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07-07-2014, 10:32 AM | #1 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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New Hardtop Owner
Hi All,
I have just purchased my first Mazda last night and discovered this forum while seeking additional information on the model. I have always been an old car owner (Currently have a 1967 Volvo 122s Amazon and a 1951 Rover P4 Cyclops in the garage) but after my daily driver died last week I have been on the hunt for something that looks good, drives nicely, is fairly frugal, fairly safe and affordable. I stumbled across the Astina BA series 3 Hardtops by chance and was quite taken by the styling of them. They also appear to be available with remarkably low kms. Having seen a couple in dealerships I went out and test drove an auto locally and was bitterly disappointed. The engine rattled and strained, gearbox hunted and jolted, brakes were touchy and body was rough. I was considering giving up on the model but later in the day I got a call back from another seller to come around and see his one and, since I had no other cars to see at the time thought I'd give it a shot. Second car was a manual, 145,000km, from what I could see in the rain the body was immaculate aside from 2 scratches from what I could see in the rain, underneath and underbonnet was clean (a slight leak at the top cam cover gasket appeared after a drive, hopefully the gasket will be replaced for RWC). Inside was clean, but importantly it drove beautifully, Engine smooth, quiet, responsive, nice shift, smooth brakes, disks look near new, Bendix pads, decent tyres, working immobiliser, working aircon, only complaint I had with it was that the clutch took up very low, only a fraction of lift with the pedal before it started to take - is this normal for these Astinas or is it due for a worn clutch/poor adjustment? Anyway, the car seemed to meet all my criteria so I put down a deposit and will hopefully collect it later this week once RWC has been completed. The Hardtops seem to be an uncommon beast, were many made? |
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07-07-2014, 11:27 AM | #2 |
E74A
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney
Car: SP20
Posts: 1,248
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Welcome to AstinaGT
Nice pick up, personally i find the hardtop version have a unique style. But hopefully you pick it up soon and have many year of great driving. |
07-07-2014, 12:17 PM | #3 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Thanks, I'm getting a little confused with years, this one is a 1998 with drivers airbag, so it seems that the BA hardtop was sold alongside the early BJ models, is this correct? Any ideas if much was changed through the production years of the hard tops?
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07-07-2014, 06:28 PM | #4 |
コスモ
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Location: Vic
Car: Mazda '95 Astina I4, '86 B2K and '10 3 MZR-CD
Posts: 7,888
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Welcome and needs more low
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My 'stina Hatch |
07-07-2014, 08:17 PM | #5 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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What will a set of springs and shocks cost? They do look food a little lower. Might have to fix our driveway first though... anyone got a towbar they want to sell?
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07-07-2014, 08:40 PM | #6 | |
E74A
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Sydney
Car: SP20
Posts: 1,248
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Quote:
I think the series 1 & 2 (from 1994 to 1996/97 were pretty similar but the series 3 (97 to 98 - hope im correct) had different/updated stuff to it, for example the interior, especially the door trim are designed differently (personally i liked the series 1 & 2 interior) and i think some engine parts were designed different as well as the ecu and there is some other stuff im sure members here will let you know that are different. I know with the Hatch BA series 3 the headlights are designed differently, don't think the hardtop changed. I owned 3 hardtop's all were from 1994 (V6) great cars, i think if i was going to buy another car might buy a 4cyl hardtop and convert it to turbo, but regardless the BA (in my opinion) is the best of all Astina's. Please someone correct me if im wrong in any info above |
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07-07-2014, 09:41 PM | #7 | |
Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: melb.vic.au
Car: AZ-1, Astina Hardtop Turbo, BJ Protege, Beetle
Posts: 16,525
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Quote:
And welcome to AGT Another Hardtop fan here - i've got 3 at the moment! There's a fair bit of detail difference between S1/S2/S3 Hardtops. There's a few threads around here which go through the differences. Here's one which links to others: http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showt...ina+difference
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jdmparts.rupewrecht.com Sourcing your not-quite-overnight parts from Japan WRECHT--|--SLOWTEGE--|--BEETLE--|--SUBSTITUTE--|--AZ-1 |
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07-07-2014, 11:46 PM | #8 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: wollongong
Car: 99, BJ 323 astina hatch
Posts: 1,506
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Welcome to AGT mate
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Cars .. 1: 241kw Turbo 1999 BJ 323 Astina . 2: 1983 ke70 Corolla. 3: 2011 PK Ranger Wildtrak (tow car ) |
08-07-2014, 05:29 AM | #9 |
Senior Member
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Welcome.
