You may have seen my post in the introduction section if so you will already know a bit about the car
But if not il go back over it now
I've been passing this car parked up on a driveway in a carport for the last 2 years due to my job
And because my wife had the V6 version about 15 years ago it always catches my eye (you just don't see many about nowadays)
So when I passed it one morning and noticed a for sale sign in the window it got me thinking

We have a fiesta that's our spare car so if mine or the wife's cars are off the road or we're going somewhere we don't want to leave our cars we use the fiesta
Now I was planning on replacing that in the summer so this would be an ideal replacement

After some thought I gave the owner a knock
It was owned by an old couple it turns out their son bought it new had it 3 years and then they bought it from him so they've owned it for the last 17 years
It's only covered 31.000 miles and the old boy has cared for it well up until poor health has ment he can't no longer
As you would expect the interior is like new and it drives the same
So I bought it

As it is it looks really boring
In my spare time I'm into the retro car scene and I do retro conversions mainly modern engines in older car but I can get involved in full running gear upgrades
So my first thought with this was keep it std with nice rims and put it on air ride
But now I've driven it and I can appreciate to time and care the last owner had put into it I'm not sure?
Either way I plan to bring it back to as good as it can be without it becoming mint because then I won't want to use it (I've already got cars I don't use because I'm worried about them getting scratched)

Just hunting for photos of the wife's old 323 and this is the only one taken at a track day at donington

Clearly you need to find your particular point of compromise between how the previous owner kept it, and how you'd like it. Maybe just start with some subtleties and then see how much further you're willing to go?

Within the club I'm notorious for keeping my GXi stock, and refusing to let anyone do anything to it that might consist of "a mod" (including adding HIDs, changing the godawful rubber cover around the gear lever, changing the air intake, etc.). I refuse even to lower it, hence an annual barrage of jokes about 4x4s and having the homeless sleep in my wheel arches!

However: I have swapped the original turquoise interior for an OE black leather one: it was option on the F at the time, so I'm comfortable with that. I've also added a second brake light in the original Mazda pre-Ford spoiler (which came with a slot for it, although being mostly post-Ford my car already has a high-level light on the tailgate); and I have "MAZDA" in the correct font down each side of the car. I've also added some pre-Ford fogs as they were also an accessory available at the time, and made some fog covers for them; and made custom wheel centres with the Mazda "eternal flame" on them.

So, I've added some visual "mods" which aren't really "mods" but make it stand out as an individual.

Engine-wise, and running-gear wise I haven't changed it at all as I've had the car for 19 years and still love the performance just as it is. On the other hand I've just bought a V6, and have lots of modding plans for that, although the previous owner has already done a lot to it.

S

PS: nice track photo! I'm hoping to be out there in my V6 next year (I won't risk the 1.5 on the track in case I trash it...)

Wow You've had yours 19 years
That's good going I once had a mini for 22 years but it was probably only on the road for half that

For now I'm sticking with out the showroom std
I'm currently giving the Mazda a mini restoration so il keep posting details of that
This won't be the most interesting thread but as long as someone else is interested il keep posting

Hi Discostew...

well what you ask, is only oppinions, and well, at the end of matters, the decision is yours. I have a 1.5 (bacause in my country there aren't almost V6 ) and in terms of perfomance for what i know with that engine (z5 1.5 DOCH) you can't do much things in order to get more Horse Power and etc. (people correrct me if i'm wrong XD ) and even if there is, will cost you a lot of money, time and compromise the engine health and duration...

So, maybe just do some exterior styling mods, like rims, kitts like flutes, side skirts, and also other thins that you may like...

People say that in that car one of the best mods in performance is coilovers. the car is already very good in corners but with coils they say that it be a master car in corners... (they say, i dont know cus i dont have money to spend on that )


at the end, its an onpinion... just dont mess a lot whit it! Its already a beautifull and great car

CSR

Hi CSR

I won't be doing anything to the engine/performance I'm lucky enough to have a couple of fun cars
If I do anything to this it will just be the basics wheels and ride hight

Whack some nice 16's or 17's on it and cut the springs job done lol.

You used to be able to get lowering springs for these relatively cheaply, i paid £80 for my first set but i think they are a bit more now.

Looks like you had a similar pick up find to me - old guy had it for 12 years, FSH with 39k on the clock......then i ruined all that XD

Deffo keep us up to date on your progress dude!

