Dark_Rider's BP Swap Journal

[Dark_Rider2k3]

Hey guys! Decided to bring my BP journal over here. So yeah here goes!

First off, I got the engine last year. June of 2009. It has approx. 62,000 miles on it. Bought it from a kid on the MX-3 forums who lives in Florida for $600. Got it shipped for cheap with my dad's business! Here were the original pics of it:











Here was me finally unloading it!

[Pox]

Looks pretty clean. What are the plans for it?

[Dark_Rider2k3]

After the initial unload, I started off by removing the exhaust headers:



Then I removed the spark plugs/wires. I noticed they looked like this:






The valve cover then came off. I could tell from there that the seal was brittle and dry.. so with how the plugs looked, and how the gasket was dried.. I decided to play it safe and do a rebuild of the engine.



While I was working on all that, I bought a few parts for my car off a Member from the MX forums. He gave me a good throttle body from the BP (the one with the engine was not in good condition), the driver's side interior trim panel (mine was torn), and this BP ECU



I took a shot of the side with the balancer and water pump pulley:



I then started work on getting to the timing belt:




Another MX forum member (Ryan) sold me a few parts for the MTX. He sold me the manual pedal assembly, master/slave cylinder, and the hoses/lines with them:





I cleaned them up, removed the rust, while at the same time got a closeup pic of the head of the engine:



With me busy, and the weather creeping up, I didn't do much more to the engine. However, in November, I took a trip and snagged a Kia Sephia transmission, Manual transmission mounts, axles, and the intermediate shaft. I cleaned up the outside, and spray painted the transmission (yes, I know I painted over a ground point. Am going to sand that off haha)








Before the weather hit, I did remove the clutch/flywheel:





I also replaced the chains I had with 1 really strong chain. The winter was harsh (live in PA when all that snow hit in Feb), and with me being busy December/January.. I didn't do anything. I wrapped the engine up and kept it from rusting up. But now the spring is here and I could continue my work. However, a huge bunch of personal issues distracted me one day, and without thinking, I rushed and removed the timing belt before timing the engine ... and to make matters worse, I didn't get back to the engine until the next day, and so with the belt off, pretty much screwed myself over >_>. I was told, though, since the head will be coming off, it doesn't really matter since it will work itself out after I do my rebuild. So I continued my disassembly and removed the water pump:






I do not have pics yet, but I also removed the throttle body, and intake manifold.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

Looks pretty clean. What are the plans for it?

I was actually going to post that next haha. Right now here are the parts I am getting for the engine/tranny swap:

Change control rod
Extension Bar
Short shifter
(pretty much all parts for the shifter portion of the transmission)
BP MTX harness
MX3 MTX Dash and ECU harness

Race Rings
Bearings
Timing belt kit
water pump
all new gaskets
HLA's (late 90's style)
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Distributor/Cap/Rotor
NGK plugs/Wires


I am still deciding on if I want to go with a lightweight flywheel or OEM. I will have a good bit of stop-and-go traffic, but do want to get a few drag races in. It's all for fun, nothing too serious.


My plans for the engine is to get a good rebuild of it, and possibly port/polish the heads (still unsure)

I am also researching into it, but am thinking of doing some light boosting.. like 8-12 psi of boost.. nothing over that.

Basically want to have a car that can do okay at the drags, but mainly it's a daily drive that can get up Pittsburgh hills without me having to literally floor it to get power haha.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

Oh, and here are some things I've done to the car already:

eBay cold air intake
custom cat-back exhaust (2.5 inch piping) with N1 muffler (that NEEEEEEDS to go.. it's so loud >_>)
Power window swap
Repainted car with stock color, and FX Designs Combat front bumper/side skirts
Alpine CDA-9856 Head unit
Rockford Fosgate amp (unsure of wattage/rms)
Memphis audio dual 12" subs (unsure of them too.. I bought both from craig's list when my good setup was stolen)
Q Logic rear facing sub enclosure
Soundstorm Labs 400 watt/4 channel amp
PowerBass front speakers/tweeters

[Mazda_Powered]

looking good! thats a clean bp you're tearing apart lol

[Dark_Rider2k3]

Yeah it is pretty clean! I made a complete list today. This is all the parts I am getting, or already have:

BP Engine
Kia Sephia Transmission
Kia Sephia Axles and Intermediate Shaft
MTX Transmission mounts
MTX Clutch/brake pedal assembly
Master/Slave cylinder
CorkSport Stainless steel clutch lines
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Perfection Flywheel (OEM, new)
BP Engine Wiring harness
Piston Ring set
Rod Bearings
Water Pump
Head gasket set
lower gasket set
HLA's (94+ style)
Change control rod
Extension Bar
Upper + Lower Ball seat
Mounting rubber boot
Shifter Spring
Bushings for shifter assembly
Rubber Insulator
eBay short shifter
MX3 V6 Alternator
Distributor/cap/rotor
Dayco MX3 Serpentine belts
NGK Laser iridium plugs
NGK Blue wires
K&N Oil filter
Royal Purple 10w-30 Synthetic Oil
Royal Purple 75w10 Synthetic Gear Oil
Peak Antifreeze
RTV Silicone Sealant

I also got a new driver's window switch, and new Compressor/Air filter/Drier.. the switch went bad in my car, and the I messed up an A/C line a while back and so need to convert to R134a

[bomdoutscort]

Nice start.

[Dark_Rider2k3]

Thanks boom!

Just bought the first few parts from Ryan on the MX-3 forums:

BP MTX Engine harness
Short-throw-shifter
Driver's Side Door switch (mine was busted)

So yeah thanks to him!

I also went to the junkyards and found a pretty mint MX-3. Going to be checking it out some more in the days to come, but I know it had the shifter boot/knob. I gotta see if it still has the linkage (I hope), but I don't think it does.. I am also going to have to do some "bolt hunting".... that whole area of the car is missing bolts that I am going to need..

That MX also had a mint sunroof. Might see what they want for that stuff... Maybe in the future I can swap in a sunroof...

[psiturbo]

Aren't usually the BP ECU say clearly on big bold black letters be it BP09 or BP10 depending if it is auto or 5-speed?

[Dark_Rider2k3]

mine is a BPVR ECU, out of a Ford Escort GT

[Mazda_Powered]

yea BPVR is from the 95 Escort GT, i has a few differences compared to the other BP ECUs, i think mainly its the 4 wire o2 sensor...can't recall any other differences. If its from an automatic it'll have a 4 wire TPS as well, which is a nice upgrade.

[projectmx]

looking good so far, nice to see some other mx3ers are still out there

[Dark_Rider2k3]

yea BPVR is from the 95 Escort GT, i has a few differences compared to the other BP ECUs, i think mainly its the 4 wire o2 sensor...can't recall any other differences. If its from an automatic it'll have a 4 wire TPS as well, which is a nice upgrade.

Is this going to be an issue with my wiring harness?

[Mazda_Powered]

what engine harness are you using? from what year/make/model/transmission.