matts 94 mx-3 gs build. MOARRRRR GOODIES

[mx3matt]

So today I managed to get the high and low spots fixed up on the body, it isn't perfect but just decided there's no point aiming for the perfect paintjob until next spring, I got 1 coat of laquer laid down. Can't quite get the tiger stripes to disappear but its close.

Gonna lay down one more coat in a couple days then reassembly and get back to driving......I have to have motor in by the end of October so that taken back top priority.

[mx3matt]

so today i started fitting my mazdaspeed skirts on, i'll be urethane molding them on one i've got them lined up.

[mx3matt]

so i've decided i do not like the mazdaspeed replica's, i want mini sides if i can find them

[youdirtyfox]

You wanna do a straight swap for some?

[cWs306]

If you have a GS lip on the front bumper matt, they will look alot better.

[mx3matt]

It got too dark to take pix but today, I got the front and rear struts bars on that I picked up earlier in the week(thanks devlin). Gotta say what a difference the bars made in regards to tightness in the overall suspension.
It's almost time to go into winter mode, so I also started reinstalling my rear seats( now need them to take my son to daycare). Anyone have any pics of tether location?

Another question my rear belts seem to have locked up, they've been sitting unused and now I can't extend or retract them,many ideas?

Also decided that I'm gonna reinstall subwoofer and add a 4ch for the door speakers.

cruise control was also removed so I can relocate the coolant bottle(preparing for h.e.I mod). Will eventually be going to manual steering so that will definetly free up a bit of space.

I was wondering if I'm able to use the old harness as a power source and button for turning on my auxiliary gauges? Once th button is pressed does power stay constant? I haven't had the time to check honestly.

[Sleeper6]

The rear belts will come back once you have them worked out. Pull on them till they click then let them retract back in until you hear the ratchet mechanism and pull them back out till they click again and youll have gained about 1/4". Keep doing this till they are all the way out again and theyll be fine once you have them bolted back in place.

[mx3matt]

Awesome sleeper, thanks for the info.

[mx3matt]

new pics. still havent got around to molding the side skirts











frustrated with the fact that i can never seem to afford to get anything really serious finished, 2.5 and mx6 trans(msp lsd sitting next to it) still sitting in the garage not doing anything.

[mx3matt]

Not much of an update, but today got the ground from battery to firewall/ firewall to block replaced with 4 gauge 1500 strand power cable, definitely an improvement in throttle response. Will do the alternator ground next weekend in addition to daisy chaining to a couple points in the engine bay.

This has been a great month at work so I'm on track to seeing a big bonus so that will put me about $500 bucks shy of my budget target to have the motor swapped. It's too cold at this point to consider doing it in the driveway.

My suspension is showing some signs that things need to be replaced, ball joints and front end bushings, so I may buy the urethane budging kit instead.

[mx3matt]

so i need help in deciding on when to do motor install.

so i bought the motor about 6 months ago, pulled off the inake manifold and begin polishing the exterior and after about 6-9 hours of polishing i decided to clean up the rest and wrinkle paint it flat black. in addition to polished valve covers and wrinkled intake, i cut the soft rubber portions of my timing covers and i'm gonna paint the cam gears an unknown color.

now on to the more important issues.... i'm about a month away from full reassembly and i have to replace a couple of the tensioner pulleys and still depower the rack(when i pull the motor), but with the amount of time the motor has sat unistalled what should i be looking for in regards to bad signs. i still have to replace water pump and timing belt, pullies, plugs and wires, and intake gaskets. i didnt want to pull the head because i didnt want to replace the head bolts and gaskets right away.
i'd like to put the engine on a stand at work and pull the oilpan and check for obvious signs of anything bad, if things looks respectable should i just take the chance and install and see what happens? the motor would be coming back out in the early spring to install the trans we are currently cleaning, rebuild and upgrading for the upgrade from 1.8 liter.
trans will be msp diff, which i currently have sitting waiting for me to fund and decide on what gearing/ gears to go with. Its from a 93 mx-6 btw and i also have a tilton pump that my buddy will be taping into trans to a cooler for added protection.

intially i will be running kl02 and k8 ecu, i have the money put aside for pnp megasquirt but i've held off ordering it till i know better what kind of running condition the motor is in, i did hear it running and the inside of the trans doesnt appear to be beat on.


sorry for the run on rant in advance.

[Sleeper6]

So judging by your post its a 2.5l your dropping in? Just curious why you dont get a proper ecu to mate it too. Otherwise well the intake is off dont forget to reposition the knock sensor plug in, and tighten the hoses to the throttle body while the intake is off and in your hands otherwise its pretty much hopeless to get the bottom coolant lines on the IAC tight with it on the motor. And be sure to have your vacuum lines all rerouted and with extra hose coming off so you have room to play when its installed, as of right now Im planning on pulling my intake back off just to redo mine properly .

As for the condition of your motor all you can do since you already pulled it (hoping you did a compression test before) is inspect the mating edge of the heads to look for any coolant seepage and pull the VC's and put new gaskets in.

[mx3matt]

ya i'm droppin in a DE, i got to see a video of the mx6 runnin before the guy pulled it. it sounded ok but buddy said it did have a bit of lifter noise, and it had 165km's when it was pulled. i also purchased the trans off him too and the internals dont appear to have been beat on much, syncros were in pretty good shape and no shavings.

motor needs to get transported to work but with the current reno(scarboro mazda) only about half way done i want to wait till there not so much stuff going on around the shop.... on a good note i should be pickin up my cross drilled and new pads this weekend, in addition to a prd cap/external coil that i'll install next week with hei mod, ss autochromes and new header back exhaust that i havent decided on yet(was thinking 2.25 catless and magnaflow dual tip muffler).

today was a good day..... got a free alarm/starter/keyless that the dealership installs thru mass electronics, autostart is whats on the packaging and my installer from work is gonna throw it in for a case of beer this weekend..... life's startin to work in my favor

[mx3matt]

the more time i spend researching,browsing,thinking i am on the fence about ordering and installing megasquirt and and working slowly on completing a stronger and hopefully reliable motor capable of dd and track duties, somewhere in the 170- 210whp depending on different maps and setups.

I dont think i'm shooting for crazy numbers either, but i think it'll be interesting to see what i can squeeze out of power and mpg wise out of whats left of my k8.

[RobMinhas]

Looks good! I liked the original black but if it had problems it had problems right? I'm actually considering a paint job in the upcoming spring. How exactly did you go about prepping for the paint and then actually painting it?