MSP Round 2

[Woody1969]

Well I finally got me another MSP, I sold my first one in 2006 and I just bought another one last weekend and since this one is not new like the first one I am going to go buck wild on it!

My first one:

My new one:

 

[hornsfan10609]

Nice man, congratulations and welcome back to the club! That is one clean titanium, it's been so long since these cars were new.

 

[Woody1969]

Yes unfortunately when my wife did this to her P5 I had to trade my MSP in on her a new car.

 

[Woody1969]

What I have done so far:

 

[Woody1969]

It has a blown head gasket so I am going to tear it down and go forged and also do the trans upgrades while I have it out.

 

[iracemine]

Yes unfortunately when my wife did this to her P5 I had to trade my MSP in on her a new car.

ok I'll bite. How did she get that car that messed up (hope shes ok)?

 

[Preferio]

That's a big ass intercooler...

And WTF did she do to that car?!

 

[Woody1969]

She feel asleep on her way to work one morning and flipped it off a bridge. Amazing enough even though she was 5 months pregnant her and the baby where ok.

 

[hornsfan10609]

Wow that is insane what happened to that P5. I was rear ended last month by a pregnant woman and she did not have as good of luck.

And yes that is a HUGE IC core, but good luck on your project. I've done a couple HGs the past few years.

 

[Woody1969]

The IC was on the car when I bought it but I have not decided what I am going to use yet although I am planing on getting around 350 at the wheels.

 

[Preferio]

The IC was on the car when I bought it but I have not decided what I am going to use yet although I am planing on getting around 350 at the wheels.

I just have to keep posting this to every new MSP owners FB or M247 posts...

This isn't a Honda Civic, parts aren't easy to come by and they are 'expensive'...

If you want over 250hp, here's a good list

-Forged rods/piston combo, $1100
-ARP studs, $250
-Manifold and downpipe combo, $1100
-Gasket set, $110
-Bearings, $150
-Deep sump oil pan, $400
-Doc B setup, $??? (The one mod I need to add that I skipped on)
-Engine management, $200 (used AFC)- $2000 standalone
-Fuel Injectors, $100 (used 440's)
-FMIC, $250 (eBay)- $Good.luck
-Upgraded diff, $700
-Polyurethane engine mounts, $300
-300hp or more? Upgraded transmission internals, MFactory 3/4/5 $750ea.
-Exhaust, $250 ("custom" made by an exhaust shop-$400+ for a used, large diameter bolt-on

And that's assuming you have the knowledge to do all of this yourself and if not, consider labor cost for things you can't do. And these are simply "power" mods that realistically won't get you more than 300whp with the OE GT25. Want to upgrade to a Garrett ball bearing GT28? That's another $1,200. And I consider a larger turbo a "big boy/big power" upgrade. So far you're at $3000-$4000 without it... For a car that I can find here and there with some of these mods already done to them with a blown FSDE for $2000 or less... Then even after spending that much money, you haven't touched anything else on the car- suspension, brakes, chassis...

There are too many people buying these cars, thinking it's a WRX or Evo, throwing 15psi at stock internals and upgraded SMIC pipes then selling the ******' thing for nothing or parting them out when you've got half your engine lying on the side of the road.

I've had the car for almost 5 years now. I knew what I was getting myself into when I got into the "MSP game" having come from a P5 and being a Mazda 'enthusiast' and I still have the car and hate it every ******* day. But I love it. If I didn't know what I know and didn't do what I do, there is no way I'd own one that's heavily modified. Every single time I make one thing "bulletproof" the next weakest component keeps breaking. I'm on my fifth engine, fourth transmission, countless rod bearings in the earlier engines, third GT25 and a **** ton of other, smaller items. If you want to mod this car, do so the RIGHT way. And unfortunately, the right way is the expensive way, there is no other choice.

 

[Woody1969]

I have or have already ordered everything on your list except the doc b stuff which I have talked to him about. I Have the emanage setup for it instead of the two you suggested because that's what I had on my other one along with most of the other external stuff. I am aware of the added expense of owning one of these cars but that is also one of the things I love about it. But that is also why some of my other cars include a MX-3, 91 prelude, and a Buick grand national.

 

[Preferio]

Emanage? Very, very few users running that setup.

 

[323]

yeah listen to preferio. he's the unofficial quality control/test guy for mazda's msp lol (lol2)

 

[Preferio]

lol

 

[hornsfan10609]

Nothing wrong with setting people straight, and it is so refreshing to have a (not really) new owner that knows what they are doing not a 16 year old asking what CAI makes the most power or which exhaust to get.

 

[Woody1969]

The emanage is not as good as a stand alone but it is much better than the AFC, also I had this setup on my other MSP so not only do I now how to use it I also still have all of my paperwork from when I did it before making it very easy for me to install. And the most important thing is I already have it and the Profec E-01 boost controller so no need to waste money on those things which alows me to put more into the rest of the setup. I would be interested to hear about these transmission issues, I did not have any with my first one but that could be due to how long I had it.

 

[Woody1969]

Engine out!

 

[Preferio]

I would be interested to hear about these transmission issues, I did not have any with my first one but that could be due to how long I had it.

I'm on my 4th transmission...

#1- Failed LSD- not that uncommon.
#2- Cracked the case.
#3- Stripped third gear.
#4- It's still in one piece. For now.

I was still running the OE GT25 when this happened. I am definitely not the only one. I know Blake D is running an almost identical setup and he's stripped third gear, too. I'm actually going to pull timing around 3.5k-4.5k to lower the amount of torque to hopefully save transmissions now that I'm running the GT2860RS.

 

[Woody1969]

Do you know if the transmissions are the same in the regular protege minus the lsd? I have already purchased the end plate upgrade and I would like to do the rest was just hoping I could pick up a regular transmission and do it since I am going to be just about replacing all of the internals anyway.