Go Back   AstinaGT Forums > AstinaGT Talk > Your Rides/Project Worklog

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 15-12-2012, 09:32 AM   #121
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Don't forget the swaybar. It doesn't roll at all any more and understeer is practically non-existent under full throttle.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-12-2012, 11:52 AM   #122
ghetto3
Senior Member
 
ghetto3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: north coast nsw
Car: 97 ba 1.8 323
Posts: 799
I love the discreet exterior and then you see under the bonnet...and then the spec list.

Must be a pleasure rowing that gearbox!
First..wheelspin..second feather wheelspin.. Third.. Hairs stand on end (cue laughter similar to rupes').. Fourth for overtaking.... Wait. Fifth for overtaking too? Where did that come from? Bg sp gearbox?
ghetto3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-12-2012, 12:33 PM   #123
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Thanks mate, I do have a sticker on the rear that says "Eat, Sleep, Shift!" so yes I love to shift gears. There is rarely any wheelspin in first as that gear is very short. Some would say useless, but the step to second is quite large too so it makes sense to rev first all the way out as there is no loss of grip. Third is always a treat for the ears, and sometimes I go for the non-existent sixth gear as it seems to be going too fast for top gear.

The fresh tyres and alignment has worked wonders too. All kinds of crazy toe on the fronts, thanks to swaybar install, were zeroed out and it doesn't dart about like crazy under full throttle any more. Plus they managed to get the steering wheel straight for the first time in about 2.5 years. However I do have a leak of fluid somewhere that I'm checking out this arvo.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-12-2012, 04:26 PM   #124
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Found and fixed three leaks. Radiator drain plug loose, easy fix. Oil seeping past sump gasket at front of engine, tightened the sump bolts which were at least a single spanner turn loose. And oil seeping from filter sandwich plate, removed it. All simple fixes and the oil dripping from the sandwich plate was falling right onto the flexible union in the exhaust, which explains the smell the last few days. Very happy that these were easy fixes.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-12-2012, 04:30 PM   #125
Clean_Cookie
obsessed-incomplete-broke
 
Clean_Cookie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: BA Hardtop/Hatch
Posts: 5,441
Yay! I want your Gearbox now lol.
__________________
Worklog
Clean_Cookie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-12-2012, 11:55 AM   #126
Gibbonz
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Auckland
Car: Astina
Posts: 21
This little beauty was the inspiration that i required for my work in progress astina.. love it dude!
Gibbonz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-12-2012, 12:26 PM   #127
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Thanks mate, I'm glad I'm inspiring other BG owners. I just love these little boxes.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-12-2012, 10:48 PM   #128
rogerstrampoline
AstinaGT Regular
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: south brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina SP
Posts: 365
You're what inspired my BP turbo still have to have the old race to see if the compression makes a difference
rogerstrampoline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 31-01-2013, 11:16 PM   #129
mcwilly
Senior Member
 
mcwilly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: newcastle NSW
Car: 323 astina
Posts: 780
Good looking car mate.
__________________
340KW @ 24psi....................pb 13.3 @ 118mph (3rd gear issues + wheel spin)
mcwilly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-03-2013, 01:10 PM   #130
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Not much news these days, just keeping the car maintained and not really looking at mods any more. But it just got booked in for a track day out at QR this Saturday! I won't be driving her, a good mate will be the pilot, but I gave the car a good thrashing last weekend and it feels awesome now. Engine feels like silk all the way to 7000rpm after blowing the cobwebs out and the front swaybar is just excellent. And there is a servo at Virginia that sells 100ron fuel which I will be filling up with tonight and I'm really looking forward to see how much harder it pulls with it.

I know some will wonder why I'm not driving, its mainly due to 'the fear' I seem to get on tracks, and I also can't really afford it anyway lol. But I will finally get to watch my own car go hard instead of the usual view out of the windscreen. I also own a GoPro now so expect some glorious 720p footage to go up on YouTube at some stage.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-03-2013, 04:33 PM   #131
Clean_Cookie
obsessed-incomplete-broke
 
Clean_Cookie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: BA Hardtop/Hatch
Posts: 5,441
as long as it comes home in one piece!
__________________
Worklog
Clean_Cookie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-03-2013, 07:32 PM   #132
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Well, kinda good day, kinda bad day. Was so awesome to see my car going round the track and keeping some other cars at bay. Felt like a parent watching their kid and couldn't keep the smile off my face. My mate said the car felt amazing, super flat around the bends and the LSD let him put almost all the power down mid corner. He actually managed to snag a drive of his bosses E92 BMW M3 which has the V8 and he said the Astina felt much more stable and useable. So I was pretty ecstatic and he is in love with the Astina now.

