Scrubworks Fleet: 2000 Mazda Demio (or, Why The F*** Do I Own This?)

[Scrubworks]

Some of you, especially those of the millennial generation like myself, may have first found an interest in cars through the first 2 Gran Turismo games on the Playstation in the late 90s. Being Japanese games, they featured the absolute best of what is now regarded as desirable, retro JDM machinery; Supras, Skylines, RX-7s, Imprezas, Evos, Type-Rs, Fairlady Zs, Celicas, name a 90s Japanese performance car, you could buy it. Oh, and you could also buy this:

The first generation Mazda Demio, a rip-roaring motorised shoebox of delights. This was one of the first viable new cars in the game. In fact, the very first licence has you drive one of these at full speed down a straight, and then slam on the brakes at the right time to get it to stop in a marked zone at the end. When child me played that game in 1998, I was dazzled. It didn't matter that it was, in no way, a performance car. It didn't matter that it had essentially no styling, no power, and no curb appeal. That boxy shape and the name "Mazda Demio" was seared permenantly onto my young mind.

When I grew up and learned about cars properly, it was always present in the back of my mind that the Demio was now an old car, and was available for cheapski. I sort of said to myself that I would buy one if it ever popped up and was convenient and cheap. Nostaglic preamble aside, I have absolutely no reason to own a Demio. In fact, if I hadn't recently sold my Corolla, I would have neither the funds nor the space to keep it. The reason I have invented to justify the purchase of one is that I need a cheap shitty car that I can drive at 10/10ths, and brave the winter salts without worrying about too much. The Mercedes also needs a bit of work, and I'm tired of constantly putting fuel in my 180SX, which gets 25mpg or less. I wasn't even specifically looking for a Demio, but I had already been beaten on two eBay auctions, one for a shabby mk2 Polo Coupe, and one for a Mazda 121 (the one that's actually just a rebadged mk4 Fiesta). Third time, is, as they say, the charm. And so, this popped up:

£500 starting bid, for which I subsequently won it. It is a 2000 model, so is facelifted with slightly less "relaxed" headlights, and a new bumper and grille. The facelift also included the transition to the Mazda logo that is used today, from the old circle-in-circle one they used to use. The Demios were fitted with the Mazda B engine, most famous for its 1.6 and 1.8 litre fitment to the mk1 and mk2 MX-5. The Demios only got a 1.3 and a 1.5, this one being the latter, which is good in the UK being that it's the largest engine I can have under the old, lower tax bracket. It's a SOHC, but still 16 valves, so a pretty busy single bumpstick. Other than that, there's not much to say about it. It is,  for the period, pretty well equipped. Electric windows all round, electric sunroof, electric mirrors, PAS, ABS, driver's airbag. Air conditioning is the predictable absence, but shouldn't be too hard to retrofit if I can ever be bothered to. It's done 146000 miles, and runs like a Swiss watch. The B is an exceptionally well-built engine. The gearbox seems good and has a relatively young clutch, and everything (factory) electric works. The only aftermarket additions are the stereo, which is basically dead, and the wheels, which are Wolfraces. They look alright and have decent tread left, but I've already sourced replacements, so they will be going on eBay. It is also a limited edition, known as the "Country Casuals", which to me sounds like a mild perjorative for a rural hipster. According to the seller, it's one of only 35 that were ever sold. I'm not sure what the Country Casuals edition actually gets you, as there's nothing fitted to this car that you can't get on a normal Demio (apart from the Country Casuals badge on the bootlid). The colour maybe? I think they're all this burnt red, which I rather like.

The woman who sold it to me had owned it since 2002, and she loved it to bits and was genuinely sad to see it go. Unfortunately, her love for the thing didn't seem to extend to giving it more than a fairly basic level of maintenance, or keeping it clean. She seems to have owned it on a "do what it needs to function and get through each MOT" basis. As you can probably tell from the stickers, she used to use it as a business vehicle for her doggy daycare. Many a hound has been in this thing, and every surface is covered in dog residue. Hair, dirt stains, the usual. It's even on the headlining. However, that will all be fairly easy to clean in the long run.

