MX-3.com

Well...plans have changed, as they always do...



NO, I am not abandoning the project!
BUT, I am switching up my rad / inter-cooler setup, as well as going with a stock gtx exhaust manifold and VJ20 turbocharger for now. See how that performs and then upgrade form there, so I can see how it progresses etc...

ANYWAYS, big update is ....


old motor and trans out

The BEASTLY 1.6l SOHC



Everything came out nice and easy. Just raised the car on the lift while the motor and parts stayed on the ground.

Here is a quick pic of the new motor and trans, as well as the old front cv axles, spindles, rotors etc...


Front blown struts and me GC's taken apart. I will be re-using the GC's on my new ZX-2 SR struts.


So far so good, Currently I am cleaning the engine bay and will prep it for paint, either black or stock color code, dont know yet. After that new motor/trans prep etc...
MORE PICS TO COME AS WORK GOES ON!


Oh.....I more thing, I think my ground controls are broken, I mean look at this wheel well gap

Nothing too major, a shot of the engine bay, almost finished cleaning it / De-greasing it, in preparation for paint.


A few pics of me, working on removing the rear struts/GC's:






Job all done

Shots of the glass headlights pls

Blackhoused them yet?

rekognize wrote:Shots of the glass headlights pls Blackhoused them yet?

I have yet to take them apart and paint , but that is the plan I'll definitely get pics when I do though.

Pretty good weekend ...

Paint for the engine bay has yet to show up , So I decided to start at the other end and tackle the rear disc swap.
Most time consuming part...Taking the long spindle/hub bolts out...but once I had an air hammer, no problem

Trailing arms, v6 spindles, and rear cross-member were sandblasted, cleaned and POR-15'ed.





Once all the old worn bushings were out, SuperPro bushings were pressed in (after POR-15 treatment).



Whiteline 22mm rear swaybar installed along with Wytbishop spherical sway bar end links


MX-3 GS rear tie bar painted silver to match the swaybar


Driver and Passenger side completed:
--New parts include:
Brembo blank discs
Akebono pads
A-1 Cardone calipers
ZX-2 SR struts
Corksport stainless braided brake lines
SuperPro bushings
Wytbishop sway bar end links
Whiteline rear swaybar
Rear wheel hubs/bearings

--old / parts I re-used:
GC coil-overs
junkyard e-brake cables v6
4cyl rear cross-member and all the links (although cleaned/sandblasted and or POR-15'ed)
GS rear tie bar




Almost forgot, before putting everything back into the car, I cleaned the underbody and wheel wells and then sprayed it all with rubberized under-coating. It looks brand new now, I am very happy with how the back end turned out.

Only thing, for those running ZX-2 struts and GC's do you use dust boots, and if so what ones The factory ZX-2 boots I have will not fit, they are as big as the eibach springs
Stay tuned

looks like you're movin on it)

so doing a bp swap sweet moving on up from the sohc..

69shelby wrote:looks like you're movin on it)

Yep, I am hoping to have it running in the next couple weeks ...Last time I drove the mx-3 was Feb. 2008

Limegreen mx-3 wrote:so doing a bp swap sweet moving on up from the sohc..

Yes sir , But my old sohc-turbo may live on...in a Suzuki samurai

More pix
Moving onto the front now:
Front control arms were sandblasted, cleaned, and POR-15'ed. SuperPro bushings were also installed.



Had to go to the salvage yard and pick up an alternator / passenger side motor mount bracket...I forgot to remove mine from my old motor before letting a friend of mine take the motor for his samurai Also i needed the top part of the 2-peice driver side trans mount bracket for the g-series transaxle. That is what I have here all cleaned/sandblasted and POR-15'ed. (bottom trans bracket part not pictured)



Front spindles sandblasted and POR-15'ed as well as new wheel bearings. I will clean the hubs up as well.


