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So my alternator belt snapped today, I found my problem Unfortunately it happened while driving today and I was stuck. But Shayne came to the rescue and helped me change my belt, took a couple of hours in the cold to do it, but Shayne pulled through and fixed it up for me.

MrMazda92 wrote:You may want to check out a hardware store for couplers... Sure, they aren't sexy blue/red/green silicone, but you can get a couple of rubber-like couplers used for plumbing, a few worm-gear clamps, and a screw driver for a song and a dance. Maybe $10, if your local stores have crap prices... That's USD though, so give or take a little.

I've been having a very difficult time finding couplers or else I would. I'm gonna try the last few places that I haven't gone to tomorrow and see how it goes. My intake is in very rough shape, and I need to replace it ASAP so I'm gonna try to do it as soon as possible, I'll even bite the bullet on the price for convenience. I've come to the conclusion that in order for my secondhand intake to work I must use a cone filter or a full cold air intake set up. Hopefully all will be taken care of tomorrow. I'll also take some pictures of my torn belt as well as the set up intake when I get it all done tomorrow.

I've found that extra filter


It's never been used but it is a tad large. Not sure if you'll be able to tighten that worm enough to get a good clamp on the maf.

Anyways, its yours if you want it.

@RS_OBD'oh_2
Which filter is it? The bottom or the top one? Either way I'll gladly take it haha. Saves me some time and money that's for sure. Lemme know what time works for you I'll swing by and grab it if that's cool.

So I ran into a problem while driving yesterday. I headed out in order to see if theres any problem with my battery or not, I went around the block a few times and it seemed good so I decided to head out to the grocery store. I didn't get all the way there
This is why:

Ladies and gents, that there is my alternator belt. THat was my problem with my battery. I texted up Shayne and he came out to help me out, saved me haha. I was on the side of the road and i had to push my car off the main road somewhere safer. I had fortunately bought a belt in the morning when out with my buddy. unfortunately, it was the belt that looped around my AC pulley and not the one I broke. Me and Shayne headed over to Autovalue and got the right one. We, and by we I mean I held the flashlight while SHayne did the real work haha, managed to get it done then and I drove away happy.

After that day long ordeal it felt like all had worked out well. My intake was still in rough shape but it was only a matter of time until I got it fixed up.

I had a buddy of a buddy get me a prime deal on a set of HIDs to put in my projector lights. $50


When I went to pick these up today I saw a KandN filter sitting on the shelf of his garage as well as a coupler. He told me I could take them so I was two more steps into completing my intake.
I managed to fit it on for the most part the only problem was my air filter didn't get along with my maf so I had to file down a part in order to get it to fit, albeit it''s still not perfect.
Here's what i got going:


I also painted my splash guards, I just need to replace the hardware as it was all shot when I pulled them off, only one bolt was any good :/
Here they are:

So I got $5,000 in scholarship money! My parents didn't forward me the letters so I only just found out. And that means all of the sudden I have some maad cash opening here. I pretty much have about 3 grand that's just gonna be hanging out.. WIth my tuition and living expenses I'm pretty happy to have that much left over. So now, I've decided to put half of it away in preparation for my springtime engine swap and for the rest, I'm thinking I'm gonna get some new struts, wheel spacers and a cold air intake. No more pussyfooting around my intake situation out of cheapness, I'm bonn get something good now. :DDDDD

that's great to hear about your scholarship!
so glad your getting that damn intake done, the sound it made was freakin horrible.

Evo_Spec wrote:that's great to hear about your scholarship!
so glad your getting that damn intake done, the sound it made was freakin horrible.

Thanks Shayne!
And I know, it made me feel very self conscious
I also chanced upon another coupler while visiting home, apparently hardware stores don't carry them but my local grocery store does.

I'm coming home tomorrow, and when I arrive I'm gonna see if I can rig up the intake piece I got from you, the only missing piece is I need to get some tubing/hose to go from the remaining pipe.
To show:

Check marks indicate where i'm done, red circle indicates where I need piping from and weird smilie face indicates I'm strange.

I've also chanced upon another problem.
My summer rims are 7"x17" and the tires on are 215/45z17. The tires are pretty bald but I did get a set of better tires do go on them as well when I bought them. I love the rims but because of my suspension, I believe that the tire will rub on the strut and/or my front wheels will not turn without the wheel rubbing. My suspicions were confirmed in the rim size thread so I have a dilemma. i really like my 17's so I want to keep them, but this is going to be a problem. My options are, i believe, to either purchase spacers or to get rid of the wheels. I have a couple of months before I really have to make the choice so I can wait around a bit on it. I love the rims and I don't mind the idea of spacers but that method will cost me more, I'm not sure on the price of spacers but I vaguely remember something about 200+ for a good set of 4. This will give me some more poke too, which I don't think I'd mind at all. I also heard from a buddy that because my rims are both 4x100 and 4x144.3 I should have an easier time getting spacers for them because I can use 4x100 spacers or 4x100-->4x114 conversion spacers, I'm not sure if it's true but it makes sense. I'm thinking I'm gonna consider this and keep my eye out for the spacers but I'm going to throw up an ad on kijiji for a trade and see how it goes from there. I've looked around at some rims that'll will fit and I've found some nice 16"s and 15"s but Im hesitant because I had low profile tires on some 16"s and it looked like I was rocking 4x4 status
Any suggestions on what I should do with this situation? i've considered stock rims but I don't think I want them for my summer set(I have a winter set on stock 15" six spokes).

Also, I've decided that I'm gonna get right to it when I get home tomorrow.
1. INTAKE!!!!!

2. I'm putting my steering wheel in.
-For this the only reason I was being lazy was because I didn't feel like figuring out where the horn fuse was.

3. I'm gonna bang my head in the wall for whatever it takes to get my projectors in.
-I have no idea how I'm going to splice the wires in but goddamnit I want those in!

4. I need to patch up one of my winter wheels that is on a stock mag
-Tried to do it myself, epic fail. Gonna get it professionally done because I have no idea what I'm doing.

5. I want to revamp by badges
-I removed the rear mazda one and I still have the goo on it which i need to get off
-I want to paint my front emblem black
-I want to paint my rear mx3 badge black
-I also want to fit a front emblem overtop of my rear keyhole, because the hole in the badge is conveniently the right size for the keyhole
-I have two mx3 badges taped up in my centre console dash area that i"m going to put on a bit more permanently.

SHould be fun, although I guarantee number 5 will be an abysmal fail haha

There is no need to get any extra hoses. That WILL use all the stock lines

RS_OBD'oh_2 wrote:There is no need to get any extra hoses. That WILL use all the stock lines

I think I'll need to cut up my stock intake in order to get to that piping though. I don't wanna risk damaging it any more haha

My bad RS, I misunderstood you hehe.

However, I have come to the conclusion that I just can't rig up an intake by myself. it's just beyond me. my components don't fit right and I have given up. i'll have to hope to chance upon an intake that's pre made for my car.

RobMinhas wrote:My bad RS, I misunderstood you hehe.

However, I have come to the conclusion that I just can't rig up an intake by myself. it's just beyond me. my components don't fit right and I have given up. i'll have to hope to chance upon an intake that's pre made for my car.

i'll text you when i'm back in town and we'll figure it out

Evo_Spec wrote:

RobMinhas wrote:My bad RS, I misunderstood you hehe.

However, I have come to the conclusion that I just can't rig up an intake by myself. it's just beyond me. my components don't fit right and I have given up. i'll have to hope to chance upon an intake that's pre made for my car.

i'll text you when i'm back in town and we'll figure it out

Sure thing boss.

RobMinhas wrote:My bad RS, I misunderstood you hehe.

However, I have come to the conclusion that I just can't rig up an intake by myself. it's just beyond me. my components don't fit right and I have given up. i'll have to hope to chance upon an intake that's pre made for my car.

I don't want to seem like I am talking down to you or anything...
It's really simply tho. Remove the stock pipe and filter box. Remove that bolt that you put in the metal pipe. The little hose goes in there. I think it was held in with gasket maker before. The other 2 lines have the correct fittings. Should be a 15 min install.

RS_OBD'oh_2 wrote:
I don't want to seem like I am talking down to you or anything...
It's really simply tho. Remove the stock pipe and filter box. Remove that bolt that you put in the metal pipe. The little hose goes in there. I think it was held in with gasket maker before. The other 2 lines have the correct fittings. Should be a 15 min install.

Oh no, I got that all. My problem is I can't get it all to fit properly. I'm gonna try it one more time with removing the whole air box not just the top but I don't think it'll help. My battery is in the way so I can't push the metal part of the intake down enough for my cone filter to be low enough for my hood to close on it. Also I had to plug that one hole because i have no pipe to go into it. I'm gonna cut some of my couplers as a last ditch effort to make it fit. My other problem is my filter won't stay on my maf, I've tried all I can think of but I can't thin of anything that will keep it airtight.

The stars were aligned today, I randomly just felt like taking care of my intake problem so I banged around until I got it. I bought one last coupler and removed my snorkel-front-intake thingy and my whole air box and it ended up working out. Throttle response in comparison is phenomenal, and the car sounds awesome. At about 5500 ish RPM the car makes this sick sound and the car feels like it takes off more. Heres a pic: