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Old 26-07-2018, 10:00 PM   #1
HMT
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HMT's daily: '00 BJ Sportive - The xero fux given 323

I thought I might as well show my daily here that I bought last year as a write off. Got it for two reasons: I wanted a pre '01 BJ because of bad rust issues with later years and specifically a '00 Sportive since it came with the JDM Sport20 interieur. With that in mind I looked around for about a year one and off, and this was the best one I could find in terms of rust issues.

Why a BJ in 2017? (the following section is C&P, hence slightly redundant).
Well, I needed a new daily for commute and transport of the offspring as well as the occasional movement of building material.
After buying and selling two Xedos 6 V6s last year (yes, I desperately wanted a V6 in my life), I decided I'd go for the practical compact kinda hot kinda hatch that is the 323F BJ Sportive. I chose the 2000 model year because it combined the JDM interieur with a less rusty shell than the later years. Still, it took me months to track down a suitably candidate and actually the best I could come up with was silver (omg) a beat up unloved thing of ugliness which I acquired for the sum of 250€. I stress again, this was the best i could find including all offers up to 4000€.




Oh, i should mention that I had to travel about 200 miles one way (twice actually, so a total of 800) to buy it and bring it home two weeks later. Makes sense, right?

I only drove a few miles like this towards a mates garage where i picked up a bunch of parts and ghettofixed the front end a bit.






The trip home took about 4 hours due to the worst weather conditions and a somewhat limited top speed because accident damage and dead tires. Still, we made it. Safe to say, my wife was a bit underwhelmed with my purchase ^^
But this was the least rusty 323f BJ I could come up with, that has an engine that's not terribly slow (i.e. no 1.5 or 1.6), has a nice interior and the variable passenger seat and rear bench option, which is really awesome.

The morning after:



A few more detail shots.






Apart from all the filth, the interior was actually really nice.

Some accident damage:



After vacuuming the mess on the inside, I quickly put in a 626 wiper stalk with variable interval control.



That's actually very useful in german winters.

After that we found a space for the car where it would stay for a few weeks during repairs.

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Old 26-07-2018, 10:02 PM   #2
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First steps while waiting for spare parts:
new rear wiper



JDM emblem


The original remote was completely dead


I could restore the connections on the board and pair the remote with the car again. But i still was lacking a case with buttons


The doors were the only parts with rust:



The car still sported the original radio!


...which was replaced by this. Also added the Touring Computer from a 626


Started changing the illumination from green to red (weirdly, the speedo dials already were illuminated red)



Changed the interior air filter


And received the new suspension



Ok, after that, i started dismantling the front end



It turned out that there was more damage than I originally anticipated but that's just life...



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Old 26-07-2018, 10:03 PM   #3
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Test fitted a facelift bumper:




Installed the antenna bit from the Mazdaspeed 3



Tried to find out what happens if you pull on the fugly black bumper bits


And went through my stored parts to find a set of barely used Fondmetal wheels in 7x15"


Next steps:
Getting parts from a donor (including a remote)



Repairing both remotes (as described above)




Receiving moar parts

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Old 26-07-2018, 10:06 PM   #4
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Cleaning up the mess behind the fugly black stripe things



Becoming motivated enough to start pulling on the other fugly black stripe things on the car

And deciding to put that on hold until i'm able to remove the sticky glue that held them on.

Replaced the front wipers completely



Prepared the suspension





The bonnet opener was destroyed by the dealer so i had to replace it.




Used this opportunity to do some rust proofing






Removed some rust on the windscreen frame



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Old 26-07-2018, 10:07 PM   #5
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Also at the sills



And the doors




And the front fenders and under:





Replaced the door sills





Installed new brakes all around because well...



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Old 26-07-2018, 10:36 PM   #6
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Then had some fun with paint






Ok, soon after, i received a "new" bonnet


Unfortunately, the paint has seen better days and there was some rust beneath.

Direct comparison



Rusty rust



Treated that as shown before and painted it grey






Test fit, meanwhile, new parts arrived
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Old 26-07-2018, 10:37 PM   #7
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Tried a spinning rubber bit to remove the glue under the side protection things



Worked well. Therefore i removed all the stripes


Started changing brakes and suspension



old vs sexy







Implemented some corrosion prevention measures








Random Pic


And got some updated rear lights

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Old 26-07-2018, 10:38 PM   #8
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Next up, I continued to change the switch illumination from green to red



Sandblasted and painted the strut brace mounts


I had two sets of head lights: one with blind covers and one off the donor with "as new" covers but cracked housings from the accident. So swap it is. And black!


