Mazda MX-3 All Motor Build

[Allmotormx]

Hi guys,

New to the forum but have been on Probetalk for years but figured I'd see what interest there is on this forum for my build.
Recently started building my MX-3 and the build is coming along really well. Here is a list of the parts on hand so far and a few of the future plans as well.

Current parts on hand...

Kl-de heads port matched to ze manifold
Ferrea dual valve springs
Ferrea retainers
Ferrea oversized valves
Supertech shim under bucket lifters
Supertech valve seals
Bronze valve guides
Custom cams from colt cams (231 / 392)
Arp head studs
Wiseco 11:5:1 pistons (85mm)
K1 rods 21mm pin
Clevite 77 bearings
Boundary oil pump
Custom long tube headers
Coil packs (626)
Adjustable cam gears
Megasquirt plug n play
D2 coil overs
T595 Throttle body's

Currently the block is in the machine shop getting everything balanced and bored to size. Recently decided to do some modifications in the block for better oil flow along with the ITB setup, I was going to make a custom intake manifold but after weeks of failed ideas I finally caved and went the simpler ITB route which may not be a bad idea anyways.

I'm going to post up some pics of the build right away as I already have a thread going on probetalk for it, I can also send that link as well to anyone on that forum.

 

[Allmotormx]

Here is a pic of the car before it went under the knife...

 

[Allmotormx]

Some progress on the engine bay...

Getting it cleaned up a bit...

 

[Allmotormx]

Some shots of the parts kicking around...

 

[Antoine]

Welcome and cool build!

Thanks for sharing this with us, I will definitely be following along...

 

[Allmotormx]

Thanks! I will be posting pictures as i go along. Hopefully get the block back from the machine shop soon so i can post some real goodies. Hoping to hit 270 - 290whp with the ITBS.

Welcome and cool build!

Thanks for sharing this with us, I will definitely be following along...

 

[Allmotormx]

ITB's came in the other day and got them all cleaned up to get the linkages welded.
10mm spacers are needed to get the ports to match up on the heads.
My friend that's doing the welding for me also has the adapter plates getting cut out at her work, they are about 12mm thick aluminum.
Once I get the shape cut out for them I will start working on the ports. I'm thinking about making the bottom of the ITB's square to make port matching them a bit easier and also give a smoother transition into the heads. Still a work in progress though as I'm still not sure how to want to sync the ITB's together yet.

Also got my electric water pump in the other day and just did the wiring for it. I am just going to run it off a switch inside the car with no thermostat. Wired it to a constant 12v so that I can leave it pumping for a few minutes after a hot shut down.

 

[Antoine]

Who doesn't love ITBs! Great update, thanks for sharing..

 

[Allmotormx]

Few pics of what's been going on at the garage on the build, nothing special but just a few progress pics since machine shop is taking their sweet time with the block.

Electric water pump is all wired and block off plate is made.

ITB plate is waiting for the ports to get machined out.

Painted the tranny and starter just for the hell of it and POR15 the hubs with new bearings.

 

[Allmotormx]

Ok I officially have everything for the motor, custom Ferrea valves finally arrived. They are .035'' longer and 1mm oversized to the klze valve size.

I put all the valve-train components on to a scale the other day and got some really good numbers in terms of weight savings throughout the entire valve-train.

The valves weighed in a bit heavier than the stock valves but that was expected as they are bigger in every aspect. The real savings was in the solid lifter conversion and the dual valve spring. I weighed out the valve, shim and sla vs the stock valve and hla and saved 205.56 grams there.

Then I weighed the entire valve-train and saved a total of 677.64 grams. Here's a pic of the valvetrain that will be going into the heads once I get this port and polish finished up.

 

[Allmotormx]

Finally had some time to finish up the port job on the heads before I send them over to the machine shop to get the valve job and new guides put in, here's a few pics of the work I did. It was my first time doing an aggressive port job like this but I think I did a pretty decent job. The intake side didn't get anything to crazy but I took quite a bit of material out on the exhaust side to hopefully let this motor breathe a bit better up top. Did a few more touch ups after I took the pictures but you guys get the idea...

