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Hello friends both old and new. I've been a member on here for nearly a decade, and I'm proud to unofficially announce I'm coming back for a third crack of the Mazda/Ford whip.
I lovingly miss my original B6T build, now in the caring arms of our own mikeycar500 in Ontario. I'm told he's now drag racing it and having an absolute riot with a new B6T long-block buttoned up under the hood with that bastard VF/VJ turbo. That first car taught me a lot about performance and tuning, with a shout out to sasquatch/Mike in Langley who did the engine swap for me while I was in university and overseas studying. I've been inspired to carry this savvy with all things B-series forward to the latest build.
My second car, less memorable by every account, was a B3 grocery getter, which the subsequent owner has since completely trashed without apology. Head gasket is blown, tires are flat, belts are shredded, interior is completely riddled with headliner/cushion cigarette burns in all four seats, and a even smashed window to put icing on the cake. Though I was planning on buying it back from her for $50 (yeah, it's that bad), I managed to find something better. As those who know me well will tell you, my build logs and posts as a whole are notoriously long-winded and read more like journals than photo albums. I poured a lot of meticulously loving care into that car, including a heck of a lot of noise dampening and bottle after bottle of Simple Green. I learned from this second build that divinity is in the details when it comes to maintaining classic cars, and that's going to definitely carry forward.
Without further ado, allow me to introduce my third project... an all-original (including jack, floor mats, and radio) 1986 Mazda 323LX 1.6 automatic. I'm not exactly sure what the colour is called officially, but bronzey-grey-brown seems apt for now. It has 132,000/80,000 on the clock, and was garaged for pretty much it's entire lifetime. For those counting, that averages out to under 5000K/3000m a year. Makes me wonder about oil changes and the like. Though I was still on the lookout for Festivas, it seemed like the step up to a larger hatch, a sunroof, and a bigger engine out of the gate made sense at the price-point.
Though I'd certainly would have preferred a five speed personally, I'm in no rush to do anything about it. Provided the compression numbers are still acceptable, I suspect the B6 block will stay in preparation for forced induction of some sort... likely paired with ultra-short piping and water/meth injection. If not, expect a dual overhead cam swap at some point in the near future. For suspension, I'll be replacing as many soft components as I can, not the least of which are the original strut hats... which, combined with likely under-inflated tires, are providing a dangerously heavy steering effort. Unlike my prior build, this one won't be nearly as much of a kidney buster, even if it means surrendering my ability to take on-ramps to spool the turbo in 3rd gear past 50MPH like the original Festiva. The brakes appear to be in good condition, but it has a very mushy pedal and needs a good bleed.
In the loving care of a retired couple's heated garage, I suspect this thing seldom made a trip beyond church and the grocer. From there, it was inherited by a grandson and his friend who both used it as a guinea pig on becoming more capable/confident mechanics... you'll notice this fact in particular when you have a look at the components under the hood. I'm told they took every opportunity to disassemble and refurbish/replace things as they were able to before upgrading to a Mercedes when they were promoted and settled down in their careers. Reports from the seller explain an untraceable oil leak from either the transmission or the engine along with one moderately-awkward-to-reach door ding on the driver's side. Upon first glance, the leak seems likely to be just the valve cover gasket and possibly one/both pan gaskets. Nothing a torque wrench and some RTV can't fix.
It looks like either there's a lot of filmy dust on the car or someone attempted to wet-sand it and forgot to finish the job. Not quite sure as of yet, but once I take possession and get her detailed, we'll find out for certain. Aside from those minor issues, it has a 695CCA monster battery in it, brand new snow tires on the original 13" wheels, and a moderately-clean interior that has never had a furry friend or carcinogen-laden butt in it. Mostly, this project is going to be a commuter/touring car. My fiancee and I are hoping to do a handful of road-trips over the next year or so, and I'm also going to be getting into longer races and triathlons around British Columbia. A wholesale closeout RockAuto order will be happening in due time, suffice it to say. Both of those objectives would certainly benefit from having a reliable sub-compact again given Smart car turbo-diesels remain disastrously overpriced in our area.