Dipty dip


Winning 's winning



Add more wax!


Put new Conti winter tires on the wheels and this:



Since i couldnt make the facelifted front bumper fit to the car in a reasonable amount of time, i went back to the donor to get the bumper and a few more bits



Since this bumper had seen at least two accidents and had been repaired as cheaply as possible, I decided to go full #nöfuksgvn


Glued the bumper in 9 places with epoxide and added color matching jdm stitches


Added EZ lip for additional street cred


Also glued the front grille and fog lights - nothing goes to waste

Then I pulled the front crossmember back out...

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Old 26-07-2018, 10:38 PM   #9
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Over all it's ok for this application. I was able to make all parts fit so that you couldnt see the damage from the outside.


Added new radiator and aircon condenser and dryer.


Added yellow for light bulbs


The engine received fresh coolant and oil, a new battery, coolant hoses and OEM iglition leads. Topped it off with a OEM strut brace, powder coated valve cover, dipped front grille, Corksport finish panel and an AutoExe Carbon Airbox.

The engine bay was filthy as...

Then cleaned the interior (so dirty!), added wiring for an amplifier and new carpets. Was left with this


Finally, the new indicators arrived




Next up, i covered the holes in the bumpers



Added new spray nozzles


Radio and TC working


Found covers for the roof trim


Added some color in form of stickers


Received a large parcel
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Old 26-07-2018, 10:40 PM   #10
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Center console and rear bumper off the BJ2


Unfortunately the bumper was damaged. But the rear lip still intact...

Direct comparison of center consoles




Hand brake lever wouldnt fit the new console, so got one of those as well


Now all fits fine. Added some Xedos sound deadening



Much better


Almost ready to take over for winter duty


Aand got it registered and washed!





The front suspension made some weird noises...turned out the aftermarked upper bearings were slightly tighter than oem, rubbing on the spring seats and tensioning the spring when steering, resulting in a "boing" noise. Put the OEM ones back, problem solved.


New parcel arrived


A dealer option sport exhaust with mazda engraving


Some evening fun

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Old 26-07-2018, 10:41 PM   #11
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At new years, a heat wave struck - so i decided to put on the rear lip



Added some audio to the front doors



Then at cold winter days, the starter motor decided to not reach the flywheel when trying to start the car. After a fey days of keeping a hammer in the car and gently motivating it to work, one evening I manned up and removed the motor for some much needed cleaning




After that, the starter worked like a charm. It's the little things sometimes.

And more recently i added a new bonnet mat that I got cheaply



So we got snow again


I put on summer wheels


Changed the thermostat


Added gauge rings


A set of new rear speakers



The car made itself useful transporting heavy materials


And finally, I test fitted more Sport20 aero


Fitment is spot on so i will paint them and get more pictures once they're on.

I have to say, with the new wheels, suspension and audio, the car is actually quite fun to drive and still it doesnt hurt if I have to transport stuff or get a little dirt inside. So i guess, for now, it suits me well and gives me the opportunity to look after my other cars whilst they are off the road

Transport duty:
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Old 26-07-2018, 10:41 PM   #12
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Redid the front turn signals


So this...


...became this


Much better


After a quick hand wash (the first one since i got it and probably in the whole life of the car), it looked quite nice

Should have been like that from the factory.

Prepped and primed the skirts



Test fit - almost there



Most of this happened in October 2017 and a bit during last winter and spring.
The current status is this:
Side skirts are on for a while now and i added a front lip as well:


More pics can be founr here: https://driving-culture.blogspot.com...for-daily.html

From here on, it will mainly be maintenance and driving since I really prefer working on the BA, BG, NA or MX3...
Still, hope you like the little rescue story
Cheers,
Chris
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Old 27-07-2018, 09:19 PM   #13
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A lot of work so far
But good progress, never seen anyone repair rust like that haha
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Old 31-07-2018, 05:09 PM   #14
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You mean the doors? That's merely cosmetics and trying to preserve the rest that is left over - not really a repair ^^

Was in the mood for pictures this morning...

https://driving-culture.blogspot.com...o-fux-323.html

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