My Mazdaspeed 3 experience/build

Discussion in 'Mazdaspeed 3 Build Diaries' started by GOTTHEFUZZ, Jul 3, 2017.

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  1. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Alright, I'm sure not many of you remember me coming on here a few months ago introducing myself and troubleshooting some problems with my clutch, and all of you guys gave great advice and I have to seriously thank you guys.

    Let me give everyone who doesn't really know a quick summary on my MS3 and how it's doing so far. Alright so I bought my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 GT with pretty much all the bells and whistles on april 29, so its been about two months of me owning this thing. I'll plug a little picture of it right under here.
    [​IMG]
    This is my first Turbo car and my first real car that I bought with my own money, so as you could imagine it was a pretty big step for a nineteen year old. So in the two months of ownership of an MS3 the main thing that honestly made me fall in love with it was the interior. oh how I love the interior is fantastic every door feels and sounds perfect when opening and closing, no squeaks or slamming the doors. coming from a Mazda Protege5 this was a pretty big step up from that, only thing I wish my MS3 had that my protege5 has was a sunroof(I am a huge sucker for sunroofs) I'll plug a picture of my protege5 under here so you can see the car i built with my dad from just a shell of windows and doors.
    [​IMG]
    loved this little thing but it didn't last too long, long enough to get college done and start working, but with something that great when it was over it was time to move on to something greater, and here comes the mazdaspeed 3. But onward to what happened where I left off, my clutch problem, and oh boy was this a PROBLEM.
    [​IMG]
    Tada here was my problem, comincle when I look back at it that I thought that bleeding the system would help/be the problem. Heres some pictures of that whole thing with a little bit of backstory to them.
    [​IMG]
    With my job I don't really get much time do much other than eat and sleep, and whatever free time I do have I try to take my lady out on dates to experience life and have fun as a teen. So with that I had to pay someone to deal with my clutch problem and have my girlfriend give me rides to work and back
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Just a few extras plus my little snail in the background :D So let's now get to the present, here's how my little rocketship sits now. Except this time it's a bit harder
    [​IMG]
    So I started taking the front end off and making my way to the starter because it wouldn't really crank over, I still tried over and over with hope but I knew what had happened
    [​IMG]
    so at this point, got the starter out and this looked a little peculiar.
    [​IMG]
    a starter in pieces? when I took it out two little things fell when I pulled this little bastard out.
    [​IMG]
    I erupted in laughter when I realized what it was, that is literally a piece of Piston Ring, and literally part of a piston. here's what it looks like without the starter :D
    [​IMG]
    that's a pretty damn big hole when you see it in person, but first I have to get the whole front end to get off
    [​IMG]
    I really have to say I love mazda for making it so damn simple to pull the front off of this car, literally never working on this car before I took the whole front end off with a little over an hour I'm talking like an hour and five minutes. So seriously thank you mazda you made my life so easy with the way this front end was designed.
    [​IMG]
    Sorry for the bad quality on some of these I was in a little in a hurry with getting this all apart, now I have to take a few little things off like the mushroom, AC lines, power steering lines, and the harness connector clips on the block itself.
    [​IMG]
    Here's a little closeup of the hole, I see flywheel, and you can see some connecting rod stuck on the side, but I don't have pictures showing that sorry.
    [​IMG]
    sorry, for the mess, again I am in a little of a hurry. so I am going to move on to a pretty big gap from these pictures, I went ahead and started unbolting the oil pan just to see how bad the crank was, I mean I knew this whole block is scrap, but I was just so curious on the destruction this piston did. here those pictures.
    [​IMG]
    so here's the crankshaft lobe, look at this thing, its mauled, you can see in the background the hole peering out into my garage.
    [​IMG]
    just a little close up :D
    [​IMG]
    Okay so here is a little something funny, so waaaaaayyy up there in the top you can see a piston, but the rod is missing! where could it have gone, then you look down in the pan, and I started sifting in the pan and I think I found it, or what's left of it.
    [​IMG]
    FOUND IT, so here my thought of what happened the rod bent in the center pissed the bottom of the rod and started hitting everything around, the piston head said F*** this and bailed broke the head off and the rest when into the pan.
    [​IMG]
    And here's how it sits now, axles loose, exhaust unbolted, and the engine/transmission is ready to be picked. from there I'd have a shell waiting for me to source a working block. I'll definitely update when I get the chance but I'll be honest It might not be in a long while, money's very tight for me right now.

