Projectzemx3 worklog - DEEP DISH AND STRETCHED! pics inside

[projectzemx3]

my friend found a mazdaspeed muffler in a junkyard. it was already torched off so he just stole it. but the second i saw it i fell inlove with the high quality tip that was on the end. i bought the whole muffler (which actually was a decent muffler) and hacked off the tip, threw the rest of the muffler in the garbage.

i took my 50 series flowmaster i had and cut the outlet so it was nice and short. and welded the tip on. heres what i got.


BTW!! i know the muffler is not correctly positioned in the rubber hangers, i just stuck it in the middle cause it was easier.

[projectzemx3]

it looks so faded o well coke red soon

[projectzemx3]

[projectzemx3]

UPDATE: mar24 200nine

yesterday i stole the battery from the winter car and hooked it up

today i see a few drops of "water" from under my car. so i touch it, smell it and it smells like - well nothing. so i lick it after cursing "this better not be f---ing coolant" and i swear i had put liquid electricity on my tongue AHHHH!!! - well atleast its not coolant.

time for an optima!

EXHAUST
yesterday i had my exhaust bent up. 2.25 mandrel bent. i have my flowmaster 50 series with my MS tip welded on, 2.25 test pipe and my 23" cherry bomb glasspack. today it gets hung! should sound slightly better then perfect.

what else? i ziptied the bumper so it doesnt hang on the passenger side.


OH YA - jwmx3 and i went to the junkyard and "bought" a hole bunch of the 6" red corner markers that are on the rear bumper. these bolt directly into the amber front ones. even the lights plug in perfect, i havent seen anyone else that had done this so ill post pics when i get home. please dont tell me that its illegal, im not a law abiding citizen and i dont care.

[Nd4SpdSe]

It's illegal, no red up front

[wytbishop]

Where would you peg the total cost of your exhaust system? I had to put the stock K8 exhaust back on as my EBAY headers did not fit properly. Once I get the car home I will arrange to have an exhaust shop fit them up. The rear flange will have to be cut off and rotated a bit and welded back on. It really pissed me off I don't mind telling you. Did you have any fitment problems?

[projectzemx3]

well the probe GT ebay headers for me didnt fit properly either, alot of twisting and contorting to make the holes line up but we managed, the flange at the very back is on an angle. we just cut the piping on an angle and welded the flange to it.

i took the stock exhaust to a local muffler shop and had the guy there bend it up exactly as stock except 2.25 we positioned the mandrel bent piece and marked the hangers, welded the hangers on and then built the rest of the exhaust around that. we used a 45 degree bend that i had to bend to make it fit perfectly over the axle (its still not right im going to have it mandrel bent to the exact angle i need, but for now.....)

the distance from the y pipe flange to the mandrel bent piece was filled with a 23" long resonator and about a 16" 2.25 pipe cut to meet the same angle as the y pipe flange.

the flowmaster mufflers are rather huge, but does fit almost perfectly in an mx3. just enough room from the back of the axle to the bumper, about 2 inchs to spare either end of the muffler.

total exhaust cost

2.25 mandrel bent s piece - $80.00

18" 2.25 "de-cat pipe" - $9.99

23" cherry bomb glaspack resonator - $23.00 (with my canadian tire discount )

flowmaster 50 series muffler - $100.00 (GOOD deal.)

ebay headers - $110.00 (picked up local but still brand new with all gaskets and hardware)

45 degree bend $ 3.00

15' header wrap $23.00 X2

total cost = $372.00

the possessed screaming sound it makes - priceless

seriously tho, on all levels of being biased, this exhaust system sounds absolutely amazing, it screams like its possessed, thats all i can say. I would recommend this exact set-up to anybody with a KL engine.

[wytbishop]

Yes I had the same problem with the rear flange. I can't understand why it doesn't line up. A KL is a KL is a KL. I emailed the EBAY seller and let him know that it doesn't fit.

I think I might go for that Canadian Tire Cherry Bomb. I have a Magnaflow muffler, but I think it will be too loud without a resonator. The ZE sounds awesome even on the stock K8 exhaust. I can't wait to hear it on a nice 2.25" system.

[projectzemx3]

it will sound different to mine with the magnaflow but nonetheless it will still sound good.


