My new whip.. :)

[crazycanadian]

get those sphericals in & see how much you can drop your 60' times

I am hoping they will kill the major wheel hop I had... I don't think they will do much to help though... If I don't get wheel hop I'll probably end up spinning off the line...

Looks like the bearings just cleared canadian customs earlier this evening... shouldn't be long before I get them... Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some good luck pulling some control arms at the wreckers...

[The Pile]

check to see if your VRIS is working.. I just was at the track a few months ago with my DE swapped mx3 with full weight, plus probably weight added and my best run was a 15.1 but at 93.9mph... and mx3 is heavier than a 323.. ide definitly start with VRIS

[crazycanadian]

check to see if your VRIS is working.. I just was at the track a few months ago with my DE swapped mx3 with full weight, plus probably weight added and my best run was a 15.1 but at 93.9mph... and mx3 is heavier than a 323.. ide definitly start with VRIS

I have done the nuetral quick rev test and I can see them both open and close when I do it... I want to test them while driving but I haven't gotten around to teeing into the soleniods with my lab scope and the vacuum supply to make sure I am getting enough vacuum to them when they are commanded on...

[The Pile]

hmm thats all i ever go off of is the rev test... have u set ur base timing to 10? when was the last time the plugs we changed?
5
and what ecu/vaf combo are u running? the best to run is a K8 ecu with KL02 (regular KL) vaf

[crazycanadian]

hmm thats all i ever go off of is the rev test... have u set ur base timing to 10? when was the last time the plugs we changed?
5
and what ecu/vaf combo are u running? the best to run is a K8 ecu with KL02 (regular KL) vaf

Timing has been played with... Distributor was replaced when it crapped out on me a while ago... Lack of power was present with the old and new distributor... No difference with the timing set at base, little advanced or a little retarded..

I haven't played with plugs and wires... They were pretty new when I bought the car... Lack of power has been there since day one though.. I might try and play with plugs soon... I have had the car hooked up to an ignition scope during a couple courses for work... The only thing noted from looking at the secondary ignition was on tip in the car seemed to go lean...

Fuel pressure is good, with in spec... Current ramped the fuel pump, electrically it looks good... Fuel filter was new when the car built.. ( I bought the car before it was finished.. )

ECU and VAf are the ones from the same car the motor came from... I know the VAF is the KL01... I can't remember the ECU I was just looking at it earlier today.. I could steal the ECU and VAF from my gf's mx3 and try it...

[crazycanadian]

I was talking with my friend who owned the car before me about this problem... We both think the lack of power might have to do with bad knock sensor wiring... He said the swap had no problems pulling to the rev limiter when he did it in his mx3... When he swapped things to the 323 he noticed it didn't pull as hard and the only real difference between the 2 cars is that the knock sensor wiring got damaged during the swap... I have known about this just haven't gotten around to checking it out...

On a happy note I got mail today!!! yaaa!!





My summer is quite full now so these might not make it on to the car untill next spring... But I am really looking forward to added caster I can get...

[Mazda_Powered]

very nice!

[323Permin]

You won't get around to installing them ... LOL

you will sell them to me :0)

[FE3-323]

PUT THEM IN!!!! it only takes a little bit..... i can promise you wont' regret it

[crazycanadian]

I have finally gotten around to playing with the control arm bearings... A couple weeks ago I ran into a problem with the rears though... Once I pounded out the old bushings I went to fit the new bearings and found that they were to loose.. The new bearings fell right in and slopped around...

Its taken a couple weeks to get back to the junk yard and after doing some digging I have found out the problem... The set of control arms I got were off a 96 mx3 gs... In 95 there is a part number switch for the rear bushings... They look very close to the same but the inside diameter of the bracket is a few mm larger...

Here are some pics...

On the right is a bracket with the old bushing removed from a 93 mx3 4cylinder.. On the left is the bracket from the 96 GS V6... When put side by side the brackets look almost identical except for a couple small details...


If you look closely you can see the difference in the thickness of the brackets... The flat edge of the 93 bracket on the right is the easiest way to tell the difference... The 96 bracket is chauffeured


Also on the top the raised edges carry all the way over the brackets on the one from the 93 mx3... On the bracket from the 95 they stop at the top and you can see where its flat..


Since it was a nice day I spent some time wandering around looking at other cars... All the base model 323's had the smaller 42mm rear bushings that wont work... Any escort with a 1.9L in it that I looked at had the same smaller 42mm rear bushings... All the mx3's I looked at seemed to have the larger 46mm bushings except for a 95.. It had the rear bushings that were to large... All the base model proteges I looked at had the smaller 42mm rear bushings... I didn't get a chance to look at an protege LX's or Escort GT's but I'd imagine that they will have the right size rear bushings...

For anyone installing these control arm bearings, this might help to make sure you get the proper rear bracket...

Hopefully tomorrow I'll remember to bring my caliper home and I'll get a couple more pictures to show the size differences...

[crazycanadian]

I got an extra hour to work on things tonight dinner... I got the rest of the bushings punched out of the control arms and the rear bushing brackets... I also took the time to take a bunch more pictures of the differences between the 93 mx3 rear brackets and the 96 mx3 rear brackets....

A comparison of the rear brackets with the bushing sleeves still installed... The 93 mx3 bracket on the left... The 96 on the right.. Don't mind the cut marks, I had to cut the sleeves in half to help get them out...


The outer diameter of the 96 bracket...


The outer diameter of the 93 bracket... As you can see from the two pictures they are pretty much the same.. so when you put them side by side its hard to tell the difference..


Here is the big difference.. The inside diameter of the 96 bracket...


The inside diameter of the 93 bracket...


Just for fun.. Everything all set out on my bench... All the new bushings, the 93 brackets and the 96 brackets... Tomorrow I am going to take everything to work and use the press to install it all... I'll see how things go with my son this weekend.. If the weather is nice I might get him to help me install the control arms..

[FE3-323]

I just have to say......... looking at those makes me anxious!!!
I wish i could see the expression on your face when you drive on them.

[crazycanadian]

They are in!!! With autocross events coming up next weekend and Oct 9th I am hoping for good weather... This way I can really give them a test run...





Lots of control arms..

[crazycanadian]

Alignment specs are in... Since I have stock upper mounts and no camber bolts the only thing I can really adjust on the car is toe... With GTR coil overs, ryans spherical bearing control arm bearings and mx3 control arms on all 4 corners here is where I sit...

Front
Caster L 2.95 deg
R 2.90

Camber L 2.80
R 2.46

Toe is an even 1/32 out on both sides..

Rear
Camber L 1.64
R 1.74

Toe L 1/8" out
R 5/32" out

Unfortunately for me in the last 5 months since my last alignment the rear control arms have seized up so I couldn't play with the rear toe at all...

[Noodles]

how does it drive? noisy at all???