jri4's 2008 Black Mica Mazdaspeed3 Sport Build Thread

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jri4

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Mazdaspeed3
Hey all! My name is James and I drive a 2008 Mazdaspeed3 Sport, Black Mica, with 130,000 miles on the clock as of 10/27/2014. My goal for this car holds high expectations, but should not be ridiculous to achieve. Though funding is always an issue, I expect it to take a few years to complete. My overall goal is this: A clean, daily driving, good looking car that makes 300whp on stock internals (at least initially); tuned as safe as stock (or safer) and sees a small amount of track time each year. Whether or not this is actually possible, time will tell! This isn't a big or ridiculous "build;" but rather just documentation of everything I do to my car. It may be boring since it isn't new or exciting, but I hope you enjoy reading (I am wordy!) it and see my perspective using my car as a blank canvas.

My car, named Kayden, as it sits in my garage:


Here starts the build, I will keep it updated as I go:

Exterior
DDM Tuning HID 55w headlights (6000k)
DDM Tuning Raptor CCFL Halos
Corksport LED Foglights (6000k)
OZ Racing Ultraleggera, Black, 18x8 +48
Dunlop Direzza DZ101 225/40-18
Steel Wheels, with Hubcaps, 16x7 +high
205/60/16 General Altimax Arctics
DIY Towplate
RS Vinyl Eyelids
Yakima Control Tower Roof Rack (48 inch bars, 44 inch fairing, two viper bike racks, 6 locking cores)

Interior
Good Luck Ducks (WTF? See pics. LOL!)
TWM Full Replacement Short Shifter
TWM M1 Abrams (Gunmetal, engraved)
Prosport Mechanical Boost Gauge 52mm
RPM Store VentPod
Corksport LED Interior Lighting Kit

Engine and Performance
Corksport Full Length Short Ram Intake (Intake+Inlet Combo)
TRZ "Dogbone" Polyurethane Rear Motor Mount
Forge Motorsport Bypass Valve
PT-Performance Smoking Turbo Fix (Pill)
Circuit Sport 'S' Oil Catch Can
SURE Shortcut
SURE Counterweight
Hypertech Programmer

Suspension and Braking
BC Racing Coilovers
Napa Brake Rotors
Hawk HP+ Brake Pads
ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid
Red Painted Calipers w/ 'Mazdaspeed' decals
JBR Rear Camber Arms

Fluids
Shell Rotella 5w-40 Engine Oil (changed every 5,000 miles)
Ford Motorcraft XT-Q5-XS Transmission Fluid (changed at 60,000 miles)
OEM Otherwise...

Next on List for Purchase...
Transmission Mount
Engine Monitoring Device
Catback Exhaust
Front Mount Intercooler

Feel free to ask questions, give suggestions, or otherwise say hello! Thanks for all the support fellow Mazda enthusiasts give a young gun like me! Pictures to follow as I continue with my story...
 
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Sounds like a good plan. Now get to work.

Thank you!

So after graduating high school in 2007 I was set to buy my first, reliable, new car using all my savings through high school. I chose a Mazda CX-7 because I thought it was a blend of fun, customization, and reliability wrapped up in an AWD package. However, I quickly grew tired of it, and within two years lost interest. My parents took over payments in exchange for this rust bucket:

20090807_7 by JRI Photography, on Flickr
I then immediately traded the F-150 in for $1000 cash towards my Mazdaspeed3. Searching for my 3, I found one at a Toyota dealship with 45,000 miles on the clock. They had no clue what the car was! It was stock except for an aftermarket radio that had been removed (I just found the wiring still in the dash). Ran well, looked okay, and the price was right! I bought it! Stalled it a million times coming home (first manual).

20090807_1 by JRI Photography, on Flickr
Brought it home cleaned it up, and installed the Corksport Intake I previously had on the CX-7. The intake was quickly removed for the winter due to a few small issues in which a dealership visit was necessary, then re-installed in the spring.

speed3_spring100001 by JRI Photography, on Flickr
Lastly, I gave it a wash and wax then took her to get pictures taken:

Mazdaspeed3_Railroad0005 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

...More to come!
 
The first modification purchased for my Mazdaspeed3 was the DDM Tuning 55w HID plug and play headlight kit, along with their Raptor CCFL Halo Rings. INstall took about 8 hours total, due to having to bake the headlights for the halos, and make sure all the wiring was tucked away neatly. Since installation, I have had few problems--once blew a fuse, once water got to the connections and shorted out my headlights, and once water condensated inside my passenger headlight (this has not been repeated). Nothing too major so far, and they have been on for over a year.

speed3_spring100012 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

DDEXenon0003 by JRI Photography, on Flickr
Also notice the red calipers...I can't remember when I did those, but it was shortly after purchasing the car! Thanks for reading!
 
Thanks! The wheels are painted with Grabber Green (Duplicolor?) Hi-Temp Engine Enamel. It's ceramic coated and seems thick and rubbery--but is actually very thick and hard. So far no chips or nicks, but winter hasn't really set in yet. I did not put clear overtop.

