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Good man, just make sure you've got a valve spring compressor that works.


I learned that the hard way.

There was something I saw a while back about Outlaw taking a break for a couple of months, but I thought they were supposed to return in Jan. hmm.. IDK I like the fuse box cover... I would get it printed on a thin piece of SS though

The 10 times my car has been towed I was never in a mood to snap a pic.

This car is too spoiled This is the only way this car likes to leave the drive way at all....

Rear bumper looks good! Like the wheel fitment too, HG swap on the way?

RobMinhas wrote:Rear bumper looks good! Like the wheel fitment too, HG swap on the way?

yeah it will take around a couple of days because dan has a RWD probe project to do and he is doing this out the kindness of his heart (with a little cash on the side) so im not complaining. The quotes the shops gave me were crazy and I dont really have a work area or the tools non the less to do it all on my lonesome though i wanted to. It would of took me a month other wise lol.

Thanks! I just need different tires. I have winter tires on it now because they were my winter wheels. I left them on because I though it was going to be snowing in the Oregon mountains or Washington but it was clear skies. I wont see snow for awhile and i only have one set of rims now. So summer stickier street tires will be on soon...

Yeah when i see pics of my other rsx lip I have no idea what i was thinking. It looked terrible compared to the real lip lol I just wish I would of started with the OEM type S lip instead of the aftermarket one I had

Engine is back in, now reattaching all the things connected to it thanks to dan.

There was a HUGE battle with redoing this swap. Maybe because the engine was a dud, user error, or like i said before the chassis is haunted. There was so many things we found it wasn't even funny.

- One of the spark plugs was stuck in the well due to the plug boot melting totally over it. It wouldn't come out from the other side either. This thing was in there. Ill have to take it to someone who can machine heads or something to get it out. For now I have a spare set of KLZE heads that Dan had on hand and we just put my KL31 cams in them so all is well there.

- Dan installed a K8 EGR valve and EGR pipe connecting it to the exhaust, and the correct coolant lines now run through it. Now if I want to pass smog, I will just put on my k8 ECU, K8 intake manifold and airbox, and I should be good to go. I didnt want to play with "do KLZE's pass smog" ordeal. I dont have time now with school starting next week plus I figure do stuff now while the engine is already out anyway and I have a KL expert at my disposal

-the coolant pipes - most of the o-rings were trashed. Dan installed a clean spare set of pipes from his parts pile. He also installed the correct front water pipe (without that additional small outlet that was plugged). he put in a clean thermostat from his parts pile as well. My old one was gunked up. Also, these heads HAVE been off this car prior to this. The coolant pipe o-rings had a bunch of sealant goop around them, which is NOT a factory job. There is no sealant in there from Mazda, just the clean healthy o-rings.

-I got rid of the ACT clutch and put in a OEM one and a new friction surface for my fidanza flywheel

-My brand new timing belt hydraulic tensioner was blown already. Dan had a good extra, so he installed that one. The holes where the tensioner bolts to the block were semi stripped - he re-tapped them clean.

- Dan also suggested i should get rid of the mishimoto coolant tank and just run one that looks good specially designed for coolant overflow or put the OEM one back on.... If i can find a spot in the bay I will more than likely put the original one back on.

I have a few pics also so ill post those later.

I hope I can make my car nice as looking as yours some day! Nice car mate I will keep a eye on this thread. Best of luck getting the engine where u want it.

I'm glad everything pulled together man. Long live the A-Spec Machine !

Glad to hear it's coming along. Have you fired it up yet???

Hey thanks alot guys! I have been thinking of other car options and parting out this car for a few weeks now and its hard. I cant see myself in really any other car but yet the cursed chassis just doesn't want to stay functional for longer then a few weeks lol and now i have this california smog inspection stuff breathing down my back as well

I took the K8DE in and it failed beyond belief a few weeks ago. I really think the Catalytic converter is not up to the california challenge and thats why it failed. So ill give it a go with the KLZE and a brand new california standard cat and see whats up. Hopefully its a go because if not it will for sure be the straw that broke the camels mazdaspeed wing

i also have the KLZE rigged up so the EGR is functional after a swap of a K8 intake and ECU so it should be as "clean" to the environment as any other ford F350 or crown victoria....

The engine is running. Dan drove the MX3 to my house today to pick me up as a test run (40ish miles) and then we were going to go back to his house to change the oil and make sure the car was fine and dandy after this rebuild.......