This car has been off the road for 3 years, and as such needs a bit of remedial work. I had to trailer it home from deepest darkest Lincolnshire, which was a mission in itself. The most glaringly obvious issue is the smashed rear screen. I am not a glass fitter but I should be able to manage fitting a replacement, which I am currently working on sourcing. Apparently it got smashed by an errant wood chip from the owner's landlord chopping wood. When I asked her why he hadn't replaced it for her she gave me an evasive shrug. Landlord sounds like a prick. When I later realised I'd need to come back the following day with a trailer, because the Demio needed more than an afternoon's work to get through a local MOT, the landlord said I could only leave it on his drive if I paid him £5 a day storage. Definitely a massive prick. At least he also leant a tarp to cover the broken with.
Besides the window, the car needs the usual mechanical stuff. Cambelt, waterpump, aux belt, a service, some other bits and pieces on the suspension, and the front calipers need their sliders changed due to rust. The centre section of the exhaust has a small blow where the pipe has got thin, but I'll probably just put a repair clamp over it, as a replacement is £99 and I'm not sure I can be arsed. The rear of the sills have got a little bit soft, due to three years of sitting with the rear wheel arch lips packed full of mud, but that will be pretty simple to sort out. No doubt a few more issues will present themselves over the coming days, but eh, whatever.

Besides that, leaving the car stock is to boring for me. New wheels are coming and you'll see them soon. I'm hoping to locate a set of seats with black fabric (and not covered in dog) to replace the horrible beige ones. Likewise the steering wheel will be thrown out and replaced with a black airbag wheel from a mk2.5 MX-5. You can also buy lowering springs from Spax for these cars for a sensible 30mm drop, and as I'm almost certainly going to have to change the springs and dampers because of corrosion, I shall fit those.

So yeah. Here I go again, throwing time and money at a car that really isn't worth either.

[High Jetter]

Looking forward to your progress on this, can't be many of them left. Did you hear her singing "Oh! Sold demio" as you drove it away?

(A bit abstract, sorry - but maybe some will make the connection.)

[Matty]

Stickers to remain, in a creative variation on do not paint

[grogee]

I do like this era Mazda. I took a 2000-ish 323 diseasel for a really fun thrash around Hardknott and Wrynose passes (Cumbria). Same colour and interior combo.

Reason being, I did start to climb Scafell Pike but walking is both boring AND hard work so I 'volunteered' to collect my mates from the other side. 

[grogee]

1 hour ago, Scrubworks said:

Air conditioning is the predictable absence, but shouldn't be too hard to retrofit if I can ever be bothered to. 

I should imagine it will be virtually impossible to do this without a donor car to steal bits from, and even then it won't be economically viable.

So yeah, go for it.

[Scrubworks]

34 minutes ago, grogee said:

I should imagine it will be virtually impossible to do this without a donor car to steal bits from, and even then it won't be economically viable.

So yeah, go for it.

Virtually all the JDM Demios had AC, so importing a system from one would be possible, but yeah, probably not cheap.

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, Scrubworks said:

an interest in cars through the first 2 Gran Turismo games on the Playstation in the late 90s.

i just floored it and crashed alot

[Jenson Velcro]

I had a pre-facelift version for a couple of years, bought cheap off eBay. I enjoyed it for being different and pretty versatile. The back seats all folding down to make a bed was a useful* feature 

[Stanky]

I've had a secret desire to get together a few cars IRL that you get on the grids of early GT2/GT3/GT4 races, so maybe this, a PT Cruiser, a VW Beetle hardtop, maybe a Toyota Yaris or something deeply weird like a WiLL Cypha and perhaps a Suzuki Alto. The drive around in a line and see if anyone twigs. I reckon it'd raise a few knowing smiles.

[mitsisigma01]

Two randoms....once you've fixed it of course 😬

[AnnoyingPentium]

God I haven't seen one of these in years. Nice to see this is getting some love though, got some fond memories of Gran Turismo 2.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Dad bought one new in the late 90’s to commute to work in, here it was marketed as the Mazda 121. It was written off at 6 months old after getting t-boned, ironically the only injury sustained by my Dad in the crash was a chemical burn from the airbag.

