Mx3 Finds a New Owner

[Vault18]

I just stumbled across this website just a couple hours ago Lurking the main website and forums enjoying the vass amounts of Informtation!

Names Cody and I just recently aquired a 92' Mazda Mx3 about a month ago. My first car to ever own and I couldn't be more stoked.
Surprisingly only Paid only $1,000 for it and its in near perfect shape. Had one screwed up muffler but I already replaced that with a new stock one. Couple minor scratches on the body, could use new seats and pray tell I wish to find a way to make the headlights not be dull yellow (Though I saw a couple threads in these forums that may help!)

Side Note Why so cheap:: Owner was Hoping it wasn't going to pass Smog Test and have the State crush and pay them 1k for the car. Lucky for the car it passed the Test, so the owner was willing to sale for what the state would have given them.


Thats my darlin'! Still stock as far as I can tell, but hoping after awhile to do some fun things with her. Make it not only look snazztastic but maybe beat my nemesis ..an evil Honda Civic (Not being entirely serious on that part. Honda belongs to a friend and we hassle each other)

Anyways Glad to see there is a Community of other Mx3 owners that maybe I can chat with about future plans for my new car. So Howdy out there from Seaside, California .. a Mx3 has found a New owner and isn't gonna get scrapped any time soon!

[Volones]

Nice save!

And welcome! As you already found out, there is a ton of info to be found in the FAQs and by searching. Have fun!!

And now that I can see how those wheels would look on my car, I want them even more!

Vol

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I have the same wheels on mine

if I ever get rims, I'll sell ya them

[Mooneggs]

Welcome to the world of the Mazda MX-3.

We are all in love with our mx-3's here lol

[Dali]

good job for a 1000.00 bucks.

[94mx3precidia]

I did a review on a product that i used to rid my lenses of their yellowish color and my lenses are still crystal clear!
http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=60981

Good job on the find!

[bozieboz]

I've been lurking here for about a week and a half now, and I am so excited to see so many MX-3 enthusiasts. I'll be getting my '93 GS in less than a month. Here's its story...

My brother in law hit his mid-life crisis about 20 years too early. He bought it new and never really had much luck with it... he and mechanical things don't really get along. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t beat on the car at all… it is just a Murphy’s Law kind of thing. Well, back in about 2000 I guess there was some kind of problem with the temp sensor/thermostat. Anyway... blew the engine. He had another one put in (new on was not new/crate... had about 10k miles on it) but after that it kind of lost its appeal for him. Plus having three kids changed his priorities a bit also.

Anyway, since then I doubt if he has put even 5k miles on it. That is part of the problem. He said if it sits too long (more than a week) without being driven it will not start. After sitting it would need a mechanic to get it running again. Anyway, he live is a somewhat small town and the mechanic that he takes it to hates working on it (or any small car for that matter). The car needs some professional TLC.

So here is my plan. Have the car towed to a mechanic that is very familiar with the MX-3 and have him give the car a good once over (engine and tranny [yes, a 5-speed]). Then take it to a body shop for a new paint job. Then off to have a new set of tires put on.

I'm thinking that if they don't just give me the car (to get it out of their hair), I can get it for less than $1k. I'm prepared to put a good $2k into the engine/tranny rebuild if necessary, $1k on a new paint job (keeping original color... white), and about $1k on tires. He says the interior is in EXCELLENT condition... so maybe just a good detailing is needed there.

I'm pretty excited about this project. As much as I've read on this board this is a worthwhile car to have. But I have 2 questions..

1) Do my re-build numbers seem realistic?
2) Does anybody know of a good MX-3 mechanic in the Raleigh, NC area? *grins*


Thanks in advance for all of your valued opinions.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I'm prepared to put a good $2k into the engine/tranny rebuild if necessary,

1) Do my re-build numbers seem realistic?

Not necessary. Tranny should be good, but if you want to spend 2k, don't put it into the orginal motor...look into the 165hp KLDE swap or the 198hp KLZE

[bozieboz]

I'm prepared to put a good $2k into the engine/tranny rebuild if necessary,

1) Do my re-build numbers seem realistic?

Not necessary. Tranny should be good, but if you want to spend 2k, don't put it into the orginal motor...look into the 165hp KLDE swap or the 198hp KLZE

The KLDE or KLZE would be that inexpensive? I've heard people talk about them on here and just assumed that they were the >$5k high performance type engine.

[2RotorsNaDream]

KLDEs are dirt cheap and alot easier to find than the stock 1.8L from the MX-3. They're just the stock engine off of the MX-6 LS, Probe GT, 626 V6, and Millenia base model. You can find that motor for under $400 easy and its a drop in swap so its cheap to get done and its so easy you can do it yourself if you wanted to. The KLZE is also pretty cheap considering the performance you get from it. If this motor was a swap for a Civic it would run like $3000 at least but since its a Mazda motor they go for about $1000 or so. I got mine for only $800 and again, its a direct drop in. Also, these motors are far from high performance so I dont know why you expected a $5000 + price tag to swap. Theyre 2.5L V6s with 200hp and under. We're not that rich on this forum which is why we bought MX-3s in the beginning.

[hgallegos915]

Where can i get me one of those dirt cheap de?? Im looking to build a hybrid de with ze heads.