RX323 Project - Chassis Brackets

[MikeLMR]

update with photos

I got fed up trying to remove the hub nut from my spares car (spot the fcuked socket) So I got on with fitting the rear shocks on the yella car #

(CLICK FOR BIGGER PICCIES)



A nice period accessory thats a must for any car with points this one is from my dads rwd 323 estate



The new mounting for the brake pipe (brake pipes yet to be sorted ... probably rx7 ones)



all cleaned up and straightened  (dust shields ... THANKS parcelforce!!)



Lada vs Mazda ... Lada wins ! Bilstein Rally shocks for a Lada Riva



On the car, pressed out the Lada bushes and pressed in the Mazda ones and they fit a treat ... damping rates are just a little uprated !!!

[mullins]

Mike whats that period accessory? :xconfused  Does it give a better spark or something? Progress is looking promising, you don\'t hang about!!

[MikeLMR]

its a capacitor discharge ignition system, basically it takes the load of the points so they last a little (well a lot) longer before they need adjusting.

[MikeLMR]

The car is now sat on its new suspension, the rear is VERY well damped ... I don\'t know how it will handle with soft springs (standard and standard height) and high rate dampers but thats the setup as used on lots of rally cars so I don\'t forsee too much of a problem (I hope)

The to do list is a lot shorter now.

to be ready for the Pod in Oct I need ...

- Wheel nuts (to be robbed off my 323 gt spares car)
- Brake plumbing ... need to work out what threads they are first. I presume the old UNF style fittings.
- Brake pads (just require purchasing)
- Brake calipers .... need to work out if I\'m going to use these as is or strip, clean and refit them OR splash out on some recon ones (£££\'s!!)
- Paint the new cross member and strut brace



Then thats about it appart from setting it all up

[Martiny]

Mike I am sure the suspension will be fine, I am a big fan of soft springs/hard shocks myself. Had this setup on my RX-2 and it handled brilliantly on the track and on the road.

Gonna get this setup for my current RX-2 if I can. At the moment its quite amusing to make the front bounce up and down on the brakes, though !

[MikeLMR]

Just posted off my calipers to a company for reconditioning (at a reasonable price ... will let you all know if they are any good) I also have a set of racing beat caster blocks to fit under the ARB to increase the caster a little (they ended up being V expensive !! ... not sure I\'d buy anything from them again ... but then again they are spot on and even come with detailed instructions 6.5/10 )

Hopefully the calipers might be back in time for next Sunday (because the rally car has two bent con rods at the moment ... Ford = Hydraulic Lock = Bent rods = 20 mins dropped but still finished and still revs to 8K+ :rollin )

[MikeLMR]

no calipers in the post I\'m afraid (it was a long shot ) so I\'m in the other 1300 323 at the weekend I\'m afraid (in the general car park) If anyone is short a pass I can meet up with you sometime mid morning ish (stag do tonight so I\'m no way going to be really early )

[clive]

Mike, keep your pass and still bring it round and  we will hide you on the stand  

[MikeLMR]

nice one clive

[MikeLMR]

Got the calipers back now and so far I\'m impressed. Nicely powder coated black, new pistons and new rubbers all round. Looks like a top job for circa £100 for a pair ! Most places want £100 + each for recon calipers !

So Bigg Red gets a thumbs up so far from me. I also like the fact that they took the time to answer my e-mail promptly and politely ... something a lot of companies seem unable to do these days !

Won\'t be fitting them for a while though as I\'m flying out to India for a week on Monday (work) so I\'ll be a bit quiet(er) for a bit.

[MikeLMR]

pics just because I haven\'t posted any for a while ...

[MikeLMR]

garage is now full of **** due to local flooding (water boards fault ... its done it before!!) Not happy as its stopping me working on the cars + its caused a fair bit of damage (luckily not a lot was on the floor) and i have two cars in the drive mid engine swap so I\'m a bit miffed about that too

No update pics (I have some but they aren\'t pretty!)

They best do a good job of clearing up

[MikeLMR]

Bit of an update, firstly many thanks to Davery who donated the SP dash and to Carl who kindly took time out to meet up with me yesterday so I could collect it ... thanks guys much appreciated :wiggle
 
on with the piccies ...
 
The reason for the lack of progress lately (see above) ... its still not 100% sorted the garage stinks like a drain

 
 
This is the old dash ... no tacho = no good

 
Now with the shiney new 5 dial version ... mmmm (notice the ultralite gauge lurking ... more of that later but initially the fit looks good )

 
The difference in the dash pads

 
The damage I need to get fixed ... not sure how yet, its distorted here

 
and split here ... hopefully its fixable I\'m also going to spray it dark brown to match the original.
 

 
a NOS pattern front wing

 
a box o bits to sort my front brakes finally

 
and some piccies of the caster blocks installed

[daverey]

Glad your pleased Mike, the dash looks right now. Sorry about the broken corner, didn\'t notice that.
  Dave

[MikeLMR]

no worries about the dash I was pleased to find one in the UK! :cheers