Dustinlib tries to play mad scientist, hilarity ensues.

[dustinlib]

I've been reading so many build threads as research for my impending bp swap that I figured I would go ahead and start one myself. It all started back in the winter when I decided I was sick and tired of driving my turbo miata in the snow, So I drove up to chicago to buy this:





now, I was planning on looking all around this high mileage canadian car before I bought it, but since it was encrusted with ice and snow the fact that it started and drove around the block was enough to convince me to head back south. Fast foward six months and I've changed several things on the car:
painted the hood, missing a pillar, and window frames.
rota formel wheels
mazdaspeed mx-5 seats
ebay steering wheel
626 center console
protege LX gauge cluster
dash clock
protege LX mirrors
new grille
mudflaps







All that stuff is fine and dandy, but it's mostly just asthetic and comfort related, I really want to add more performance; and this escort get I found a few blocks down the street will most likely be sacrificed on the unholy altar.



(better pictures soon)


But wait, there's more! remember the bit earlier about this car coming from the great white north and being purchased as a running and driving ice cube? the bottom side of this little dude is falling apart faster than lindsey lohan, it's not the worst case of cancer i've seen (i think my jeep is worse) but it is enough that I'm considering picking up a second donor I found on craigslist that's a few counties over, but relatively rust free. I'm still waffling on this car since it's an automatic, but it does have some benefits over my current 323. (non cracked windshield, non rusted rockers and gas tank) So i'm not exactly sure if it is going to be part of the equation, but the plan at the moment is going to be strip the escort of all it's goodies, and put them into one of the 323's if my current car then I'll have some extra rust repair to deal with, if the auto car then that will be a whole nother can of worms.


NOW, from what i've read in similar threads by sockington and a few others who's names escape me at the moment is that the escort gt to 323 swap is fairly simple, things i have mentally noted are that there is a coolant sensor for the gauge which I will need to keep off of my b6 to get an accurate reading, and I was reading somewhere that I should probably get a protege lx ecu if I don't want to burn out a resistor in the escort one with my protege cluster. All in all I anticipate swapping the following parts from the escort to the 323:
BP engine
G series trans
axles
rear brakes
rear seat
suspension
gas tank (hopefully i can make this work)
anything else I should swap over?

So, that about outlines my plan at the moment. I'm supposed to meet the seller of the escort on monday, so hopefully by my day off on wednesday I'll have some new pictures and updates. Now for the feedback, any questions, comments helpful hints? this isn't my first time working with cars, but it will be my first transplant, so wish me luck! If this goes anywhere near as smoothly as I hope it will it should give me a big boost of confidence to start on the skeletal miata in my back yard. (man I wish I could find a few of those for as cheaply as these donors)

[bomdoutscort]

The ecus interchange between them.

[dustinlib]

are you sure? i coulda swore i read in a different swap thread that the combination of the escort gt ecu and the protege LX instrument cluster caused the ecu to fry a resistor, something about the check engine light using a different voltage between the two.

[bomdoutscort]

I'm pretty sure since the ecu's are the same. Thats like saying you couldn't run a GTX laser ecu in a protege.

[Mazda_Powered]

only resistance that is different afaik is the coolant temp sensor that supplies you with your coolant temp reading afaik...obviously there's the ECU difference between ATX and MTX, but people can run ATX ECUs and harnesses on an MTX no problem.

[dustinlib]

this is the thread that has me worried about using the egt ecu.

http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37792

[bomdoutscort]

Yeah well we have no idea how he wired his car up really. So we cant say that was the cause. But like we said before they interchange.

[dustinlib]

well, that's good news, because I've got an escort gt ecu now, it came with some spare parts too...










the engine is smoking a little bit, so a bit of freshening will probably be in order, but I'm gonna try and do as little as possible, i'd really hate for my beater to become a money pit.

[Mazda_Powered]

nice score! just going to do the valve seals and crank seals basically? lol

[yunvmyegt]

wtf swap hoods and drive it, unless its that rotted....

[dustinlib]

but it's a ford! actually the smoke is more around the exhaust manifold, may just need a valve cover gasket. I'm gonna have one of my mechanic buddies take a look at it, then we'll see what all is needed.

[Turpro]

nice score. What's up with the mx3 in the background?

[dustinlib]

that's my 99 miata parts car.

[Ace]

You can use the EGT ECU. I'm running one right now. But Unless you are pretty knowledgeable in schematics then I wouldn't use the EGT harness. the pinouts to the ECU and dash harness are different. They physically plug up but they don't match., Youll need a mazda fuel rail too. I'm not sure if the B6 is the same as the one for the bp. Check out my build thread for some info too, as i recently swapped in a BP.

[Turpro]

I've run a bp10(protege) and bp09(escort gt) ecus on my protege harness. Both ran the same. Actually I tjink I have a egt ecu in there now