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first off my name is chaz, or you can call me chrome. some of you know me already from previous questions and I decided that I am going to start a work log. For the time being I am restoring the original parts, there are a lot of broken stock peices. then I will go from there. The begining. So far I have done nothing major to it but the steering wheel cover and the head unit which is getting ripped out for and im putting my avic d3 that was in my infiniti I30 that was totalled then i drove the wife's mx-3 who was my then girlfriend and bought it off of her. what i basically am aiming for is a daily driver that i can take to the track too.
Heres some pics.
just chilling in the street.

some of the interior. yeah i know i need to clean it but thats part of the restore.

another shot with out my work pants by the way the steering wheel cover was from evo and it didnt have a cruise control slot so i made one. lol. gotta love the dremel.

the engine bay. she gets abused, and im sorry for it.

and for the people who want to know who there talking to.

Assuming you're not the same kind of freak I am, I voted for the KL-DE.
The reasons are several:

First, you can get it at a junkyard for next to nothing.
Second, you can get spare parts anywhere. Even buying spark plugs for the ZE is complicated.
Third, in case you want more power in the future, it's more turbo friendly than the ZE (lower compression ratio), and you can get a turbo with the money you saved comparing with buying the ZE.
Fourth, in case you need to buy one of the more expensive spare parts, there are normally plenty of DEs at your nearest junkyard.

Hope it helps.

i hadnt planned on turbo at the moment im not that familiar with the engines. im doing the research on it. i think the next thing is my system. my company has a deal with alpine and some others for discounts. then the cai and exhaust.

chrome730 wrote:the steering wheel cover was from evo and it didnt have a cruise control slot so i made one. lol. gotta love the dremel.

that's funny because i purposely chose those when i got them from the junkyard, i found one cruise in the past but didn't bother taking it

thanks evo got anything else?

chrome730 wrote:thanks evo got anything else?

i'll check through my pile tonight, maybe post a FS thread if i find enough stuff, if not i'll pm you and let you know

chrome730 wrote:i hadnt planned on turbo at the moment im not that familiar with the engines.

I'm not saying you should. Even without turbo, you'll find the 160+ HP of the DE make a big difference, compared with the K8, in such a light car.
If you were, like I am, a guy who enjoys working on the engine even more than driving, I'd recommend you to stick with the K8. Most members here will tell you it's not worth the effort, and I agree completely, if you look at it from an effort/gain perspective, but, at least for me, there's something insanely cool about squeezing the last little horse of an engine, especially one nobody cares about.
On the other hand, if you were thinking about all out racing, I'd go with the ZE, because those extra 30+ HP would prove very useful at the track.
But since you want to use the car as a daily driver, I think the best bang for the buck would be a DE, because, while it is powerful enough as it is, it also leaves you more elbow room in the future, if you decide you want more.

most of the MOCA atlanta members actually track their car on a regular basis.
Their ZE's have been holding up well for about seven years now.
The ZE makes the MX-3 an amazing track car. I vote if you do want to swap out your engine, make it count. Go for the ZE.

If not, stick with your stock K8.

so heres another update. i found a couple of mx-3s in the area for sale im going to look at one tomorrow. i need it for the parts since my driver side caliper is failing. and the windows motor is shot. As for new things i have a completely new audio system on order. It should arrive in time for my bday. The system consist of new door and rear speakers the alpine is going out and the avic d3 is going in. im runnin the amps and sub lines but i have to wait on the sub. cant wait. im thinkin about finding the leather seats but then again i can just attempt to re-upholster the ones i have. any suggestions?

this friday ill have new pictures up of the system. ive been workin over nights so workin on the car has been a bit of a drag. found a mx-3 for sale but it looks as if it is just a parts car. and im actually lookin to get another driving car.

so its 400 in the morning and ive been tryin to wire this harness for the avic to go in but im having trouble. i have a couple of wires im not sure about and also i have to cut the opening a bit to get it to fit or is there a possibility that it screws out i havent really looked seeing as i would much rather wire the harness correctly. ill post pics tomorrow when i get a chance. oh by the way its my bday tomorrow. i want it done before i party.

heres a lil teaser of the system i installed the head unit today. i still need to install the microphone and for some reason im missing the cord that tells the dvd p[layer my e brake is on. sorry for the quality i couldnt find my digital camera and i wanted to get moving. hope you like it

well i escaped totaling mycar but the bumper is trashed. a family of deer ran in front of me and forced me to swerve into a ditch and the ditch grabbed my bumper and pretty much trashed it. so i called insurace and filled a claim. im still waiting to see what they say i would like to get a new bumper but who knows whats gonna happen. luckily i got full coverage but all plans are put on hold now.

Well im taking the whole front end off and from what the estimate told me i need obviously a new bumper, a condensor and and possibly a new radiator. then i have to run it through 2 types of inspections before they give me my title back. Im ordering a mazda speed bumper next week and hopefully i get my check so i can get the other planned parts. Ill post pics tomorrow. have to work graveyard tonight.

update so all my plans have come to a stop due to abnormally cold weather this season. Im currently off graveyard shift. a lady left a we buy junk cars on my windshield and said she'll pay 100.00 for it. so i called the number and said it wasnt for sale and the guy on the phone gave me a number for a pick and pull that i wasn't aware of. so guess where im goin next weekend. you guessed it. the pick and pull. im grabbing extra stuff so when i come back ill let you know what extras i got. wires are ran for the system and im still gonna get the projectors any idea on what ones are D.O.T cause i have to run it through inspection>