Hi everyone! (Updated with pics!)

[jhendrix]

Well worth what you paid for it. If your mechanically inclined at all, you may want to look into the ATX to MTX swap. There's a lot of info on here about that, and many other things.

Welcome!!

P.S. *Mooneggs* You changed your avatar. Something just doesn't seem right. Careful, you may open up some kinda wormhole or something.

I was actually thinking about that, but for the time being i'm going to leave it alone for awhile.

I've been looking around at wheels, and I think I have made my decision, I can get them on eBay for about,$350-400 shipped,now all I need is the money ,which shouldn't be too much of a problem as I start my job really soon.

What do you guys think?

[jrors]

Wow! That's what I call a deal bro! Congrats also on joining our family here, and we all look foward to you doing incredible things with that MX-3!


By the way, unless you decide to do a manual swap on the tranny, make sure to do a oil and filter change on it ASAP... and also get a tranny cooler, if the previous owner didn't!

[jhendrix]

Wow! That's what I call a deal bro! Congrats also on joining our family here, and we all look foward to you doing incredible things with that MX-3!


By the way, unless you decide to do a manual swap on the tranny, make sure to do a oil and filter change on it ASAP... and also get a tranny cooler, if the previous owner didn't!

Thanks!

And yeah, my dad's been a mechanic for 30-somethin years, so he wouldn't let me do anything without changing all the oils, so all that's done.


And i've been looking more and more into the trans swap, and i'm really considering doing it.

It probably won't be for awhile, but it doesn't hurt to look.

[import_fan7]

welcome to mx-3.com....the cars looking great for that price hell of a deal...i got a 95 4 cylinder mines auto too and i plan on doin the manual swap...not sure about the v6's auto tranny but the one in mine is a P.O.S and it's no fun!
can't wait to see the progression!

[jhendrix]

welcome to mx-3.com....the cars looking great for that price hell of a deal...i got a 95 4 cylinder mines auto too and i plan on doin the manual swap...not sure about the v6's auto tranny but the one in mine is a P.O.S and it's no fun!
can't wait to see the progression!

Haven't really gotten to "Open it up" , no tags/license, so I have only driven it around the corner a few times.

But, I must say, in little straight aways, it picks up rather nicely.

[NorCalMX3]

BAH! get rid of that automatic before it craps out on you. my 3 had two rebuilt automatic trannies. of course, that was paid for by its previous owner. after the second blowout, he decided hell with it and i basically got it for a steal! ATX to MTX is by all means a worth-while swap.

welcome anyways

bookmark this page:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2607936/2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it's my homemade guide to the automatic to manual swap. if nothing else, it'll give you some insight.

it was a pretty easy swap actually.

[jhendrix]

BAH! get rid of that automatic before it craps out on you. my 3 had two rebuilt automatic trannies. of course, that was paid for by its previous owner. after the second blowout, he decided hell with it and i basically got it for a steal! ATX to MTX is by all means a worth-while swap.

welcome anyways

bookmark this page:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2607936/2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

it's my homemade guide to the automatic to manual swap. if nothing else, it'll give you some insight.

it was a pretty easy swap actually.

Yeah, the guy had the trans rebuilt like, 2 months before it crapped out on him. We have the reciepts and whatnot.

But, update with the car:

It's smoking quite a bit, my dad said it was probably from sitting for quite awhile, but we have been letting it run, and it's not clearing out, so, instead of worrying about it since it has like 180,000 miles, there is a guy on Craigslist with a motor for my car, with about 90,000 miles that he's selling for 200.

We're going to go check out the motor on Monday, so we'll see how everything goes.
Maybe if he has a manual trans, I could get that cheap off of him too?

I guess we'll see.

I have some more pics of little things i've been doing to it, so i'll post those up later today.

[umcamara]

Uhhh... before even thinking about buying a replacement K8 engine, you'll want to look into the KL-ZE. There's a ton of info in the V6 FAQ, and pretty much everywhere else that you look.

If you just buy the replacement K8 without finding out anything about the KL-ZE, you will want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon later on when you do find out about the KL-ZE.

[jhendrix]

Uhhh... before even thinking about buying a replacement K8 engine, you'll want to look into the KL-ZE. There's a ton of info in the V6 FAQ, and pretty much everywhere else that you look.

