Page 1 of 2

Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 5:46 pm
by bmanj
Can anybody out there tell me is there any newer model Mazda's that we can take the engines from and put them in our MX-3. I own a 1994 MX-3 4 cyl. I was wondering if we might be able to use the engines and drive trains from newer Mazda 3 and 6 etc...? Also wondering what year Honda headlights work in the MX-3 I've seen projector headlights in the MX-3 from honda on these pages (MX-3 Forms) You can reach me at bmanj@hotmail.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; if you can answer any of these questions. Also I'm looking for a transmission for 1994 MX-3 4 cyl 5 speed and maybe even an upgrade engine if none of the new ones work. Located in B.C Canada (Prince George)

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 6:10 pm
by RS_OBD'oh_2
http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/search.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

try searching before someone gives you a verbal slap in the penis.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 2:55 am
by Nd4SpdSe
bmanj wrote:Can anybody out there tell me is there any newer model Mazda's that we can take the engines from and put them in our MX-3.)
Search for BP or BPT. BP from Escorts, Protege's and Kia's. BPT's are turbo versions from Japan
bmanj wrote:I own a 1994 MX-3 4 cyl. I was wondering if we might be able to use the engines and drive trains from newer Mazda 3 and 6 etc...?)
No, totally different cars. You'll pay more for the engine & accessories than you did for your Mx-3, and you'll pay as much as the engine for the custom work to get it installed.
bmanj wrote:Also wondering what year Honda headlights work in the MX-3 I've seen projector headlights in the MX-3 from honda on these pages (MX-3 Forms)


None, Honda headlights are designed for Honda's. The Civic projectors work, kinda, with alot of cutting and personally I don't like them. You can get projectors specifically for the Mx-3...eBay will have tonnes of those
bmanj wrote: Also I'm looking for a transmission for 1994 MX-3 4 cyl 5 speed
Any from the 92-96 Mx-3 4cyl, SOHC or DOHC doesn't matter.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 4:35 am
by SpatialTerror
haha well sense were on the topic.
why hasnt anyone tried putting a motor out of a b4000 in a mx3?
that would be some crazy stuff.
or an rx7 motor

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 9:26 am
by Ryan
both RWD platforms....

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 12:24 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
An Mx-3 is designed to take a front-wheel drive b-series 4cyl or k-series v6, that's it that's all. Anthing else requires custom work and can and will be expensive if you can't do it yourself, especially to go RWD.

C'mon, try it and let us know how it goes. Betcha you go broke attempting it, the car never sees the road except on the way to the wreckers because it's all hacked up and useless.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 3:08 pm
by SpatialTerror
haha well i got the time. and skill to do an rx7 motor.
but its just a matter of finding one.
any ideas besides ebay

and another thing.
how badass would a rwd mx3 be

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 4:08 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
Badass depends on 2 things:
1) How good the job is
2) If it actually gets completed.

I appologize for my pessimism, but when it comes to odd swaps and especially RWD conversions, it's all talk no action. RWD conversions into FWD cars tend to look like hack jobs. Keep FWD FWD and RWD RWD, otherwise you get all the cons, little of the pros and just bragging rights which will only be get if the job is of quality work.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 4:13 pm
by Ryan
Unless there's a rear subframe assembly and such shared by a sister vehicle... can't think of any examples. oh, 323 GTX/GTR vs the plain jane 323. But that is AWD awesomeness.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 6th, 2010, 4:25 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
Yes and no. The rear axle isn't the big problem, to an extent, half the fun is finding those components, which are rare to begin with, the other half is mounting a longitudinal drivetrain into the space of at transervely mounted transaxle vehicle which involves alot of cutting and relocating everything. Also, the rear axles is designed to take only a portion of the power and traction, not all of it.

Many think a RWD conversion is so simple, but that's a very large underestimation. There's a reason why there's so little of them...

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 4:59 am
by SpatialTerror
well if it was easy it wouldnt be fun.
but how crazy would that be.
if you could put the klze on a rwd setup you could get the full potentual out of the motor

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 9:31 am
by Nd4SpdSe
Why would RWD bring out more potential from the motor?

Doing a RWD conversion would add more weight to the vehicle, but also with RWD, there's more drivetrain power loss.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 10:09 am
by Ryan
Because then you could Drift Race like the best drivers in the wold do, like in FATF!

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 3:31 pm
by Bolverk
Marcos Acosta had a rotary powered RWD MX-3.

Re: Engine Swaps?

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 7:42 pm
by Nd4SpdSe
HAHAHA, there's like 5% Mx-3 in that car...