    oh and btw I just needed to add this, the brake rotors and calipers are huge as all hell, like I saw the RX8 and I was like the brakes on this are pretty good for a sports car, then I drove this and realized just how good brakes could get. then I actually got to look at them, These suckers are huge, I want now some rims that are more revealing of that, and I'd like some drilled and slotted rotors just for the cool factor. oh and one last picture of my friends screwing around with my car.
    [​IMG]
    so this is the update for now, hope this kept you guys entertained for at least a little while.

    EDIT UPDATE!!!!!
    Well it's time to do a little update on this whole little thing I got going on, And as before I have pictures to keep you entertained while you read this long update.

    It all picked back up at this place.
    [​IMG]
    Oh boy was this place like a toy store for mazda guys like us, as well as a few LS engines here and there. and SEATS, I know it sounds dumb to point out but they have SEATS!!!! I have this odd stain on my driver side head-rest and nobody ever notices it, but I do and it brings out the OCD in me.

    But anyway let's move to the reason I was even here and what goodies I left with.
    [​IMG]
    TADA!!!! a Gen II 2.3t with slightly less than 90k miles. I wanted the Gen II specifically for the revisions it has, I was super bummed my Red mazdaspeed oil cap didn't fit on the new valve cover, But I'll definitely be buying a red one very VERY soon.

    You can see also another one in the background for even cheaper than I got mine with If I remember right it had less miles too! So if you need another motor Fattie can definitely help you out.
    [​IMG]
    While I was at Fatties, more parts were on their way back home, crucial things might I add. at this point I was super strapped for cash so I couldn't get exactly everything I wanted. And of course I scoured the forums recommended parts list to make my choices.

    • So I bought a new starter, well because you know, mine has a huge hole in it! So that was an obvious must have, If I could say something I really wish we could get an upgraded starter similar to what I did to all my RX8's, but of course it was entirely a preferential thing, My speed never had a long crank time similar to my RX8's.

    • Next I bought a Water pump, oh boy did I learn from my Protege 5, changing water pumps in front wheel drive cars sucks soooooo hard, I never want to do that ever again, so I am changing mine for peace of mind.

    • after that I got a oil filter, In hindsight I should have gotten a screw on modification for the convenience, next time I'll definitely do the conversion to the screw on filters.

    • I bought a timing chain, and again in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have even gotten this thing because in the end i didn't even end up chaining the damn thing, on top of that the Gen II has a revised timing chain if I remember right, and I don't even want to talk about the stupid fact that the engine doesn't have timing marks on the block.....I'm going to stop before kick a rod out of my head.

    • oh and I got those laser iridium spark plugs, don't know what makes them better than whatever else is in the market but it took the recommended parts list's word for it.

    [​IMG]
    Well out with the old, and soon to be in with the new, that pesky oil cap on the valve cover, irks me that I can't move that over, but I should really stop nitpicking with my engine, Ahh one important thing to note, I took the transmission out with the motor because I had to move the seven day old clutch from the old block into the new one, and I couldn't for the life of me take off the shorter CV joint, like the longer joint was cake, but that shorter one was a little bastard.

    I was afraid I was going to break it so I just said to hell with it I'll take it out with the engine, the more time I spend overthinking and possibly breaking things the longer this whole project gets, And I just want my car back, I love driving the stupid thing with all the stupid turbo sounds it makes, I like hearing pops when upshifting from 3rd.

    [​IMG]
    Ha I am pretty sure I am missing a hole here, but I kinda like how it looks without a huge window to see your mangled rods!

    [​IMG]
    So the Gen II is on the stand, right here I installed everything except the filter and starter because I was going to replace the flywheel stuff.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Stripped the gen I down, I did it all in large parts just to make it simple and quick.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Here's the Gen II with all the accessories, everything basically bolted up with no problems, except two things. the Gen II seems to have a different vent hose in the valve cover, and this seriously stumped me because I have both hose's from a Gen I and its successor, and neither one fit. it's the hose from the top left valve cover to the turbo inlet pipe.

