Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm pretty sure this is the right forum, but please move it if it isn't. Without further adieu though, on with the post.
I live about an hour away from Los Angeles near Thousand Oaks, and I have a Brilliant Black 93 MX-3 GS that I pretty much fell in love with as soon as I saw it. I learned how to drive stick on it, even. I bought it despite it already burning significant amounts of oil, and being sold by a mechanic who heads up a Mazda performance shop, two things that would have set off the "Don't buy!" alarms if I wasn't love struck. Suffice it to say, ever since I've bought it, it began burning even more oil, performing worse, and getting gas mileage under 20mpgs on 93 octane. This ultimately culminated in it failing its biennial smog check (lol, California). I took it to a currently trusted shop for a compression check, and they described one of the cylinders as an open hole. Trying to do the fiscally responsible thing, I attempted to make a clean break; I registered it non-op, and processed a voluntary vehicle retirement, a California program that would give me $1000 USD for a vehicle that fails smog.
Yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it, and now it's been sitting in my apartment car port for just under a year with occasional drives. I think it's a candidate for an engine swap even though it has 154K miles as the body, paint, and interior are actually all in very good condition. I'd love to get a KLZE and actually have some money (probably enough for a down payment on a shiny new car if I wanted), but so far I haven't turned up a shop willing and able to install one for me. So I have a few options, but I'm not sure which one to go:
1) Sell it cheap to someone who will take care of it and move on: maybe the most sensible option, if I weren't so attached to the little guy.
2) Get a regular K8 installed: I got a quote from the trustworthy shop for something like $3k for a used K8, replacing clutch / motor mounts, and labor. They refuse to do anything nonstandard, though, including putting in a KLZE.
3) Install a KLZE: Probably my preferred option if I could find a store to do it, although I'm not sure how much it would cost. Plus, it could be a nightmare to get it smogged.
So at this point I turn to the very knowledgeable audience for some advice. First, if you were me, what would you do? Second, if I were to go the KLZE route, how much would it really cost? Finally, a special bonus question for any people around Los Angeles, how hard is it to smog a KLZE MX-3, and do know of any good shops?
Sorry for the long winded post, but I'm looking for some guidance, and you guys are the experts.
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