nissan Bought my first vehicle: a SU14 Bluebird after considering a Familia/323

[wildwise]

Looking to buy my first car. Please share if anyone has any suggestions or advices. My desired specs are as below. Thanks...

Desired model: Mazda familia 323

YOM: 1990 - 1994

Price expected: 1 - 1.5 million LKR

Fuel type: Diesel or Petrol

Transmission: 5Gear manual preffered

Other: power mirrors, steering, shutters

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by iRage

[matroska]

4 hours ago, wildwise said:

Looking to buy my first car. Please share if anyone has any suggestions or advices. My desired specs are as below. Thanks...

Desired model: Mazda familia 323

YOM: 1990 - 1994

Price expected: 1 - 1.5 million LKR

Fuel type: Diesel or Petrol

Transmission: 5Gear manual preffered

Other: power mirrors, steering, shutters

 

Welcome to the forum. 

 While not a mainstream oldie - the Mazda's are fairly durable. I think 1.5 M would probably get you a good specimen. 

Majority BF series cars are petrol there are a few diesels (again there were original diesels with the 1.7 PN Engine) but those are a bit rare compared to the petrol's - do a bit of homework with the parts dealers if engine parts are easily found  for the diesels. Barring the later fuel injected models most would be carbureted - make sure you have an old school mechanic close by. 

Look out for corrosion, worn out interior etc. while mechanical issues can be somehow sorted out corrosion and interior are tough to sort out. 

Once you do buy this - please do post a thread/blog post - will be very useful for someone who will be looking for something similar in the future. 

 

[iRage]

17 hours ago, wildwise said:

Looking to buy my first car. Please share if anyone has any suggestions or advices. My desired specs are as below. Thanks...

Desired model: Mazda familia 323

YOM: 1990 - 1994

Price expected: 1 - 1.5 million LKR

Fuel type: Diesel or Petrol

Transmission: 5Gear manual preffered

Other: power mirrors, steering, shutters

 

 

Quite a decent car...prone to rust so get the thing checked out inside and out and beat the body with a rubber mallet to check for putty and rust holes if you must.

Other than that...as with any car of the period...check for electrical issues as well. If you find a diesel...walk away. Mazda offered the diesel in Japan only in one trim level (or two) and that was mostly as a business car. For starters it was low on power and torque so it felt like a lethargic dog (PN had like 56hp and 81Nm of torque compared to 68? hp and 118 Nm of torque in the 1C-II in the E90 Corolla). Plus, the vibration dampening was not very good on the Mazdas that the car just started looking very  tattered after a few years (and this was when the car was new !).

Your best bet is the petrol variant. You are not going to find a GT-X so your next choice should be an Interplay which was sort of the next sporty looking trim level. It will have a B6 engine. 

Only thing I don't like about Mazdas of the era is that you sort of have to rev the engine up for it to liven up (compared to the Sunny, Lancer and Corolla of the period). Low-end and low-mid range torque is somewhat low so driving in traffic it feels lazy. To be fair, the car sort of begs you to rev the beans out of it too because the thing is quite light and nimble and you just feel like chucking it around. 

[Twin Turbo]

Hi,  

In gen, its an ok  car, a/c compressors  nget noisy with age,

Will not win efficienc runs ( 6.5km/l with Aircon on)

1.3 very slow  ( The carb mdl|)

Edited June 7, 2023 by Twin Turbo

[wildwise]

Thanks everyone for kindly sharing your wisdom. I went & inspected few 323s (mostly 91's) & changed my idea from Mazda to Nissan. I found some Bluebirds closed to 2000s & decided to buy one. I'm still learning the detailed specs but, these are my first car's basic things...

Bluebird SU 14

Not sure about if this is an eprice or Le Grand (not a SSS model)

YOM: 1999

2.0 Diesel 5speed manual

New paint

Little rust for now

Alloy wheels (originally came with car, I think)

Good sound & very low vibation

Interiour is okay & comfortable

Repaired engine

Cost me about 1.85 Mn LKR

Rumour is these are somewhat rare & costy when it comes to spares, compared to Sunny models. But I'm taking the risk for the shear fun of driving it. Now I need to do these...

Cut & polish Headlights or find good SSS set.

Front seat belt assembly sets (both are stuck,I managed to pull belts out by partly dissembling & banging assembly motor sets... Just like Tinker Bell... Huhh)

New decent bluetooth setup

Good 2 tires for rear

Solution for reversing in night

Clean, repair or buy dual power mirrors (retracking is lousy)

Solution for slowly moving shutters

Maintain these rusty spots, cuz I'd like to ride this bird for some quality years

Wish me luck brothers...

[iRage]

Congrats on your new purchase. I hope you got it fully inspected before purchasing it. Now...if there are no pictures we are going to assume you are day dreaming. So pictures ! we love pictures of cars. Please start a new thread <or reach out to me about changing the topic of this thread or whatever>

Also...just a personal opinion and also something a bit more practical and desired in the long run. When you are fixing it up...restore it to the original spec. So if it is an Esprit or a Le Grand, do not put trim pieces etc...that are from a SSS. It feels a bit fake. A car of this vintage (now) is more desirable when it is back to what it would have been when it left the factory. At most..make it OEM plus, i.e. get hold of a catalog and see what options, upgrades and features Nissan dealerships offered at the time for your specific model of Bluebird and put those on. 

[wildwise]

Thnx man. Yeah, I too agree with keeping the original specs instead of putting fake SSS trim. I tried to fix both front seat belt assembly sets, but no success on that. Need to fix headlights ASAP coz they aren't shining enough at night. Today I found out someone put 100/90W bulbs into 60/55W holders. This must be the one caused plastic transparent face to break like earthquake faults. This is somewhat confusing & HEAD/PASS is illuminating very slow (like waking from a sleep) even with the engine running. So overtaking in night / traffic is not good yet. This babe has a CD20E Heart. So I'm putting some pics for you bro... Look at my Batmobiles (BLUEBIRD & BLACKPEARL)

(Kept getting errors when uploading large images, so I put some screenshots. iRage,  Bro I need help changing the topic of this thred from Familia to Bluebird for first car.)

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by wildwise
Missing content

[wildwise]

Next homework is repairng side mirror michanism. Both ones play "taka taka taka" songs when retrackting. Afterthat, antenna (need to find how the original setup used to work on that & decent workig setup, coz current cheap one is not working)

Anyway, I'd like to keep this thred alive about Bluebird, so me or anyone in future will have a benifit. What do you say guys?

(Forgive me for my tone... Still getting familiar with automotive facts & Autolanka rules & trends)

[iRage]

Nice !

That interior looks surprisingly clean from the pictures.

As for the seatbelt...you mean it doesn't wind back inside? You might have to replace the mechanism.

As for the headlights....I suppose you tried cleaning it from outside and most of the fading is on the inside? There are places that remove the headlight and clean it from inside. You might want to consider that as a temporary solution.

Antenna....it would come up when the radio was turned on. I cannot remember if there was another switch to make it stop doing that.

[Twin Turbo]

Congrats on the car

Get tjhe Hand brake/rear brakes checked+adjusgted,

This engging has2 T belts, check irfrespective of the distance shown on  dash meter,

Change of brake fluid

The rad expansion tank needs a new lid, clean system and fill with coolant+water mix

 

TT.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Twin Turbo

[matroska]

Finally Finally - someone who sought advice followed up and posted on what he eventually bought. 

Congrats on a good purchase. 2000CC diesel with manual with lots of torque is an interesting prospect. A good old 90's barge. The interior looks neat! 

Hope to see further updates on this thread  it's been a while we discussed a good ole diesel barge. 

 

[iRage]

@wildwise I am responding to a question you asked in a different thread.

Please do not cut the roof to fit a sunroof. You are going to botch it up. Our guys simply are not good at it. If you must have a sunroof....find a an entire roof (yes a half cut) of a car that had a sunroof and fit that on (remember...you need to get the entire roof (with the upholstery, switches, etc...) and then weld it at the factory weld points. If you weld in a roof at various points it can significantly comprimise the safety of the car.

Also...a sunroof is not that as it is hyped up to be. It effects vehicle cooling...and then maintaining it is another pain. Water leaks in to the cabin everytime the water drain holes get clogged...sunroof glass gets stuck and unstuck...etc...long and hard about getting one installed.

[wildwise]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:14 AM, Twin Turbo said:

Congrats on the car

Get tjhe Hand brake/rear brakes checked+adjusgted,

This engging has2 T belts, check irfrespective of the distance shown on  dash meter,

Change of brake fluid

The rad expansion tank needs a new lid, clean system and fill with coolant+water mix

 

TT.

Thx, Hand brake is not working as expected (I have to pull it maximum to get wheels locked.) Front & Rear brakes were inspected by a friend at the service & he said they have some 500km left with them. But I'll replace them ASAP. Still couldn't replace brake fluid though...

I had removed the rad expansion tank lid when the pic was taken. It was little bit damaged. Applied some super glue & It's working fine. Water level is holding. Will replace with coolant soon.

About T belts, I didn't understand what you said. Plz explain...

 

[iRage]

T belt = timing belt

The CD20 engine, the diesel engine your bluebird has, has two timing belts. One on either side of the engine. One timing belt is the cam shaft timing belt (one side connected to the cam shaft and the other to the crank shaft pullies). The second timing belt is the timing belt for the injection pump. It is connected to two pullies, one on the cam shaft and the other linked to the injection pump drive.

You need to change timing belts every 75,000km - 100,000km depending on the manufacturer. When you buy a second hand car, you should always change them as you do not know what the condition is like and whether it has been changed before. If the timing belt breaks it could result in a catastrophic failure of the engine (again..depending on the design of the engine itself).

 

[wildwise]

On 6/12/2023 at 5:15 AM, iRage said:

Nice !

That interior looks surprisingly clean from the pictures.

As for the seatbelt...you mean it doesn't wind back inside? You might have to replace the mechanism.

As for the headlights....I suppose you tried cleaning it from outside and most of the fading is on the inside? There are places that remove the headlight and clean it from inside. You might want to consider that as a temporary solution.

Antenna....it would come up when the radio was turned on. I cannot remember if there was another switch to make it stop doing that.

Tnx, Interior was the first thing that caught us at first sight.

Here are the seat belts>> Can't pull them out. After few hard tries, L side can be pulled out. But after auto pulling in by mechanism, it's same as Driver's side. I was told earlier that after an airbag deployment, seat belts are not retracting / pulling in. But this is the opposite side of that. plz correct me if I'm wrong.

I managed to get some good transparency to the headlights by cutting them with sand papers & B-cut myself. Took me about an hour with no electric tools.

Got the audio setup working. but only rear L speaker is working. A blue cable to antenna was connected. But didn't have time to check for cable/motor faults.

[wildwise]

9 minutes ago, iRage said:

T belt = timing belt

The CD20 engine, the diesel engine your bluebird has, has two timing belts. One on either side of the engine. One timing belt is the cam shaft timing belt (one side connected to the cam shaft and the other to the crank shaft pullies). The second timing belt is the timing belt for the injection pump. It is connected to two pullies, one on the cam shaft and the other linked to the injection pump drive.

You need to change timing belts every 75,000km - 100,000km depending on the manufacturer. When you buy a second hand car, you should always change them as you do not know what the condition is like and whether it has been changed before. If the timing belt breaks it could result in a catastrophic failure of the engine (again..depending on the design of the engine itself).

 

Thx a lot. I didn't know about T belt maintenance even though I read info about CD20. I got the speedometer to 155kmh at southern expressway to see the performance. Now I can see the risk I took. will replace them ASAP.
Are there any specific type or brand for them, or do I just ask by Car/Engine model (CD20E)?
Roughly how much will it be?

[wildwise]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:44 AM, matroska said:

Finally Finally - someone who sought advice followed up and posted on what he eventually bought. 

Congrats on a good purchase. 2000CC diesel with manual with lots of torque is an interesting prospect. A good old 90's barge. The interior looks neat! 

Hope to see further updates on this thread  it's been a while we discussed a good ole diesel barge. 

 

Thx man... 😊 I'll put every question/experience about Bluebird I have here...

Last week I changed the rear wheels with 185/70/14 Ferentinos for 46k. Swapped them with front ones (175 Ferentinos) & did Balancing + Alignment. Changed Engine/filter & gear oil. 1st & Reverse gears are sometimes hard to put, my thought is old clutch plates. (Clutch is at the bottom). What you think?

(Need to change wiper blades soon.)

[Quiet]

On 6/12/2023 at 1:21 PM, iRage said:

@wildwise I am responding to a question you asked in a different thread.

Please do not cut the roof to fit a sunroof. You are going to botch it up. Our guys simply are not good at it. If you must have a sunroof....find a an entire roof (yes a half cut) of a car that had a sunroof and fit that on (remember...you need to get the entire roof (with the upholstery, switches, etc...) and then weld it at the factory weld points. If you weld in a roof at various points it can significantly comprimise the safety of the car.

Also...a sunroof is not that as it is hyped up to be. It effects vehicle cooling...and then maintaining it is another pain. Water leaks in to the cabin everytime the water drain holes get clogged...sunroof glass gets stuck and unstuck...etc...long and hard about getting one installed.

plus no functionality unless you are in Nuwaraeliya, owned two cars with sunroofs, may be opened the sun blind only three times in the last five years, that was my kid.

[wildwise]

1 hour ago, Quiet said:

plus no functionality unless you are in Nuwaraeliya, owned two cars with sunroofs, may be opened the sun blind only three times in the last five years, that was my kid.

Yeah, I let go of the idea about sunroof. 😉 With no plans on reselling this beast yet, I need to get everything to almost original condition.

[iRage]

23 hours ago, wildwise said:

Thx a lot. I didn't know about T belt maintenance even though I read info about CD20. I got the speedometer to 155kmh at southern expressway to see the performance. Now I can see the risk I took. will replace them ASAP.
Are there any specific type or brand for them, or do I just ask by Car/Engine model (CD20E)?
Roughly how much will it be?

Personally, I would recommend going with the manufacturer's part. So in your case, Nissan. If possible get it from the agent themselves or a very very very trusted 3rd party shop. There are plenty of fake parts around in SL and the last thing you want is to buy a fake T-belt.

I do not know how the T-belts are sold. You might have to buy them individually or it might come in a set. I think in the parts catalog it shows as being sold separately. When changing the t-belt you should consider changing the tensioner/s as well. Depending on the car, especially with an old car deign like the u13, it might be best to change the water pump too. Whilst you have the front belt out...you might as well change the main oil seals as well (so the oil seal of the crank shaft that is facing the front of the engine, etc...if you are swapping out the clutch you should change the crank oil seal etc that is on the back side of the engine.).

As for cost...the timing belt itself is usually not that pricey...it is the labor that will be relatively high (mechanics have a habit of inflating the price as well when it comes to the T belt). Plus you will have to factor in the cost of the oil seals, water pump, etc...that you decide to change.

 

[wildwise]

I coudn't get a handbook, owner's manual or something simillar (digital or printed). Any idea about where can I have one?

Data plate says KE-SU14.

[iRage]

There are plenty of online Electronic Parts Catalogs...just do a google search.

[wildwise]

Sorry for the long silence...

Found some pay-to-get parts catalogues, but I'm not sure that they are the correct ones. Also, most of them are russian. So, for now, I'm going with amayama or epc-data to identify correct part/location/etc. It's a headache but bears good results.

Guys, I'm putting a list of things that need to be fixed with the real freetime I have (Man-cave time given by the lovely wife 😉). The wiring needs a big attention, coz I'm finding a lot of vacant sockets, more than the OKAY limit. Forgive me for long and long words, here is the first one.

1. Revers indicators (both) not working. Both bulbs are fine. Found a 2wire sensor/switch at the far bottom of the gearbox with both wires cut/bitten. (not the oil level sonsor, ithink.) A vacant socket was found near the alternator, identical to the socket type in the drawing. (Courtesy of alvadi.ee). So, could this be the correct ones for the solution? If I put the gear into R  and check the switch with multimeter, will I get a reading?( from N/O to CLOSED). If the socket is the correct one, is it okay to short circuit the terminals of that socket to check the reverse indicators are illuminating, with the key is ON? Will there be a fused protection? Or is this the craziest question from a rookie car owner? 🤔😉

[ManuW]

Hi guys, lovely to find a recent thread. I got a SU 14 auto with some issues I hope to fix. The engine lacks power around 1500RPM while running with AC I checked the Idle up mechanism and it seems to be alright. Also, I am getting bad fuel economy even after fully overhauling the pump with a repair kit (Now the car does not produce any smoke while running up to 2500RPM) Can anyone shed some light on this? if you need more info please tell me. Thanks

Also Please tell me what is the practical fuel economy of the car

Edited August 7, 2023 by ManuW

[wildwise]

On 8/7/2023 at 11:16 AM, ManuW said:

Hi guys, lovely to find a recent thread. I got a SU 14 auto with some issues I hope to fix. The engine lacks power around 1500RPM while running with AC I checked the Idle up mechanism and it seems to be alright. Also, I am getting bad fuel economy even after fully overhauling the pump with a repair kit (Now the car does not produce any smoke while running up to 2500RPM) Can anyone shed some light on this? if you need more info please tell me. Thanks

Also Please tell me what is the practical fuel economy of the car

Welcome to the thread.

Honestly, don't know much about mechanicals, but my guess is🤔 the fault might be lying around the auto gearbox. But wait for some professional insight.

Fuel economy; SU14 diesel auto guys say
8-10 km/L city
12-14 km/L out

Please add more info like YOM, engine model, etc.

 

[transcend]

Hi,

Can I know the cons of buying a SU14 1800cc petrol Automatic version? 

And what to look for when buying a petrol su14?

 

TIA

Edited November 23, 2023 by transcend
to add auto gearbox