We never made it back to his house......

About 10 miles from my house we heard a huge bang and clunk under the car like I ran over something and i looked down at the heat gauge and it was on H......


Pulled over, popped open the hood and the power steering pulley came off forcing the belt not to turn the water pump:shock: It wasnt even on right from when wagZE put it on..

i almost went through ANOTHER head gasket job....... We got it towed back to my house and dan is coming over tomorrow to replace the power steering pump and all will be well and happy in mazdaspeed land....


or will it


Dan told me the idle was a tad off. so the ECU is making the engine rev up and down "surging" is what its called i guess. It did that when i had first got the ZE in with wagZE but not as bad. Chris (wagZE) said if i replace the throttle body (IAC was bad) all would be well.

Its not. Hey you never know maybe the only thing i have to do is adjust the idle a tad. I will mess with it a bit here and there but my hope for this car is in the crapper....

With school coming up I have no time for a POS. I need something that will get me from point A to point B......its not even about point C any more...

I dont really care about having a cool, fun car to drive if i never can use it to get where i need to go.

Im not going to lie. Swapping in the KLZE was a DISASTER im out alot of ben franks. I know a engine swap is not an nickel and dime operation but come on...its shouldnt of cost this much i have spent a total of almost 5,000 USD and i cant even drive the thing;

-The KLZE 600
-the "replace now part" like timing belt, water pump, gaskets blah blah 300
-transmission 150
-gas from cali to washington 300ish
-then back 300ish
-paying chris to put it in 850
-fluids 100ish
-food and lodging while in washington 300ish
-the tow from the oregon border to my house 300ish
-the tow to dans house 75 and today 60
-new heads 125
-head gaskets 150ish
-again the fluids 100
- plugs, wires and egr stuff 100

It is ALOT faster and the power feels so good on the butt dyno it makes you smile......but i should have left the K8 in until i found a good ZE that i got from some importer or something.......this engine was in terrible shape. Dan had a LOOOOONG list of things wrong with this thing and if you know dan[sac] on probetalk.com you know he knows his KL's


i have made a vow here on MX3.com lol

if this car is not operational after this for at least 2 weeks. Its gone. for good. Ill go and get a WRX or some other mass produced "cookie cutter" clone

I have alot of parts so ill take off the rare crap sell it off (will be the greatest MX-3.com part out in history lol)and then send the chassis to the "we buy junk cars" people. I will be done....

This car over the years has put me through so much horror and i try and chase the demons away but its possessed

Wow... I havnt been here long but this story of yours sucks big time...

I read most of the thread and it seems you love your car, but at the moment it isn't giving the love back

I would hate to see this get parted out... On the other hand I wish I was closer to California... I need so many things and everyone lives not in Michigan!!!

Best of luck I hope it works and if it doesn't keep me in mind I could even use the small stuff like seals around driver side door

PRAYING SO THE MAZDASPEED MX-3 LIVES!!!

dude don't give up I was in the same spot with my KL swap and its running now better then my K8 i to have idel issues but its probly just some addjustments like you said just stick it out and get it running good! and think you even have gurus helping you out its just me and the web and all the great people on here that helped me get my car where its at. But if you do part out please stay in the mazda family:) speed3 cough cough.. lol...

Stick with it, she's close to being reliable again....I think.

If it doesn't work out, what I would do is take off all the MS parts, put a K8 in it and sell it, and store the MS parts until you find a clean rust-free California MX3 with low(ish) miles and start over.

Dan [Sac] wrote:Stick with it, she's close to being reliable again....I think.

If it doesn't work out, what I would do is take off all the MS parts, put a K8 in it and sell it, and store the MS parts until you find a clean rust-free California MX3 with low(ish) miles and start over.

Actually this would be a good idea if all else fails.....There's always a deal to be found and if you kept your hard to find parts you would be ready to role.

Man what a story to tell your kids when you pass this car down to them

Crazy man I am just blown away. I am glad you are sticking it though, and definitely glad you found someone like Dan to help you. He knows his SH!T! I am confident you are in great hands and it will be reliable once again. Sometimes you have to go through the hard stuff to reap the rewards of your efforts.

BTW - if you need help with the idle, I just went through readjusting mine. Feel free to give me a call and we can try and work through it