mazdaspeed engine swap in mazda 3i sport possible

[mazdaman10]

Just curious if this would even work for a swap. speed engine and trans into a mazda 3i sport. Reason being i have very goooooooood buddies and one owns a junk yard and what do ya know a wrecked speed3 rolled in. Buddy told me he could put the whole car away for me until i decided on it. And thanks to grade school friends, he'd sell the complete drivetrain, motor, ect, ect for $3000. pretty much anything on the car for that price with only...........7k miles on !!!!!!!!!!!

[speed3forlife]

wow if it does work that would be hot to have the speed 3 engine in a 3i

[Tenormdnes]

You read my mind. Not that I want to run out and do this, but I was suprised that nobody on here ever talked about engine swaps. I thought maybe there was some huge complication that I didn't know about. We used to plug and play with different motors years ago with toyotas. There were a lot of different combos that would work with existing motor mounts...etc.

What about swapping the 2.5 in? Sometimes you can find a heck of a deal on an engine/ecu/wiring harness/trans. Now if you are talking 3/4/5/6k...not worth it. 3k for the speed set up..worth it.

So can some of you old vets chime in here? Is this doable?

[drewzilla1981]

i'd do that for 3k! the it should be plug n play as long as u get tehe ECU from the speed 3. the motor mounts should line right up. you might also want to snag up the gauge cluster for the boost gauge,higher tach, and speedo. don't worry about the mileage that's read on the odo b/c you can remove that w/a soldering iron and solder yours back in. naturally this will completely kill the warranty, but who cares? you'll have a speed 3 motor in a non-speed. btw, do you have a sedan or a hatch?

[jam480]

There has been some discussion that perhaps there isn't enought room for the turbo between the motor and firewall. But i seriously doubt that Mazda is making two different chassis for the Speed and non-speed cars. The sedan however could be a different animal, but i believe the second gen is the same from the windshield foward on both body styles.\

If the turbo would clear the firewall (this would be an easy check with a tape measure to) the only other concern would be the intercooler. You would need to either get speed hood and fenders or switch to a front mount. Actually getting the motor bolted in and running (assuming firewall is ok) shouldnt be a big deal if you have all the parts ecu etc.. i say do it if you have the time for it!

[Zarkaaus VRedM3]

Originally Posted by jam480

There has been some discussion that perhaps there isn't enought room for the turbo between the motor and firewall. But i seriously doubt that Mazda is making two different chassis for the Speed and non-speed cars. The sedan however could be a different animal, but i believe the second gen is the same from the windshield foward on both body styles.\

If the turbo would clear the firewall (this would be an easy check with a tape measure to) the only other concern would be the intercooler. You would need to either get speed hood and fenders or switch to a front mount. Actually getting the motor bolted in and running (assuming firewall is ok) shouldnt be a big deal if you have all the parts ecu etc.. i say do it if you have the time for it!

Your main concern is definitely fitting things together, I have also heard about the firewall issue. Even if it did clear you will probably need a whole new front end to the car as well as a possible FMIC. After all the costs (assuming you can do all the labor by yourself ) you will pay way more than the difference between your car and a speed. A speed3 in a sedan would be sweet tho, and a heck of a sleeper

[Tenormdnes]

Why would you need a new front end?

3k for engine/tranny/ecu/harness is a STEAL. You could find a good shop to do the swap for 1k. A nice 4k swap into a sedan. SWEET.

I think the hardest part would be finding one...let alone for 3k.

[Zarkaaus VRedM3]

Originally Posted by Tenormdnes

Why would you need a new front end?

3k for engine/tranny/ecu/harness is a STEAL. You could find a good shop to do the swap for 1k. A nice 4k swap into a sedan. SWEET.

I think the hardest part would be finding one...let alone for 3k.

He might need a new front end because they are different between the cars, you can't put a speed3 hood on a MZ3 without replacing the front bumper, etc. first. Maybe they could make it fit without any cosmetic mods needed, 4k is still a lot imo.

[jam480]

just go front mount

[CorkSport - Chris]

I would assume you would need to change out the front sub frame to match up the rear motor mount. Then that would mean you would need the front suspension out of the speed also. I don't think you would need to change body panels in the car. But your going to be paying a shop more than a grand to do that swap. Most shops charge 80+ a hr and that's for work they know what they are doing not guessing what is going to need to be changed out. I would not quote someone less than 15hrs and go from there to do a swap like this. I have done a few engine swaps in my day of older Mazda's. I don't think anyone has done it just for the simple fact of you would not have any kind of warranty on your car anymore. And the cost of it like most people have said is that it would just about take up the cost of just buying a MS to start with and have a warranty.