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

[Turpro]

Beat me to it dee lol. Updates dan

[monoxidechild]

johnny 5 need input!

[Dan [Sac]]

Nothing new to update. I spent spring break being Mr. Mechanic. Mom's Intrepid needed new transm. mount, new body mounts, a right strut....girlfriend's Protege got an oil change and new spark plugs...dad's truck got a new rear axle and bearings....my sister's Civic needed a new window regulator and some electrical work...and my new 2001 F250 got a tuneup (oil, air, fuel filters, oil change, spark plugs, and spark plug boots - after doing the plugs on that V10 I will never complain about the KL rear plugs...).

I did put in a couple of front suspension bushings, and pulled off the rear subframe off the BG to begin the rear bushing work this friday. No more working on other people's cars!!!

[Mazda_Powered]

wow that's a lot of work lol

[bomdoutscort]

Dont you hate being called on from family? The only problems is you want to save them money and dont trust places so you end up doing it yourself

[Dan [Sac]]

The only problems is you want to save them money and dont trust places so you end up doing it yourself

That's exactly it. The shop wanted $1,600 for my dad's '99 F-150 repairs. He basically FUBARed the right rear axle (260k miles on it), so it needed the axle shaft replaced, new bearings and new seals and new fluid. I replaced the bearings & seals on both sides as well as inspected the axle on the left side, which was fine. Total cost in parts was $405 after tax (US-made axle, bearings, seals, diff. oil, LSD additive, RTV, and so on).

The most important part is that I know the work was done right, no cross threading of anything, no upselling, no unnecessary cost.

[Turpro]

That's why none of my **** goes to a mechanic. Cost is an issue but not as much as peace of mind you have knowing that its done right

[monoxidechild]

Thats how i am. I dont trust people touching families car's. Only thing that anything goes to a shop is tire mounting and alligments.

[Dan [Sac]]

Made some progress this weekend, before the rains washed the rest of the activities out.

I got all OEM bushings removed and about all suspension pieces cleaned up and recoated.

Bought a 12-ton press for the occasion and it turned out to be pretty worthless except for the trailing links which are just rubber bonded to the link (no sleeves).

For anything with sleeves, the 12-tons did nothing - and I have zero rust. Even when I fabbed perfectly fitting attachments, all it accomplished is to bend one of the trailing links so I just gave up on that method.

Best way was the fire method. Just heated the outside of the bushings (purposefully NOT setting them on fire, just heating the hell out of the outside) until the bushing slid out of its sleeve under its own weight. Then the hack-saw method for taking the sleeve out. Spent the better part of 5 hours taking out the 8 rear sleeves....talk about a PITA. Looking forward to never doing that again.

I'll have more pics later in the week.

All of my susp. bolts were in excellent condition and came off without a hitch. I'd hate to do it the Canadian way....












The OEM bushings were all in surprisingly good shape, with only the front LCA rear bushings actually in need of replacement (those almost always are). Probably one of the reasons why I thought the mx3 handled so damn well for stock while I was driving it.



The plan for this week is to primer the remaining plastics tomorrow, and sand on tuesday. Finally, on Thursday I'd like the paint them (black or silver as needed) so I can be done with painting and focus just on assembly.

[Mazda_Powered]

lookin good man!

yea i was sick of the canadian way, so i went a little south for my BG

[Henchman]

Where'd did you get that jack/stand that the rear subframe is sitting on?

[Dan [Sac]]

I think I got it at sears....might have been hobo freight. It's a scissor-type transmission jack with a 1/2" input so you can use a 1/2" ratchet to raise/lower it (or a 1/2" air gun for 'pneumatic' operation). It's been very handy and other than lube requires no maintenance.

[Dan [Sac]]

Today I got the last of the parts primered - all 4 flares, front & rear bumper lips, motor mounts, coolant hard lines, a-pillar covers, b-pillar outer glass covers, and some more brackets. That's about it.

[The Pile]

You are my hero.

[psiturbo]

You really dont mess around, all out on this build.

Not to drive off from main subject but now that you brought it, the deal about a mechanic I sometimes end up repairing even lawnmowers and garden trimmers. But its all good in a way is kind of, although may sound strange, to spend time with family members while working on their cars.

Could you show what tool you used to heat up the parts?

On another note, Have you gone to the track as I see you have that other drag car?