Good Rebuild Kits!?

[vicer26]

Hey all, I found out today that my '95 MX-3's 1.6L four-banger is actually a two-banger as I have a compression of 15 and 0 psi in shafts two and three (compared to 100 and 120 in one and four). I'm up at school and have a lot of time, a garage, (hopefully) enough money and thought that it would be a good idea to try and do an engine rebuild. I've been searching around online and it seems that there are a lot of shady sites out there to buy a rebuild kit from. So I was hoping that someone could suggest or point out a site or a store that they bought a quality rebuild kit from.

Not too familiar with the forum yet, first post, but hope I'm in the right place.

Thanks guys

[Ryan]

You're in the right place, thanks for actually caring, and being intelligent enough to figure it out....


Have you considered just swapping out the motor? Research the BP motor, and rebuild that baby. The stock 4 (or 2 in your case) bangers don't have lots of...cheap potential.

Also, check out the search function. It'll help you alot, and also, the shop manuals on the front page will help you later on.

[aufgehdraht]

gude will redo the top end and your ecu for i think like 1500 for the 1.6l. thats what i'm planning on doing once i get the cash. you'll get about an extra 45 horses with the same gas mileage.

[jamesmx3]

45 horses! Jeez thats alot, what do they do with the heads? Guessing polish/port cams, Tb upgrade?

[pauleatstoomuch]

I just rebuilt my 95 1.6. I bought my rebuild kit from importperformanceparts.net . It is only $349 for the engine kit. That includes all of the important stuff, you still have to get the head resurfaced, and its a good time to replace any other hard to get to parts, like the oil pump, water pump, timing pulleys, not too mention all the vacuum lines, coolant hoses, and don't forget the 500 mile break-in period. I'm on 400 miles on my rebuild, and no major problems, just a few quirks which I keep fixing.

One other thing, try not to break any bolts, the Mazda dealer soaks you!!! Also, anywhere RTV is required, USE THE GREY RTV!!!!! I made the mistake of using the red, and had a major oil leak on the valve cover.

Good Luck!

[vicer26]

Have you considered just swapping out the motor?...

I've already read through a lot of the manuals since you pointed them out, Ryan, thanks. Normally I would like to swap out the motor, but I would like to dive further into this project and do as much as I can myself.

I just rebuilt my 95 1.6. I bought my rebuild kit from importperformanceparts.net...

That "importperformanceparts.net" looks like a great site. Much better than the ones I was stumbling through. The kits they have on there look very reasonable. I'll order one as soon as I inspect the head. The garage just opened up and now I need to make sure that this beast is salvageable. Did you do an oversize rebuild, paul?

[wytbishop]

If you have zero compression you will definitely need to go 0.020" over. That will add a couple hundred dollars to your machining bill. If none of the mains are spun it should be fine to rebuild.

[pauleatstoomuch]

No, fortunately, I didn't have to bore over. I used the Standard size Pistons, Rings, and Bearings. I did however hone the cylinders to give the rings a clean seat. Best of luck with your rebuild. Keep us posted.

[vicer26]

I just put it in the garage today after dealing with the shifter being stuck in park. I pulled the headcover and everything looked great, which was pretty disappointing. I was hoping that a valve was stuck open or something, but it looks like the problem is as serious as thought...Well, as this is hardly about finding rebuild kits anymore, I've started a work log post - http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=68977.

Thanks Guys