1.6festiva

Hey everybody, again I must say this place is has served me well on everything I have done, especially the Megasquirt, on my 1.6 swapped Festiva. the motor now with 199k km is from a 94 mazda mx3

So I am putting together my shopping list for everything I need to get for my engine rebuild, I am going forced induction, around 7-10 psi with a rebuilt volvo t3 14t turbo, mild goal of 200hp or just over, and I want to know if you spot any weak points or any components that would be superior.

I need to replace the rings because it is now starting to smoke on acceleration more than it did before, the control rings are what I think are sticking,, and while im in there I want to put in stiffer valve springs, and depending on the specs maybe new guides and valves
""""If they are within spec Would they be ok to leave or should they be replaced?"""

The valve springs in the 1994 1.6 MX3 I think have a lower rate (i think) because the redline is only 6300rpm and I would think upgrading them would be better to bump up my redline

Mainly my question is just for engine internals, because so many here are all ready familiar with what works best for the 1.6,

My list includes
HEAD STUFF
Supertech 58lb valve springs
supertech intake and exhaust valve set
and maganese bronze performance valve guides from Fab9tuning
OEM mazda valve seals
Just cleaning out and reusing the lash caps and the bucket lifters
Arp head stud kit
cometic mls head gasket from fab9.... with slight modifying to work on the mx3 head

BOTTOM END
Oem piston ring set from fab9
Stock pistons
Stock rods

Etc
Ebay Oil feed lines
The good tube fin intercooler off ebay, accoriding to "How to use ebay interooler" off this forum

the 5spd Tranny is the obvious weak point i know, hence my mild goal of only around 200hp, im not sure what these trannys will take but I dont want to push it to far, I hope to have a fun reliable car that will last a while to take out for fun for some public track events and some auto cross. Some time in the future I may get a better tranny and use an adapter plate to mount it up but for now its the stock 5spd

So any thoughts in general, Tips, or any parts that may be better?

All welcome thanks.

Icedawg

Check out my Festiva build threads on the Festiva Forum. You might have to become a member of the forum to look, but you probably are already.
https://fordfestiva.com/forums/forum...race-car-build
And this one
https://fordfestiva.com/forums/forum...ith-mx3-bottom
I have undertaken a fair number of rebuilds at this stage. I would have a machine shop check out the cylinder bores, and get them to tell you if it is close enough to spec to just re-hone.
However, most shops seem to think Mazda engines should be bored out when old. Despite that, I have tried to avoid it unless the start threatening me with piston slap.
You might find Mazda rings from a dealer in Canada are similarly priced to those you pay to import from the US.
The ARP head bolts are a good idea, good insurance for the engine and re-usable.
A lot of people recommend a Mazda head gasket, and I have found good results with those, even on the turbo cars I run.
I would get a valve grind, rather than buy new valves.
You may want to buy new hydraulic lash adjusters, but that is a bit pricey.
All the heads I have taken apart do have very slightly sagged valve springs. And all the advice on Spec Miata forums is discard the valve springs whenever you open up an old head.
I bought a double spring set from SuperMiata of intermediate spring strength for my current turbo build- target 180-200 hp. Not so sure I needed it, but since I was replacing springs anyhow, why not upgrade.
The F-type trans is weaker than the G-type, and the E-series is really weak. The G-type is a better one to run, but requires fab on trans mounts and work on positioning the engine. However, they have become fairly hard to find.

1.6festiva

I have checked out your builds multiple times! and actually looking at them was part of my inspiration to take on doing one myself about a year and a half ago.

I will check out the dealership for rings and a head gasket thanks for that!

I didnt check the valves or guides measurment specs, but thats good to know about just getting a valve grind, so, once I know the specs Ill see about that, I also think that the guides might be out of spec because of some of the smoking Im getting on acceleration, it does have new oem valve guide seals i put in a year n half ago because about 4 or 5 of the original exhaust ones had completely become unseated and others were loose on the intake, which leads me to believe that the valve guides were letting in some pressure from the combustion chamber and popped them off.
It kindof sucks to have to dish out a few more hundred bucks to get new valve seals again with this rebuild but I want to do this one right

Ok thats one thing I was wondering about, the valve lash adjusters, I get a bit of ticking on start up for 1 - 2 seconds, but I thought I may just be able to take em apart and clean them, but maybe getting a new set is the way I will go, what is the reason for getting new ones versus cleaning the old, are they just getting old and worn down

I get a bit of valve train chatter at higher rpm which i figured would be tired springs, yeah I thought too why not upgrade

I had to fabricate mounts for the Fseries because i had to mount the engine forward and with a tilt, I have tried searching for a g series tranny with no luck for almost a year now, but I hope to find some other tranny that may work that I could mount with an adapter plate, but that is in the unforseen future. For now, best thing I can do is just upgrade the clutch

thanks for the info on when I get the bore checked out on the block, I would hope to just get it honed and not bored out,

speaking to others helps out with giving me the extra push to get going on this, because I dont know anyone personally who does custom work on cars, thanks mr Icedawg

Icedawg

Another thing I have started doing is getting a fresh oil pump. I have found re-using old ones (usually > 200,000 km) is not working out. One stopped pumping, one had the pressure release valve jam partially open, and others do not maintain enough pressure at idle once the oil is race hot.
The 2001 -05 Miata oil pump from Mazda is higher volume flow rate, to serve the VVT , and fits on any big nose crank. I believe all the MX3 4 cyl engines are big nose, but don't recall for sure.
Or go with the Boundary engineering pump for a major upgrade. but for your power range, and on the street, a new stock one for VVT vintage engines will be a good upgrade.

Cleaning the lash adjusters out may be enough, I have done it both ways, and can't really say one is better.

When you take it to a shop to do a valve grind they will check the valve guide clearance if you ask.

JakZe

iTrader: (1)

This should of been a no brainer.

Icedawg

At this point I agree, but they do cost a lot, so I had been trying to avoid it. It did not always work out so well, as per above.
And they were within spec, it just turns out in spec is not good enough for race engines.
On the other hand I have re-used multiple old pumps in rotary engine rebuilds and never had a problem. But that is not the case for these piston engines.