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I'm at the point im ready to buy a ZE. I've been reading around and everyone suggests replacing the water pump, belts/hoses and gaskets.

Now where exactly can I find all of these necessary parts? and for a decent price?

I'll be getting the ze, flywheel, clutch, headers. Once I get a hold of the misc parts above, what am I missing?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Read the faq on what you need.

Moved to the v6 forum.

engine mounts are another crucial thing to replace (mazdaspeed or polyfilled ones)
corksport sells mazdaspeed.

The faq is in serious need of an update so i can see people not being able to understand all of it.

The extras i would suggest:
-Water pump, belts, gaskets, t-stat, plugs and wires
-clutch and flywheel. For the flywheel you can either just have your stock one resurfaced which is only cheap. Or get a fidanza which is a few hundred.
- fill the engine mounts with poly urethane which you can get at home depot
- get a kl31 or kl36 ecu
- if you get a straight neck ze then take the intake manifold off and sell it or trade it for a curved neck one from a millenia or curved neck ze.
- headers and 2.5" exhaust are a good idea if money isnt an issue

yeah lol the faq has some weird characters no spaces and is missing the pics.. :/ Still helps but its easier to ask around.

thanks alot guys.

I know its easy to find stuff like the fidanza, clutches and all that online, but is there somewhere I can buy waterpumps, gaskets and all that?

If not, any recommendations on where to get the needed parts? i'd assume it would be quite expensive right from the dealer. Im in Canada if it makes any difference.

Thanks again.

ok after looking around I don't need to know where to buy these parts.
But being unfamiliar with engines in general, and not being able to find an exact list anywhere, could anyone give me a list of all the exact parts?

In past posts everyones kinda just thrown in gaskets/belts, at the end of the parts list. But which gaskets and belts should I ask for?
As for a waterpump and thermostat, I guess I can just call up a local part source or something.

again thanks for the help, my k8 is turning to s--- so i'd like to get this done asap.



one last thing, from rr-racing, how does the Stage II R clutch, fidanza, and engine mount insert set sound? its a package deal.

I would spend the extra money and get the clutchmasters stage 3. I hear the stage 2 has chatter problems. The engine mount inserts they have wont fit our mounts. I'd just get the front and rear valve cover gaskets and intake manifold gasket. Get the intake manifold gasket for a 2.5 millenia (if you are using the curved neck ze). You can get those parts anywhere. Timing belt and t-stat it is recommended that you buy oem mazda parts from the dealer. Waterpump you can get anywhere.
This is a good thread about engine mounts
http://mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t= ... t=urethane

If someone wants to rewrite the FAQ, do so, and I will add them.

jbruynson wrote:I'm at the point im ready to buy a ZE. I've been reading around and everyone suggests replacing the water pump, belts/hoses and gaskets.

Now where exactly can I find all of these necessary parts? and for a decent price?

I'll be getting the ze, flywheel, clutch, headers. Once I get a hold of the misc parts above, what am I missing?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Water pump, belts, and hoses you can get at Autozone. I'd also get a new Mazda brand timing belt hydraulic tensioner from the Mazda dealership. ($150-$200). Gaskets I really wouldn't worry about. The only one that would be really, really a pain in the a-- to do later would be the rear main seal where it mates to the tranny. Go ahead and replace that right away, but the others you can deal with easily enough if they become issues later once the engine is installed.

Flywheel, just get your K8 flywheel resurfaced. It's lighter than the KL flywheel and you'll still retain some drivability.

Clutch, if you want to retain a light pedal feel, try the ceramic setup from http://www.mrspeed.biz Otherwise, try a Southbend / DXD clutch. http://www.southbendclutch.com

gaskets aren't important?

gaskets aren't important on an engine that has been likely sitting for 2+ years with DRIED UP SEALS???


wow man............lol


at least replace the valve cover gasket, they always leak....unless you like your engine to be coated with black death sludge. Its the new style and trend in car shows after all

Gro Harlem wrote:gaskets aren't important?

Sure they are. I said 'I wouldn't worry about', not 'aren't important'. But like I said, the other ones can all be replaced easy enough once the engine is in the car if it comes to that. The main seal is the only one that's going to be a whole weekend job just to replace. I could replace both valve cover gaskets and intake maifold gasket in all of 3 hours. The oil pump seal I could do in maybe 2 or 3 hours. Oil pan gasket, 1 hour.

Considering all the crap I had to go through when trying to replace a valce cover that wasn't even leaking, then breaking a crappy Mazda bolt off in the head, I'd say if it ain't broke don't fix it. When the worst part of tearing apart an entire engine and rebuilding it all was a 'simple' valve cover job .............. that says it all.

thanks for the help guys. I'll probably go ahead and replace most of the gaskets, i'd rather not have to figure out how to do it myself later. Any clue what kinda money im looking at for gaskets?

jbruynson wrote:thanks for the help guys. I'll probably go ahead and replace most of the gaskets, i'd rather not have to figure out how to do it myself later. Any clue what kinda money im looking at for gaskets?

for the 2 intake manifold gaskets and the 2 valve cover gaskets it cost me $110 CAD. Also get some gasket maker for the valve cover gaskets.

relisys_3200 wrote:

jbruynson wrote:thanks for the help guys. I'll probably go ahead and replace most of the gaskets, i'd rather not have to figure out how to do it myself later. Any clue what kinda money im looking at for gaskets?

for the 2 intake manifold gaskets and the 2 valve cover gaskets it cost me $110 CAD. Also get some gasket maker for the valve cover gaskets.

cool thanks, I can get that gasket maker easy from work