ok so im looking at buying my sisters 1999 323f 1.5 (not sure if it is bj model but according to year it is) and i have a few questions before i buy it.

is anyone else's steering feel 'numb'? if so any cures?
any problems from lowering (heard of cars with low gearboxes getting mangled)?
and has anyone put a 2.0 turbo engine in a 323f? was thinking maybe vsxr or impreza engine i know the vsxr is smaller as my friend has one in his corsa and his engine bay is smaller than the 323f?

i am a bike guy ussually but want to learn about cars and the 323f seems a good car for insurance.

Hi buddy, welcome in.
Lowering isn't a problem. 30 - 40mm is the norm.
Dunno what you mean by "numb" steering....
Theres 2.0 turbo available from the USA, if you can get your hands on one.
Better option would be to turbo a UK 2.0 engine, using a bolt on turbo kit. Knocks the standard 2.0 up to about 220bhp.
VXR or Impreza? Good luck!

[quote="Neil F"]Hi buddy, welcome in.
Lowering isn't a problem. 30 - 40mm is the norm.
Dunno what you mean by "numb" steering....
Theres 2.0 turbo available from the USA, if you can get your hands on one.
Better option would be to turbo a UK 2.0 engine, using a bolt on turbo kit. Knocks the standard 2.0 up to about 220bhp.
VXR or Impreza? Good luck! [/quote]
hmmm bolt on sounds goood

and impreza was gunna be very ambitious was maybe thinking try and make the car awd which wouldnt be tooo hard in theory but thats effort

and by numb i mean it has no feeling in the steering (only driven two other cars one being a ford fiesta)

only 220 hmmm thats not very good might have a look around and try getting atleast 280bhp i mean my mates jap import imprezza is kicking out 300bhp and i cant be getting beat by him !


more questions!
i know i can add a strut at the engine bay but what about the back (i know scoobies have one in boot)

any good places in uk for racing/sports parts e.g. cat back exhausts etc?
any insurance companies that seem to like these cars because im getting stupid 5k quotes?
thanks for any reply

I think if your'e getting quotes of £5k to insure it, you probably want to keep it pretty standard...and if you're really looking for 300bhp...don't buy a 1.5...buy a faster car in the first place

Nowhere really in the UK for parts - although for exhaust you're better off with a Powerflow or Longlife stainless system anyway

www.fordprobestore.co.uk do an intake kit, very cheap...

You probably find it numb because it has speed sensitive power steering. Nice and light around town, but weights up nicely at speed - these things turn in better than a lot of other cars

Good ambition, hard object
You'll be needing some proper skills fitting another engine and making it 4wd. (+ alot of cash)
and still the impreza would outrun it I guess

Beat your friend in economy and boot-space!

hmm think im skipping the car insurance for a few years and sticking with the bikes

still buying the car and doing it up over the two years.

shame about parts though and the awd isnt that difficult just got to get the engine in then cut down the drive shafts and then get a better suspension setup and bigger brakes oh i forgot making a few custom mounts for everything i suppose a rwd 2 turbo would be good! i have 2 years to do this project i just need to get a proper idea of what im doing to it really already got visual side thought of! and as far as skills im engineering student my dad is an engineer and i can borrow my grandad for welding lol as he has been doing it for ages as his main job.

anybody know of cheap ish bodykits?
front mounted intercooler?
headers?
alternate aerial? sister didnt clean it and wrecked the motor so it dont move now but it looks crap anyways looks like a large remot control car with it up in my opinion.
anybody known of putting lexus lights in the back maybe?
thanks for any reply.

Didnt a Spanish member boost his 1.5bj? ....

is it worth it being a 1.5?

[quote="errnee"]Didnt a Spanish member boost his 1.5bj? ....

is it worth it being a 1.5?[/quote]

No boost a 2.0 and its worth it! And boostin a 1.5 would still have good power gains

[quote="jackojeff"]

No boost a 2.0 and its worth it![/quote]

Thats my plan

[quote="errnee"][quote="jackojeff"]

No boost a 2.0 and its worth it![/quote]

Thats my plan [/quote]

yh i gotta get an engine first or maybe a place that does it (will be many times more expensive) and i have to look at insurance as i will try and tell the insurance of the mods i know there are insurers who only do modded cars if they quote to high then after the two yrs it can be my lil secret lol.

ok so whats the speed like on the 2.0 ? thinkin a garret turbo for it? maybe the dt05 or dt06 they use on the imprezza?

