Early 90s 323

I'm going to look at a 323 rally car on Thursday. Car has a cage, recently rebuilt suspension, and a current logbook. It's stock with the 1.6 so it's a whopping 85Hp one wheel drive. What should I know about these?

Good news is I have a winter beater Protege (if owning a Protege can be considered good news) with a whopping 2.0L, 130 Hp one wheel drive 5spd, so that is an option. Anyone know if that will more or less bolt in? Is there an LSD available for these transmissions? Taller final drives? This part is just thinking out loud, as it will stay as is for the foreseeable future if I pick it up.

Thanks,

J

It is a really basic, hatchback Protege. When I first got my license, I had one. There is not really much to know, they were appliances when new and most have succumbed to rust but they are basic, dependable cars. Very simple to work on, great for a rally car.

The 323 has a B6 SOHC motor, basically a SOHC Miata engine. Sounds like your Protege has the B8 SOHC. The swap will indeed drop right in with no difficulty whatsoever, I think you can even reuse the 1.6 harness IIRC. But, if you were going through the trouble, I would try to put a B6 DOHC (early Miata) or BP (1.8 DOHC from Protege LX, Escort GT, late Miata) to really make it worthwhile. I am nearly positive there are a few LSD options, at least there were eight years ago, as far as taller final drives I'm not sure...but between the B6, B8, BP engines and all the different FWD cars you could get them in there are a few different transmissions you could use (including a 4-speed and a few 5-speeds).

I think ClubProtege is still the big forum for these, and Corksport probably remains the biggest supporter of FWD Mazda performance stuff.

His Protege has an FS-DE. There's no way in hell i'd ever consider swapping that motor into a 323.

BP swap time.

Corksport doesn't really have anything worthwhile for these cars anymore. Maybe shifter bushings and brake lines. If you want to make it handle, you're talking to Pierce Motorsports.

Basically you'll want to chuck in a BP, use an EGT or Sephia transmission (stronger case), then get an MFactory diff.

I've been hearing that these 323's are a potent FSP competitor.

I'm with SF1. Don't bother with the FS-DE, it's a turd. The BP is a good motor, as is the KLZE V6....

Thanks for the feedback. So my current motor is a turd huh Oh well, live and learn.

I like the BP, I bought a new Escort GT back in '91. Sweet little ride and my first new car.

Yes, the v6 would be cool. Unfortunately CARS, the Canadian rally sanctioning body, only allows a maximum of 5 cylinders for 2wd. Oh, and a 32mm restrictor for boosted motors (4wd can run a 34mm). So cheap underpowered NA motors are the way to go

J

Sorry, I mean that respectfully. I loved my '03 Protege, and it was reasonably reliable, but I hated that engine. Especially after it ingested some intake manifold screws... apparently a common problem I was previously unaware of. There are worse motors, but the BP is probably tougher all around.

What about an FE3? I'm not sure how common that swap is, but it's a stout 2.0 with 170ish hp.

You know, I wonder how hard it would be to swap in a Mazda F2 into one of these. Not F2T, although the work should be about the same. I think it would pull great gas mileage in a little 323 and should be extremely reliable. It wouldn't nearly so plus & play as a BP swap though.

I contacted Mazdaspeed a few years back about building a Protege rally car. They said that there wasn't much in the way of factory support for them. Not sure if that's the same case for the 323, but you may want to check that out.

It'll be the same. Identical chassis. Both BGs.

If the horn padding is worn, it may beep at inopportune times. The worst was 3am with a Sheriff deputy informing me my street parked car was going off. Also seatbelt chimes.

Cheap car

Reliable

Sized well for someone 5'6", I'm 5'10"