I lovingly miss my original B6T build, now in the caring arms of our own mikeycar500 in Ontario. I'm told he's now drag racing it and having an absolute riot with a new B6T long-block buttoned up under the hood with that bastard VF/VJ turbo. That first car taught me a lot about performance and tuning, with a shout out to sasquatch/Mike in Langley who did the engine swap for me while I was in university and overseas studying. I've been inspired to carry this savvy with all things B-series forward to the latest build.
My second car, less memorable by every account, was a B3 grocery getter, which the subsequent owner has since completely trashed without apology. Head gasket is blown, tires are flat, belts are shredded, interior is completely riddled with headliner/cushion cigarette burns in all four seats, and a even smashed window to put icing on the cake. Though I was planning on buying it back from her for $50 (yeah, it's that bad), I managed to find something better. As those who know me well will tell you, my build logs and posts as a whole are notoriously long-winded and read more like journals than photo albums. I poured a lot of meticulously loving care into that car, including a heck of a lot of noise dampening and bottle after bottle of Simple Green. I learned from this second build that divinity is in the details when it comes to maintaining classic cars, and that's going to definitely carry forward.
Without further ado, allow me to introduce my third project... an all-original (including jack, floor mats, and radio) 1986 Mazda 323LX 1.6 automatic. I'm not exactly sure what the colour is called officially, but bronzey-grey-brown seems apt for now. It has 132,000/80,000 on the clock, and was garaged for pretty much it's entire lifetime. For those counting, that averages out to under 5000K/3000m a year. Makes me wonder about oil changes and the like. Though I was still on the lookout for Festivas, it seemed like the step up to a larger hatch, a sunroof, and a bigger engine out of the gate made sense at the price-point.
Though I'd certainly would have preferred a five speed personally, I'm in no rush to do anything about it. Provided the compression numbers are still acceptable, I suspect the B6 block will stay in preparation for forced induction of some sort... likely paired with ultra-short piping and water/meth injection. If not, expect a dual overhead cam swap at some point in the near future. For suspension, I'll be replacing as many soft components as I can, not the least of which are the original strut hats... which, combined with likely under-inflated tires, are providing a dangerously heavy steering effort. Unlike my prior build, this one won't be nearly as much of a kidney buster, even if it means surrendering my ability to take on-ramps to spool the turbo in 3rd gear past 50MPH like the original Festiva. The brakes appear to be in good condition, but it has a very mushy pedal and needs a good bleed.
In the loving care of a retired couple's heated garage, I suspect this thing seldom made a trip beyond church and the grocer. From there, it was inherited by a grandson and his friend who both used it as a guinea pig on becoming more capable/confident mechanics... you'll notice this fact in particular when you have a look at the components under the hood. I'm told they took every opportunity to disassemble and refurbish/replace things as they were able to before upgrading to a Mercedes when they were promoted and settled down in their careers. Reports from the seller explain an untraceable oil leak from either the transmission or the engine along with one moderately-awkward-to-reach door ding on the driver's side. Upon first glance, the leak seems likely to be just the valve cover gasket and possibly one/both pan gaskets. Nothing a torque wrench and some RTV can't fix.
It looks like either there's a lot of filmy dust on the car or someone attempted to wet-sand it and forgot to finish the job. Not quite sure as of yet, but once I take possession and get her detailed, we'll find out for certain. Aside from those minor issues, it has a 695CCA monster battery in it, brand new snow tires on the original 13" wheels, and a moderately-clean interior that has never had a furry friend or carcinogen-laden butt in it. Mostly, this project is going to be a commuter/touring car. My fiancee and I are hoping to do a handful of road-trips over the next year or so, and I'm also going to be getting into longer races and triathlons around British Columbia. A wholesale closeout RockAuto order will be happening in due time, suffice it to say. Both of those objectives would certainly benefit from having a reliable sub-compact again given Smart car turbo-diesels remain disastrously overpriced in our area.
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