1992 MX-3 with F2T Swap Build Thread

As some of you may have read, I bought this car in early May of 2011 for the sum of $800 from a friend that did the swap. He acquired the car with was a base model with an automatic transmission that was toast, and also had a MX-6 GT that ran great but had terminal rust issues.... He started thinking and did some measuring and with a little work figured he could make it work. Here is how I got the car..... .

It had set for about a year and was never officially finished or legally on the road, but it did run!!! First on my list was to correct an issue the ball joints. The car has an '88 MX-6 GT (non 4WS) engine and transmission running MX-6 Axles, Knuckles, Brakes on MX-3 Lower Control Arms. The Balljoints had a small variance in the diameter of the part that goes throught the botton on the Knuckle whick took a while to see, but finally i noticed the problem. Notice, the one on the right is slightly tapered as opposed to the one on the left which is not....

Also the power steering was inoperative when i got the car so that was the next object to fix it. The F2T's adjustment for the power steering belt in on the A/C Compressor which is removed on this car. After some hunting I found that a 335K5 belt is a correct fit to run the P/S to the Crank with no Adjuster. There was a belt that was on there, but it was way to big, and the P/S Line was really just cobbled together. My stepdad made me a high pressure P/S hose as mine had a hose clamp with welding wire under the clamps to hold it together. I'm still not content with the low pressure side, so I'm going to address that soon also.

The Interior was pretty dirty when i got it, but it did already have Tenzo Racing Seats, Ebay Bride Knockoff Steering Wheel, Suede Bride Shift Boot.

Now that the car was able to be driven I figured I'd start making it look more presentable so heres a before engine cleaning shot... and after Here is its first Autocross, note the massive body roll, but you can't hear the rear tires rubbing against the Trailing Arm & Fender ;-( The MX-3 came with 3rd Gen RX-7 Wheels that were 16x8 the fronts were fine, but the rears rubbed even with 1/2" spacers so I sold them and got a set of RX-7 Convertible BBS Wheels. No more clearance issues!

Now I decided to correct the handling & ride hieght. I saw someone mention about having a set of Ksport coilovers for sale in a thread that someone was asking info about MX-6/626/Probes Gt's in. I inquired and purchased them for $250 shipped. Pic from seller (i didn't get the strutbar) Now thats ALOT better!!!!

My Transmission went out 2 weeks ago, so after sourcing another I pulled both the engine and transmission to replace it as its easier to remove them together as one unit. So heres a few pics of that. Also redid the engine wiring harness with some good quality black tape while i was at it and a good scrubbing of the engine bay. Currently the engine and transmission are back together, with new belts... getting ready to spray engine bay while i have access to it easily and the engine will be back in this week sometime!
Next will be paint! On a side note... I also bought an '89 Probe GT that was intended to be parts, but after swapping distributors it freakin runs great and is currently tagged! as an added plus it has a Chipped ECU and a manual boost controller that are gonna both find there way into the MX-3!!!!
I'll be adding updates to keep this current. See ya at the $2012 Challenge!!!

In reply to dansxr2:

Another thread I'll need to follow! Man I love this site!

i like this

Me three! Good score on the coilovers, didn't realize that MX-6 suspension bits would fit.

Had to modify it, but the front was already modified, just had to redo the rear top mounts.

Always liked those little cars!

Anyone have any MX-3 interior parts?

Very cool! Keep it up. When I was younger, I was very fascinated by the MX3.

Nice work!!!!

The MX-3 was only ever lacking in powerplant for me, good deal! And that Probe... I haven't seen one that clean in the Northeast for at least a decade, what a time capsule!

The Probe is in pretty good shape considering the year. Its currently awaiting for me to repair its clutch. Something isn't letting the clutch to fully release, should be fixed this week. Its a great daily driver and has a lot of room with a great ride with any of the suspension settings. I'll be installing new accessory belts this evening and masking off the engine bay for a freshening up of the white paint.

Ever since I got the car it wasn't running correctly. Conversing with 92Celica (Ben) finally got me pointed in the correct direction that the MSD BTC box was interferring with the factory Turbo ECU's timing. While sorting the engine wiring I noticed that the O2 sensor was a 4-wire... I saw that of the 4 wires comin from the sensor, only 2 were hooked up on the other side of the plug. One was grounded on the valvecover, and the other was going to the O2 sensor input. I believe the 5v reference and the Signal got crossed. I won't know til I get the engine back in the car and run it, but hopefully this is gonna fix my rich mixture issue----->

Taken from other thread:

LOL!!!

Yeah.... 4-wires don't play nice with these cars. That should help quite a bit.

If you decide you want a wideband down the road, make sure you get one with narrowband simulation unless you want to go Megasquirt.

Also: Be prepared to pick up a BUNCH of power. I'm surprised you weren't throwing a check engine light. When the o2 signal is borked, the car goes into limp mode, which means it dumps ALL the fuel, and pulls a bunch of timing back. Combine that with the BTM you had in there, i'm somewhat surprised it wasn't constantly eating E36 M3.

But seriously... be prepared for 30-40whp gain.

It did keep throwing Code 15, but I replaced the sensor with a new 4 wire... Just didn't follow the pigtail far enough to see that it went to a connector that came in as 4 and exited as 2... The transmission breaking could quite possibly be the most beneficial thing to happen to the car, as I'm finding several issues that were keeping it from running 100%. Beyond stoked to get it back together!!!

Today I got my engine bay painted... Cosmic Blue Pearl in my clear over Spray Bomb Flat White... Not too shabby!

And today the engine is back in the car.... I forgot to spray one engine mount so i'll do that tomorrow as well as finish up the wiring, install the axles, install radiator and heater hoses fill fluids, and double check everything before I fire it up.

dansxr2 wrote: Anyone have any MX-3 interior parts?

Yes. I'm sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner about that. Is the list that you posted in my part-out thread still accurate?

I'm needing: Fusebox Cover, and maybe that rear spoiler depending on the price, as its a challenge car so i'm on a budget ;) Prices plz?

oh, also a passenger side rear trailing arm too thanks!

and the hose from the drivers side heaterbox to the defroster vent, thats all i swear! lol

Made some great headway last night! 4 hose clamps, a double check of the bolts, and reinstallation of the powersteering and it's ready to fire up.... Won't happen til Sunday though.... Will post a vid of the first start ;-)

Its alive!!!! Gonna give it a once over tomorrow before it comes down off the jackstands, first impression it seems to run way better!!!! Now to do a clutch job in the Probe this week...

Well the car should be back to driveable status this evening... The Passenger Side Wheel Bearing is toast, but luckily under warranty. I got some new street tires for it today, and will install 3 of them as I have one more BBS Wheel to Polish/Paint and do the centercaps at the same time. Get an alignment Sat. so all should be good to go.... Then on to Paint ;-)

brush on chaulkboard paint?

Waiting to get my intercoolerpiping to resolve a major boost leak... Thought I'd post a few pics as it was pretty nice here today.... Enjoy

Nice!