UPDATE:
today we changed the TB linkeage to the ze TB. so now i have the correct size TB and not a K8 one. however we must have pulled the iac coolant line a little tight without realising, as it blew into two pieces today on the hwy. I had to pull off and wait for a flat bed to come get me. LOL! first day on the road too i couldnt stop smiling about it. what luck. atleast the lady in the drive thru infront of me bought my coffee just prior to this incident. Thank you red dodge caravan lady wherever you are!

but as far as being done with this project i needed the correct size TB, probinators ECU chip. now i have the TB done, but now need to fix my blown coolant line.

but hey? a coolant line and ecu is not alot!

[wytbishop]

That's my biggest fear. That I'll get on the road and something will blow up/off/away. I have a 2-1/2hr drive to bring my girl home...so it's a little dicey.

I'm going to attempt to solder my chip tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Mad Cow]

That's my biggest fear. That I'll get on the road and something will blow up/off/away. I have a 2-1/2hr drive to bring my girl home...so it's a little dicey.

I'm going to attempt to solder my chip tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

Honestly not that much can go wrong, my car was driven over 3 hours round trip with a torn heater hose, I just turned off the heater and duct taped it and it held. Always keep a toolbox and all the spar parts you can carry with you.

For soldering, do you have a desoldering pump? It's pretty much mandatory for this, I never would've chipped my ECU without it.

[wytbishop]

That's my biggest fear. That I'll get on the road and something will blow up/off/away. I have a 2-1/2hr drive to bring my girl home...so it's a little dicey.

I'm going to attempt to solder my chip tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

Honestly not that much can go wrong, my car was driven over 3 hours round trip with a torn heater hose, I just turned off the heater and duct taped it and it held. Always keep a toolbox and all the spar parts you can carry with you.

For soldering, do you have a desoldering pump? It's pretty much mandatory for this, I never would've chipped my ECU without it.

I will have just about every tool I own in the car with me so that's a plus. I do have a desoldering pump as luck would have it. If it goes well I will post up some pictures.

[projectzemx3]

well i have driven the car around quite a bit before this happened. i had my winter beater plates on it and i went driving all over. ive done almost 250 KM now. i just put the insurance and bought some new plates for it today.


you should be ok wytbishop, just for the first couple drives watch that temp gauge like a hawk. i want to hook up a loud buzzer under the dash that goes nuts when the temp gets too high.

i wonder how i could do that? if we can determine an easy way to do it then maybe i will.

[projectzemx3]

UPDATE:

my TB gasket head a section missing out of it and my idle was off because of it. i replaced the gasket today but my idle is still up and down, the most annoying thing besides women.

i am still running the klze on the K8 ecu and i havent adjusted the disty since i put it in. i wonder if my timing is whats causing the up and down idle, or if its simply because my ecu is like WTF WHERE DID THIS EXTRA 700cc's COME FROM.

last night i had problems with my HID install. i was going too run them on a separate aftermarket switch, but i am so against stuff like that. i wanted it to just work exactly like stock except HID. so what i ended up doing was splicing both the HIDs together, and then ran a pos and neg into one headlight plug rather then both. end result, they lit RIGHT up!!! so i cut off the plug and but connected it all together nicely, and then hid the wires completely for cleanliness. now my lights are bright and turn on exactly like stock.

only problem is. now i dont have DRL. and without DRL i get a annoying buzzing from under my dash when the lights are off and the hand brake is down. i think im going to listen for the buzz and take that DRL relay right out . but for now ill just drive around with my lights on.

if probinator doesnt email me back this weekend with the required shipping info then f--- him ill just spend the money and go get a kl31 or 36 ecu from the same place i got my ze from.

i also put a H&R lowering springs and struts into a 93 rx7 TT (jdm, imported, rhd..... but cuts out at 5 grand constantly so cant touch my mx3 ) today. results = looks good

[Dragyn Vyrus]

UPDATE:
i am still running the klze on the K8 ecu and i havent adjusted the disty since i put it in. i wonder if my timing is whats causing the up and down idle, or if its simply because my ecu is like WTF WHERE DID THIS EXTRA 700cc's COME FROM.

mine did the same thing till i got it chipped. the idle was bouncing all over the place! i think it was bouncing around over a 1000 rpm range... yea... get it chipped.