Sr20det

[94drumx3]

Ok so I tried the Bp swap and turns out to be a crap engine that i got, oil leaks, bent valves, compression was sucky. And it was gonna cost a lot to "fix er up".
So then i thought well i'll try again with a totally new engine, thinking about the bpt...but then i was looking thru and came across the fella from sr20 forums that did the swap into an mx3. You might recall there was a post on it from about a year ago.

The actual build isn't the most detailed, but can be found at: http://www.sr20-forum.com/general-sr20/ ... ening.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm trying to get the two who did the work to respond to me on there cause i have nothing but more and more questions. But they were only active for about a month - April to May of 2008.

If i need any help i'm hoping between everyone on here and everyone on sr20 forums i can get this swap done.
Feel free to make any comments. Good or Bad but if you can TRY to be decent about them. Thanks everyone.
I guess in return I will try to take as many videos/pictures as possible and keep a detailed worklog on it.

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

IIRC, he had many issues with his engine. Aside from the engine being worth $1000 and many custom parts/mounts axels... I'd rather build the sh!t out of a BP.

[fowljesse]

In my experience, unles you're doing it to be different, it isn't worth the time and effort. If you were going to do a swap like that, you might as well do a rotary.

[boosted_bullet]

well... i guess id rather have a nissan motor in then a ...ford

if its good enough for a 240 its good enough for an mx-3. good luck and if you need any help just pm.

[94drumx3]

Yeah i know there will be some custom mounts, and a few other custom parts.

Jesse, would i have to switch up to rwd for the rotary engine?
I guess it is KIND OF to be different, but also there's a lot more parts out there for sr20's than bpt's. Plus i've seen a lot of sr20's get more hp when they're built.

BBullet, i appreciate that and i'll be takin ya up on that offer. I'm trying to work out a deal with an auto performance shop in florida about shipping me an sr20det. so i'll keep everyone posted, when it gets here.

[Nd4SpdSe]

The deal you'll get on the SR20 will not offset the cost of a custom install of a motor never designed for an mx-3

There are rotary kits for 323's, it's been done with a 12A I believe it was.

[onlytrueromeo]

I believe you can mate a rotary to a FWD bellhousing, and if thats true then it'd prob be easier than the nissan motor. I wouldnt go RWD on our cars, you'd need to hack up the middle of the car for the driveshaft and tranny...just not worth it to me.

If you can mate a rotary to a FWD, you can mate it to an AWD platform as well. Not as much work required as a RWD setup, but still tons of custom fab!

[Ryan]

Whenever people suggest these projects, everyone shoots it down.

Who cares if the ZE or BPT has the most bang for the buck, by far.

Its the cool factor. Did we not all purchse MX3's to be different than your average rice boy and his civic? Lets try encouraging people to try something rediculous and maybe we'll come across something NEW for once. Thats how most discoveries are made, you know. By rebelling against the norm.

Yes, its not the most efficient swap, but at least he had the balls to try something new.

/end rant

[onlytrueromeo]

I agree w/ Ryan - Drum seems like he knows what he's getting into. I wasn't tryin to shoot the idea down, just the idea of RWD. Our cars are NOT a good platform for RWD...id basically be just an mx3 body w/ lots of custom work on the frame.

DO up the Nissan motor if you can!

[94drumx3]

Thanks for the support guys, haha there's always going to be those that like the idea and those that hate it.
I've been doing as much research as i can, i've got a few members on here and on the sr20 forums willing to help out. which is GREATLY appreciated.
The sr20det engine from the bluebird comes with the awd tranny, but i'm actually going to trade up/down for an sr20 fwd tranny (bolts right up just like our stock 4 cyls do with the BP). I know there's custom mounts to be made (motor and tranny), hubs were a pain in the butt according to the member who did the swap in the sr20-forums, then there's a slight trick with the shift linkage. One thing i'm not sure of is that i'm not sure if the 1999+ sr20 fwd trannys bolt right up...i hope they do cause they have the hydraulic clutch. If not then i'm gonna have to fix that issue too. But that wont be all that bad because the i think 91-94's have lsd trannys. so i think its a fair trade lsd for cable clutch.
I'm hoping to get a donor car (200sx se-r or 91-94 sentra ser) fairly reasonable too.

Another week of research probably and then down to the nitty gritty. still waiting on word about my engine.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Well, I have to say I have mixed feelings on this issue.
First, about what Ryan said, I couldn't agree more. Even if it takes a ton of work, the satisfaction of being able to do something that hasn't been tried before... There's just nothing better.
Second, about the MX3 not being a good platform for RWD...No such thing.
I'm of the opinion that the MX3 would've been a much more successful car if Mazda had made it a RWD from the beginning. Besides that, the car would greatly benefit with the improved weight distribution.
No doubt it'd be a lot of work, but in my opinion it'd be worth every minute.

Now, about putting a N----- (yuck) engine in an MX3...

I agree with Jesse, a rotary would be a much cooler option, and if you could adapt a Renesis...

[seboroth]

plus you get the awesome sound that a rotary makes its screaming through the high revs. Its like music to the ears. Plus you get the cool flame if its turbo'd. Neato in my book.

[onlytrueromeo]

Inodoro - our cars chassis was not designed for a RWD style tranny nor do we have a big enough exhaust tunnel to support a driveshaft. You'd basically have to cut out the bottom center of our car AND the middle of the dashboard area just to fit the thing. It COULD be done, but it would no long be an mx3, just the body - you'd basically be replacing everything w./ different parts. As it is, the people who have done the AWD swaps had to basicaly rebuild the front suspension by hand, cut the rear spare well, weld supports into the back and custom fit a rear end on the car from another platform, modify the driveshaft and axles, etc etc. While i dont think removinf the spare tire well or making custom mounts is that big of a deal, I do think cutting the tunnel up is, unless you want to have a track only car that has NO interior.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Inodoro - our cars chassis was not designed for a RWD style tranny nor do we have a big enough exhaust tunnel to support a driveshaft. You'd basically have to cut out the bottom center of our car AND the middle of the dashboard area just to fit the thing. It COULD be done, but it would no long be an mx3, just the body - you'd basically be replacing everything w./ different parts. As it is, the people who have done the AWD swaps had to basicaly rebuild the front suspension by hand, cut the rear spare well, weld supports into the back and custom fit a rear end on the car from another platform, modify the driveshaft and axles, etc etc. While i dont think removinf the spare tire well or making custom mounts is that big of a deal, I do think cutting the tunnel up is, unless you want to have a track only car that has NO interior.

Absolutely true. I know: I've been planning to do just that for years, and doing a lot of research on it.
It does involve a lot of fabrication (I never said it'd be easy), but that doesn't make it a bad platform for it. As for the tunnel, it depends on what else you have in there. I'm working right now on the design of a shift-by-wire system for my future car, so I can get rid of the linkages, and the exhaust shouldn't be difficult to re-route.
So, yes, it should be a lot of work, but, at least for some of us freaks, that's part of the appeal.

You want to talk difficult? My plan is not only to make the car RWD, but I intend to do a KJ-ZEM swap, with a manual tranny. And I do plan to have a full interior.

Oh! and, in the future, it's going down the ethanol route...

[boosted_bullet]

a 13b swap would be cool also. no doubt! but ive heard traction sucks because of the weight issues in the front.... with the big a$$ our cars have and rwd i dont think traction will be a prob....