Pics of the Beast!!

[SgtP]

I went to CP-E to pick up my SB today and snapped some quick pics of randy's ride. I left about an hour before Josh was supposed to be back from the powdercoaters with the license plate frames. He said they have 150 of them and I expect they will move quickly at the price they are at. Anyways here are the pics!

[Mistersix]

Niiice! dig the intercooler, all glarin from behind the bumper. cant wait to see more pics.

[SgtP]

few more pics added.

[4thStroke]

He needs to remove that dang ambient temperature sensor!

Tell me more about these plate frames. They are powdercoated, eh?

[SgtP]

Taken from CP-E's website:

MazdaSPEED3 TowPlate™ Mounting the license plate directly in the center of the MazdaSPEED3’s front bumper not only detracts from the visual appeal of the vehicle, but it also blocks airflow to cooling devices such as your radiator and aftermarket front mount intercooler. So there are both functional and aesthetic benefits to moving the plate off to the side of the bumper, but are there any drawbacks? Not with our bracket! First of all, this TowPlate™ was designed specifically for the MazdaSPEED3. This is not a universal kit that ‘sort of’ fits all vehicles. The positioning and angle of the plate bracket was tailored specifically for the MazdaSPEED3, which compliments the lines of the car much better than the factory positioning. The TowPlate™ is also constructed from thick cold rolled steel for super strength and rigidity. This is to ensure that the plate doesn’t deflect or rattle when cruising at high speeds like some universal sheet metal kits can. The bracket of course comes powdercoated for a finished look and to protect from any rust or corrosion. The TowPlate™ was also designed to accommodate the MazdaSPEED3 tow hook without having to remove it. A bolt in the center of the bracket is removable and the factory tow hook screws right in. This can be incredibly helpful for folks that regularly use the tow hook for strapping the car down at the dyno, or if the car needs to be towed in a pinch.

[4thStroke]

Ohhhhh, that plate. Gotcha.

[phailerider]

they need to get that off the lift, and on the road. im thinking it might be time for another road trip. its been two weeks now. i want my car back actually were still waiting to fix up some bolts on the transmission that got stripped somehow. either way, this is killing me.

and why should i ditch the ambient temp sensor? looks?

[Laloosh]

i was under the impression this thing was breaking in already

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by Laloosh i was under the impression this thing was breaking in already

its been on the road.... but apparently not "breaking in". it doesnt have all the bolts for that fucking thing on the tranny.... the one we took off then on when we put on the rear mount, the last night before it blew.

i think they are waiting on something to redo it. that bolt was huge and they had to special order the tap. plus honestly, they are probably not prioritizing it up there with everything going on as it normally does. im not exactly the highest priority customer.... they know they dont have to take my griping as seriously as most other guys.

i think i may need to shoot back up there and break the thing in on a road trip to jersey and back...lol

[SgtP]

ill break it in for you..... If you plan a road trip let me know and ill see if I can join you. Should be good times.

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by SgtP ill break it in for you..... If you plan a road trip let me know and ill see if I can join you. Should be good times.

my car + 500 miles(under 3000 rpms) + another 500 miles (out of boost) = not good times.

after that..... good times

[Laloosh]

if you plan on going to jersey we have a dyno day the 4th up in LI....pick it up, break it in, come to my house, change the oil, let her rip.

laloosh will be your tunner


as for the motor mount, the night before it blew i installed those bolts, and none of them were stripped or missing so im not really sure what happened

[SgtP]

speaking of oil changes i really need to get some AMSOIL 5-40...

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by Laloosh if you plan on going to jersey we have a dyno day the 4th up in LI....pick it up, break it in, come to my house, change the oil, let her rip. laloosh will be your tunner as for the motor mount, the night before it blew i installed those bolts, and none of them were stripped or missing so im not really sure what happened

i agree.... they were not stripped when we were under there. maybe it happened at extreme. dyno tuning in jersey would be a bit scary. im not sure i want to keep driving further north, and further north, for tuning, building, etc.... at this rate it will end up blowing in Nova Scotia, tuned, at 450whp, using meth and NOS. Running in the low 11's..... it'll pop on a elk hunt in the middle of a chase.

