It's nice to be the second owner.

[ZestJest]

Well... I'm a newbie to Mazda. I have an 86 Nissan 720 z24 and the gf has an 89 Corolla. Also did my time with euros. 92 VW Corrado vr6. 95 Volvo 850 turbo. So I've never had anything smaller than a 2.3 turbo.

My new daily is now a 1986 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i and as I drove it home for the first time tonight the clock rolled over to 109,002. I bought the car from the original owner for $600. I have the window stickers and the p.o. kept a meticulous log book of every fuel stop... And everything in between... I have the full history. The guy didn't check the oil without notation in a book. I plan to keep that going.

Ultimately I joined for assistance with repairs in the future/ I want to learn the culture with these cars and styling practices... and then there is this question-
Has anyone installed a double din stereo and how did you do it?

Thanks in advance
-Zac

[ZestJest]

Also... Sorry for the poor quality oic. Storm rolling in.

[jay]

You have a very unmolested original '80's grocerygetter. However, it is one of the best of that breed. If I were you, I'd do what you intend with maintenence records, in keeping with what the first owner did, and that's it. I think if things go the way they've been, that '80's hatches are gonna be collectors items and yours has probably the best potential to be such a thing as I've seen...mk 1 Rabbits are getting expensive so hey it could happen. You could do coilovers, big brakes, reversable things like that, and you could swap out that engine (put it in a crate and save for later just in case) for a turbo 1.8 and make a fun sleeper, but I'd leave it alone. It is what it is.
"styling practices"? Nah. Fun to drive, cheap to run, it's the Mazda way.
Oh Bull****. Put a set of coilovers on it, ($1500 or less), do the VR4 big brake upgrade ($600), drop in a BPT with the right and proper turbo ($$ couple grand on up depending on how much of the work gets farmed out), leave the coachwork and especially the wheels alone, and laugh your ass off by surprising the crap out of unsuspecting foxbody mustang owners as to what the hell just happened....

[goldstar]

Whatever you decide to do with your car, welcome to CP.

Happy Motoring!

[me109]

Welcome. That is a fantastic score.

I agree with jay except I'd look into an FE3 instead of the BPT. It's supposed to be a much easier install on those cars than the BPT, and it has more potential too.

[ZestJest]

My vision at this point is 1-2 inches lower on the stock rims... Dark tint and maybe a sound system but nothing crazy. I need a reliable car for a while. Too many projects lol... But I love sleeper cars so it might turn into a project...