Shadowden's Mazda3 Build thread

[Shadowden]

As mentioned above, I had planned to do a James Barone Racing Chromolly motor mount to replace the OEM rear motor mount. However, a local guy is selling his street unit rear motor mount for a lot less, so I am going to go that route. This mount has a much lower durometer rating than the JBR so the potential for irritating NVH is less. Unfortunate part is that I may end up needing a passenger mount in the future whereas the chromolly is rated for hard launches by itself.

[Mortose]

Hey man, do you still want my exhaust?

My new one showed up today, so in a week or two, i'll have my old one out.

[Shadowden]

most likely. The funding I was expecting from my in-house funds manager never happened though...and Pat moved too quickly, so no install help. It is something I would like to do though.

[geo2maz]

in-house funds manager

in-house funds-managers=

[Shadowden]

Yeah, I was pretty excited to get my interior all finished up and the exhaust. That is on hold now.

[Regulator]

Center Console vinyl work is done. I had issues with the cheap vinyl adhering on the section of the console surrounding the e brake. I took it to the pros. They ended up using 3M dinoc, but the gloss version. So since that didn't match anything else, it was all redone.

Looks awesome man! Great gift!

[Shadowden]

Whats new:
Center Support Shaft (connects the axle to the gear box)
Passenger side axle
Passenger side motor mount (70A) on order(car undriveable until it is installed which should be Thursday or Friday)

Unfortunate part is that I may end up needing a passenger mount in the future....

Rear Motor Mount (Street Unit solid Billet (62A)

So once this is all done, here is the list of updates I have done to the car so far:

Cosmetic
Windows tinted at 20% except rear triangles which are at 5%.
CF Vinyl on door pillars and sideview mirror brackets
Redline Goods Leather shift boot, e brake boot, and arm rest boot
Carbon Fiber ebrake handle.
Custom painted ebrake button (black)
Carbon Fiber Vinyl center Console
Wet Okole Custon seat covers (front, so need to do back still))
Red Convoluted Tubing
ECU cover painted silver (going to switch to white most likely)
G2 Caliper paint (red)
Sharkfin Antenna
Plasti-dipped black front grill and emblem
cut and painted wheel centercap logos
Black vinyl in the rear license plate area
red perforated vinyl doors

Performance
Koni Yellow rear shocks
Eibach Pro Kit springs
MazdaSpeed Accesories Short Shifter
Mazdaspeed Accessories solid shifter bushings
NRG weighted shift knob with custom weighted adapter
Simota CF Short Ram Intake
Spin on oil Filter conversion kit
Redline MT90 MTX fluid
Street Unit Billet RMM
James Barone Racing Passenger Side Motor Mount (70A)
Braided SS Brake Lines
Hawk HPS pads
DOT 4 fluid change

Still to do and have parts to do:
replace stock carpet
Paint Fuse Box Cover
Paint Battery Box Cover

[Shadowden]

Got the car back. it is goingto take a bit for me to get use o the louder nature of the car with the stiffer passenger side engine mount. Aurora Axela helped install the Street Unit Billet Rear Motor Mount today (Thanks!). Shifting is great, can feel a good bit of difference all around. Install time was probably closer to 15 minutes.

Had a little bit of dog drama...when wAA and I went for a test drive, we came back to my family's white german shephard free in the front yard. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that a white german shephard that we are fostering must have gotten out with her. I bailed out of the car, grabbed our dog and put her inside and called for the foster. He didn't come, so I looked quickly upstairs and out the back door. AA jumped in his car and drove around the neighborhood. I took the foot method and ran (guessing about 2 miles), in search of the dog. As I ran and went through the situation, I decided it was next to impossible the dog was out, so ran home. Found he had knocked down a gate going to the basement and had trapped himself down there because the gate fell across the steps. Awesome.

Auto X tomorrow. Will give a report on the mazdaspeed swaybars and motor mounts after that.

two incoming bits...nightshaded side markers. Looked into tails, but still looking for a shop to do those unless someone on here is super confident they can get them done very well.

[Shadowden]

The sways and motor mounts were great for the autocross. Seemd a little more planted than the last one. A little mor responsive and was able to grab second gear a little quicker. Although I would have rather not had to replace the passenger side motor mount, it did stiffen things up considerably. The sway bars are a great modification for an MZ3.

Other things to replace after the winter: Passenger side fog light. I'm still considering doing a custom light option down there, but not sure I have the time or skill.

[RX-7 Chris]

I would get some laminex for the fogs when you replace the one so they are protected in the future

[Shadowden]

I would get some laminex for the fogs when you replace the one so they are protected in the future

Will the Laminex prtoect from getting the lens cracked? If so, then definately will. Not sure I will go yellow like a lot of people seem to be doing though. Like the look on my avalanche, not sure if I want it on the 3.

[Shadowden]

painted some engine compartment plastic. Added some flare for under the hood from Hawk (brake pads), JBR (passenger Motormount), and Goodridge (brake lines).

[I`m Batman]

Nice!

[RX-7 Chris]

Looks good

[coloskydiver]

Looking Good.