What's New - MAZDA 2.5L V-6 MX-3GS

October 7, 2000

Lisa telephone me earlier in the week at 5:45 in the morning to tell me that a picture of my car was in Super Street again for the second time in 3 months. The photographers from Super Street really must like the ass-end of my car or they know that is the only end of the car most people get to see. It also seems to be a favorite view of the E-zines this summer. I guess like everybody else outside of Canada they are wondering what kind of wing I have. Maybe I should get the parking lot dents removed and the car repainted over the winter and finally let the magazines shoot a pictorial of my car just so I can say that my car really does have a front-end and engine. Photo from Super Street

September 30, 2000

I've been getting around to cleaning up the car. I've been cutting and splicing the wiring harness to clean up the wiring under the hood by rerouting things where they won't be seen. I've started to make sheetmetal covers to hide some of the under hood areas.

I installed a set of Nology HotWires to replace the old Magnacore wire that have been on the engine for more than 5 years. The Nology have to have a good engine ground for them to work properly. The even number cylinders are no problem the ground straps can be attached to the valve cover bolts. But the odd number cylinders were another story. The valve cover is hidden under the intake manifold. With the Phenolic spacers and fiber washer, the intake manifold was basically isolated from the engine so was a poor choice to ground the wires. I ended up having to make a buss bar with a proper engine ground.

With all the little changes I've made lately for some reason I'm seeing redline a lot quicker these days. With the clutch fully engaged and still with minimal tire spin the revs are coming up so fast that I been resorting to flat shifting between 1st & 2nd, 2nd & 3nd, which makes it sound like I have a sequential shifter.

September 22, 2000

I had a look at one of those "Ignited" S-2000 style push to start buttons that is the big thing with the Honda guys. I had a good laugh when I saw what it was in the box. For CN$80 you get a illuminated industrial push button with an oil-tight seal, a 40amp automotive relay and a set of very vague instructions. We use the same type of buttons on the production line at work. I punched up the cost in the computer at the office and the total cost for what you get from "Ignited", for me work out to be CN$19.75. I think that $60 is a lot of mark up for a box and to print "Engine start" on the face of the button.

September 16, 2000

I've been sick in bed for the past few days. Not being someone to lounge around the house all day I've been cleaning up my website a bit and adding a few things.

I've added a few new pictures to my 4 cylinder tech page.

Started to search the web for another winter car since I sold the one I had last year.

Forgot to mention that I had a strange knocking sound in my front end for a few months now. I thought it was the wheel bearing finally going after over 240000km of hard use or a poorly rebuilt drive shaft. After buying parts to repair both I found that the head of one of the bolts that holds the caliper on had snapped off and the caliper would touch the caliper in a turn. Now try finding a (grade 8.8) M10x1.25 X 85mm bolt on a Friday night.

September 14, 2000

I went down to Akron for the Properly Grounded Minis - Rubber City Slam Jam show again this year. I came home with the longest distance to the trophy again this year and Lisa took 1st place in the Mazda & Toyota class. It was a wild time this year with the Bikini contest with no Bikinis, a crash that destroyed a show truck and several visits from the cops. One of the big events of the show was when my friend Greg, one of the Total Traction members, got up on stage just before the bikini contest and asked his girlfriend Juanita to marry him in front of the whole crowd. Man, that took guts to do it in front of that many people.

At the show in Akron several people came up to me and said is This the car with the picture in Super Street? I didn't think people would pay attention to a small black and white photo at the of a page in the middle of the magazine. For those that missed it Jeff has a scan of it on MX-3.com

I recently picked up a digital camera so I should be adding pictures more often in the future

I add 2 new pages linked through "My Car" page showing off my wing and rear tow hooks.

I finally started work on my sides skirts, rear "mud guards", and new hood which I hope to have on the car in time for Carlisle next spring.

August 20, 2000

I was at a photo shoot for the new Fastco 2001 Wheel and Spring catalog.

June 23, 2000

This is one section of my website I keep forgetting to update.

At one of the races at Napierville this year I met the guy the owns the Turbo 1.6 SOHC RS that is in my "Technobabble" section.