[CraigHJr]

Loosh can I join that dyno day? My friends wedding just got cancled so I'm free now.

[Laloosh]

Originally Posted by CraigHJr Loosh can I join that dyno day? My friends wedding just got cancled so I'm free now.

the more the merrier dude
50 bucks 3 pulls

[phillyb]

nice pics, can't wait until you get your car back. hahaha

[oskinosmee]

Originally Posted by Laloosh the more the merrier dude 50 bucks 3 pulls

When and where?

[Laloosh]

Originally Posted by oskinosmee When and where?

lol ure welcome to join but its gonne be like 6-7 hours for you.

west babylon LI

[CraigHJr]

Loosh is anyone caravanning up there? If not do you want me to meet you at your house?

[Laloosh]

yea, u and me.

theres gonna be 3 ms3s there, and we are two of them. Its all skittles

[CraigHJr]

Nice dude I'll call you closer to the date.

Back on topic: Randys car!!!

[www.cp-e.com]

The car has been on the road but we didn't want to start driving the thing on the regular because the bolt in the transmission is still stripped. We had to go to Fastenal today to pick up a helicoil kit for it. Anyone want to guess what the helicoil kit cost? I'll give you a hint, it was $150, lol.

Anyway, Cam and I ended up installing the coils and for whatever reason they didn't take. Everytime we screwed the bolts in they'd pull the coils right back out and mash our new threads. Great.

We ordered a 16mm tap today and it should be in tomorrow, and we're just going to thread the damn thing for a 16mm bolt. Hopefully after that we can get the thing on the road and I can start breaking her in.

Everything's a cake walk in this business

[4thStroke]

Im not saying you need to ditch the ambient sensor, just move it to the side.

[Dash08]

Originally Posted by 4thStroke Im not saying you need to ditch the ambient sensor, just move it to the side.

For a second there I thought you had some secret about the ambient sensor. Like you remove it and PRESTO!! 15 more to the wheels!!!

[4thStroke]

Nope. Although moving it to the side will yield more airflow to the FMIC... there might be some power to be gained there.

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by www.cp-e.com The car has been on the road but we didn't want to start driving the thing on the regular because the bolt in the transmission is still stripped. We had to go to Fastenal today to pick up a helicoil kit for it. Anyone want to guess what the helicoil kit cost? I'll give you a hint, it was $150, lol. Anyway, Cam and I ended up installing the coils and for whatever reason they didn't take. Everytime we screwed the bolts in they'd pull the coils right back out and mash our new threads. Great. We ordered a 16mm tap today and it should be in tomorrow, and we're just going to thread the damn thing for a 16mm bolt. Hopefully after that we can get the thing on the road and I can start breaking her in. Everything's a cake walk in this business

can we weld the mother fucker on? there is no need for that bolt to ever come out again..... right? im kidding.... like 50% kidding.

[Laloosh]

how the fuck does a 19mm bolt strip....that takes a breaker bar, attached to a cheater break bar, with hulk hogan pulling it down...wtf

[MazdaMan13]

you should break the motor in goin to the occ meet in new york next month and its a car show

[www.cp-e.com]

Originally Posted by palerider can we weld the mother fucker on? there is no need for that bolt to ever come out again..... right? im kidding.... like 50% kidding.

LOL!! Randy, I thought about it, I really did for a moment

But the oversized tap is coming in today and we're going to wrap the thing up finally. If all goes well I think I'll be driving the 'ol girl home this evening

Originally Posted by Laloosh how the fuck does a 19mm bolt strip....that takes a breaker bar, attached to a cheater break bar, with hulk hogan pulling it down...wtf

Hah! Tell me about it. I guess cross-thread is more accurate.

I think what happened was someone tried to re-install the engine mount bracket bolt without supporting the engine, and the bolt wasn't lined up with the hole correctly. They must've started the bolt and didn't stop once they encountered resistance. As a result the threads were totally mashed, and apparently I wasn't much help to them yesterday, lol. So we just overnighted a 16mm tap and we'll go to town.

Randy, I'll let you know if the operation is a success as soon as we're finished!

[SgtP]

good luck!

[phailerider]

Awesome, i cant wait to hear..... thanks!!!!!

Did you get the exhaust in too, and the fitting for the oil line?? Frigging nervewracking.

[94jedi]

NOOOIIIICE!!!! Looks like my car jacked up on dianabol and test e!!!

[phailerider]

Allright its 9pm...and no call yet.

just weld the damn thing.... I know Anthonys still there, have him fire up the molten shit and zap it in there. technical ftl.

[www.cp-e.com]

Originally Posted by palerider Allright its 9pm...and no call yet. just weld the damn thing.... I know Anthonys still there, have him fire up the molten shit and zap it in there. technical ftl.

Randy...welcome to cp-e

So yesterday I went ahead and tapped the hole for a M16x2. Went smoothly, no problems. The threads look a little shallow, but we got a long bolt and I was able to torque it down to just over 70lbft. Should be just fine.

The problem is that when we tried to use the helicoils they mashed the threads on the remaining two bolts that we had. So I called around yesterday to try to find the M14x1.25 bolts and Home Depot told me they carry them. I drove 45 minutes out to Aspen Hill only to find that they don't even carry 14mm bolts, let alone the one we need. It was late, so I went back to the shop, and decided to hit up Fastenal the next morning.

So I get in today and first thing I run over to Fastenal to get the M14x1.25 bolts. The guy informs me that not only do they not carry extra fine metric fasteners, but he wasn't even sure if he could order one for me! I'm supposed to call the guy today to see if he had any lucking one.

I've since come back to the shop and I'm trying to find another source for the bolt. What I'm going to do as soon as I post this is call Mazda to see if they carry the bolts we're looking for. I'll report back on my findings

Randy, I will get this wrapped up today even if it kills me.

[phailerider]

you got to be kidding me. this is the other bolts that were already in the damn thing?

they both shredded? holy crap what a pain in the ass.

[www.cp-e.com]

Originally Posted by palerider you got to be kidding me. this is the other bolts that were already in the damn thing? they both shredded? holy crap what a pain in the ass.

Yeah, when we tried to "test" the helicoil we used one of the other bolts. I started threading it in and it seemed kind of tight, but it was still going in okay. By the time the bolt bottomed out, I could see that the bolt was spinning and was just ripping out the helicoil. Cam thought maybe I did something wrong so he gave it a shot and the same thing happened to him.

Anyway, I just called Mazda and it'll take them three freaking days to get that bolt for us. I'm seriously considering just drilling it out and re-tapping all the holes for M16x2 since we can at least get those damn bolts. Any objections?


Edit: Alright, I decided that I'm going to take the bolts out of our MS3 and put them into your car. That way I can get it off the lift and start breaking it in. In the mean time I'll order the bolts from Mazda, and since we only need two of the three I can leave one of them in our shop car so we can at least push it and out of the shop each day. I think this is probably the best solution so far?

[phailerider]

DO IT NOW!!!!!

seriously.... what does that thing even ever have to come off again for? Anything that bolts, welds, glues, or permantently holds it on is gonna be fine with me. ANYTHING!!!!

dude be done with it.... if it ever has to come off again we can deal with it then.

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by www.cp-e.com Edit: Alright, I decided that I'm going to take the bolts out of our MS3 and put them into your car. That way I can get it off the lift and start breaking it in. In the mean time I'll order the bolts from Mazda, and since we only need two of the three I can leave one of them in our shop car so we can at least push it and out of the shop each day. I think this is probably the best solution so far?

thats great if you dont mind..... but i dont care if you do the other either. By the time its all said and done im gonna have to buy that damn shop car off you guys for all my parts...lol

[www.cp-e.com]

You got it Randy! I'm driving this damn car home TONIGHT.