebuild, and is getting better as I tune it up - idle mixture, timing etc
Interior - extra gauges, retrimmed front seats, optioned spec console, RX7 steering wheel..
Now looks like this after the front has some -30mm springs, and new shocks all round
It gets driven semi daily and now drives excellent on the new shocks. Keeps up with traffic too