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Discussion Starter · #1 · (Edited)
This build thread is now completed. The 3 will be returned entirely to it's stock form and will be traded in for a different vehicle within the coming months. Thanks for a hell of a ride with all you guys, I've had a blast!

April 10th, 2017 (The day I brought it home):



So now let's go a little further. Once I got it home I decided to do a few cosmetic mods. Wasn't a big fan of the stock front license plate location so I ordered a relocator from Corksport, and also decided to get some stickers for the back as well (No, I'm not in high school still, just love me some stickers :grin2: ) Not pictured but I used the Corksport LED kit and my interior/plate lights are amazing. 10/10 on that one.




July 12th, 2017:

I decided to get some window visors partly for cosmetics but mostly because of how easily window washer fluid gets on my window when I use it. :tongue_smilie 1:



The same day, I also got new badges for the rear of my car as well. I was able to cover the stock holes with the Evil M and the 3M tape behind it, and most of the former Mazda logo as well by using the same method. I plan to pull the bottom part of the hatch plastics out and seal all the holes though just to be safe.



September 8th, 2017:

Finally got the 17's installed! Plan is to knock out the front lip, rally flaps, and spoiler install all tomorrow morning as well. Hoping for the best and of course, will update when finished.



September 14th, 2017:


Finally got around to installing my front lip and rally flaps. Here's some pictures of it all on. Really makes me realize how much I need more low. :(






September 18th, 2017:

Spoiler is test fitted and coated in the temporary "go-fast stickers" while I take the next two weeks to look at it and decide if I wanna run it permanently and get it paint matched or ditch it and look for another style spoiler. Don't worry, the stickers aren't permanent. I just didn't like the idea of an ugly ass primer grey on the back but also wanted to take this oppurtunity to mess around with $20 worth of stickers :p



October 14th, 2017:

Well, it was a long night. We actually missed a car meet we were going to head out to and ended up staying in to finish the mods. But here's the rally light idea come to full fruition. We ended up running a separate harness for the lights instead of going with my plan to incorporate them into the car's wiring harness using the factory fog light harnesses due to the amount of power they pull. So they're ran to a switch that's installed in the blank area beside my traction control and TPMS buttons. The control box behind it actually has a PCB board on it so we had to run the wires out of the side of the box. It was pretty complex but I had the guys at High Low Customs fix me up.



So, here's how it sits as of October 14th, 2017:



November 3rd, 2017:

Finally got around to getting my custom exhaust installed. This is a bit of a "dry run" as I'm trying to tinker with the sound. However, this attempt is basically using some no name eBay muffler/tip and it came out great. Aside from a low-end rumble and a more defined tone, there's not much difference from stock and I love it. Not only does it give me the exact look I wanted (dual to single exit), it gives me a sound that isn't obnoxiously loud or raspy. Going to buy an actual brand name muffler/tip and run that sometime after Thanksgiving. So next two mods (hopefully) will be my new window tint and revisiting the exhaust.

Here's an exhaust clip:




November 18th, 2017:

Finally got the James Barone Racing Rear Wiper Delete kit on today, was really easy, had more trouble pulling my plastics than putting this thing on.

Here's the before:


And here's the after:


December 1st, 2017:

Got the 5mm spacers on the front and rear wheels. Pretty happy with the front wheel spacers, the rear could probably use an 8mm-10mm with extended lug nuts so may look into that in the future but for now it works great.



January 24th, 2018:

The mod bug is biting me hard so I decided to go ahead and tinker with the one thing that's cheap, easy and always fun to do which is stickers. I went back to the drawing board and planned it out (I know, sounds lame for stickers) and decided to run it with a single vertical row down the middle, but also decided to keep a couple stickers on the driver's side as well. I might strip the stickers off my spoiler this weekend and paint it flat black in another attempt to quell my need to mod my car.



March 15th, 2018:

One of my experimental ideas is coming to fruition. I'm currently waiting to get some time to get the gauges installed correctly so it may take a few weeks to get them in, but I'll definitely update when I do. It's an Ortiz Custom Pods gauge pod made specifically for my vehicle. The pods were fabricated on an OEM pillar, allowing it to retain it's safety aspects of being able to fold away from the driver in the event of a crash. I'm very happy with the design and finish of this product. Well worth the money. However, if I had a chance to buy again I'd check out the block8 gauge pods as well. The gauges going in the gauge pod are ProSport gauges. Oil pressure and water temperature will finally be reliably monitored instead of waiting for a dummy light to tell me it's too late. Since I have a third spot, I opted for a voltmeter temporarily. In the future, this may change (Corksport get that turbo kit out soon please).



March 21st, 2018:

RIP stickers 2017-2018, waiting for a more financially responsible moment to buy my new MS-Style spoiler and send it straight to the paint booth.



July 9th, 2018:

Oh man, it finally happened. Could Zs_3 finally be growing up from his hot hatch wannabe ways and start building a reasonable hatchback that everyone loves? Nah, I just got rid of the rally lights and stickers. I will say that working on the Mazda proved to be a pain compared to my truck. Granted, everything on the truck is wide open compared to the tight spaces of working on the Mazda. But I do miss giving the Mazda love. I really need to get back into the modding spirit and revisit my plans for it. Anyways, here's some pictures after being gone for over four months.





October 11th, 2018:

Man, I've been gone for awhile haven't I? Well, it finally happened. The stickerbomb spoiler was paintmatched, and now I hate it. Okay, maybe hate's the wrong word for it. But Mazda's paint is so thin that before it's even been test fitted, the thing's already got a couple of nicks in the paint. Not happy about that, but I'll live. I did live up to what I said before about revisiting my plans, and they were pretty....outlandish. Since then, I've changed a ton of stuff up and thought about exactly where I want this car to be and how much I want to spend. That was also brought on by having a major project (the truck) and finally doing something about the Jimmy laying to waste in my front yard. But with the Mazda as my dedicated daily driver, it's still getting the love and attention it deserves. This winter should be a good season to get a lot of stuff done to it, so hopefully I'll be revisiting this forum more often than I have lately.

Not seen in the pic is me fitting the 2nd Gen MS3 spoiler extension onto my spoiler. As expected, it's almost a perfect fit, but the adhesive sucks and I don't see it staying on the spoiler that long. I'm also slightly afraid as fragile as this paint is, trying to strip the adhesive off may take some of the new paint off with it. Who knows, maybe I'll just hit up one of these local wrap shops and do something different (but not stickerbomb different) with it.



October 25th, 2018:

IT. HAS. HAPPENED.

The spoiler is finally painted. It's been a long time coming and there were so many obstacles but it's finally over. I guess the build is over. This is the climax of all effort on this vehicle. I can't go on. I have peaked. Thanks for playing!



October 29th, 2018:

FINAL UPDATE: Well, it appears as if the Mazda's spoiler is no more. Apparently, the spoiler was made by the manufacturer molding a low grade metal nut into the plastic of the spoiler, and that nut spun in place and completely destroyed the hole where it goes. The other side of the spoiler has also suffered a crack as well and seeing as it was a $110 spoiler without paint I really don't feel like having it fixed and then repainted AGAIN. So with that being said, I'm taking it as a sign that my time is coming to an end with my 3 and that we'll be parting ways soon. I'm going to begin reverting it back to stock (still going to need to find a stock blue spoiler at some point) and probably trade it in on something more fun to play with and mod. I've been enjoying this car for over a year and a half but this spoiler is my edge and I've been shoved off it.


Thanks for all the fun I've had on this board, it's been a blast to get to meet you all and share some great input as well. I hope you guys' modding adventures take you further than mine did, and may you have much better luck than myself!
 

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Discussion Starter · #11 ·
So DTD screwed me over on my order of wheels through them. They had a set for 50 percent off and said they have a full set available so me being the deal-lover that I am, I snatched them up. However, a few hours later I got an email asking to call them because there was an issue with my order. They informed me that they didn't have enough to send me and that the manufacturer didn't have any more either, so they tried to up sell me on some different wheels and throw in lugnuts for free lol. I ended up getting a refund and finding a nice set of Drag DR-31's that I decided to get. I wanted to get some Gen 2 MS3 wheels on it but the offset was further in than my stockers supposedly, so the DR-31's are a nice compromise.

Will post new pictures in the main thread when I get them mounted with a set of 225/45r17 tires!
 

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Discussion Starter · #12 · (Edited)
Well, strike two for DTD. Just bought a new set of wheels off of them, and about two hours later I checked my order and noticed that there was an ad for 10 percent instant savings. I checked the new price and it was 50 bucks off! I contacted DTD about the pricing to see if I could get my total adjusted by chance or if I could just cancel my current order and place a new one for the discount. Call me a cheapskate but I love a good deal. :p

EDIT: Talked to the customer service rep and they ended up cancelling my original order and placing a new one so I could save the money off of the new deal. I'd probably buy from them again if given the chance.
 

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Discussion Starter · #15 ·
As far as i know, BaysonR doesn't have front lip for 2017 facelift, what did you buy exactly?
I bought the 2014-2016 front lip. I got some pictures from BaysonR showing fitment on a 2017 and it was like 99 percent spot on. I also test fitted it onto my own vehicle and the fitment is spot on. But I also have a 2017 MZ3 Sport so I don't know if the other packages have differently designed bumpers.
 

