GEN JUAN: Cosmic Blue '07 Mazdaspeed 3 GT

[jbails39]

This marks the beginning of the build for my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 GT. Bought it off a guy in Fredericksburg who needed the money to settle debts, needless to say got a good deal. It was obvious this car had issues from the get-go, but I found enough redeeming features to feel it was worth the purchase/ potential future issues. Bottom-line, $$$. Also 119K miles.

I purchased the car conditionally, under the guarantee that it be compression and leak-down tested beforehand at a dealership, so the motor wouldn't suddenly Zoom Zoom Boom on me. All tests came back within spec, no obvious signs of impending doom, and away I went.

Thread will be updated in a similar fashion to other projects with timely progress reports/pictures. Formatting to be cleaned up later.

The Good:
-Compression/Leak Tested within spec
-New Clutch and Flywheel
-New Front Axle
-No serious paint issues
-Very minor dings/scratches
-Pulls Hard
-Cold Starts VERY well
-VVTC is taught
-Turbo is somehow still alive
-Has a very amusing HKS SSQV
-Cold Air Intake, also fun.
-Purrs like a kitten at idle, no strange engine noises.


The Bad:
-Previous owner(s) neglected really basic level shit.
-Stupid LED strip lighting all over the interior, some working, some not.
-Wired for some sort of sound system that no longer exists. FML
-Car pulls to the left (Alignment issue) (FIXED)
-TERRIBLE plastidip job on the rims- Thin coating, over-spray onto calipers, etc.
-Headlights
-Right- condensation issues
-Left- Some sort of ticking noise from it, assuming it has to do with the auto-level motor or something like that.
-Awful squeaking and clunk noises from the front and possibly rear. (FIXED)
-Bose speakers sound like shit- possibly swapped and sold, need to check.
-Front right rim is dented, road vibrations at 65 and up. (FIXED-REPLACED)
-Interior, while surprisingly good, has some minor issues, small tear in driver side seat.

Impending Upgrades and Fixes, in order of importance:
-Alignment (FIXED)
-Noise investigation (FIXED)
-Unbend Rim (FIXED)
-Replace rotors and pads, clean calipers (DONE)
-Check out swaybars, endlinks, replace if necessary(DONE)
-Struts, Shocks, and Springs(DONE)
-Transmission fluid change to Ford XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic(DONE)
-Remove small dents from all over (WIP)(NAH)
-Cobb Accessport V3(DONE)
-High Pressure Fuel Pump(DONE)
-Catted/Catless Downpipe
-Exhaust(DONE)
-Front Mount Intercooler
-Budget for Motor/Turbo failure and subsequent build.(LOL)
Pictures of whip go here: