Smart buy or not, here it is: Mazda 323 GTX

Harnesses should not go thru seat and down at that angle. Last I checked the rulebooks a 45 degree angle from horizontal was permitted for CARS and only 10 degrees from horizontal for RA.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2011 11:08PM by CommanderSalamander.

I had a good time in mine. Never thoguht the gear box ratios were that bad vs the turbo motor.

Not so stable at speed. As noted above.

Parts were getting hard to find when I sold mine many years ago (2004?)

Not a competitive car today but plenty of fun, for $4,000 I would drive the piss out of one and have a good time. More then $5,000 - Hmmm would need to think hard about other options.

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CommanderSalamander
Harnesses should not go thru seat and down at that angle. Last I checked the rulebooks a 45 degree angle from horizontal was permitted for CARS and only 10 degrees from horizontal for RA.

does this mean that i have to have the cage completely redone in that area? or is there a way around this? the previous owner said that he had logbooks for both RA and NASA, but he couldnt find either one...

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WRCWRXSTI

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CommanderSalamander
Harnesses should not go thru seat and down at that angle. Last I checked the rulebooks a 45 degree angle from horizontal was permitted for CARS and only 10 degrees from horizontal for RA.

does this mean that i have to have the cage completely redone in that area? or is there a way around this? the previous owner said that he had logbooks for both RA and NASA, but he couldnt find either one...

Look at the drawings in any rule book, they all use the exact same drawing , then finger out the angle. If you don't have a protractor, you can fold a piece of paper over carefully and make 45 degrees, check that before listening to and worrying about what just some guy says.

Rules are rules.
Opinions are like noezez...

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

from the pics it looks like you could run the harness to that bar at the back and get a more appropriate angle.

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phlat65
from the pics it looks like you could run the harness to that bar at the back and get a more appropriate angle.

This.

sweet, now for a logbook... think it is a realistic goal to be ready by mt hood?

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WRCWRXSTI
sweet, now for a logbook... think it is a realistic goal to be ready by mt hood?

Not unreasonable. I would be driving the shit out of it around town to figure out the idiosyncracies and what might be needing attention. Finding out you have a collapsed radiator hose, leaky power steering or bunk wheel bearing is better to know around town. I know I had most of my suspension, steering and drivetrain torn into in my garage before my first race, and I bought my neon "turnkey".

You still need to overcome the RA 4wd turbo hurdle too. What's the plan there?

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SeanP

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WRCWRXSTI
sweet, now for a logbook... think it is a realistic goal to be ready by mt hood?

Not unreasonable. I would be driving the shit out of it around town to figure out the idiosyncracies and what might be needing attention. Finding out you have a collapsed radiator hose, leaky power steering or bunk wheel bearing is better to know around town. I know I had most of my suspension, steering and drivetrain torn into in my garage before my first race, and I bought my neon "turnkey".

You still need to overcome the RA 4wd turbo hurdle too. What's the plan there?

i was going to try and petition the rule, on the basis that the car gets less power than a decent open light car. or possibly seeing if i can run with the boost turned all the way down. at least this is what was suggested to me around here. i have been driving it around the island for the past week or so, ive spent about 200 dollars on gas so far, at almost 5 dollars a gallon, and who knows what kind of milage i get, but ive done a bit of driving in it... and so far, i have had absolutely no problems whatsoever.

See if you can get it up on a lift and check for play in all the suspension components, steering components, etc. Just get familiar with all of it. Make sure fasteners are torqued to spec and look for stuff exposed under the car for things that will get sprayed with gravel. Basically identify everything that will cause a DNF. You didn't ask me for any advice, but I will give it unsolicited.

oh trust me, i appreciate any type of advice i can get around here, or at SS. oh and i almost forgot... when i press the "lock center differential" button, it sometimes gets stuck on lock. i press the button to turn it off, but it stays on for hours, and then i start up the car, get on my merry way, and then bam! its off again... theres also a slight crack in the manifold, as someone already called in advance, but it is on the bridge that supports the two sides. so i doubt it is much to be worried about, but im sure it will get worse if i dont replace it. too bad i couldnt fit the spare engine in the truck on my second trip down to olympia. i think the guy is out of state now too, and the engine is long gone.

If the crack is big enough and upstream of the O2 sensor, it might throw you computer off in terms of air/fuel mix. I know nothing of these center diffs you speak of...that would denote more than two wheels driven, right?

I'd be talking to RA about running the car and soon. The old horsepower story doesn't really hold water well. I remember some doofus running at the front of the pack with one not very long ago..haven't seen him for awhile..had a letter for a name...Dee or Eff or J..yeah Jay, that's it. Old guy used to rally a few years back. Those cars may have puny numbers but the results can be quite surprising.

Turbo cars make torque, torque wins races, horsepower sells cars..just so ya know. How do we control the boost while you're on stage?

Not to be jammin you personally but....you're not he first to do this, nor sadly the last I'm afraid...

You bought a car that has pretty much one life left
You bought a car that violates the prime law of rally for novices
You bought a car without having it checked by a scrutineer (or any of the local rallyistas)
You bought an old race car without a logbook in hand

but RA is supposed to believe you are a prudent, careful and cautious individual....just sayin....

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SeanP
If the crack is big enough and upstream of the O2 sensor, it might throw you computer off in terms of air/fuel mix. I know nothing of these center diffs you speak of...that would denote more than two wheels driven, right?

Hey kid listen up here,, this guys is obviously an engine turnerz.

Now me, I would have probably blaabbed about how you can repair the cast iron and completely overlooked this. I probably would have thought of the between 8250 to 10,000 liters of 1000 degree plus exhuast every minute at no boost and upto double that on boost and thought about boring simple things like harness fires, and stuff. I probably would have totally overlooked the O2 sensor thing.. Gawddayum whodathunk air could crawl upstream with all that thousands of liters or hot exhaust streaming thru under some positive pressure....

See that's the value of these forums, you learn all sorts of things, it's amazing.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

First things first. Call up RallyAmerica and ask...