MinkelR's 323 Worklog

[MinkelR]

O2 Sensor

New NTK O2 sensor :D
I will probably put this and the exhaust gasket on tomorrow if it doesn't snow too much tonight. I've been spraying PB Blaster on the bolts and O2 sensor almost every day so hopefully everything is all loosened up.

[MinkelR]

O2 sensor and exhaust flange gasket are now installed. What the old one looked like:

[MinkelR]

Wetsanded Headlights

Alright, I replaced the other oil filter with an oversized one.
Also wetsanded the headlights. They look a helluva lot better.

Wetsanded with 600 then 1500 Grit. I was going to use 2000 grit after but I couldn't find any. I then scrubbed them with 3M rubbing compound and a microfiber cloth. Then I polished them with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Clear Plastic Polish and a microfiber cloth. Gotta align them tonight.

Before


After


Half Sanded/Half Rubbing Compound


Comparison


Before


After


Edit: Also rewired my stereo since it wouldn't remember my stations or the time. Need to trace down a short in the rear window defroster. Every time you flip the switch the fuse blows.

[Kris]

looking good

[MinkelR]

Just aligned the beams and threw some Sylvania Silverstars inside. 1000 times better.

Also just discovered that this thing will chirp the tires shifting into second gear. I could use some of that power in the lower RPM's, lol.

[deathtrigga]

lol that thing chirps 1st to 2nd?

[MinkelR]

Changed the tranny oil today, damn that needed to be done, there was only 2 quarts of oil in the tranny. I filled it with 3 quarts (I know, supposed to be 2.8 but who's countin'?). I SeaFoamed it and I think I smoked out the neighbourhood. I changed the alternator belt and timing belt. I found why I had such little power. The timing was off by about 2 teeth at the crank. I got it all lined up and timed correctly and now it runs like a beast compared to how it was. I wasn't expecting that much from a 1.6L SOHC, lol.
Gas mileage was also suffering, 10 mpg in the city and 20 highway wasn't uncommon. We'll see what I get within the next few days.

[Kris]

niceee i think im gonna do the same to mine.
its odd cuz i feel the car can pull harder?

thanks for your update

[MinkelR]

niceee i think im gonna do the same to mine.
its odd cuz i feel the car can pull harder?

thanks for your update

The car pulls a lot harder than it used to and idles better. Probably partially due to the SeaFoam but mostly due to fixing the timing.


Some Reference material for myself since I can't find any paper.
6607 Stock Small Filter 323
7317 Med. Filter
3593A Large Filter

[scort4life]

ouch

Man dude that car looks like the owner before used it for a bumper car race. Sweet start for a build though! can't beat 300 bucks.

[LaFlava]

10 in the city holy hell. my 1.8DOHC got 22 mpgs when I went to the autocross.

it should go up a lot since you fixed all that stuff.

[MinkelR]

Haha, I do know that it was used on a farm by one of the previous owners. There was a ton of bark and crap in the hatch when i got it.

Yeah, I knew something was wrong when I was getting that bad of mileage and the zero degree weather wasn't helping anything. I'm expecting to see a nice MPG jump now.

I've got some lower ball joints and tie rods that I want to put on still and will probably get around to it this week. I'm working on fixing up a DSM with a busted timing belt as well so I probably won't get around to it until later.

[MinkelR]

Alright, after 200 or so miles of mixed driving & beating on it a bit I clocked in at 29 mpg. :D

[MinkelR]

Ball Joints, Yay!

Had enough time this evening to get one of the ball joints changed out. I'll be changing the other one this weekend if it doesn't rain too much. Also got new cheapo tires put on a few hundred miles ago since the old ones were pretty much bald. Got to do a few epic burn-outs before I got them changed.

[LaFlava]

Alright, after 200 or so miles of mixed driving & beating on it a bit I clocked in at 29 mpg. :D

that much more like it.