I Think I have cracked my Block Please Help!



  • hi. welcome
    if i was you ide make one good mx3 out of the 2. thats what i did with mine. i got a second for £200 and robbed it of parts!



  • I would just take the hit and swap the engine. Yea it seems a bit scary, but just label EVERYTHING and follow the guides and I think you will be fine. Besides its a learning experience! You could look for a probe/mx6 engine - 2.5l 164bhp(?). I got my crane for £117, you can always sell it on after.



  • i think you can rent the crane from tool rental places.

    just as a thought,

    a friend of mine changed his lump with just some rope and chain over a roof beam in his garage. the car was a tr7

    so go ahead and do it whats the worst can happen :wink:



  • I did think about renting a crane but this is about £90 and I can buy new for £130 or as you said £117. Might aswell buy it and If in the future I get a 2.5L engine can always swap that myself if this swap goes well. Like you say I can always flog the crane later. I was once offered a 2.5L MX6 engine for £400 but don't know condition etc.

    I have been trying to make 1 good car from 2 not so good. If I was buying a new engine I would rather have more BHP than 164. Whats the jap spec 2.5L that gives around 197 Bhp? I always wanted to clear the 200 Bhp mark so with a filter, exhaust etc I would imagine this would.

    We discussed sticking a lable on everything and take photos of each stage aswell as write a log step by step. Im more worried about when bolts start to sheer and round off etc. For instance even taking my battery mount plate out The bolts are rusted on and have sheered. I am naturally very unlucky and can't expect anything else form the swap. I just know Im gonna hit a major hurdle and end up with 2 MX3's just rotting.

    Where can I find all the torque wrence settings etc for the refit? What else will I need to replace new aswell as fluids?



  • Yea tool rental is a rip off where I live too! Just mentioned the probe/mx6 klde incase you could grab a bargain.

    The 197 bhp is the KLZE straight neck. The 197 is at the crank so you lose a fair bit getting it to the wheels. So it's actually quite hard to get 200whp but by no means a slow car.

    Yea I've had few bolts shear, it's a pita but bolts aren't dear. Torque settings all in the manual which is available online at mx-3.com. You may want to consider replacing waterpump, timingbelt and pulleys, as it's easy when it's out. Depends what miles are on your good engine I guess!



  • I know the manual well. I still can't work how to get the torque settings I will need. The manual tells you how to check things and replace the odd bit but doesn't show the full engine swap (as far as I am aware).

    I still fancy the sound of 197Bhp even if it is at the fly wheel. So what do you thing the WHP would equate to roughly? Also how do I go about finding one and what cost would I be looking at? I still wouldn't know how to tell them appart. I didn't know they did a 2.5L Probe. I know there is a 16v and a 24v Probe I only ever liked the 24v as the 3 spokes on the 16v were a right turn off. If I had to go for 164BHP engine is that at the crank too or at the wheel? What sort of price would I be looking at for one of these?



  • go on ebay and look for mx6;s being broken
    thats what i did
    was lucky enough to find an import one with a KLZE in, cost me 200 quid
    really needs new evrything as there is oil in the plug ports, but thats another 200 on top
    but evrything will be sorted, cam belt, rocker gaskets, new plugs leads, waterpump etc
    so 400 in total for mee



  • well that was just so jammy 8)



  • I was gonna say, I just checked and all seem £1000+ for car. There is one at £500. So you look at the ones being broken and just buy the engine? How do you get the owner to truthfully tell you if its the KLZE not the DE?



  • @61e5a770fe=mafadecay:

    How do you get the owner to truthfully tell you if its the KLZE not the DE?

    don't tell him what you want it to say, but ask him to tell you the head code. is one way the other is to hold his dog to ransom lol



  • How heavy are the engines approx? Im looking at 2 ton and 1 ton engine hoists. I expect the engine to be about half a ton but I don't want it to drop on my head! At very least it will damage my engine. :lol:

    If I buy a lift and manage to swap the engines easily enough then I also want to swap a 2.5L LDV van engine before flogging the lift on ebay. Will a 1 ton lift do most jobs? I could do with keeping costs down as much as I can.

    I cant afford the MX6 engine yet so am going ahead swapping my 1.8 V6 like for like but if not too bad a job I will be (In my own mind) a qualified engine swapper and will swap to the KLZE at a later date. I will be swapping engines left right and centre. :lol: I already got my mate on standby with his £500+ impact wrenches.



  • The block without intake manifold, gearbox or fluids is 136kg. So it's safe to say your 1 tonner will do fine. I'd imagine it'll be fine for the van too.

    Impact wrenches are awesome, really cut out alot of grief. Though sometimes you can't beat a breaker bar! Are both cars 95 or under? You may want to check the ECU leads are the same. (ie ones not obdi and the other obdii)



  • My spares MX3 is a 91 J plate (Pre Cat) and my semi-working MX3 that I just blew up is a 92 K plate. So my ECU and loom should be the same. If i am sourcing a MX6 2.5L KLZE for future swap so what age MX6 should I look for then? Or doesn't this matter as my MX3 is pre 95?