    My old man said he could make a custom shrink pipe plastic one, so I am going to hope for the best with that thing. but it seriously makes me wonder are the turbo inlet pipes not interchangeable from generations?

    [​IMG]
    This morning I took the Gen II off the stand and installed the better flywheel as well as the clutch kit, I also installed the transmission, with me being on medical leave from work I have been able to get more work done on the car which really has been a huge moral booster.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Well here's how she sits right now, looking like a monster-truck in the front but I can forgive it with the circumstances, I also took off the ugly body moldings, and gave her a quick cleaning, It shortly rained right after, so I died a little inside, I gotta buy some goo-gone to get the residue off the car but that shouldn't be too much work.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    I also spotted this super epic Mazda 3, He has the SideSkirt extensions I really want, I love the rim choice, little things like window visors are the little things that I have to do to my speed soon. I am still very jealous of the fact that they got sunroofs and we didn't, I really hate that I don't have one!!!!

    Well that wraps up this update guys, I hope you're enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing and showing my experience with a car I very quickly fell in love with. I have the engine prepped to be dropped into the car, and hopefully if all goes well, I can drop it in this weekend, and be driving it monday, but I won't hold my breath.

    Thanks for reading guys, And I can't wait to update you guys again!
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
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  2. Shampu

    Shampu Greenie Member

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    Welcome, looks like you have a fun little project in your hands. Where do you live in FL? that neighborhood looks like one up in my neck of the woods.
     
  3. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Central florida near poinciana, yea it's quite the little project, I hope to have it up and running by the end of this month(If everything goes well) with either a built engine or a remanufactured engine, or whatever other way I can find to get this thing running.
     
  4. Shampu

    Shampu Greenie Member

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    Ah ok not too far from me, but not the area I was thinking. Very cool!

    @FattiMotorWorks is local to you and parts out wrecked mazdaspeeds. He usually has engines laying around.
     
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  5. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    He wants a little too much, Personally I would just save the $200 and get a zero mile reman motor.
     
  6. FattiMotorWorks

    FattiMotorWorks Former Vendor

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    from my understanding a new long block is $3000 and up so you will need to save more then just 200 haha.

    I do have a long block from a MS6 for $2000 and a Gen2 Long Block for $2300 both come with 30 day warranties as well on parts.

    I also do have a great condition bare block as well if you want to fully build it too.
     
  7. Shampu

    Shampu Greenie Member

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  8. FattiMotorWorks

    FattiMotorWorks Former Vendor

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    ya that is a big difference plus you get a VC and oil pan with mine haha.

    Thanks @Shampu for sharing that.
     
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  9. Shampu

    Shampu Greenie Member

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    Plus you don't have a core charge and could sell your blown block or keep it and rebuild.
     
  10. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Okay excuse my language but holy shit, so I went back to reread the messages between you and me, and I could have sworn you priced it at $2800, not $2300!!!!

    I don't want you to take this as me bad mouthing you, I seriously and I swear it's true I thought I read $2800 and when I saw a Reman block for $3270 with a $460 core charge(I don't mind this) It would have brought down the total price to $2810, So I am sure you can see the caveats with getting a reman motor for $10 more with five year unlimited no fault warranty.

    [​IMG]

    Even still this reman engine thing is still one hell of a deal, however given the urgency of me needing an engine asap, the 2K MS6 engine you have is the obvious better deal, mind telling me about that engine?
     
  11. VoodooJef

    VoodooJef My friends call me Captain Zen Greenie Member

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    FWIW, core charge is typically on top of the purchase price, not subtracted from it.
     
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  12. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Well this is embarrassing, looks like my whole understanding of the whole situation was waaaaay off, my bad on that. :/
     
  13. FattiMotorWorks

    FattiMotorWorks Former Vendor

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    your good man, still need an engine haha.
     
  14. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Well it's time to do a little update on this whole little thing I got going on, And as before I have pictures to keep you entertained while you read this long update.

    It all picked back up at this place.
    [​IMG]
    Oh boy was this place like a toy store for mazda guys like us, as well as a few LS engines here and there. and SEATS, I know it sounds dumb to point out but they have SEATS!!!! I have this odd stain on my driver side head-rest and nobody ever notices it, but I do and it brings out the OCD in me.