When I looked into Protege5 (323f 2.0 sport) turbo projects across the pond on Mazdas247.com I found that its not widely done because a lot of the internals need upgrading at the same time because the stock engine just isnt stong enough to handle the turbo.

I cant understand the desire to transplant a 2.0 into a 1.5 where the gearbox, brakes and so on are all feeble.. ploughing thousands of pounds and many many hours in such a project when you could buy an old Impreza for a couple grand. I know its a project, and would be quite an achievement but there would be very little return on such a project, you'd still be hard pushed to keep up with a scooby. Then try explaining to your insurer that its a 1.5.. with a 2.0 engine... that you've modded... Scooby insurance would be a comparable bargain!

Maybe look into a project that a few members here have covered.. a BA 323F with a turbo'd 2.5 KLZE engine?

the engine handles a turbo just fine as long as you don't boost more than half a bar... you have to take what they say on that board with a grain of salt... there's more idiots than geniuses
the engine failures don't happen because of excessive boost, it's because of detonation... 99% of the people do not run knock controllers on their car, they have this arrogance thinking they can hear the pinking noises or they can tune them away... several of my close friends have pushed more than 1.3 bar into their stock motor, with just a simple piggy back tuner, and a knock controller.... motor was just fine, and the car was driven hard daily! they don't really post on that board and the people there don't want to believe this is true anyway (and continue to talk bad about the stock engine), but I've seen it with my own eyes...

I added a factory turbo to my car myself and it's been running great.... boosting any more than 0.5 bar is silly on a FWD anyway



oh and the 2.0 won't work in a 1.5 or 1.6 car without changing the gearbox and drive shafts anyway... it's not just about swapping the engine!

[quote="TheMAN"]the engine handles a turbo just fine as long as you don't boost more than half a bar... you have to take what they say on that board with a grain of sale... there's more idiots than geniuses
the engine failures don't happen because of excessive boost, it's because of detonation... 99% of the people do not run knock controllers on their car, they have this arrogance thinking they can hear the pinking noises or they can tune them away... several of my close friends have pushed more than 1.3 bar into their stock motor, with just a simple piggy back tuner, and a knock controller.... motor was just fine, and the car was driven hard daily! they don't really post on that board and the people there don't want to believe this is true anyway (and continue to talk bad about the stock engine), but I've seen it with my own eyes...

I added a factory turbo to my car myself and it's been running great.... boosting any more than 0.5 bar is silly on a FWD anyway



oh and the 2.0 won't work in a 1.5 or 1.6 car without changing the gearbox and drive shafts anyway... it's not just about swapping the engine![/quote]

This man talks sense

ive read about the standard engine only taking 1.0bar .... Would you need anymore

[quote="errnee"]ive read about the standard engine only taking 1.0bar .... Would you need anymore [/quote]

Lol no you wouldn't, that's 14.5 psi

wayyyy more than I plan to put through the V6 I'm aiming for 7-8 psi

I;ve heard 6psi is standard, and the stock internals can't handle more than 8 for long periods. I'm just after that pssssst!

if you want a fast car buy one?
you'll only be disappointed :/

haha ok thanks guys first of all an imprezza is 8 groups up on insurance so not keen for that. im not really gunna declare much but hey i do what i can to drive a fast car. and 2.5 conversion Oh my god!! didnt even know they did a 2.5 that sounds beast.

i know i would have to change gearbox and clutch etc not really a problem.

boosting a standard is a bit silly sounding to me you should atleast change the pistons to lower the compression and maybe the crank shaft (driveshaft? i may have made up the name crankshaft but it does hold the cranks) oh and change the spark plugs to iridium if you want good clean burn (i dont care what you say tuned cars run amazing on iridium plugs), there are other things but i cant remember as i have just dont three engineering assignments and thinking of turbos is now hurting my brain xD

it was an idea might just tune up the 1.5 and have it kill standard 1.8s might look at a 2 bar turbo for the 1.5 for a lil bit of magic under the hood also means i dont get as bum raped if i crash (i mean turbo original engine is gunna get me in trouble but running a 2 turbo or 2.5 turbo will get me locked up in my county).

anybody had vinyl wrapping done? how long it last seen some boasting 5yr warranty?
stretched look tyres? they handle ok?
can i install a 5 point harness without taking out the back seats or installing a roll cage?

im going for import look so wouldnt mind it having bucket seats and harness but want back seats for the girlies .

anybody know were to get the square plates from?

