And so it begins....323BG hatch ----> V6 powa with a few extra surprises

[4gethonda]

does the 323 have the same style steering wheel as the escort?

were its a bolt that holds it on, not a nut like the probes/mx3/mx6

[MD323]

does the 323 have the same style steering wheel as the escort?

were its a bolt that holds it on, not a nut like the probes/mx3/mx6

no the 323 steering is held in by a nut

[4gethonda]

damn it......

[Dan [Sac]]

This week not much was done. But, I did drop off the dash at an upholstery place to have it re-padded & recovered as it had quite a bit of aesthetic damage.

Also started the bondo work in the engine bay, with thin skim layers to finish off the metal grinding. I need to get a micro-DA to do some of the more inaccessible sanding, but I plan on painting the engine bay just like the outside - that means clear coat, color-sanding it with 1500, 3000, and then the final polish so it should really sparkle.

The bondo work is pretty difficult as I'm still a rookie at it, but slowly it's getting done.

Inside, I got the rear harness up, but I still have to splice the tail lights in. I got the last firewall brackets welded in, and now the blower motor and heater core are bolted up and fit. The duct between the two needs minor rework as it's getting 'flipped' form LHD to RHD and it's not symmetric.

More pics next week!

[MD323]

Trick to bondo besides learning to feel it out is the following

The flaþer you lay it ther easier it is to sand smooth

Take a high contrast spray paint and "lightly" spray it over your work and let dry before you sand it. It will show you your highs and lows till you get a feel for it.

Looks really good mang, this will be an epic 323

[Mazda_Powered]

yep, its a PITA do sand in the engine bay, been there lol. but it looks sick when you're done!

[progt91]

Yeah tell me about it.

[Dan [Sac]]

The Griffin rad. came in today, and it's nice. Already seeing a big potential conflict though, as the lower outlet of it is sitting right in the area of the supercharger outlet - so I may have to use a different one (radiator) if I can't resolve the differences on the next mockup. No biggie, if that's the case, then the Griffin goes on the drag car.











The other thing that I'm debating is whether to shave the door handles & keyholes or not...I'll think about it for now, let me know what you guys think. I love the clean shaved look, but I'm not keen on adding too much more weight with the door poppers, as well as all the extra wiring of the alarm/keyless entry & associated modules & brains. I'll do some research on what's involved, and decide later on it. My girlfriend did a quick photoshop with what it'd look like shaved (car borrowed from another logger that you'll recognize )

[MainstreaM]

whats the PN on that rad? Wonder how it'll fit with stock AC and such. Lookin for some options on my LXE but wanna keep the AC since its gonna be a daily.

[1992tracerlts]

Dont you need some sort of door handle to go to the track?

[4gethonda]

shave the hadles looks tits without them

[Euphoria]

I gotta say keep the door handles... I like a clean look. But sometimes it's just too much. You need that extra bit of detail here & there.

[323 GT-R]

Keep the door handle...it looks weird to me anyways...

[mx-3_4evr]

Keep

[801pro]

my vote is keep. it just doesn't look right.