The 1988 Mazda 323 GTX $5000 rally car
Bought the car from a guy who was planning on making it a winter beater (so he told me). Car was rough but I knew the old girl had potential. Odo says 170,000km and the previous owner swapped in a jdm engine with “50,000km”.....I am suspicious but I’m building a replacement engine anyways. The car is all original (even original Ontario car), clean floor pan and frame rails. Typical rust issues are throughout the car.
I will post pics throughout the build, right now the cage is just being wrapped up and new lines are being run.
Body
Rust repair, and lots of rust repair
6 point cage built just to stay within the “grey” area of insurance laws
APC seats (laugh but remember I have a $5000 budget!)
Leaf harness’
Fire suppression system
Aluminum door panels
Custom trunk to house the batter and fuel cell
Front bull bar to mount the Hella 500ff’s and Hella 1000’s as well as to act as a skid plate
A few “custom” modifications like a homemade hood scoop for the air filter and air vents for the cabin
Engine
Second engine is being built to run between 200-220hp
Arias pistons
New rods
5th gear swap
Oil catch can
Oil cooler
Trans cooler
Tuned and turbo timer
BIG ass intercooler upgrade
VJ14 turbo
Custom bent exhaust manifold
Ported and polished intake
Ac and power steering delete
Corksport ss clutch line
Brakes
Gallant front upgrade with drilled rotors
Hawk pads
New rear pads, callipers and drilled rotors
Corksport ss lines
Suspension
Stock springs
Dirtra struts
New bushings
Mazdaspeed trailing arms
New bearings
Right now as it sits I will probably be over my $5000 budget, but if I smartly sell some parts I still might be able to make it. Regardless I will be driving this car for a lot less than what it would have cost me to buy a Subaru Impreza!
Some cool stories about the car so far:
-buying an extra set of rims (oops still havn't picked them up yet) I met the original owner of my car. What a small world we live in when sourcing parts
-When driving out to get the ownership I almost died when a dumbass in a grad prix ran a stop sign at 70.
-I was introduced to a guy who has 2 GTX's and is a good guy to know. Ends up the guy is Rod Millens old co-driver from the 80's and raced the orginal GTX's, he is an AWESOME guy to know....plus I might be buying his parts car from him!
-I learned how to weld because of my gtx
-And finally, these little cars are suprisingly fast!
What it looked like the day I bought it
Teaser of the cage
Pic of the guy with the 2 GTX's in 1973 at the Rocky Mountain Rally
More to come!
Bought the car from a guy who was planning on making it a winter beater (so he told me). Car was rough but I knew the old girl had potential. Odo says 170,000km and the previous owner swapped in a jdm engine with “50,000km”.....I am suspicious but I’m building a replacement engine anyways. The car is all original (even original Ontario car), clean floor pan and frame rails. Typical rust issues are throughout the car.
I will post pics throughout the build, right now the cage is just being wrapped up and new lines are being run.
Body
Rust repair, and lots of rust repair
6 point cage built just to stay within the “grey” area of insurance laws
APC seats (laugh but remember I have a $5000 budget!)
Leaf harness’
Fire suppression system
Aluminum door panels
Custom trunk to house the batter and fuel cell
Front bull bar to mount the Hella 500ff’s and Hella 1000’s as well as to act as a skid plate
A few “custom” modifications like a homemade hood scoop for the air filter and air vents for the cabin
Engine
Second engine is being built to run between 200-220hp
Arias pistons
New rods
5th gear swap
Oil catch can
Oil cooler
Trans cooler
Tuned and turbo timer
BIG ass intercooler upgrade
VJ14 turbo
Custom bent exhaust manifold
Ported and polished intake
Ac and power steering delete
Corksport ss clutch line
Brakes
Gallant front upgrade with drilled rotors
Hawk pads
New rear pads, callipers and drilled rotors
Corksport ss lines
Suspension
Stock springs
Dirtra struts
New bushings
Mazdaspeed trailing arms
New bearings
Right now as it sits I will probably be over my $5000 budget, but if I smartly sell some parts I still might be able to make it. Regardless I will be driving this car for a lot less than what it would have cost me to buy a Subaru Impreza!
Some cool stories about the car so far:
-buying an extra set of rims (oops still havn't picked them up yet) I met the original owner of my car. What a small world we live in when sourcing parts
-When driving out to get the ownership I almost died when a dumbass in a grad prix ran a stop sign at 70.
-I was introduced to a guy who has 2 GTX's and is a good guy to know. Ends up the guy is Rod Millens old co-driver from the 80's and raced the orginal GTX's, he is an AWESOME guy to know....plus I might be buying his parts car from him!
-I learned how to weld because of my gtx
-And finally, these little cars are suprisingly fast!
What it looked like the day I bought it
Teaser of the cage
Pic of the guy with the 2 GTX's in 1973 at the Rocky Mountain Rally
More to come!
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