Whats up from the Mitten

[mackfink]

Hows it going, names Mack and I'm new to the forum. I've been driving early 90's Mazdas for a few years now so I've been on the forum looking for answers to my problem. My current daily driver is a 1994 Mazda protege 1.8 sohc automatic. before that i drove a 1990 Mazda 323. The new car has been battered and bruised over the years and appears to have been painted with a brush. I plan on doing some upgrades to it but im going to keep the character the car already has. I plan on starting a build thread once i get parts gathered up.

[me109]

Welcome. What do you plan to do to it?

Looks like you must know a little something about the platform. Nice 323 SE. That's high spec for US hatchbacks.

[mackfink]

The 323 was a killer little car, id still be driving it if it wasn't for the rust issue I had. I've been doing as much research as I can into the Bg platform. My plan is a roof rack with bike racks on the sides, lower it 2", mx3 Lca and ttl, mx3 front bucket seats, zx2 front sway bar, strut tower braces, maybe some performance upgeades too and a couple other odds and ends. It should cool looking and performing driver when I'm done.

[me109]

I hate rust.

A BP and 5-speed swap would be good too. In due time.

[mackfink]

Rust is a killer in michigan. 5 speed is definitely on the docket too, I was also contemplating a BP swap. I've already priced out for the LCA, TTL buckets and everything for the trans swap and thanks to the rust issue among other that plague the mitten parts come in under $ 400. Is the trans bolt pattern the same between the BP and B8?

[me109]

Bellhousing bolts? Yes it should be.

The BP one is slightly tougher and has a 4.105 final ratio. The Kia version is supposed to be a small toughness upgrade over that.

Search the forum for more. There is plenty in here.

[mackfink]

I will definitely be doing my research before I dive in on a trans swap. As for everything else is pretty simple and straight forward and I cant wait to make some upgrades.