Another snag, the speedo sensor/cable problem. My 1993 mx-3 has a cable speedometer and the g-series trans had an electric speedo sensor in it. Well comparing the two, my cable one is taller, and would not seat all the way down to seal with the o-ring. Instead of trying to find the correct cable gear or get a 94+ mx-3 electric cluster and wire it up, I modified my stock one.
LEFT:g-series electric RIGHT:modified MX-3 cable

I took the wizzer wheel and cut a groove lower around the gear. Fit an O-ring and now the cable gear fits nice and snug and should seal fine, only thing to do is use a spacer and longer bolt to mount it, as the tab does not sit flush. A nice easy fix, saves me another trip to the JY
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Prepping the motor while it is on the ground:

Bolted on the g-series transaxle, Fidanza lightweight flywheel and spec stage 3 clutch inside. Miata CAS installed.


Flyin Miata dual feed fuel rail w/ weapon R fuel rail adapter, mazda GTR 460cc injectors, Corksport SS clutch line. Aeromotive FPR sitting on valve cover.


Flyin Miata adjustable cam gears and Gates blue timing belt. I decided to leave the plastic cam gear cover on, and just cut 2 holes out for now

can't wait for more pictures, this is pure carporn!

Evo_Spec wrote:can't wait for more pictures, this is pure carporn!

Thanks everything is coming together pretty well so far...more pics below

So random shots of parts:

AEM wideband A/F, Greddy boost and EGT (old style, took a while to find, but they light up green ) Inline fuel filter.


Optima battery hold down, DEI titanium header wrap, ARC cool fins


CV axles, manual steering rack, Corksport vj-20 downpipe


HKS gray filter, Taylor universal V8 plug wire kit, solid passenger side motor mount, driver side trans mount

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Originally I was going to use POR-15 and paint the engine bay, but I decided to keep it tropical emerald instead.
4 pics of the bay taped up and prepped for paint. Degreased and used a fine steel wool to scuff the bay to help give the new paint something to bite into.







I used spray cans of my color code (Z1) tropical emerald metallic to paint the engine bay. I got these from paintscratch.com. Used 2 cans, and the color match is very good. In these after paint pics, it does not look very good, as everything is covered in a white dust/film...This is from the spray can clearcoat, but it wipes off easily and once cleaned looks good.






The over-spray on the swaybar and crossmember will be cleaned and POR-15 applied, so it will be brought back to black.

now that i notice, did you have any rust on the car to begin with? from what i see it's in perfect condition.
and also, the picture in your cardomain, are all those RX-7's yours?

NICE buildup so far man, very impressive. Gonna turn out awesome

Evo_Spec wrote:now that i notice, did you have any rust on the car to begin with? from what i see it's in perfect condition.
and also, the picture in your cardomain, are all those RX-7's yours?

The only rust found was surface rust on the crossmembers front and rear, as well as the front and rear brakes/hubs/spindles etc... All of the brakes are new; pads, rotors, and calipers as well as hubs/wheel bearings, and the spindles re-coated.

Body-wise, the car is straight, no rust, and the factory undercoat is still in good shape, but to be extra safe, I am spraying it again, I want to have the car stay in perfect condition for another 16 years
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I wish all of those RX-7's were mine ...They are actually customers cars. I am doing all of the work to my MX-3 at the shop my brother works at and where i help out on the weekends.
My RX-7 is this:

1983 limited edition--next project after mx-3! going for 350rwhp
My brothers:

1989 GTU---Just painted, not fully tuned yet, but put down 380rwhp and 275ft/lbs @10psi

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solo_ryder wrote:NICE buildup so far man, very impressive. Gonna turn out awesome

Thanks solo

After spraying the engine bay, I cleaned up the front cross-member and used POR-15 on it. Looks brand new and is all black, no more over-spray




Corksport downpipe with DEI titanium header wrap on.


Bolt the downpipe to the turbo and installed the jack-shaft, as well as the alternator. Notice the solid front and rear mounts I hopefully will be doing a VF10/VJ20 hybrid turbocharger soon





I have a flex piece that will be going onto the end of the downpipe, and then it will be 2.5 inch piping back to my Apexi dunk muffler.

Looking at these pics, I should have cleaned my trans/motor better, or at least painted it too!

what are u going to do about the bp's v-belt and poly v belt pulley setup..

i hated that shyt and switch it out....