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Discussion Starter · #17 ·

· Too Many Projects!
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Discussion Starter · #18 · (Edited)
Thread updated with more info on parts coming soon and getting installed next weekend. Also put more info on the rally light setup, the aftermarket gauge setup and the custom exhaust setup along with a mockup picture

Within the next month I'll work to get the pictures sized down as well. :)
 

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Discussion Starter · #22 ·
Oil pressure monitoring isn't available through the OBD system.
As said by arathol, the OBD system doesn't monitor oil pressure and my paranoia doesn't like that:laugh2:

But it won't be difficult at all to run a sandwich adapter for the oil pressure gauge. Might use the OBD monitor to watch the water temp and get away with not needing to splice into a radiator hose. But that part of the "build" is still a long ways away. Lol
 

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Discussion Starter · #24 ·
ZS 3, please let us know if / when you locate an oil filter adapter that fits the Mazda3. I would be interested in doing that myself some day. I hate not knowing what the oil pressure is doing. I have a 2L. Thanks.
Can do, I'll probably do a small write up on it as well when I do get around to doing it so others can do it if they want to.
 

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Discussion Starter · #27 ·
did you take the wheels off to install the mudflaps?
The front wheels were simple, just had to turn them so I would have room to work. We did remove the rear wheels to install the flaps however. There's definitely no room to work with them on the car.

But the install was pretty straight-forward. If you have a 2017/2018 though, you might have to trim a VERY small amount on your inner fender in the rear. But RokBlokz made a great kit and I'd buy again.
 

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Discussion Starter · #29 ·
yea i was leaning towads them vs the rally armor.. but would prefer not trimming the fender.. if i didn't it would just stick out towards the wheel a bit right?
The trimming I had to do was very minimal, and probably could be avoided by just going ahead and installing it as is. It seems like a small flap at the end of the inner fender was pushed up against the rally flap too much, and since me and my buddy had some snips with us we went ahead and alleviated that issue. It looks like on the 2014-2016 there isn't a flap like that inside the inner fender, just on the 2017 (and I would imagine probably the 2018 ). The price is definitely worth it though, these are some really well made rally flaps compared to some others I've seen and felt in person. Don't let that thumb-sized amount of trimming scare you away from these flaps, I'd do this kit 20 times over again in a heartbeat.
 

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Discussion Starter · #31 ·
Just an FYI - Sandwich plates are pretty generic, most companies offer adapters for the two main sizes used throughout a lot of car manufactures.

Here's one that works - https://www.mishimoto.com/oil-plate-sandwich-adapter.html.
I've been looking at the one from Glowshift, and I believe you can find the thread pitch you need by looking up the Oil Filter at O' Reilly's/Autozone (and possibly in the manual)
 

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Discussion Starter · #35 ·
Can I get a link to that spoiler? How was the fit?
It's the BaysonR MS-Style Spoiler. Fitment was pretty damn good, I have no complaints. The install wasn't half bad either, I managed to do it by myself by some creative maneuvering but having a second set of hands wouldn't hurt either. Be warned you do have to cut the wires from your old third brake light to install the LED brake light but as long as you have basic wire splicing skills you'll be okay (i.e. if you've ever installed an aftermarket stereo before, or tied a bread tie together :p ).

Here's the link, I recommend it.

MS-Style Rear Roof Spoiler (ABS) + Red Lens LEDs Fits 14-18 Mazda 3 Hatch 5dr | eBay
 

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Discussion Starter · #37 ·
Edit: Also, how was the installation of it? Could you send me any info you have on it? Is it just unbolt from inside?
The installation was crazy simple. All you have to do is pull the upper part of your hatch plastic covers, then there's going to be about four nuts to unscrew from the spoiler. The spoiler has studs on it so it's a relatively easy uninstall. Be careful pulling the side plastics of your spoiler though, IIRC there's a nut/screw or something of that nature under them but I might be wrong. I've slept since I pulled my stocker off. The install of the new spoiler was easy. You have to put the two pieces together before you put them on the car, but there's instructions in the box to show you how to do that. Then you basically bolt (the new spoiler isn't studded like the stock one) the new one in place of where the old spoiler's nuts/studs were. I ran into the issue where there was some sort of glue or something in place of my holes but my car was still brand new so 2014-2016 might not have this issue. There's also wiring, make sure you tie the wires together and tape them/isolate them safely. I'd give it a 2 out of 10 on difficulty level as long as you have a basic knowledge of hand tools, wiring to install the LED light and pulling your plastics without breaking anything :p

All in all it's worth it, I say go for it. And if you have any questions, I've had nothing but good experience when I needed to talk to the guys over at BaysonR. Just send them a message on eBay or contact them through their website.
 
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