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is there any other engine that has been put into our engine bays besides the : k8, klze,klde,bp,bpt,kfze? my point is that im 17 and my dad will not let me rebuild a klde . he says there is some other engine that will fit , that youll have to redo motor mounts and tranny mounts and that comes stock with a turbo. i told him that by the time that u redo the motor mount and T.M. and get a new ecu, wire harness ,new tranny that fits that motor that i could of already just rebuilt my motor with the money spent on all that stuff . i think he says that they have a 1.8 engine off of a golf that will work?

the rotary engines fit in the mx3 engine bay as you only have to
fabricate a custom front mount and use a bell housing adapter to the
FWD gearbox, the only issue is the tight clearance of the exhaust system
to sub frame.

there is the FE3, very rare beast to get ahold of, you can run it on the
ecu of a mitsubishi 4sge

Why doesnt your father let you rebuild it.. des he realize its WAY cheaper to get a klze or to turbo your current engine? o.0

because he thinks ill strip it down and put it half way back together and not no what to do with the left over parts, he says that i should just find a engine out of another car with low miles and a turbo on it (like srt-4) so i dont have to rebuild it. i wish he would just let me try to do it, instead he tells me i cant do it , i just wish he know as much as i do about our cars and that theres only like four engines that we can put in our cars.

My dad is exactly like that. My suggestion, do it anyway. If you have the work area/tools/money, just get started on YOUR project regardless of what he "thinks" you can do.

of course, if he controls any of those 3 factors you will have to reason with him.

Why do you have your mind set on rebuilding a DE anyway? Why don't you just go with a KLZE, and use the valve retainers from the DE. its virtually a bolt in swap and it will give you plenty of power. I seriously doubt a VW engine is going to work unless you plan on doing some custom fabrication.

i think im just gonna do it then, the reason im going to to a klde is because getting a klze engine down in louisiana is so high and a klde is about 15 miles from here in a junk yard so its just cheaper to get a klde, rebuild it and cut my losses, the thing that gets me is he say hell do all the body work for me just i have to do what he says and we allready had a deal that if i get rid of 2 other mx3s i can rebuild it now hes saying that i have to buy a engine with low miles and a turbo already on it so i dont have to rebuild it.

Why are you so dead set on rebuilding a motor?
Why don't you just get a klde and thats it. Maybe, spray it everyonce in a while.
Be glad your dad is even in this with you, or even offering to help. Alot of have no help from daddy. Get a low mile KLDE, install it with your dad. Help dad with body work. Buy a nitrous kit. Have fun. You dont always have to rebuild a motor dude. Trust me, The KLDE will be ok with boost or spray.

Put yourself in someone elses shoes... This is how you would see it.

"Whahhhh Whahhhh... My Dad wants me to do a crazy swap that will require alot of money. He wants me to throw a low mile motor that no one has ever done in a mx3 and the motor has to be boosted! ...ohhhh god.. life sucks!!! die die die! satan 666 HELP!"

well, your not exactly like that, but i love to add stuff in. sorry lol

Wait... do you have a GS (V6) or a RS(4 cylinder)?

Sound like you have a 4 banger, which is why your dad is wanting you to get an engine with a turbo on it. If so then yes you could go the BP-T way or just buy a DOHC Escort engine or Mazda Protege 1.8L and get a turbo on that thing and let her rip.

If you have a V6 Then yes go and buy a KLDE and just drop her in with some preventive maintenance (valve cover seals, intake manifold gasket, oil pan gasket, a set of headers, a mazda millenia Intake manifold along with a throttle body from a millenia to.) and that should be it, but don't rebuild it unless your going turbo.

Kinda like the old saying goes ...

"Dont Fix Something, That's Not Broken!"

bp_turbo94 wrote:is there any other engine that has been put into our engine bays besides the : k8, klze,klde,bp,bpt,kfze? my point is that im 17 and my dad will not let me rebuild a klde . he says there is some other engine that will fit , that youll have to redo motor mounts and tranny mounts and that comes stock with a turbo. i told him that by the time that u redo the motor mount and T.M. and get a new ecu, wire harness ,new tranny that fits that motor that i could of already just rebuilt my motor with the money spent on all that stuff . i think he says that they have a 1.8 engine off of a golf that will work?

Honestly, you're in a delima of a precidament of ignorance. Personally, I'm feeling frustrated for you, so I'll give you as much info as I can.