Where was I going with this?

Anyway, as you were.

[Schaefft]

It's still fascinating to see how much of an impact early GTs had on the car scene. Great to see one of the more unusual nuggets on UK roads getting some tlc because of it.

I still have an odd list for the vti civic ferio...

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Interesting project. BIL has a 2006 Mazda 2 which looks as though it has some Demio DNA looking at the side profile. I think his is based on a Ford Fusion - they were a joint project between the two manufacturers and we've found Ford stamped onto a few parts, including the engine block. His is unkillable and it sails the MOT every year. 

Does the Demio have a Ford equivalent or is it a thoroughbred?! 

[Scrubworks]

34 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Interesting project. BIL has a 2006 Mazda 2 which looks as though it has some Demio DNA looking at the side profile. I think his is based on a Ford Fusion - they were a joint project between the two manufacturers and we've found Ford stamped onto a few parts, including the engine block. His is unkillable and it sails the MOT every year. 

Does the Demio have a Ford equivalent or is it a thoroughbred?! 

The Mazda 2 is the Demio . For some reason, the first generation was called the Demio in all markets, but subsequently that name was restricted to JDM models, and everywhere else it was just called the 2. So yeah, your BIL's car is just a second generation Demio. This first generation model I believe is Mazda through and through. Mazda drivetrain, and I'm fairly sure the chassis is also a Mazda design (might be based on a previous model though). I think some of the later 2s had Ford engines as an option.

[Scrubworks]

So, it's rather more fucked than I thought. Rear of both sills have fallen victim to the dreaded "weld it up so it passes the MOT" repair, which, judging by the MOT history was done 7 years ago. The metal around there has subsequently dissolved. Here's after an afternoon cutting back the worst of the rot:

It looks bad (and it is really), but it won't actually take me too long to properly cut out and rebuild with some 2mm steel. The most challenging bit is going to be cutting out the front section of the rear wheel arch, as there is limited space for my angle grinder.

The rear chassis rails under the boot have also suffered.

This is, again, after chopping out the worst section. It's like this on the other side as well. To the right the metal is still good enough to keep, and to the left the chassis rail is triple-thickness to take the rear towing eye, so that's still nice and solid. I'll just buy a nice thick gauge piece of box section to weld in there.

In general, as you can probably see, there's a lot of surface rust where the paint and undercoating has failed. It's mostly still solid but I will need to brush it back, then hit it with rust converter and some appropriate protectants of course.

The exhaust blow turned out to be at the join between the back box and centre section. The flanges had rotted away at the welds. When I tried to angle grind the bolts off, the flanges completely fell apart. So I'll need a new centre section after all, and back box. Bugger.

I'm too jaded to give a shit about rust anymore though. I'll just fix it.

[grogee]

You're a brave man ploughing on with that rot. More power to your elbow. 

You should offer out your services to fellow shiters, that's worth £50/hour of anyone's money.

I must admit I got confused about the Demio timeline, I knew there was a UK Demio but also the Mazda 2 which looked very similar. So  makes sense. I didn't think the 2 had Ford engines except the PSA 1.4D but I've been wrong before. 

[Scrubworks]

8 hours ago, grogee said:

You're a brave man ploughing on with that rot. More power to your elbow. 

You should offer out your services to fellow shiters, that's worth £50/hour of anyone's money.

I must admit I got confused about the Demio timeline, I knew there was a UK Demio but also the Mazda 2 which looked very similar. So  makes sense. I didn't think the 2 had Ford engines except the PSA 1.4D but I've been wrong before. 

I try to take a philosophical view on corrosion. It's happened. It is what it is, and you can either get upset or frightened of it, or you can just shrug, sigh, have another cup of tea (literal or proverbial) and carry on. It can take a long amount of time and experience to get to that point though. Maybe it just comes with age .

I don't like welding cars on the ground. It's an utter pain in the arse. It's my car and I have no choice but to do it on the driveway, but I will refrain from offering my services out until I have access to a ramp, something which I am presently trying to sort out. I'm pleased you think my services are worth paying for, though maybe wait to see the results first 😆.