  • impact wrenches are awesome, whenver theres a big job on i ring a mate thats got a battery powered one :shock: a second on a rusty engine mount and its off :lol:



  • That is sure good news as I have never used one. Wont they often just sheer the bolt head off though if they are so rusty? My mate is a steel erector (Makes those building frames out of steel gurders). He has a kit to extract broken bolts and another kit to re-tap those threads but I would rather not have to use either. He has some serious tools but no engine lift. Struggling to get one on my budget at the moment. I could really do with my car back and soon before her indoors sells for £30 scrap.



  • her indoors needs to lay off you and have some respect for manly projects!

    I don't know how rusty your car is, but mine was rather flakey around the bay. I broke one bolt on the removal, unfortunately its the crossmember bolt that was welded in. Was a bitch to cut out and now I'll have to nick an arc welder for a minute. But one bolt wasn't bad going…



  • Her in-doors has even started to get her claws into her brother. He was going to be my saving grace in this project. Even he is now having the odd doubt.

    My car is mint on the outside, in fact not far from showroom appart from tiny dink on door where roof slate bashed (Never rusted though). The Autoglym paint renovator and super resin gold always did me proud. Underside is a bit flakey and bottom of bay quite bad. They are after all 16 and 17 year old cars. The bar that runs accross the front of the radiator behind the bumper to stop it caving in is very rusty on both cars. I think this is an impact bar so perhaps not best that its rusty.

    If I eventually swap to KLZE what league would it fall into? I.e. 197Bhp at the flywheel obviously not Supra, Scooby, Evo, Mitsu GTO etc but I reakon Golf VR6, Vectra 2.5, Audi A6, Civic type R, etc. Am I getting warm?

    Are the stock brakes good enough to cope as mine do not seem great as it is. They are ok but Ive felt better on other cars in fact the safest I have ever felt was a golf GTI brakes and handling. Also did I read somewhere that you need new clutch assembly and gearbox to match the engine? I notice on MX-3.com they swear by Brembo rotors this sounds very pricy to me. I have not seen any big brake conversions in the UK especially reasonable priced.



  • you should beat non turbo supras, the old skool supras, vectras, a6, a8, most hondas… Your 0-60 should be under 6.5 seconds, some claim 6, I can't speak for myself on that yet.

    Youtube has some interesting races with zes. I look at it this way, I'll have spent about 1k on getting my ZE the way I want it. The mx3 project car cost me less again. So for under 2k I'll have a car faster than most new hot hatches and some much more expensive cars. Is it fair to compare 2k mx3 to a 10k+ evo? Not really, but I won't be embarrassed to give one a go when mine is done. I like how the mx3 looks and handles, I think evos and moreso imprezas look like shitty saloon cars modified by a council estate.

    Stock brakes do most ppl fine, some SS brakelines, decent pads and rotors should be fine. The klze weighs about 2kg more - so you're not really having to stop anymore mass. But I admit considering the hp hike I'd like more. There is a guide on mx-3.com on how to upgrade to hybrid subaru/323f brakes. Or you can spend 1k with k sport. With a klze you'll want a stronger clutch to handle the power of course. Gearbox bolts up exactly to klze as to k8 as to klde.

    Though I have to say with a 13+yo car you will have to deal with rusty things, things that break etc. Much like any older used car. SO be prepared to have to buy new things. I think its great value for money fixing up an mx3 into a 200hp beast, you may dissagree or moreso your lady!



  • Im right with you on that notion. In fact I wouldn't thank you for an Evo or scooby either. If money was no issue I probably would go for either a BMW Mini Cooper S, Grand Prix (Only 500 made but very pricy and huge waiting list) or a Golf R32. If I won the lottery I would like to think I would also still keep my MX3 and get all body work done, respray, swap the engine, turbo, NOS and kit it out to the hilt pimp my ride style with lambo doors and personal number plate. The main let down is the K plate people realise its age but do not believe its that old in such good nick. Like I said it looks mint as it is but the red is hard to keep red. Its all original paint aswell. I can wax then 3 days later starting to not be as shiny.

    Within my budget the only other car I would want is a Mitsubishi GTO 3L twin turbo mk I only. I love the width of that back end. They are expensive for the age of the car and even more expensive to run. I fell in love with the GTO when I used to spend all my time playing Gran Turismo 1 on the PS1. But I am more passionate about MX3's and would not swap one for anything at the moment. I might swap one for a car with much higher value but only to sell it and get a better MX3. The V6 is enough to get you out of trouble but I am seeking more power. Money is the biggest constraint at the moment so for now will have to swap like for like engine. There are not any other cars I would consider. I got to say though I only like red ones unless they have lots of aftermarket bits sticking out. I am contemplating cutting my bonnet and sticking 2 Astra GSI bonet vents in. I already got SQ red paint.

    My lady doesn't understand the car. She loved my first one more than me until it started to go wrong. She even drove it harder than me. In fact my tracking was out and one day she came back with 2 rear punchers and two front tyres chamfered on the inside. I checked it only a couple of days before and was fine. I needed 4 new tyres and they were decent that were already on. She blamed me for that aswell.



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