Mazda MX-6 Forum banner

BF323 Fe3 (South Africa)

7K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  veltpak6 
#1 ·
Hi all. Glad to be a part of your awesome forum. This is my 1997 4 door BF323 which started its life with a little B3 motor (which served me well I should add) and is now getting treated to the mighty Fe3 :grin2:

The Fe3 original came in a limited edition 323 in South Africa called the 200i, so if you can find all the necessary parts (crossmemeber, engine and gearbox brackets, driveshafts, ecu, fuel tank etc) this swap can be a direct bolt in. But it is still tricky as only +-2000 of these cars were ever produced. I made it my goal to find these parts over the last couple years and finally the shopping list is complete.

The car


Removing the B3


























And here lies a legendary, bulletproof motor. Thank you for everything little B3



I sanded the bay by hand


Chose a colour for the bay (R32 grey gun metallic)


Prime


Bay complete. Hardware was electroplated gold and everything fitted











 
See less See more
24
#2 ·
Importers phoned me and told me that 2 Fe3's had just arrived from Japan


Picked up a super clean motor and box











At this point we made a short little video of the build
https://vimeo.com/110797700

Found out my motor came with an almost new stage 1 Exedy clutch which is intended for street performance (moderate mods) and track days, retails for 350$.. so this was a huge score! (Read more here on the stage 1 EXEDY Stage 1 - Clutch kits for Street Performance)



I got the springs tightened, and the flywheel and pressure plate got an extremely light skim.





A friend was kind enough to swap his 200i engine bracket with my import bracket as I realised they were different and my engine mount wasn't lining up.


It's already come back from the sand blasters and looking awesome. Here you can compare the difference between the local and import bracket.



After doing some research and finding out that Hammerite is fairly heat proof and excellent for engine blocks, I decided to paint mine. Looks great I reckon. (The ballie hiding behind the motor lmfao )



The heavy stock exhaust mani was removed, and a 4-2-1 viper header fitted :thumbup: To fit it, the dip stick has to be moved slightly



Claimed gains by Viper (but I assume this is the combination of the header and exhaust, which I will also have)



New pilot and thrust bearings.



Clutch assembly is on (and torqued), new bearings in and gearbox joined. So it is almost time :grin2::grin2:



 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Apexi Power Intake fresh from Japan :D


Unboxing


The filter, adapter, gasket and bolts


Came with an awesome metal decal, which will look great in my engine bay. Now I just need an Exedy one for my clutch.


In other news.. Now with the battery in the boot, things are getting a little tight haha.




Definitely going to need coilovers this year! I am coming right with the engine mount, but I will save the pictures until its finished

Lately I have been trying to figure out how I want to do the fueling on the build. With the new fuel pump (electronic) and motor (fuel injected), I needed thicker fuel lines (8mm send and return). I didn't want to use metal lines as these cars come with from factory, as I don’t feel like sitting here bending them to shape and not to mention their weight factor. With a bit of research I came across this fuel hose called “Meefer” hose.


(I only got enough to do the send line for now)

It is pretty much your usual rubber fuel hose but with a steel braiding covering it which is the perfect protection I need for the hoses running underneath the car. Selling at R60 a meter it’s a pretty fair deal and has a pressure rating of 15 bar (my car will be regulating at +-3 bar and 6bar if I ever decide to boost).



I might use this fitting to create a 90 degree bend when the hose reaches the engine bay and needs to turn upwards, which will eliminate the need for any aggressive bends in the hose.

 
#8 ·
Contact one of the admins to find out why you cant edit.
I'd say you might have cut and pasted the wrong type of link from photobucket accidentally...its easy enough to do, i've done it before myself.

Build is looking good on the previous pics tho.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top