Hello folks,
I also have a 2003 msp but i'm leaving her bone stock for now, frankly, not to impressed with all the slight flaws, but very impressed by the overall handling and solidness at 230 km she give me..
But right now I'm focusing on getting my '88 323 running and driving the way I'd like her to..
Mods on her have all been DIY and free or junkyard parts, cept for the k&n filter..
-3" alum mandrel bent intake with huge k&n cone.. I have the cone located in a front compartment with a heat shield protecting it from heatsink off the turbo/engine/rad, I also have some 1.5" plumbing from the lower lip on the grill, forcing cold air into the air filter compartment thru a hole saw cut 1.6" hole and sealed.
-mx6/626 gt intercooler with apropriate plumbing and reflective heat wrap
-2.5" down pipe from the stock turbo into a 3" magnaflow cat followed buy 3" exhaust and a straight thru a straight thru 3" borla muffler
-boost and a/f guages
without boost control she'll hit the 11 psi boost cut at maybe 3000-4000 rpm she'll lean out at about 13-14 psi at about 4500-5000 rpm so i know there's quite a bit of room for boost, so i'll be getting a basic remapped replacement ecu and an basic manual boost control unit to make her hit 16 psi..
I was running it fine by watching the AF ratio and never had any knock or probs.. some guy shmucked the front end up and the guys who replaced the rad either feckered up the rad install and overheated her bad, or some kid or grown up took her for a test drive and didn't watch the AF ratio and blew the head gasket..
So anyways, i'm just about to untertake the headgasket and do the ecu upgrade at the same time as I'm sure the ocaisional leaning was partial cause to the blown HG..
I'll be using a Felpro replacement gasket as reccomended from others, and while i have the head off i'll be doing as much port matching/polishing as possible on the intake side..
I'm an aprentice mech and haven't had a ton of time with tuning and rodding cars, i'm still stuck in the basics at work, it's hard to find a performance shop to work at.. But I'm pretty confident in doing the work myself..
I'm looking in the future to rebuild the tranny and maybe look to put a taller 5th gear in her for long bouts of 160km + cruising.. 1/4 mile and the ocaisional stoplight race only lasts to 4th gear in most cases anyways..
And the other most important mod will be a tire/wheel and suspension upgrades.. I'm looking for wheels i can fit and piece out from a junkyard that are wider and taller, i guess 15-16" is the most I could go, i don't mind a stiff ride aslong as the results increase high speed stability and and heavy twisty driving..
i find the stock suspension and tires get a lil too light squirly at around 200km to inspire confidense.. I'd like to feel safer at those speeds like i do in the msp..
So anyways, any help or comments are welcome, i know the 323 isn't exactly a protege, but i know there's some 323 junkies over here, and some good info to be found..
i hope to show you the end results.. she's just a sleeper, i despise chrome, and only do work that increases performance/drivability..
take care fellow junkies..
I also have a 2003 msp but i'm leaving her bone stock for now, frankly, not to impressed with all the slight flaws, but very impressed by the overall handling and solidness at 230 km she give me..
But right now I'm focusing on getting my '88 323 running and driving the way I'd like her to..
Mods on her have all been DIY and free or junkyard parts, cept for the k&n filter..
-3" alum mandrel bent intake with huge k&n cone.. I have the cone located in a front compartment with a heat shield protecting it from heatsink off the turbo/engine/rad, I also have some 1.5" plumbing from the lower lip on the grill, forcing cold air into the air filter compartment thru a hole saw cut 1.6" hole and sealed.
-mx6/626 gt intercooler with apropriate plumbing and reflective heat wrap
-2.5" down pipe from the stock turbo into a 3" magnaflow cat followed buy 3" exhaust and a straight thru a straight thru 3" borla muffler
-boost and a/f guages
without boost control she'll hit the 11 psi boost cut at maybe 3000-4000 rpm she'll lean out at about 13-14 psi at about 4500-5000 rpm so i know there's quite a bit of room for boost, so i'll be getting a basic remapped replacement ecu and an basic manual boost control unit to make her hit 16 psi..
I was running it fine by watching the AF ratio and never had any knock or probs.. some guy shmucked the front end up and the guys who replaced the rad either feckered up the rad install and overheated her bad, or some kid or grown up took her for a test drive and didn't watch the AF ratio and blew the head gasket..
So anyways, i'm just about to untertake the headgasket and do the ecu upgrade at the same time as I'm sure the ocaisional leaning was partial cause to the blown HG..
I'll be using a Felpro replacement gasket as reccomended from others, and while i have the head off i'll be doing as much port matching/polishing as possible on the intake side..
I'm an aprentice mech and haven't had a ton of time with tuning and rodding cars, i'm still stuck in the basics at work, it's hard to find a performance shop to work at.. But I'm pretty confident in doing the work myself..
I'm looking in the future to rebuild the tranny and maybe look to put a taller 5th gear in her for long bouts of 160km + cruising.. 1/4 mile and the ocaisional stoplight race only lasts to 4th gear in most cases anyways..
And the other most important mod will be a tire/wheel and suspension upgrades.. I'm looking for wheels i can fit and piece out from a junkyard that are wider and taller, i guess 15-16" is the most I could go, i don't mind a stiff ride aslong as the results increase high speed stability and and heavy twisty driving..
i find the stock suspension and tires get a lil too light squirly at around 200km to inspire confidense.. I'd like to feel safer at those speeds like i do in the msp..
So anyways, any help or comments are welcome, i know the 323 isn't exactly a protege, but i know there's some 323 junkies over here, and some good info to be found..
i hope to show you the end results.. she's just a sleeper, i despise chrome, and only do work that increases performance/drivability..
take care fellow junkies..
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