However, when he came in after the first session he instantly alerted me that he saw some white smoke coming through the floor at the end of the session. Normally I would freak out, but I've seen the odd whiff here and there myself and knew it would be oil on the exhaust. Then I looked under it and saw the oil coming out!

Thankfully it wasn't that much oil, but after some simple diagnosis it was determined the rear main seal was on the way out as there was no oil coming from anywhere above the sump line and there was a little trickle coming from where the clutch fork goes into the bell housing. I let it sit for 30mins and checked the oil which was still above the full mark, so i fired her back up and only got one drip every 20-30 seconds. So really just a 'flesh wound' which was exacerbated by the g-forces pushing the oil in the sump up against the rear main on right hand turns.

We drove home and it was perfectly fine, no smoke, no warning lights, it really is a champ of a car. It's living in the garage at home for now and has only dripped out very small amount, the level is still above full without any additional oil added. It's nearly time for the timing belt to be replaced anyway, so I'll book it in at Automotive Plus for the 200,000km service. I'm definitely not mad at my mate, actually kinda feel bad that my car let him down and he didn't get his other two sessions. But as I said, his boss threw the M3 keys at him in consolation and he nearly shat himself in surprise and joy.

Anyway, here is the in-car video from the session. Sadly my car really is pretty quiet, but you can hear the straight cut third gear if you crank the volume up. I love the GoPro too, funnily enough I think I spent more time looking at the sky in this video, the high-def is soo gorgeous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNDGfE9cyWM
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-03-2013, 07:47 AM   #133
project.r.racing
Senior Member
 
project.r.racing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: n/a
Car: n/a
Posts: 10,929
Rear main seal normally near there end-of-life if they have a huge bashing, the give way like that. Especially if running thins oils in high rpm/high temp situations.

I still have to do mine soon. Every time I go into the garage to do it, I just think another day and walk away. lol
project.r.racing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-03-2013, 10:45 AM   #134
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Booked in at Automotive Plus for Tuesday next week. Full timing belt kit and tensioners, check of sump seals, replace accessory belts [i have kept a brand new pair in my back seat for years now since I have RACQ but they never have the right belts] and a new oil pressure sender as mine is leaking. Hopefully they don't find any other serious issues.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-03-2013, 10:47 AM   #135
Mad Mat
HONEYWELL REPRESENT
 
Mad Mat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Salisbury - Inner City
Car: 1997 BA Hardtop - Had a 2003 BJii J48 Sport20, and 2x bg SOHC astina hatches
Posts: 5,011
Send a message via MSN to Mad Mat
haha man that video was awesome.. the sound of third gear make me giggle as it sound like a SC hee hee
__________________

1994 323 BG Hatch 2005-2007 Crashed into truck
1991 323 BG Hatch 2007-2008/9 SOLD
2003 BJ SP20 J48 Hatch 2008-2011 Regretfully SOLD
1997 BA I4 Sedan 2012-CURRENT
1985 BF 323 Hatch 2014-2015
SOLD
1989 MX5 2015-2015
Mad Mat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-03-2013, 11:55 AM   #136
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
There was a supercharged Lotus Elise there on the day too and it sounded exactly like my third gear, was awesome.
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-03-2013, 07:53 PM   #137
derb
Senior Member
 
derb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane
Car: 1993 BG Astina GT-X
Posts: 1,822
Got the car back from Automotive Plus yesterday, they really do excellent work. Apart from the main list of jobs, I asked them to replace the oil pressure sender as I believed it to be leaking. They removed the whole intake manifold and the issue laid not with the pressure sender, but with the knock sensor that lives directly above it. It's made partly out of resin which had started to weaken and leak. Not only that, but they found that the coolant thermoswitch, also hidden under the manifold, was probably weeks from failing itself. When they removed it to check it fell to pieces in their hands. And my own home job of replacing the sump seals was done incorrectly which was another oil leak adding to the hunt for drips.

So the list of replacements is as follows:-

Timing belt
Timing belt tensioner and spring
Front main crank seal
Rear main crank seal
Both cam seals
Sump gaskets
Thermoswitch sensor
Knock sensor
Oil change and filter
Both accessory belts [I always kept them in the back of my seat since I have RACQ, but they never have the right belts on them]

All that plus 12 hours of labour for $1600, which I think is very fair considering the whole gearbox had to be removed to do the rear main seal, plus they had it ready to go for the long Easter weekend. If anyone in Brisbane needs a mechanic that knows Mazdas like the back of their hands, it's the guys at Automotive Plus!
__________________
derb is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time now is 01:08 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
2001- 2010 AstinaGT