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Well holy carp. The guy that owns the site with a project car!

mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
Many of you have heard the stories, wondered if it was true, and lamented my short sighted-ness.... but here it is, a 1988 Mazda MX6.



The good? Runs great. All the electric works, including the roof and the oscillating center vents. (You read that right, oscillating vents. Screw you Mercedes and your fake luxury trying to think this is fancy. my 23 year old Mazda has that shit). Interior's in great shape, sunroof does not leak. Headlights are nice and clear, and actually appear almost new. Has decent winter tires on it (!), will get awesome mileage. Also happens that the brakes work pretty damn well.

The bad? It's 23 years old, some stuff is just wore the hell out. it's got 200k on the clock after all. Valve cover gasket is leaky. ABS light stays on due to PO replacing the hatch w/o a 3rd brake light. Actually has a warning light FOR the brake lights to tell me that one is out as well. Dash looks like a frickin Xmas tree when I slow down. Shifter is notchy into 2nd gear, I think the bushings are shot. Not a huge deal, but makes 1-2 shifts kinda slow. Clutch may or may not be done, engages REALLY high. Could also be that they didn't design it like the lightswitch that is the ms3 clutch. Has some smallish rust spots on the rear wheel wells, typical old japanese stuff. One small rust spot in the trunk floor... thinking weld+rhinoliner=done. Coolant system needs a flush and probably a new t-stat, she likes to run hooooot. Shocks are NOT happy right meow, I suspect them to be originals... but it's the 3 position electric suspension, so no clue what's gonna happen there yet. Needs a new valve cover gasket. aaaaaand.....



That doesn't feel like it's building boost like it should. We'll get that sorted out as well....nothing a little huff of the bottle can't fix :D.

All in all, it should be fun.
 
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DrWebster

Guest
12 valves for 4 cylinders? How the hell does that work? Is this a 5-stroke or something?
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!


Pic of the head there. Looks as though it's the exhaust valve that's the larger single one. the guy in this pic installed the IM before he installed it to the car.
 
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concealer404

Skanky Escorts LLC
mndsm said:
No head swap I'm aware of. These things are STUPID easy other than that though, so it should make for some good times once it's back to proper.
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Ahhhhhhh ACTUALLY....

The FE3 head swap CAN be done, but it's usually a better idea to use the F2 crank to do a 2.2 FE3 "stroker."


Your clutch sounds normal by the way. They do engage really high.

Don't bother trying to replace the AAS struts. They're stupid expensive. They are very solid for corner-carving on sport mode, though, and the servos can be "hacked" to actually even lower the car at a push of a button.

But they're expensive and not worth it. Rip it out, leave the control panel because it's baller, and replace with some 2nd gen suspension stuffs. I'm running 2nd gen GR2s and Megan Racing springs. The whole shebang was $340 shipped. If you want to make a step up (well worth it), replace my GR2s with Tokico Illuminas. (Or just 2nd gen illuminas in front, 1st gen Blues in back to save some money and still get most of the performance.)
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
Ok, so far we have learned- clutch and trans appear normal. That's two things off the list. So now it's onto coolant, gaskets, and getting a boost gauge in so we know if the thing is even spooling or not.
 
JohnnyT

JohnnyT

New Member
Pretty bad when you need a boost gauge to tell if your turbo's working lol.

Should be a fun project. Get an interior shot if you wouldn't mind.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
Will do when I get home JT. Like I said though, the interior is MINTY. I was blown away. Has an aftermarket JVC H/U and a 1000w JBL amp in it too.... though the speakers in it suuuuuck.
 
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concealer404

Skanky Escorts LLC
JohnnyT said:
Pretty bad when you need a boost gauge to tell if your turbo's working lol.

Should be a fun project. Get an interior shot if you wouldn't mind.
Click to expand...
Would YOU be able to tell if your IHI VJ11 was spooling it's max boost of 7.3psi or not? :D


If you can stay awake long enough to see 60mph show up on the speedo, the turbo is spooling. Whether or not it's building boost correctly is another matter. I'd bet it's not.



Tom, i would flush the trans anyways. Can't hurt. I smacked the 1-2 shift pretty hard the other day, and it's doable fast, just doesn't feel great.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
concealer404 said:
Would YOU be able to tell if your IHI VJ11 was spooling it's max boost of 7.3psi or not? :D


If you can stay awake long enough to see 60mph show up on the speedo, the turbo is spooling. Whether or not it's building boost correctly is another matter. I'd bet it's not.



Tom, i would flush the trans anyways. Can't hurt. I smacked the 1-2 shift pretty hard the other day, and it's doable fast, just doesn't feel great.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's gonna get the ol' roto-rooter treatment, flush everything I can, throw fresh oil in it, etc etc. I'm assuming MT90 in the trans and 5w-30 syn of some sort in the engine, yes?
 
dmention7

dmention7

Hater
It's more about how putting synthetic into a car that has used dino oil all its life can cause it to start burning oil. I don't remember the details but it has something to do with how the rings have seated to the cylinder over the life of the motor.
 
mndsm

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
Oh yeah, that whole mess. I have no clue as to the history of the car.... I dinno. I could prolly email the PO and see what he used.
 
D

DrWebster

Guest
I call shens on the whole you-cant-switch-to-synthetic bit. Provided that the synthetic's viscosity rating is fairly accurate, shouldn't be a problem.
 
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