I decided to build myself a new rear wing out of scrap materials including spare parts from a printing press. I through it together and painted it in about 6 hours prior to leaving for the show in Carlisle, PA. back in May.

Another one of my lunch time projects was to go out back in the shop and make a rear tow hook. It's more to protect the paint in case I back up into another foot high concrete block that are around the parting lot at the office.

Since the last update I sold the 323 to the brother of a friend who needed a car in a hurry.

The 323 winter beater was actually an amazing little car with maybe more performance potential than the MX-3. I didn't intend the modify the car but even with a 10year old stock suspension it would corner as well as my MX-3 with all the mods. the 8 valve 1.6L SOHC just didn't have the power I was use to with the 2.5L V-6. I spend a total of $ 500 on mostly parts from the auto wreckers or to purchase raw materials and improved the output from the stock 82hp/ 92ft.lb to in the neighborhood of 102hp/ 111ft.lb of torque. I did cheat a little some one gave me a hotter cam for the 8 valve 1.6L. With the 323 weighing in at 400-500lb less than a Civic SiR. I surprise more that one Civic and Integra driver by sitting on their door off the light then giving it a little more gas and showing them my tail lights. In the snow was the best with Toyo G-02 snowtires it would go places where you would need a 4X4 and even then I saw a guy in a S-10 Blazer get stuck behind me in a snow storm one night.

November 15, 1999

I found my "Winter Beater" I bought a 1990 Mazda 323 DX. You can tell the car was owned by a woman before. The interior is spotless but the paint looks like the car was never wash or waxed in it's life. The other thing that gives it away is the number of parts that look like they have been changed for no reason with OEM part. It does need a few things fixed still like the exhast and the E-brake cable to the lever.

November 07, 1999

Still looking for a winter beater. I basically settled on a '90-'91 323 or Protege because there will be a lot of common parts between the cars. and second slightly better gas mileage for the commute to work everyday.

As soon as I am get the second car the MX-3 will go in the show room at the Lazer Auto store in Laval.

September 21, 1999

This is the first chance I had to seriously update the website all summer. I keep forgeting to update this page when I make updates to the rest of the website.

Big news this month for those of you that have been dealing with Lazer Auto, Ian Pavelko who has been taking care of internet and phone sale has decided to move to Toronto to take a job with Tiremag the Canadian distributor of TSW, Enkie, CSA, ROH, Simmons and several other lines of wheels. Also Marie-France Pierre in cellular sales will also be taking a new job with a major electronics distrubutor an the end of the month.

Lisa and Adam are finally getting their lives back together. For those that don't know what happened to them. I went to see them and to attend the Low Down Show Down in Akron, OH. We decided to drive back to their apartment and drop off some of the cars before going to a party. Some of Lisa and Adam's club members made it back to their apartment before Adam or Lisa. When we arrived one of the guys came running out of the apartment yelling at Adam that the whole place was full of water. Adam thought it was a practical joke until he realized the doors to their apartment were wide open and people were walking in and out, he had his keys in his pocket and Lisa was still putting her car in the garage. The water pipes to the apartment directly above them had broke some time in the morning after we left for the show and wasn't discovers until late afternoon. There was at least an 1" of water on the floors though out the apartment. Worse of all Lisa has several pieces of antique furniture that belonged to her grandparents that were on the floor or directly below where the water was dripping from the celling. Fortunately besides myself there was Mike Evans and 13 members of Total Traction that in 6 hours helped move furniture and anything dry out of the apartment to the garage.

May 23, 1999

Got up at 2:30am to drive to Albany NY for a car show. The weather wasn't so great and started to rain in the late afternoon. I did manage to win a 3rd place trophy in an open class for cars that didn't fit into any other class.

I found that the Yokohama A520 I have on the car really work well in the rain.

May 21.1999

The Ottawa Citizen printed a article on Sean's car and the Canadian MX-3 websites but overlooked Steve's website for some reason.

May 16,1999

Lisa finished in 2nd place in the Mazda Mild class.

Jenn C. had tranny problems and lost neutal & reverse but made it home safe.