[quote="errnee"]Didnt a Spanish member boost his 1.5bj? ....[/quote]

That was a 1.8, he had to change his internals too later

However, I like your ambition. Wonder how long you will keep it up
2.5 v6 KL-ZE would be a good conversion, easier and cheaper than boosting.

Boosted KL-ZE! mmmmmmm

[quote="jackojeff"]hmm think im skipping the car insurance for a few years and sticking with the bikes

still buying the car and doing it up over the two years.

shame about parts though and the awd isnt that difficult just got to get the engine in then cut down the drive shafts and then get a better suspension setup and bigger brakes oh i forgot making a few custom mounts for everything i suppose a rwd 2 turbo would be good! i have 2 years to do this project i just need to get a proper idea of what im doing to it really already got visual side thought of! and as far as skills im engineering student my dad is an engineer and i can borrow my grandad for welding lol as he has been doing it for ages as his main job.

anybody know of cheap ish bodykits?
front mounted intercooler?
headers?
[color=#FF0000][b]alternate aerial? sister didnt clean it and wrecked the motor so it dont move now but it looks crap anyways looks like a large remot control car with it up in my opinion.[/b][/color]
anybody known of putting lexus lights in the back maybe?
thanks for any reply.[/quote]
Are you talking about a BA or a BJ model?

That confused me too John...electric aerials were never fitted to the BJs were they?

No electric aerials so maybe it is the Ba he has.

im pretty sure its a ba...

[quote="Cyntax"]I;ve heard 6psi is standard, and the stock internals can't handle more than 8 for long periods. I'm just after that pssssst![/quote]
it can... with tuning and a knock controller like I already said
my friends are running a stock fuel pump and stock injectors too

But saying that, the compression ratios on the US blocks are different from the UK spec aren't they? I'm a bit of a novice and don't fully understand the implications of compression ratios

I can't believe this is about to reach 2 pages!!

With all due respect mate, you sound like one of the wee laddies that usually comes up for a blether when I'm fixing my car. I usually tell them its got about 3000bhp, will do 200mph in first gear, and the draught would pull their mothers knickers off as I drove past at 30 zillion miles per hour! I point to the windscreen washer bottle and tell them its my turbo cooling juice. I point to the strut bar and say its to stop the engine jumping out the bonnet when I plant my foot. Last time I raced a Ferrari I nearly won, I would have if he didn't have one of those new Zurbo engine boosters! Nitrous oxocube? Sure it has sonny, cunningly disguised as a fire extinguisher in case the rozzers see it.......


In summary, if you fancy sitting a Scooby engine in a 1.5 323F, then go for it. Noone here has one it and you'll sure as hell be the first!
Me? I'd get a better paper round and save up for the Scooby!

[quote="Cyntax"]But saying that, the compression ratios on the US blocks are different from the UK spec aren't they? I'm a bit of a novice and don't fully understand the implications of compression ratios [/quote]
that's true.... your engine does have 9.7:1 instead of 9.1:1.... so you won't be able to run as much boost, but I reckon 8psi will be fine with the proper engine management computers

I'm not looking at this for the imediate future, just be nice to have the option down the line.

If I do it, I may just go with the FS-ZE spec forged internals, and a custom ECU (hence not the immediate future!)

FS-ZET! (gonna have to reserve the reg plate now - F5 ZET !!!)

[quote="Neil F"]:lol: I can't believe this is about to reach 2 pages!!

With all due respect mate, you sound like one of the wee laddies that usually comes up for a blether when I'm fixing my car. I usually tell them its got about 3000bhp, will do 200mph in first gear, and the draught would pull their mothers knickers off as I drove past at 30 zillion miles per hour! I point to the windscreen washer bottle and tell them its my turbo cooling juice. I point to the strut bar and say its to stop the engine jumping out the bonnet when I plant my foot. Last time I raced a Ferrari I nearly won, I would have if he didn't have one of those new Zurbo engine boosters! Nitrous oxocube? Sure it has sonny, cunningly disguised as a fire extinguisher in case the rozzers see it.......


In summary, if you fancy sitting a Scooby engine in a 1.5 323F, then go for it. Noone here has one it and you'll sure as hell be the first!
Me? I'd get a better paper round and save up for the Scooby! [/quote]

i can afford a scooby i just wont pay the insurance because its robbery. i know alot about engines so dont be telling me lies coz i never heard of no nitro oxocubes i understand about engines cars etc just not this one and if you want proof il bore you to death chatting about four and two stroke engines and maybe a bit about gas turbines to make you that extra bit dipressed