And when the first MX-3 model appeared in the TV commercial in 91 for the 92 model, I was thinking that I would like a car like that... I never taught tho that 15 years later I would find this cutie...
This is how I found her in a town about 250 Kilometers from my City...
800$ CND she cost me. After a quick run to the mechanic we found out that 3 out 4 cylinders had bad compression... And for good reason, look at those valves...
But she still managed to do those 250 Km in the middle of a snow storm without any problems...
Didn't took any chances and I changed all the exhaust valves on those 3 cylinders...
A few weeks after we found out about those valves, I was able to change them in my Girlfriend Apartment parking lot, I was a hit with the Landlord...
Thats how she looked after the fix, that Precidia sticker had to go for sure. Why do they have to give lame name to those model in Canada, like "Precidia" for the MX-3 and "Mystere" for the MX-6...
Then I started ripping the interior to put sound proofing, gonna have to find pictures of that somewhere...
Tan ain't a color I love more then anything and in my opinion 93 wasn't the year that mazda would win a design contest for the MX-3 Interior...
So I decided to remedy to that...
Out with the Old....
In with the new...
More details on this HERE!
Then I bought some Clear taillights
And some Fog lights, for some reason I wanted the hood flat black, I realize my error now...
Also tried to fix the front bumper with little to no success...
I removed the back seat in preparation for the Sound System, which is still not installed to this day... I have a Sony Xplod Headunit, two 4.5 inches and two 6 inches also Sony and a pair of 12 inches Sub, still Sony, everything wrapped in Tsunami 4 gauges wirings, I'm only missing the amps...
Then in the middle of the winter, the morning after a storm I tried to start my engine and nothing, the engine was turning over with an empty sound, like the engine wasn't resisting to the starter like it did the day before...
My timing belt was broken, I don't know why but it snapped at the first turn of the engine...
I wasn't sure if my engine was gone and I wasn't gonna open it up to check it... So at the beginning of summer went to a local junkyard and I found this...
Say hello to my friend Luc
The engine didn't look in too bad of a shape and had less then 200,000Km, So I bought it...
I cleaned it and started rebuilding it...
New Gaskets all around and valve seals, new timing belt etc... Didn't had enough money for a full rebuild but I did what I could...
And then came the day to put it in the car... Had problems with the engine mounts, had to grind here and there. The power steering pump was inverted compared to my 4 Cylinders engine, had to bend the hard tubing around. Plus since I picked up the entire front wiring harness of the donor car, I still have a few wires that go nowhere... But it was nice to see this at the end of the weekend :
Still have some issues : Starter doesn't turn, the solenoid work but not the starter engine... And my radiator hose connectors aren't at the same place, they are inverted from the engine...
But I still love My MX-3, and I'm not about to let go of her...
I hope I didn't bored you too much, take care...
Awsome story! That is some dedication to do both a 4 to 6 engine swap and a dash swap. The sexy look of the later style is worth it tho.