May 15,1999

Carlisle day 2, Day started early with Lisa going to get ice at 6:00am and me getting a blasted with a cold draft when she opened the door.

Lots to see and do at the show. Me, Sean and Steve realized we were in a class ( Asian-All-Others Wild) where it wasn't even worth our time to move our cars for judging. Lisa seam to be doing well in her class "Mazda Mild"

May 14, 1999

Made it to Carlisle and hooked up with the members of Total Traction.

I'm here at the hotel connecting online with my laptop through the dataport in the room, which is driving Lisa up the wall.

May 8, 1999

I've updated the website several times now but keep forgetting to update this page. See the MX-3 mailing list archives to see what's been happening up until now.

The new Clutchmaster clutch is in and working find.

Installed the Underdrive pulley last week and it does make a significant difference.

Started to rebuild the front spoiler. Since I have the fiberglass out anyway, why not redesign to whole thing. More info to come.

Brullen is almost finished my custom made Dual 5" round N-1+ Mufflers and center pipe. Should be here next week. (Maybe I will install the header at the same time.)

The big Car Show in Carlisle, PA is next weekend, See everyone there.

Anyone going to the show in Albany, NY at the Crossgates Mall on May 23?

November 22,1998

I just reallized that this what's new page was missing from my website. The file must have been stolen by alien life forms

I was very busy over the summer and didn't have time to update the website as often as I would have liked. Someone where I work, forgot I am a techno-geek and not a bean counter, Somehow I ended up on the costing and forcasting restructuring team. I remember saying saying why do I need to learns "Stats" when I was in high school. "When will I every need to know it in the real world?" Well 17years later I needed to know Stats. I had to find some old text books and brush-up on the basics just to figure out what everyone was taking about.

I have been receiving messages from Dave Lauzier updating me on the progress of his Turbo (BPD) 1.8L MX-3GS. At the end of the season he was turning in 11.1 sec 1/4miles and the last dyno report was just over 450hp at the wheels. He will be doing some more tuning over the winter and trying to find a tranny that won't explode every other run down the 1/4 mile.

I finally made a prototype of the rear strut bar that can be installed without removing or modifying the rear seatbelt retractor. I'm having, Dragon a local shop plasma cut, bend and weld the crown brackets for a half dozen kits which I will have some guys locally beta test before handing the design to Fastco/ Europlus for mass production and marketing. Just from word of mouth I have a list of 37 guys just in the Montreal area waiting for the this kit to go retail.

I've started work on several major over the winter projects. I'll be passing on details as these projects progress.

July 20, 1998

I moved into my new appartment and only broke one glass object. It was amazing how many spare parts for my car I had in my spare bedroom. I have a set of head gaskets and seals for a "K" series V-6, 2-spare distributors, spare ECU, a flywheel, a set of injectors, and a pair of small Garrett T-15 turbochargers just to list part of my collection. I also had a large stack of overseas car magazines from Germany, Holland, France, England, South Africa, Australia & Japan some of which I have left at Lazer Auto for customers to read.

On June 30th the hydralic hose for the clutch ruptured. Fortunately I was close to home and using a technique I learned road and rally racing I was still able to drive the car home. It was a lot of work to find a replacement. It was 4 days and a lot o phone call before I was able to get the clutch working again. Don't expect the dealer to have a replacement. The one I order from the dealer still hasn't arrived. (Read Clutch Hose)

The Lazer show went well on July 5th. We didn't get as many MX-3s as expected probably due to the weather the day before. Saturday was wet and rain but the weather charts showed that clear last in the day. Sunday morning was bright and sunny, a prefect day for a car show. Steve drove up from Toronto and Luc drove down from Grand Mere for the show. Even though there were only three of us anytime you have more than one MX-3 in a show it's a success. Sean Mathews from Ottawa and Luc Tremblay from Quebec City didn't enter there cars but spent most of the day with us and getting ideas for there cars. There were probably a dozen other the came to the to meet us in person but I didn't catch their names. For more on the show see my Car Show page.

I changed my air filter to a PRM Jetstream with some interesting results. For those of you not on the MX-3 Mailing list and haven't been following the info I have been posting. I will be creating a page soon.