I actually have a few ideas/plans for painting my stockers every winter. Do you remember doing the "penny wars" in school as a kid where each classroom collected money to see who could do earn the most? I want to set up a donation fund where people donate money in order to get there vote counted towards what color I paint my wheels for the winter. So if hot pink gets the most money collected, I paint 'em hot pink and then keep a blog over the winter of where I go, what I do, people's reactions, etc....All money raised would go to a charity, probably something for kids since it would be finalized around Thanksgiving/Christmas time. It might not become huge, but....Let me know what you guys think! All criticism/comments/critique are welcome. If you think it would be a good idea I will try to get the ball rolling on this.

Thanks again, and expect another update sometime tomorrow. I've still got a ways to go before I reach the car's current setting! Thanks for reading!
 
Next chapter: FIRST WINTER

Winter set in and I did nothing with my car. In fact, as I said before I took it back to stock (AKA uninstalled the SRI) for winter '09. Cold winter means need a knob warmer--everyone needs a warm knob every now and again:

Shift Knob Cover0000 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

During the rough parts of winter, my car became a snow plow for the driveway--also pictured are my calipers...

snowcalipers0002 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

snowcalipers0009 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

snowcalipers0007 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

Riding on Cooper Zeon ZPT A/S tires that were only two months old, the first winter was great! I got excellent traction out of them, which is totally necessary for my 80 mile commute each day in NE Ohio! I don't want to reccommend these tires because I know there are better options for summer/winter, but they were decent for the cheap price. Thanks again for keeping track. Eventually, I hope to get up to the present day--but I want to make sure everything stays well documented. Thanks!
 
Damn I wish I had a knob warmer...if you know what I mean (hump)

You need to update with your new toy...and maybe a video of it too :)

Also, you said you took off your SRI for winter? Any particular reason?
 
I like the green wheels man. Bright green FTW!

Back in the day I would have been all about doing something like that, but nowadays I'm old and have a wife and two kids and wild wheels would just be weird.
 
Damn I wish I had a knob warmer...if you know what I mean (hump)

You need to update with your new toy...and maybe a video of it too :)

Also, you said you took off your SRI for winter? Any particular reason?
My knob warmer is definitely a fully functional mod...if you know what I mean.
My new toy? All in good time my friend, let us watch the story unfold first...Eventually I gotta bring it up to present day...
For videos, I want a FlipHD camera for this track season and everything. Then videos will definitely be had! I don't have a video camera really...

I like the green wheels man. Bright green FTW!

Back in the day I would have been all about doing something like that, but nowadays I'm old and have a wife and two kids and wild wheels would just be weird.
Thanks! Old age does not correlate with wildness. BE A WILD OLD FART! LOL, at least just for the winter...I'm sure the kids would love it. I passed a minivan with about 20 kids in it and they were all pressed against the window glass pointing and smiling...


Update coming soon, maybe after class in a couple hours!
 
I just use my Motorola Droid for video lol. It records really good sound and video...for a phone. I just need to figure out how to mount it in my car so I don't need a passenger to hold it
 
True.

I've got an extra set of 16" Rx8 wheels (not THE RX8 wheels everybody likes) that I am using for winters. I haven't actually had them on the car yet. Maybe If I think they are too boring I'll consider something wild in the future. If nothing else, they'd make it easier for people to see my car when it's stuck in a snow bank.
 
How'd you paint the wheels? Did you sand them down and do it all nice, or did you just kind of do it quick and dirty since it's only for winter, and probably only for one winter?
 
I actually did a really thorough job on the wheels. I sanded (using 220 grit, I think) the entire wheel enough to remove the glossy coat finish. I then cleaned them really good to make sure there was no particles on them. Then I shot them with 2 cans of primer and 3 cans of High-Temp Ceramic Coated Engine Enamel (Grabber Green). I taped off the tire rubber and stuck playing cars between the wheel and rubber to prevent overspray. The results were fantastic: Road rash and curbage was eliminated by the sanding and the green finish seems as hard and durable as the OEM finish! My only regret is I didn't put a clear coat overtop. The finish looked so perfect I was afraid clear would ruin it--I've had bad experiences with clear in the past.

These cell phone pics give you an idea:
mms_picture-31.jpg

mms_picture_2-4.jpg


If you ever want a photoshop of your RX-8 wheels in different colors, PM me--that's the one photoshop skill I am decent at! Maybe not even a wild color, but just a gunmetal, black, or bronze/gold would look nice!

Evan: My phone sucks. I want a droid/iphone. Perhaps we can get video or something at the next get together...I have a digital video camera from 2004 or something, it just doesn't cut it with today's technology!
 
Ya you photoshopped my RX8s and did a really good job.

Ya we should get some video, plus I wanna go for a ride to hear to fun lol
 
If you ever want a photoshop of your RX-8 wheels in different colors, PM me--that's the one photoshop skill I am decent at! Maybe not even a wild color, but just a gunmetal, black, or bronze/gold would look nice!

I may do that sometime after I get the wheels on. Thanks.
 
HAHA GFM performance ftw

now the question is....when she knit it for you, what was the intended use? HAHA
 
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