project Saved Mazda 323

[Fumbler]

Bloody fantastic work. Looking forward to when it can go on the road again!

[Joey spud]

Ah top job right there. Free fixes are always the best.

The Elephant in the room is how did it come to be 3 teeth out,was the belt slack or is there a worn bearing anywhere allowing it to skip ?

 

 

[DoctorRetro]

So I could have faffed with the carb for years and still not got it right? 

So glad it went to someone who could figure stuff out. 

I just wanted it saved! 

[Wingz123]

Well done Frank - should be very pleased with yourself mate

[sutty2006]

Fixed is fixed! Top job! 

[LightBulbFun]

Woop! its a good week for free/good fixes between the Rover and the Mazda

top work

[inconsistant]

Great work so far! I saw an estate 323 like this one in Eastbourne at the weekend but sadly couldn't get a photo. 

[BeEP]

12 hours ago, Joey spud said:

The Elephant in the room is how did it come to be 3 teeth out,was the belt slack or is there a worn bearing anywhere allowing it to skip ?

This.  Is there still an underlying problem to be fixed, or was the belt really fitted by Stevie Wonder in a blackout?  One tooth out seems plausible as simply bad mechanicing, but three......

[mrdelmonti]

22 minutes ago, BeEP said:

This.  Is there still an underlying problem to be fixed, or was the belt really fitted by Stevie Wonder in a blackout?  One tooth out seems plausible as simply bad mechanicing, but three......

There's a lot more Stevie Wonders out there than you might think, I've seen brake pads fitted with the metal backing against the disc, a water pump housing fitted with no impeller in it, I could go on.

It's obviously worth giving everything a proper check over but it wouldn't suprise me if it's just been fitted by a blind man with no fingers.

[Datsuncog]

On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 12:14 AM, Datsuncog said:

Wonder whether the timing's ok - in case someone swapped the belt but put it back a tooth or two out of synch. 

 

Seriously though, absolutely stoked at the thought that this could be back on the road again in a matter of days.

Well done, sir!

[BlankFrank]

Cheers guys.

A couple people said timing and Datsuncog seemed to call it first so hats off to ya's

My thoughts on possible reasons for the belt being timed wrong: a little bit of the rubber seal around the timing belt cover was in separate pieces and part of it wasn't in the right place so maybe a chunk of that got in there and caused it to skip timing. The rubber seal being crimped seems to indicate that it has been disturbed at some point in the cars life so there's that to consider. Maybe the water pump/timing belt was changed and the belt was not put back on properly (water pump kinda looks newer than the block, can't say for sure though). Another possibility is that the occasional noise i can hear coming from inside the valve cover could be a bit of something in there getting disturbed. Will open that up at some point to make sure it's not full of metal and to see if it's sludgy too. Belt didn't seem to be slack enough to cause issues, it wasn't tight as a bow string but it wasn't loose either.

The thing is, if it was from something jamming the belt or getting in the way of the belt for a split second then the inertia of the bottom end spinning would mean the timing would have been off in the other direction, i think. Unless the bottom end almost did a full rotation out of sync with the top end. Not sure.

I'm not going to turn the headlights on (so no night driving 'till fixed) as those probably killed the first alternator, i think the original owner (before doc) mentioned something about the alternator still working in his ad but doc had to replace the alt so i'm assuming the headlights killed the alternator between the original owner, the chav owner and doc getting the car. All other electricals seem to be fine as i can't hear any difference in the engines idle speed when turning all other accessories on/off but the headlights really bog it. At some point i'm gonna check the power draw on each accessory (including lights) with the engine off and alt power wire disconnected (to save it dieing) during testing and compare the amp draw with what's expected to see what's up.

/waffle

[DoctorRetro]

9 minutes ago, BlankFrank said:

Cheers guys.