    But anyway let's move to the reason I was even here and what goodies I left with.
    [​IMG]
    TADA!!!! a Gen II 2.3t with slightly less than 90k miles. I wanted the Gen II specifically for the revisions it has, I was super bummed my Red mazdaspeed oil cap didn't fit on the new valve cover, But I'll definitely be buying a red one very VERY soon.

    You can see also another one in the background for even cheaper than I got mine with If I remember right it had less miles too! So if you need another motor Fattie can definitely help you out.
    [​IMG]
    While I was at Fatties, more parts were on their way back home, crucial things might I add. at this point I was super strapped for cash so I couldn't get exactly everything I wanted. And of course I scoured the forums recommended parts list to make my choices.

    • So I bought a new starter, well because you know, mine has a huge hole in it! So that was an obvious must have, If I could say something I really wish we could get an upgraded starter similar to what I did to all my RX8's, but of course it was entirely a preferential thing, My speed never had a long crank time similar to my RX8's.

    • Next I bought a Water pump, oh boy did I learn from my Protege 5, changing water pumps in front wheel drive cars sucks soooooo hard, I never want to do that ever again, so I am changing mine for peace of mind.

    • after that I got a oil filter, In hindsight I should have gotten a screw on modification for the convenience, next time I'll definitely do the conversion to the screw on filters.

    • I bought a timing chain, and again in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have even gotten this thing because in the end i didn't even end up chaining the damn thing, on top of that the Gen II has a revised timing chain if I remember right, and I don't even want to talk about the stupid fact that the engine doesn't have timing marks on the block.....I'm going to stop before kick a rod out of my head.

    • oh and I got those laser iridium spark plugs, don't know what makes them better than whatever else is in the market but it took the recommended parts list's word for it.

    [​IMG]
    Well out with the old, and soon to be in with the new, that pesky oil cap on the valve cover, irks me that I can't move that over, but I should really stop nitpicking with my engine, Ahh one important thing to note, I took the transmission out with the motor because I had to move the seven day old clutch from the old block into the new one, and I couldn't for the life of me take off the shorter CV joint, like the longer joint was cake, but that shorter one was a little bastard.

    I was afraid I was going to break it so I just said to hell with it I'll take it out with the engine, the more time I spend overthinking and possibly breaking things the longer this whole project gets, And I just want my car back, I love driving the stupid thing with all the stupid turbo sounds it makes, I like hearing pops when upshifting from 3rd.

    [​IMG]
    Ha I am pretty sure I am missing a hole here, but I kinda like how it looks without a huge window to see your mangled rods!

    [​IMG]
    So the Gen II is on the stand, right here I installed everything except the filter and starter because I was going to replace the flywheel stuff.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Stripped the gen I down, I did it all in large parts just to make it simple and quick.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Here's the Gen II with all the accessories, everything basically bolted up with no problems, except two things. the Gen II seems to have a different vent hose in the valve cover, and this seriously stumped me because I have both hose's from a Gen I and its successor, and neither one fit. it's the hose from the top left valve cover to the turbo inlet pipe.

    My old man said he could make a custom shrink pipe plastic one, so I am going to hope for the best with that thing. but it seriously makes me wonder are the turbo inlet pipes not interchangeable from generations?

    [​IMG]
    This morning I took the Gen II off the stand and installed the better flywheel as well as the clutch kit, I also installed the transmission, with me being on medical leave from work I have been able to get more work done on the car which really has been a huge moral booster.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Well here's how she sits right now, looking like a monster-truck in the front but I can forgive it with the circumstances, I also took off the ugly body moldings, and gave her a quick cleaning, It shortly rained right after, so I died a little inside, I gotta buy some goo-gone to get the residue off the car but that shouldn't be too much work.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    I also spotted this super epic Mazda 3, He has the SideSkirt extensions I really want, I love the rim choice, little things like window visors are the little things that I have to do to my speed soon. I am still very jealous of the fact that they got sunroofs and we didn't, I really hate that I don't have one!!!!