Also, not a man .

[grogee]

Ooh crikey sorry @Scrubworks my assumption made an ass out of me. Good luck with your Mazda, may it bring you many smiles.

[Matty]

On 2/18/2023 at 11:25 AM, Scrubworks said:

So, it's rather more fucked than I thought. Rear of both sills have fallen victim to the dreaded "weld it up so it passes the MOT" repair, which, judging by the MOT history was done 7 years ago. The metal around there has subsequently dissolved. Here's after an afternoon cutting back the worst of the rot:

It looks bad (and it is really), but it won't actually take me too long to properly cut out and rebuild with some 2mm steel. The most challenging bit is going to be cutting out the front section of the rear wheel arch, as there is limited space for my angle grinder.

The rear chassis rails under the boot have also suffered.

This is, again, after chopping out the worst section. It's like this on the other side as well. To the right the metal is still good enough to keep, and to the left the chassis rail is triple-thickness to take the rear towing eye, so that's still nice and solid. I'll just buy a nice thick gauge piece of box section to weld in there.

In general, as you can probably see, there's a lot of surface rust where the paint and undercoating has failed. It's mostly still solid but I will need to brush it back, then hit it with rust converter and some appropriate protectants of course.

The exhaust blow turned out to be at the join between the back box and centre section. The flanges had rotted away at the welds. When I tried to angle grind the bolts off, the flanges completely fell apart. So I'll need a new centre section after all, and back box. Bugger.

I'm too jaded to give a shit about rust anymore though. I'll just fix it.

Is it too late to have a fire bud? I'm talented at setting fires (mainly by accident) and more than willing to do you a favour. Just make sure it's insured first mind.

[louiepj]

Pointed out a Demio in Haywards Heath to my son whilst out delivering the other day and had a good reminisce about Gran Tourismo.
Well bought, and I will be following with interest.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Nice wee car that, after a bit of research we sourced and fitted a 1.3 out of a Demio for my eldest shiter's 323.  Dropped straight in, only difference we could find was the rocker arms.  

Beautifully smooth little engine too.  We do have nebulous plans for a mx-5 1.6 lump once he's built up some insurance brownie points, but I'm assuming that will require ignition/ECU/manifold type shenanigans.  Apparently will bolt onto the bellhousing no bother though.

Good luck with the welding, I'm awaiting better weather before getting stuck in to the RX8's back end, 'proper' Mazda's do seem to get under the skin somewhat!

We've definitely got the bug.

 

[MantaGTE85]

I've got 'Bartender and the Thief' by Stereophonics stuck in my head reading this thread.

[Scrubworks]

2 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Nice wee car that, after a bit of research we sourced and fitted a 1.3 out of a Demio for my eldest shiter's 323.  Dropped straight in, only difference we could find was the rocker arms.  

Beautifully smooth little engine too.  We do have nebulous plans for a mx-5 1.6 lump once he's built up some insurance brownie points, but I'm assuming that will require ignition/ECU/manifold type shenanigans.  Apparently will bolt onto the bellhousing no bother though.

Good luck with the welding, I'm awaiting better weather before getting stuck in to the RX8's back end, 'proper' Mazda's do seem to get under the skin somewhat!

We've definitely got the bug.

 

Nicely done. You know, I was also thinking MX-5 engine at some point. The things I was wondering were bellhousing pattern (which you've confirmed as not an issue), and whether or not a north-south engine would fit east-west, given that the front pulley set may be a tad longer than on the original 1.5 engine. As for wiring and ECU, psh, just buy a rotten mk1 MX-5 and you'll be set . Manifolds, you may be able to use the original FWD exhaust manifold. If the flange is different cut the flanges off and put the MX-5 one onto the FWD exhaust tubes.

[Scrubworks]

So here's a real feast for your eyeballs. A JDM Demio that's for sale in the homeland ($7500 shipped to the UK if you're interested!):

This is the kind of possibility I see in cheap Japanese hatchbacks. It's beautiful. The subtle bodykit, the spoiler, the colour-coded wheels, the interior, it's just absolute chef's kiss. This is what I'm going to be basing my build on from now.