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http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18798 WORKLOG |
08-07-2014, 09:43 AM | #10 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Quote:
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08-07-2014, 03:01 PM | #11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: north coast nsw
Car: 97 ba 1.8 323
Posts: 799
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Welcome and good luck with your purchase. The ba series seem to have a hold on some of us!
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08-07-2014, 07:10 PM | #12 |
Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: melb.vic.au
Car: AZ-1, Astina Hardtop Turbo, BJ Protege, Beetle
Posts: 16,525
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Haha, well I did have another one that i parted out, and i've had a couple of Hatches along the way as well. But just Wrecht, the Substitute and a parts car at the moment.
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jdmparts.rupewrecht.com Sourcing your not-quite-overnight parts from Japan WRECHT--|--SLOWTEGE--|--BEETLE--|--SUBSTITUTE--|--AZ-1 |
08-07-2014, 07:34 PM | #13 |
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ipswich, Queensland
Car: 2002 Mazda Astina SP20 2006 Mazda 6 GY Wagon
Posts: 9,769
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Welcome to AGT!
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10-07-2014, 07:27 AM | #14 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Picked it up last night, pretty happy so far. Smooth power (for a 1.8) in the higher revvs, condition is about as good as I remembered, only got a couple of quirks so far - the lever on the side of the seat towards the front doesn't seem to do anything, the remote on the car locks and unlocks everything aside from the drivers door, and the space next to the clutch pedal isn't big enough for me to rest my size 12 foot. Otherwise I'm looking forward to clocking up some km.
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10-07-2014, 08:10 AM | #15 |
コスモ
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Location: Vic
Car: Mazda '95 Astina I4, '86 B2K and '10 3 MZR-CD
Posts: 7,888
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The drivers door left the factory without a lock motor unless you had factory fitted remote central locking and AFAIK if it was Australian delivered it didn't have factory fitted remote central locking. It's also the only door with a switch that unlocks the other doors when you unlock it so it's not a case of getting one from a left hand drive country and retrofitting.
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My 'stina Hatch |
10-07-2014, 08:30 AM | #16 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Ok cool, the other 3 doors lock and unlock on the remote so I had wondered if it was original fitment or an aftermarket job. Was sort of hoping aftermarket as then it would have just been a dead generic actuator that I could have replaced with another easily enough.
Also discovered a slight high pitched wind whistle on the drivers window. I've read about all the pulleys being made on here, but the window seems to go up and down just fine with no sticking or slowness, so I am not sure what is needed, perhaps just the block that holds the window in place when up is needed? |
14-07-2014, 10:39 AM | #17 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Drivers window adjusted (squeak eliminated but my need to adjust the height slightly again as it can make a horrible noise when closing the door on occasion), coolant flushed, better steeringwheel fitted, better back bumper fitted, boot lock realigned and 7.8l/100km on the first fill up. Happy with that start!
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14-07-2014, 08:43 PM | #19 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Victoria
Car: Mazda Astina hardtop, Volvo 122s, Rover P4 Cyclops
Posts: 20
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Not much budget for bits yet Clean_Cookie, but longer term a wheel withless scuff marks, some lowering springs, a wear free carpet and a towbar are all on the list
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15-07-2014, 08:26 AM | #20 |
コスモ
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Location: Vic
Car: Mazda '95 Astina I4, '86 B2K and '10 3 MZR-CD
Posts: 7,888
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Give me a yell when you are after springs. I have the Kings off my old hardtop looking for a new home. The rears still have Koni inserts that I believe are still in good condition.
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My 'stina Hatch |
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