Hit a wall today

[SpeedRacer]

Damn dude I wish you didn't live so far away from me Your install skills are def superior to mine by 2039029+ no sarcasm there im serious.


True HR isn't far far I was there yesterday but still..

[zoomin MP3]

Hey Tom, who did you have remove the butterflies and do the machining? Cost? Did you have the mani ported or polished?

I just got myself a 626 mani and I thought it was a free flowing design, but it has the VTCS butterflies which is what my MP3 is supposed to have. So I'm looking to get those removed.

[MazdaTom]

Your MP3 should not have VTCS. VTCS are the butterflies right where the intake manifold mates to the cylinder head. Your MP3 should however have VICS- which is the variable geometry function that is suppose to use pressure waves to help force air into the cylinder head at high RPM.

You got a California emissions spec 626 intake manifold. Those came with the VTCS butterflies. No big deal really.

I did all the work myself. It's really pretty easy. It was my first attempt at porting. There are several How To threads on mazdas247.com about the VTCS removal. Get yourself a Dremel and some WD-40 and you can port it fairly quickly and easily.

[zoomin MP3]

That explains it. So is it still the singe runner design, or did I just waste some money?

I've got the dremel and WD-40, so now I just need to get the directions.

[MazdaTom]

Does the manifold have 2 halfs? If it doesn't, then it should be the 626 manifold. Our manifolds have 2 halfs- which makes installing the VICS possible.

I think the only thing you have to worry about while installing the manifold is having to splice into a vacuum line because the 626 manifold has one more vacuum nipple than the Protege manifold.

Make sure to order your gaskets (intake manifold AND throttle body) ahead of time!

[zoomin MP3]

It's a one piece manifold. I didn't realize that the pro mani's are a two piece design. I don't think I'll need the additional vacuum line either, cause what I saw on the other board from JamesK was that he needed that extra line for his cruise, which MP3's don't have.

Did you end up getting the gaskets from Car Q or Burt? Any difference in them?

[MazdaTom]

I got them from Burt. Price wise, I think they were like $2 more. And I didn't envoke my CMCZ discount when I bought them.

Yeah, I think you're right on the cruise control thing.

And while you have your intake manifold out, the rear engine mount is VERY easy to get to. If you want to replace it, that would be the time. I have the 88 durometer AWR rear mount (as well as the rest of the AWR mounts). It's firm. Especially when cold. It seems to go away as the engine warms up though.

[zoomin MP3]

Check my mods, I already have the mount. And yeah, it sucks big time when the engine is cold. I've actually thought about swapping it for a softer mount, but I really like the smoothness it provides for the driveline when launching.