The steering wheel is the same as an MX-5 mk2, easy and cheap to fit. I suspect the black seats may be hard to locate in the UK, both due to the fact that Demios are a rare breed now, and that all the ones I have seen have the cringey beige seats. May have to import a set if I'm really keen. The spoiler, I have actually already sourced in the UK (spoiler alert, literally). The rest of the bodykit, I will definitely have to import. Same with the honeycomb front grille, though getting that by itself should be nice and cheap.

Other than that, it's all the same specs as mine. The actual bumpers are the same, you just attach the the lips. The JDM tint job (Japanese rules are, rear and rear sides can be as dark as you like, but windscreen and front side windows must remain factory) would be easily replicated here. Same for the colour-coded mirrors. The wind deflectors shouldn't be too hard to find either.

"Why don't you just import this car instead of peservering with your rusty crap box?" Because this car is only a 1.3, also shut up.

[wheel nut]

That brings back memories. I used to have one of those. Mine was also a 1.5 but not a special edition.  I loved the amount of boot space and the good turning circle. Unfortunately a problem with the immobiliser caused me to give up on it.

[Scrubworks]

37 minutes ago, wheel nut said:

That brings back memories. I used to have one of those. Mine was also a 1.5 but not a special edition.  I loved the amount of boot space and the good turning circle. Unfortunately a problem with the immobiliser caused me to give up on it.

I'm not actually seeing anything that's not on your car that is on my "special edition" car, except the boot badge declaring it as a special edition 😆. The woman I bought mine from did actually mention the turning circle, and it is impressive, especially considering it's a front-wheel drive car, which traditionally struggle more than RWD because the CV axles can only be angled so far.

[Missy Charm]

'Country Casuals' are/were a women's clothing brand famed for conservative styling; think knitwear, sensible skirts, modest frocks and the like.  I've probably still got something of theirs knocking about the house; they were quite good for semi-formal workwear.  There were Country Casuals shops at one time, but the company were subsumed into the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and downgraded to a separate line within EWM.  I don't know if Country Casuals are still on sale within the Edinburgh Woollen Mill as I rarely go there.  Might have a look next time I'm in town.  

Quite what that has to do with an old Mazda I don't know.  

[Missy Charm]

On 19/02/2023 at 21:50, Scrubworks said:

Nicely done. You know, I was also thinking MX-5 engine at some point. The things I was wondering were bellhousing pattern (which you've confirmed as not an issue), and whether or not a north-south engine would fit east-west, given that the front pulley set may be a tad longer than on the original 1.5 engine. As for wiring and ECU, psh, just buy a rotten mk1 MX-5 and you'll be set . Manifolds, you may be able to use the original FWD exhaust manifold. If the flange is different cut the flanges off and put the MX-5 one onto the FWD exhaust tubes.

You could get a front wheel drive version of the MX5 1.8 engine in the old 323F.  I used to have one.  It wasn't very fast.  

[Scrubworks]

8 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

'Country Casuals' are/were a women's clothing brand famed for conservative styling; think knitwear, sensible skirts, modest frocks and the like.  I've probably still got something of theirs knocking about the house; they were quite good for semi-formal workwear.  There were Country Casuals shops at one time, but the company were subsumed into the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and downgraded to a separate line within EWM.  I don't know if Country Casuals are still on sale within the Edinburgh Woollen Mill as I rarely go there.  Might have a look next time I'm in town.  

Quite what that has to do with an old Mazda I don't know.  

Ahh so rather like Fairfax & Favor or Holland Cooper is now? In the year 2000 I was still getting my clothes from the kid's section at GAP 😆.

Maybe Country Casuals and Mazda worked out some kind of promotional deal together? There were apparently only 35 cars so it must have been short-lived.

8 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

You could get a front wheel drive version of the MX5 1.8 engine in the old 323F.  I used to have one.  It wasn't very fast.  

Oh yeah, completely forgot about the 323F.