A couple people said timing and Datsuncog seemed to call it first so hats off to ya's

My thoughts on possible reasons for the belt being timed wrong: a little bit of the rubber seal around the timing belt cover was in separate pieces and part of it wasn't in the right place so maybe a chunk of that got in there and caused it to skip timing. The rubber seal being crimped seems to indicate that it has been disturbed at some point in the cars life so there's that to consider. Maybe the water pump/timing belt was changed and the belt was not put back on properly (water pump kinda looks newer than the block, can't say for sure though). Another possibility is that the occasional noise i can hear coming from inside the valve cover could be a bit of something in there getting disturbed. Will open that up at some point to make sure it's not full of metal and to see if it's sludgy too. Belt didn't seem to be slack enough to cause issues, it wasn't tight as a bow string but it wasn't loose either.

The thing is, if it was from something jamming the belt or getting in the way of the belt for a split second then the inertia of the bottom end spinning would mean the timing would have been off in the other direction, i think. Not sure.

I'm not going to turn the headlights on (so no night driving 'till fixed) as those probably killed the first alternator, i think the owner before doc mentioned something about the alternator still working in his ad but doc had to replace the alt so i'm assuming the headlights killed the alternator between the original owner, the chav owner and doc getting the car. All other electricals seem to be fine as i can't hear any difference in the engines idle speed when turning all other accessories on/off but the headlights really bog it. At some point i'm gonna check the power draw on each accessory (including lights) with the engine off and alt power wire disconnected (to save it dieing) during testing and compare the amp draw with what's expected to see what's up.

/waffle

Bear in mind the 'new' alternator was a 25 quid unknown one from ebay.... 

[BlankFrank]

Good to know, cheers for the headsup.

Oh, speaking of the alternator, i think that mystery socket on the first one was for the red wire on the carb, it's an 8 volt choke spring heater thingy.

[sutty2006]

I’d be checking the wiring to the headlights, and the earths. Old wires and rusty earths can cause problems etc 

[Rovorsche]

Has it been fitted with "Off Road Use Only" 130w bulbs ?

I found out alternators could sieze up with four of them in use.

[BlankFrank]

Good ideas, will check all of above.

[egg]

On 7/18/2019 at 4:27 PM, BlankFrank said:

Good ideas, will check all of above.

@BlankFrank how's this going now?

[BlankFrank]

I picked up an MX5 cheaply so the the 323 is off the road at the moment as i can only afford to insure one car at a time. I might lend the 323 to my uncle as he's an OAP driving around in a power-steering-less shopping trolly Corsa.

 

If anyone's interested in another one of these 323s, there's a guy who's near to scrapping one near watford and he'll take anything more than £10 above scrap (£130!) I messaged him before the auction ended in case it didn't sell and after no-one showed interest he offered it up for cheaps before he scraps it.

Due to me getting the '5 i couldn't see a need for another 323. His silver one wont be around for much more that a couple days (if i had to hazard a guess) so act fast anyone who wants it.

 

(located at WD6 5EE , the auction ended but he's still got the car, as of yesterday at least)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-323/372787229618

 

 

 

[egg]

Good stuff, MK1 MX5? Glad to hear it's still out there, but shame no-one wants to save the Watford one...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Watford 323 no longer available,  according to eBay. 

[BlankFrank]

Egg: Got a MK2.5, completely buggered paint due to the previous owner leaving the car in the rain with fresh body filler exposed. That is rust coming through the body filler you can see there, it's like that on the other side too but the rust is worse despite not looking as bad. Both rear arches are made of %90 filler and %10 rust. New arches it is.

True about the watford 323 being a shame to scrap, hopefully it gets a last minute reprieve.

 

Tadhg Tiogar: The Watford 323 ebay listing/auction ended but he messaged me with his mobile number and the cheap scrap offer after the auction ended so unless you've phoned him to confirm then i wouldn't bank on it being gone just yet. ?

 

[nigel bickle]

We have enquired after 323. Nige says we want it.....

 

[nigel bickle]

Deal done. Younger bro going for it in a few days. It’s an auto, which may be useful in the near future, and makes a good companion to the Penza

 

[jollyfkr2]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:08 PM, nigel bickle said:

Deal done. Younger bro going for it in a few days. It’s an auto, which may be useful in the near future, and makes a good companion to the Penza

 

Can you drop off the Scimitar on the way and sort me out for the Lancia please?

[Wingz123]

Spotted his twin in Brixton earlier today....had to get a picture.....3 door...mightily faded...