    Well that wraps up this update guys, I hope you're enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing and showing my experience with a car I very quickly fell in love with. I have the engine prepped to be dropped into the car, and hopefully if all goes well, I can drop it in this weekend, and be driving it monday, but I won't hold my breath.

    Thanks for reading guys, And I can't wait to update you guys again!
     
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  15. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    [​IMG]
    Welp I'm back again to give some sort of a quick update, I know I haven't been active at all lately but at work we had a lot of outage driven sets of work come in resulting into tons and tons of overtime. btw please don't roast the molding residue, I have been slowly taking it off by rubbing it, goo gone and everything else doesn't seem to work, and I am completely ashamed to say that it's still on the car today. :/

    But that doesn't mean that I haven't been drooling over my car and messing with it here and there. My view for my car changed a little bit, I went from the goals of midnight street fighter, to more low and perdy looking daily driver. I suppose I could start with probably the biggest news being I dropping the new motor I got from Fattie in.
    [​IMG]

    And at first I wouldn't want to start at all, I was 100% sure everything was on correctly and I didn't skip any steps whatsoever with the install, oddly enough my dad (who was helping me with the whole swap) had the odd idea of taking off the intercooler, and trying to start it, and too much our surprise it fired right up, no hesitation whatsoever.
    [​IMG]


    so that brought up something odd, whenever we connected the intercooler the engine would sputter and die within two seconds, for two days it sat in the garage trying everything and asking around to just about anyone to see if they had a clue, but nobody had anything. then came wednesday and I asked a co-worker who used to own an MS3 (he hated it, now owns a miata) without hesitation he goes "Sounds like classic PCV valve, take a look at that under the intake manifold" the next morning I take a look under and low and behold I forgot a vacuum tube connecting to the PCV (The green one)
    [​IMG]
    got everything back together and fired it up without a problem and I haven't had a single problem with the motor since then, My co-worker didn't want to take any sort of reward but I left him a $20 on his welding table to say thanks. from there I saved money like if it was collectable and bought and Accessport
    [​IMG]

    soon after getting the accessport and having the car running I ended up getting new(used) rims and in that whole process I learned a lot about rim offset and sized as well as seeing the difference in the gear length? they poke with a 12 offset, funnily enough the car i got them from was another black speed 3 but It looked fine on his car, but then again his car was completely slammed to the ground, and I tried doing the same but It's not the look I want.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    I somehow convinced my friend to buy a 08 ms3 gt just like mine but 10k miles less than mine and silver! But then I went back to saving for something I desperately needed, And it took them awhile to make it to me, and when they did make it I was beyond excited to put them on my car.
    [​IMG]
    Oh boy when this came in the mail I was beyond excited. and I just want to take a moment to let everyone know that this is my first car that I am doing actual modification so all of this is a huge learning experience. I had spent my whole life learning trouble shooting and repair, my dad knew I had a very heavy foot so never taught me car modification.
    [​IMG]
    day after getting the coils, my rims debeaded, and I was taught why stretched tires suck. I then did my first oil change, and started looking around the forums to see what oil I should get, and apparently you guys say Rotella T6 is good so I gave that a try and after using it the care feels great
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    and here's the car with the BC's on, these rims are definitely temporary I was thinking about hyper bronze Cosmis 205R with the correct offset with the least 225/40/18 all they way to 235/45/18 but id have to really think about it, I really want to raise the car up because honestly being this low is a hassle and a half
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    and here's my freinds fat cat tax.
    [​IMG]
     
  16. Maisonvi

    Maisonvi Platinum Member

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    Wow, those tires are terrible. That 12 offest is bad too. You need something with more like a 35 offset (should clear your coils and assuming 17x9) and then put some proper fitting tires on them please.
     
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  17. GOTTHEFUZZ

    GOTTHEFUZZ Greenie Member

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    Yeah I hear you, I personally think 17s look too small and weird looking so im definitely sticking to 18, I'm tempted to buy some 18x8 rx8 s3 wheels from fattie, but I also want something a little different.

    I'm going to have to pull out the measuring stick for this one because I want the lip of the rim to sit flush to the body panels, I'm really taking my time asking around and reading because if I'm going to be spending 1k on rims they have to be perfect.
     
    GOTTHEFUZZ, via a mobile device, Dec 5, 2017
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