If you just buy the replacement K8 without finding out anything about the KL-ZE, you will want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon later on when you do find out about the KL-ZE.

Well I started looking into them, but $900 after shipping and charges, a little complicated for a 15 year old to come up with.

But, once I get I get a job and save up some money, I will more than likely swap.

Thanks!

[NorCalMX3]

Yeah, the guy had the trans rebuilt like, 2 months before it crapped out on him. We have the reciepts and whatnot.

But, update with the car:

It's smoking quite a bit, my dad said it was probably from sitting for quite awhile, but we have been letting it run, and it's not clearing out, so, instead of worrying about it since it has like 180,000 miles, there is a guy on Craigslist with a motor for my car, with about 90,000 miles that he's selling for 200.

We're going to go check out the motor on Monday, so we'll see how everything goes.
Maybe if he has a manual trans, I could get that cheap off of him too?

I guess we'll see.

I have some more pics of little things i've been doing to it, so i'll post those up later today.

I would not swap an engine at the first sight of smoke. look more into it. now is your chance to start learning more about how to diagnose and fix things when they are bad, not throw them out altogether! assuming its a faulty head gasket (and i'm not saying it is) that just means a 30 dollar part and two weekends in the garage.

180,000 miles isn't a hefty sum of miles. some mx-3s have been known to still run great at the high 200,000 (assuming they've been meticulously maintained).

[jhendrix]

I would not swap an engine at the first sight of smoke. look more into it. now is your chance to start learning more about how to diagnose and fix things when they are bad, not throw them out altogether! assuming its a faulty head gasket (and i'm not saying it is) that just means a 30 dollar part and two weekends in the garage.

180,000 miles isn't a hefty sum of miles. some mx-3s have been known to still run great at the high 200,000 (assuming they've been meticulously maintained).

Well my dad said it probably was the head gasket, but the problem is, we can tell the motor hasn't been very well taken care of, when you open the oil cap, you can see all kinds of gunk/build up/nasty crap.
So instead of pulling the motor apart and fixing it, we figure we can swap it out quick in the meantime, and either sell/rebuild the one we pull out, but like I said, $200 seems to be rather cheap, and if I can use that one while I save up for the KLZE, I think it will be rather good.

[NorCalMX3]

whatever floats your boat, that nasty gunk is because of the head gasket. it'll go away when you replace. however i know its not up to me, just offering up my two cents. post pics of the swap if that is indeed what you intend to do.

[umcamara]

Yeah... we're just giving you our opinions. Ultimately it's up to you what you do.

It just seems to me like you're replacing an engine that you don't really know the internal condition of, with an engine that you don't really know the internal condition of. It just doesn't make sense to me is all. Who knows, the replacement engine could be in worse condition than yours.

I would just try to fix up the engine you've got. If you're going to go through the trouble of swapping the engine, why not get a better engine that's guaranteed to have less than 60 000 miles on it like the KL-ZE. Yes, it's a little bit more money than the K8, but you did only pay $200 for the car.

In the end, you won't really know the true condition of whichever engine you go with.

We just want you to know your options, and give them a fair chance.

What would Jimmy do?

[jhendrix]

Yeah, I understand.

We've had the car for like, 3-5 months, and anytime you give it gas, a bunch of blue smoke comes out of the back, and there is a loud ticking from the motor, at first my dad said it was probably the timing belt pullies, I think that is what he said, but then after awhile, he said it was probably the lifters sticking.

And when we actually really pulled my car out(Last weekend, and started to look everything over, he said it was probably the rings/something or the other/and something else, I don't remember everything he said, but he said if we'd pull the motor apart and rebuild it, but then we found this motor and the guy says it runs really smooth and runs good, so we figure for $200, if it lasts long enough to get a KLZE, it will be worth it.

See, the real problem is, my dad is always swamped with work (He owns his own shop), so we never really get to work on my car. So if I were to tell him that we can just pull this motor out and check it out, it would sit on an engine stand forever until we actually do anything, so, if we get this other motor, it can be a one day swap.

Thanks for everyones opinions though.

[jhendrix]

Alright, tiny update, I sanded/painted the rusty wiper arms, and they came out quite nice. I painted them flat black.

I also swapped back to the stock wheels, and washed the car.So, here are some before/after pics of the wipers, and the car after being washed/put stock wheels back on.

Before:




After:





Anddd, the car: