need advice about some performance parts

[bradley hughes]

well on my way back from the beach i threw two rods and broke my crank shaft so now i am looking at either buying a used engine or doing a rebuild. so far the places i have checked the best buy on a used engine for a 2001 mazda protege mp3 that has 49,000 miles was $2,400 then once i put it in i would have spent $3,000. so a rebuild would be cheaper and while I'm into it i want to put some performance parts in it to beef it up a bit.

so what i was thinking about getting was new cams, cam gears, and high compression pistons, rods, and rings. now what i need to know is yalls suggestions on the best ones to get and if yall have any other suggestion on performance parts to add while im into it. i want the parts that will give me the most bang for the buck.
thanks guys yall are the best

 

[CulRidr]

2400$ for a used motor?? Does it come with a pair of hookers in the backseat at your service for a week? A used motor should NOT cost you anywhere near a grand...the engine doesn't NEED to be from an MP3 since all non-FI 2.0L Proteg longblocks are the same.

 

[bradley hughes]

yea i was shocked to. but my main point on this thread is to find out what size cams and cam gears would be the best for my car, and where to find some high compression rods, pistons, and rings.

and yea i will ask the guy about the hookers.

 

[bradley hughes]

is the J-spec intake camshaft and the corksport exhaust camshaft worth the money or should i just get the J-spec intake camshaft and leave the stock exhaust camshaft? and are the SR motorsports adjustable cam gears worth the money? and how about the J-Spec FS-ZE Pistons? and finally are there any ideas on what kind of rods?

 

[bradley hughes]

oh yea and what about the obx crank pulley?

thanks

 

[KrayzieFox]

In all honesty, none of the NA mods are really worth it. You'll get like 20 HP if you're lucky.. so if you want any noticeable power increase from this engine then either turbo it or don't waste your money at all.

I would probably just try to find a cheaper engine, they can be hand for under a $1000 EASILY! $500-$700 is about what a used FS-DE engine costs, and the only difference between the MP3 engine and all other FS-DEs is the intake manifold (it lacks the VTCS system).

Don't waste your money on the cams and gears, they won't really net you that much power for the money that you'll pay. If you wanna stay NA, just stick to basic bolt on breather mods. Intake, catback exhaust, possibly a header and midpipe if you can handle the noise, maybe lighter pulleys, and definitely stiffer engine mounts (70 durometer is perfect for the street, not too stiff). Then maybe a short throw shifter and stiffer suspension to improve the overall feeling of the car. Anything above that is a waste cuz these cars don't respond very well to NA mods..

 

[KrayzieFox]

Check out www.car-part.com for used engines.. it's a great place to find all sorts of used parts. It's pretty much an online inventory system for salvage yards all over the nation. I found a couple near you (within ~150 miles) without a price, so I would give them a call tomorrow.

2003
Engine
Mazda Protege
2.0L,EFI,FMTO,FWD
97,665 miles
P and D Automotive USA-NC(Pelham)
1-800-292-3428


2002
Engine
Mazda Protege
BLK,2.0L,5SP,FWD
Lance Used Auto Parts store #2 USA-GA(Canon)
706-356-8628

Lowest price on the site is $600 by the way..

 

[bradley hughes]

that sounds good i will shop around some and see what i can find. thanks a ton and about how much would it cost to go turbo?

 

[CulRidr]

You'll get a nice bump in power from those 2 cams if you have a decent header/exhaust. not much bump from the pulley, but won't hurt anything. Don't bother with the cam gears. You can get the pistons from Corksport and Mazda Motorsports Development, ditto with the rings. No need for rods to fit those.

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

Well do you want to go stock msp set up or do you want like forged internals with a gt28rs?

 

[bradley hughes]

how much is the msp set up? and would it do anything with my mp3 ecu? i know just for the Garrett GT2860RS setup it would have to be over $3000 not counting the forged internals am i right?

 

[CulRidr]

You need an MSP ecu at the very least if you don't want to spend on a piggyback or full standalone...

 

[KrayzieFox]

You can probably snag a MSP turbo setup for around $2000 if you shop for used parts and are patient enough. That would include the turbo, manifold, lines, ECU, gauges, and other random accessories you'd need to get. You start buying new parts, and you might as well just trade your car for a MSP cuz it would cost you the same.. possibly even more than a MSP.

The MP3 ECU will be no good if you want to turbocharge, I'm doing it to my MP3 and I just picked up a NA 5-speed ECU for $75 and got a used Split Second Air/Fuel Controller (SS AFC) to tune. The MSP ECU is the easiest way to do it, but the factory tune sucks.. so there's no point in spending $250+ on a MSP ECU when you can achieve much better results with a NA ECU + piggyback such as SS AFC.

 

[CulRidr]

^agreed on ECU + piggyback cost

 

[bradley hughes]

well i dont think i can put that much into i already spent a butt load on the suspension and it is fun to drive like it is so i think i will just leave it. now i just need to find a used motor to drop in it.

does anyone know if the flywheel will line up right if i got the motor out of a automatic protege5 and used my transmission?

 

[tap'n'die]

well i dont think i can put that much into i already spent a butt load on the suspension and it is fun to drive like it is so i think i will just leave it. now i just need to find a used motor to drop in it.

does anyone know if the flywheel will line up right if i got the motor out of a automatic protege5 and used my transmission?

Yes it works fine, but you have to take the oil pan and that bottom cast aluminium part that meets up with the bottom of the transmission bell housing and replace it with the one from your standard engine because it's not a perfect fit. (you could leave it as is and bolt everything up but one of the bell housing bolt holes will not meet up)


I recently replaced my engine myself (with help from a friend of course) and we sourced an automatic 2.0L I actually preferred this as there's a slightly lower chance that it previously belonged to an abusive lead-footed gearhead such as myself. I got really lucky and scored a healthy engine and an MSP tranny with LSD at the same time