Mazda 323 1.3 b3

[Kamazas]

Hello, I am from europe and I have mazda 323 ba p 1.3 sohc 16v b3 1997 efi. I drive it in amateur racing series. What could I do to squeze extra power from this beast? I already have installed high flow air filter, advanced the timing and deleted the CAT.

[Doug Brown]

Just an update on RED, my soon to be drag racer.

The B3 engine block is at the machine shop for a +.020" overbore and a hot tank cleaning. The head is at the shop to install new valve guides and to do a valve job, along with a +.010" head skim. I spent 3 days porting and polishing the inlet and exhaust runners -- much bigger and smoother run.

I sent off the camshaft for a regrind to the guy I found in Oregon. He had a grind which was nearly identical to the FMS 3/4-race cam. The specs are:
254/254 @ .050", 292/292 adv, .280"/.280" lift. Since the rockers are 1.65 : 1, this gives a .462" lift

So fairly soon the engine will start going together and then get installed in the car.

If anyone wants more pictures of the head work or is interested in getting their head P&P, send me a note In the picture the old valve guides have been removed for the P&P.

If anyone in the NC area needs machine work done to their engine, I really recommend Edge Brothers in Jacksonville, NC. Nice people, very impressive shop, reasonable prices.

[Kamazas]

Nice but i was thinking more outside, what could be replaced for more power without going inside engine internals.

[firebush357]

There isn't much more you can do without doing headwork. You could try to find a set of headers and open up the exhaust a little but that probably won't give you much. What kind of racing do you do? A lot of the guys here that race road courses replace the front support with some thicker metal to stiffen up the front. You could also try to find a way to pull some weight out of the car but be careful pulling too much weight off the front end.

[Kamazas]

I pulled almost all weight from the back. It's racing for positions on tarmac.

[Kamazas]

I wonder if a larger throttle body would help. Does anyone know the diameter of one in B3?

[firebush357]

45mm at the smallest section and 51mm at the largest. The intake plenum also has a 51mm opening. I have someone a couple hours away that bores out throttle bodies and I was thinking about sending one to him after I finish the port and polish on my head.

[Kamazas]

The engine revs fine until 5500rpm and then it feels like it had hit a wall. I know that at 5500rpm it makes maximum power but the redline is at 6500rpm so 1000rpm to go. It seems like something restricts airflow. Maybe I should try to disconnect MAF to gain better top end power. Tell me what are your thoughts on this one.

update: unplugging MAF didnt help. What about bigger fuel injectors?