Sam's Proper MX-3 - LT Turbo project *Parting out*
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Cool shots there, Sam.
The way your car sits really is incredible, the wheel size and the lowz really makes it look so good, especially with the smooth bodywork. Really is one of the most visually appealing 3's out there, and always comes as a breath of fresh air compared to the styling of most 3's on here and the .com (mine included!).
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Thanks Jason appreciate what your saying and yeah you are right as alot of the comments I get when this car has been shown on lots of other car forums are mostly about how they usually don't like the MX-3 but this one they do or it has changed there opinion on it. It is probably the lowest driveable '3 in the world right now :shock:
Have also had some interest and possible coverage from a magazine but they want power figures from after the turbo is fitted, plus I will want to get the paint and bodywork right upto scratch which is the next mission after I have bought a few more bits for the install.
Sussed out all the parts needed for the oil feed line yesterday and flushed out the intercooler yesterday also got all the parts ready for weld as our guy is back at work this week, then I'm off to Greece next week for 10 days but when I get back it will be time to save for a paintjob and the wheels.
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I do love your 3 fox, have to admit, very temped but the roads near me are just way to speed bump heavy for me to get it out of a 3mile radius of my house. :( bastards.
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What magazine is it, Sam? If I went any lower on my roads, there'd be no car left to drive in no time! The V6 at least don't have a very low-friendly undercarriage, especially in Ireland! Seems to be a lot of protruding bits and pieces!
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Yeah who ever came up with the idea for speedbumps wants shooting! I mean they spend all that money trying to make roads as flat as possible then fuck it all up with massive lumps :?
Was driving in London yesterday luckily we took the wifes car, jeezuz some of those bumps you NEED a Chelsea tractor to get over!Will raise her a little anyway soon as winters coming and I got to pop over to the I.O.W. soon to visit Gulfy for some paint.
I seem to be catching a lot on the bracket that holds the cat up, pretty sure its coming loose now from all the hits,lol and would imagine the front subframe is not that great either! Its a shame that to make it look that good you have to compromise some performance.
and I swear Mazda where going to make the bumper like I have with filling in that top hole (The rest of the range are > MX-5, RX-7) but then had overheating issues with the V6 and had to address it!
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Seeing as you wont see all this work that's gone into this cross-over pipe once its installed though I would share a pic now.
Was quite amusing today as it actually took 3 people to swage the curved end as we had to manually wind the belts of the lathe
while someone else crushed the bead in and I manipulated the pipe round and round, well pleased with hows it turned out and chuffed
I managed to turn the 5mm boost gauge spigot from a piece of solid square bar held in the 3 jaws!
All the welds were then pickled in acid to remove the scorch marks and washed down with water and neutralizing solution.25mm dump valve, 18mm IACV & 5mm boost gauge spigots on the cold pipe done.
25mm silicone end caps to block off recirc valve ports for now.
By dirtfox at 2012-09-15compressor outlet welded and cleaned.
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Good observation on the bumper, never crossed my mind but I reckon you could be onto something.
I know feck all about metalworking and welding, but it sure does look good!
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nice work sam
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Thanks Lads! back from holiday now, so back on with the fun!
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Been quite busy recently decorating some of the flat which involved moving my 400L aquarium! but with the aid of some youtube videos I have managed to construct the oil feed hose today for the turbo out of the parts I bought, unfortunately the union that goes into the engine block I got wrong as its not M10 x 1.5 or x 1.0 so I have 1/8 BSP and NPT straight unions coming so will update the info further up the thread with the right info for yo'all.
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So one thing that is different between our B6DE block and the B6T are the oil pan setups. Ours has the dinky steel pan with the block strengthener above it where the B6T has a full cast aluminum pan without the extra block support. Are you just drilling and tapping your existing pan?
Great parts thus far!
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pan already tapped with a 1/2" hose union and installed ready, just bunged off for now.
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Nice! I am excited for you, its going to be a kick in the pants!
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Things are slotting into place nicely ready for the install for sure and will be a great power upgrade 8)
To Do:
weld back on IC inlet/outlet
Drill turbo mount flange to accept larger studs on the adapter.
Have wastegate bracket laser cut and folded.
Make downpipe & decat pipe.To buy:
Hose clips.
Lambda boss.
Dump valve.
Downpipe flange.
Injectors.
Clutch.
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Ok so I think its time to think about the only part of the exterior aesthetics I have not touched yet and that's the exhaust. Not into massive fart cans or the dual tip so I'm thinking about running a 4" 2.25" inlet/outlet universal silencer straight along the back edge of the bumper so alot of shiny stainless is on show, already looked and a 4" unit would tuck slightly as long as I removed some of the rear lip on the bumper and didn't run the reinforcement bar! The tailpipe could then exit through the bumper somewhere?!
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Interesting idea. I think you could tuck it between the spare tire well and the rear exposing the bottom 1/3 or so of the muffler. I would get it mounted then run the exhaust up to the right side of it and just run a clean 90 deg elbow dump out the left side that you wouldn't see, to keep it nice and clean.
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Oh yeah that might look quite cool not seeing any tailpipe at all! My buddy showed me some weldable corrugated exhaust flexi pipe that you can buy in meter lengths now so that would install hella lot easier.
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Yes, but the life of the flex pipe is not very long. I use flex pipe for my first down pipe and I got about 6-8 months out of it. I would use it for a temporary thing but not for long term.
I think a angled back and downward facing slant tip would be perfect, should tuck up and not get any fumes in the cabin. And you should not see it from the rear at all. all you would see is nice polished SS can :)
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I know the stuff your talking about like the mesh weave structure this I think is different?! still wouldn't use this as downpipe mind, but mid to rear it should do as a few exhaust centres are now using this product just for pure ease of custom BB setups.
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hmm I havent seen that stuff before. Looks like a sewer line for an RV :)
I think if it is cheap enough it worth a go. those ribs should help cut down on sound a bit too I would think.