June 22, 1998

I was at another car show & drags on the weekend (I didn't enter the car) I was hoping to meet Dave Lauzier at the Drag races. He wasn't there but there was another Turbo MX-3. It was a '92-'93 MX-3RS with a stock 1.6L SOHC. It wasn't any great but a good attemped at making more power. Actually it looked someone went to the plumbing section of Home Depot or Builders Square and took the turbo hardware from a wrecked MX-6GT. Performance wasn't all the great either. ETs were in the mid 14s at speeds in the low 90s (MPH).

I'm still in the process of moving. Now I am physically moving the boxes, furniture, etc. Of all the things I forgot was to tell my parents & sisters I'm moving. Well at least they are use to not being able to contact me and not hearing from me for months at a time when I was out of the country for much of the past 7 years on business.

The mailing list, newsgroup, or whatever you want to called it, is finallly see some message traffic. I've open the archive to public viewing because some of you are on company E-mail addresses and can't receive a lot of personal messages.

June 14, 1998

A lot of people have been asking for a mailing list. So I created one over the weekend. I guess we will find out if it will take off or not in the next few days. By the way I have set the parameters so that all messages sent and received will only go to those that have subscribed to mailing list.

I started to add information to the 4 Cylinder Tech page. More information will be posted as it become available. If you have any tips you want to share please E-mail it to me and I will post it here.

I've updated my progress on my header project. I've run into a few problems, not with the header itself but with getting the other parts I needed.

Thanks to everyone for the letting me know the new look is a hit and that you like the information I have posted here. Sorry I am slow posting new information and returning E-mails but I have been working on a lot of personel & business related stuff and I haven't really had a lot time to work on the car.

June 11, 1998

I've added two new sections to my site, I have made a page for other MX-3 owners to leave messages, tips,questions and answers for other MX-3 owners other than Luc or Myself.

I have been asked by several local RS owner to help them find a little more power for their Inline-4, 1.6L SOHC & DOHC. Any information we find will be posted in the 4 Cyl. Tech section. MAZDA's in Montreal have always been a popular for modifying. This year I seem to see more modified '90-95 - 323, Protege even a 929S with a touring car package on the roads than usual. After Honda, VW & the domestic compact Mazda is not far behind in popularity on the road & street of Quebec.

I manage to track down that there was another 2.5L MX-3. I had heard rumors of it even before I did my swapand now I talked to three different mechanics that knew of the car. It belonged to a guy in the next town over from me. I believe this one pre-dates any other 2.5 swap as it was done in the late summer of '93 in a '92 MX-3GS. Unfortunately it was written off in accident in 1994.

As strange as this may sound I've have several messages asking about how I managed to get a MOMO steering wheel in my car. See a pic on my "Techno Babble" page.I will add a page on this subject in the near future so I won't have to answer everyone individually.

June 03,1998

I almost have everything working.

I maybe getting involve with turbocharging a '94+ MX-3RS. I have a pretty good idea what off the shelf parts will be required to put a turbo on a 1.6l DOHC. I trying find someone with a MX-3RS with the time and money willing to break new ground.

For those of you that have asked. Sorry guys, yes, Jenn does have a boyfriend, Actually he's one cool dude. They are two of the friendliest people I've met going to car show over the years. Unfortunately they can't make it up for the Lazer Show 'n Shine because they will be at the "Lowrider Nationals" the same weekend

I couple of guys I work with were in the Middle East installing some equipment we built. They were taking to a guy in the hotel who asked them where they were from. When they told him they were from Montreal, PQ, Canada, he asked them if they have ever see a guy with a Blue MX-3 with a engine from a MX-6. He was surprised when they said they work with me.

June 02, 1998

I'm creating a new look for my website. After all I didn't originally plan to leave it up this long. Sorry if I haven't been answering my E-mail. I am in the middle of finding and moving to another apartment and I'm dealing with some other things that have been taking a lot of my time.

I did manage to go to a car show in Albany, NY on May 24, where I met Jenn another MX-3 owner from New York State.