All the engine you have listed are all installable with OEM parts since they are all a platform that the mx-3 was designed to handle. As you know, if you go otherwise, you'll have to custom mounts, custom axles, rewire with the harness for the new motor and ECU and what other electronic components it wants. That's a full custom job. There have only been a few people that have done such work, there's the guy who put in a Mazda FE motor in his, as well as one overseas who put in a Toyota motor in (search Mazota). Even say if you do a custom install with a motor that comes with a stock turbo, there's nothing to say that the stock turbo setup won't work and you'll need to do a custom turbo along with the custom swap. Losta custom work involved, and custom = $$$

If there ANY specific reason why he wasn't want you to put in another Mazda motor? You can technically put in any motor you wish, there should even be room in there fora 350, or anything really, but it seems he doesn't have any argument on why not to do an OEM-style swap. In regards to that, it's your money, why would your dad want you to spend more money (and time) on something for no real benefit? Normally parents don't want their kids to spend (waste) money on cars. Besides, you're 17, this is probably your first car and first project, just take it one step at a time. No point getting in over your head (and possibly budget) for a first time project. It would be best to start off with something more simplistic and where you have mountains of information. If you go with a custom swap, you're on your own, literally.

Smith18 wrote:a mazda millenia Intake manifold along with a throttle body from a millenia to.

Why not just get a Millenia DE? Has the square runner head too for more air (and 5 more hp).

As for ZE or DE, it's hard to say. Most people go DE because it's lower compression (means you can run more boost) and has the stronger valve retainers. A ZE had weaker retainers, but it's higher compression too (10:1 as opposed to 9.2:1). Higher compression does mean less boost, but you also get more hp-per-psi. It's hard for me to recommend something since i'm not doing a turbo, but the more common thing is a DE with a turbo. But even then, do you have an RS or a GS Mx-3? If you have an RS, just put in a BP, easist choice, and you can easilly turbo that later using OEM components rather than a custom Turbo kit for a KL. As for Nitrous, I'm not a fan of it. It's not legal onthe road, and in some places, it's not even legal to have connected while driving, plus you have to pay for refill.

But feasbility, stick with the regular swaps, the motors are easy to get, parts are available, there's plenty of information out there and it'll be cheaper. If your dad want to do something custom, than it's his project, not yours. Mx-3's are cheap, if he wants to do that, tell him to get one and do it his own way. But this is your car, not your parents, so it your way. My Mx is my first car. Although I had many ideas with I was driving my parents 626, I know my parents would freak if i did any custom stuff, my dad cursed at me for the subwoofers. Once I got my Mx, I did what I wanted, let my imagination go. I did my CarPC, and my dad actually didn't like it. It took a few years, but he likes it.

SmoothMX3 wrote:"Dont Fix Something, That's Not Broken!"

That's "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Mind you, it doesn't hurt to upgrade. The Mx-3 is such a different/better car with a KL.

I deff. agree with the above.
You say the KLZE has a weaker... But that doesn't mean it's going to break or fall apart. Have many people had problems with this or something? ... I myself, am still deciding which route to go (KLZE or KLDE). I don't know which route to go because... DE has less power and is more equall to a (honda) B16. Therefore it won't be up to par with how fast i want to be. The ZE is the fastness that I want, But i keep hearing they are weak. It would suck for me to do the ZE swap, then I get on real hard a week later and it fub's up. Everyone on this forum is pretty much the same way. They have grown to know what is to be done with a mx-3. I swear, the choices are literally posted almost everyday. This guy knows whats up. I learned a lesson a while back. Go with what you already know and trust. Don't blind yourself.

Seems like a lot of people have problems with broken retainers... but plenty also don't. It's a bit of work to change them out, but it can save you from some pretty major repairs later. I'm just going to leave mine.... if they break, rebuild

lol Dont be scared of a ZE, there has been like maybe 10 people on this board that has had a dropped valve because of the ZE having weaker retainer's.

But you could also get a DE for around $250 from a junk yard and then build it up abit and still be around the power of a ZE and it will last longer cause of the stronger retainers. But its totally up to you.

Its probably worth it to add that the majority of valve-dropping problems probably come from abusing the redline. I'm sure it'll be fine if you keep it under 7000rpm.

Smith18 wrote: But you could also get a DE for around $250 from a junk yard and then build it up abit and still be around the power of a ZE and it will last longer cause of the stronger retainers. But its totally up to you.

$250 ??? ... try about 500-600 bucks.

build it up?... as in