'06 Mazdaspeed 6 build for daily use

[mindys]

So, this is the first time I will be doing one of these post, so bear with me.

Two weeks ago on a Sunday I bought a 2006 Mazdaspeed 6 with 103k miles that lost compression on one of the cylinders. The car was 3 hours (around 180 miles) away from my location. So I called the guy up, asked to send me a few pictures, made a deal for $1,500 and arranged a meeting time.

I am keeping the car at my buddy's place because he has a large garage and I don't, so I also asked him if we could use his F150 and a trailer to get the car back home. He borrowed a trailer from one his friends and off we went. On the way there, we got pulled over by a cop because we almost lost one of the ramps from the trailer, and this set the stage for the rest of the day.

We got to the guys place, looked over the car, drove it, loaded it and were back on our way home. We decided to grab some food, so we stopped in town after driving maybe 10 miles. I looked at the trailer because I saw the car was sitting weird and found this:



Trailer was cracking because it was improperly welded. Luckily it didn't break while on the way home. So, I decided to drive the car back on three cylinders. Stopped for gas, picked up a few quarts of oil, filled up the tires with air and was on my way. Trip back took us about 5 hours because the car was burning through about a quart of oil every 50 miles, but the car is at his garage and is currently being disassembled for the engine removal. It took 5 quarts to get the car back.

The plan is to rebuild and reseal the engine, replace all the piston rings and see what kind of damage there is on cylinder 3. So far the other issues with the car are a leaking AC, three bad front LCA ball joint boots, CD player does not work and the driver side door panel has a melted region because the window switch melted. Luckily, the guy put in a new switch, but it still doesn't work. Other issues with the engine include a leaking oil pan and a stripped oil drain plug thread. The rear arches do have rust developing on them, too.

This car will be my full time winter vehicle and will share daily driving responsibilities with my 2015 Mustang GT PP. I do not plan on building the engine or adding much more power to the car (that is reserved for the Mustang). I may throw in H-beams into the engine just so the connecting rods are not a worry if the car gets a torque increase.

Anyways, here are some pictures of it. I should have the engine out of it this Sunday! Stay tuned