So the start of this mini restoration project

As I'm sure all you owners know Mazda cut some corners with there anti corrosion treatment
The under seal is quite thin and the cavity wax is nonexistent
Because this had been looked after and mainly because it's done so little mileage it's in very good shape
There's a bit of rust to the iner o/s/r arch where it meets the sill and on the outer arch due to damage
Also the last couple of MOTs had advisorys on under body rust (a bit of a concern)
So next step is to get it in the garage and on the rotisserie

Wheels off all 4 arch liners off
And have a closer look

Rust

Rust due to damage
As this was only a cheap runabout I was just going to leave it
But as it as good as it is I thought I'd spend some time and get all the rust sorted
Prevention is the best policy when it comes to rust
and I know if I do a proper job it will last a long time

Yeah before I'd even bought it the idea in my head was 17" or 18" and a set of lowering springs
Then I started looking into air suspension and 19"
And as much as I would like to do that I keep reminding myself to just do what needs to be done and keep it as is

But I said that about my last daily driver
And that's a very different animal now

You can modify the car and still keep the original spirit - just dont go full retard on it.
The wheels for example dont do the car any favors. For this approach, i would get a set of MX5 NB2 OEM 16" alloy wheels that look right at home on the BA.
Mazda even sold lowering springs as a dealer option, so that's hardly changing the character.
Mild wheels spacers: dont hurt.
You can start swapping over improved parts from other Mazda models like MX3, MX5 and Xedos6 without taking away the car's character.
Anyway, just my 2 cents...

Il have a look at the MX5 wheel option I didn't think about other Mazda models

So set about repairing the arch
Cut out all the rust

Done the same with the arch lip

Panel work is not my thing I can't stand it so I'm no panel beater so that's good enough


With the door I just dolly'd up the damage edge and painted the edge "a blow in"

I could of done a better job but my main concern was to make sure it was just rust free
I'm not going to refit the black plastic arch trims as they just collect dirt and crap turning it into a rust trap il get some black vinyl stickers instead
The colour match is surprisingly good for a red car

I threw some 15" NA or NB (sorry can't remember which) MX-5 wheels on mine. They fit perfectly and the offset is similar if not the same. Stuck to 15" Mazda rims for cost, legality, simplicity, matching and (almost) originality reasons.

16" would probably fit that much better, my wheel arches still look a tad empty.

I think the MX-5 guys almost throw these away (at least in Oz) so an MX-5 club or specialist workshop may have sets cheap.

Patrick

P.S. Keep up the good work and posts, by the way!

Thanks
I've found some mx5 wheels on eBay I couldn't tell you what they are called il watch how the bidding goes and maybe put a bid in

Next step was the under body corrosion
On the last couple of MOTs it was an advisory it sounded a lot worse than it turned out to be
Basically the rubberised stone chip/ underseal was pealing back along some of the seams and rust was creeping in
Easy fix in the end
First clean back the pealing stone chip and treat the rust with a rust killer




Once the bad bits were cleaned off and treated the next step was to re-do the seam sealer

Then a two stage underseal
First full underseal
Second cavity wax in all the nooks and crannies chassis legs and around the tank and suspension
Remove the body grommets and get the wax in there


More coming

These are the MX5 wheels I meant:


Those are 6.5x16", I'd strongly advise against the standard 15" wheels at least from an aesthetic point of view since they are too small and too narrow.

Looks good and sits nice
Is your car lowered?

Yes, 60mm.

Some brilliant work going on here!!!! wish i had a thingy to roll it around lol

Just springs or is it coilovers?

Thanks
I made the rotisserie last year for a job I was doing for someone (a very rusty 70s lada)
It's such a handy bit of kit no more grovelling about on the floor getting burnt by MIG splutter

The next stage was to finish off the underseal and waxoil

Underseal the inside of the Arches and Again remove the chassis grommets and spray waxoil in every cavity
On the rear I removed the iner trims in the boot ( 1/4 panel) and waxed in there as well so that should keep the rear arches from rusting




Overall I used 4 tins of underseal and probably used at least half of that 5ltr waxoil or more
But I'm happy with how things came out and it should last another 20 years

Air con
The air con didn't work when I bought it and as I quite like my creacher comforts it was a must fix
Checked it for gas pressure (none) so it had to be a leak and as its normally the condensor that leaks it was that I replaced

Old and new
Need to get it gassed up but that's another job done

Mechanically it's good but I don't know when the timing belt was replaced last so gave it a full service
Oi and filter
Fuel filter
Air filter
Cambelt

Sweet car indeed. Good job on fixing the rust issues!

Wow you have some heavy equipment there
Must be great to bring the old memories back and be able to perform this restoration
Keep going with the good work