 

[3turbo]

Best of luck on your build! Years ago I gutted an MX-3 GS (sorry I know they are getting rare these days) to build a “sleeper” escort wagon. I used the whole car including the wider suspension and quicker steering rack (took a custom modified I joint to mix ford steering shaft and Mazda rack). If I had it to do over I would have built the MX-3. I used the best from everything Mazda and Ford to make what should have been from the start. I look forward to your thread.

 

[Allmotormx]

Best of luck on your build! Years ago I gutted an MX-3 GS (sorry I know they are getting rare these days) to build a “sleeper” escort wagon. I used the whole car including the wider suspension and quicker steering rack (took a custom modified I joint to mix ford steering shaft and Mazda rack). If I had it to do over I would have built the MX-3. I used the best from everything Mazda and Ford to make what should have been from the start. I look forward to your thread.

Thats awesome...But yes such a shame you had to gut a GS MX-3 lol. Mine is far from perfect condition but I'm doing the best I can to clean it up and hopefully keep it for life. This MX-3 is 1 of 2000 ever made in the raspberry metallic so one day hopefully I can get it in the condition it should be...Pics coming soon of the rear end restoration.

 

[Allmotormx]

Here are some pictures of the rear end project I currently started as I wait on the machine shop. Getting all this apart was no joke I broke both brake lines 3 frame bolts and 2 abs sensors, the lower bolt that holds the lateral arms to the hub is almost impossible to get out on the vehicle. I ended up dropping the entire rear crossmember and finally was able to get the hubs into the vice and hammer the bolts out but it was ALOT of hammering. Also took the head liner out to find an huge mouse nest in there so that was good to finally figure out where the odd smell is coming from in the car. I'm going to post a few pics of the before and after of all the parts sandblasted minus the one lateral link that was bent so I didn't bother with that one. Not sure what I want to use to coat everything on the rear end now though? I used POR-15 on the front end but I almost want to try something different on the rear end stuff as a bit of an experiment to see which ends up holding up better. Possibly a spray on epoxy?

 

[Allmotormx]

Update on the rear end project. Everything is just about ready to put back together just need to replace the 2 broken brake lines first and ill have the mx3 rolling again. Ran into some paint issues doing the trunk area this afternoon so I will post pics of that when its all done. Here's what the finished suspension looks like though, I decided to go with the VHT roll bar and chassis for the majority of the paint and got a little carried away with the rubberized coating in the wheel wells lol. I think the VHT looks really good and durable. Also found some poly bushings from a company in Poland that I thank for supplying the kit for me.

 

[Allmotormx]

Almost completed the rear end project, I had to order some new rear hard lines and a few bolts that had to be cut out so took a bit to get everything back in.
I am really happy with how everything turned out and the poly bushings seem like they should work well too. Coil overs are installed in the back and hopefully I can get some time to finish up the brakes so that I can set it down and make sure my height is where I want it. Paint for the trunk was my first time using a real paint gun and it was definitely a learning experience but actually came out pretty good for my first time. Here are some pics of the progress...

 

[Allmotormx]

Just realized I didn't post up pics of the bottom end stuff on this forum so I figure I'll toss those in while I wait on the machine shop to finish up the machine work.

Pistons are Wiesco 85mm, 11:5:1 compression, coated skirt and I also did a ceramic coating on the tops that isn't in the photos.

 

[Antoine]

Beautiful pics and pistons!

 

[rmartine]

Just realized I didn't post up pics of the bottom end stuff on this forum so I figure I'll toss those in while I wait on the machine shop to finish up the machine work.

Pistons are Wiesco 85mm, 11:5:1 compression, coated skirt and I also did a ceramic coating on the tops that isn't in the photos.

View attachment 303066View attachment 303067View attachment 303068

Nice pistons!

 

[Allmotormx]

Thanks! Hoping to end up around 13:1 compression after decking the block and shaving a bunch off the heads. As of now the machine shop has removed .025 off the heads. Ill do my clearance checks at that and see if i can get away with removing more material.