Here at Mazdaspeedmods, we focus on modifications and maintenance to get the most out of our MZR DISI motors. Today is something a little bit different. Meet Jason Pendleton and his K Series Mazdaspeed 3 build. The Honda K series motor is popular, and for good reason. It handles a lot of power in stock form, has large aftermarket support, and is widely available. Read on to learn the history behind this car and the plans for this unique Mazdaspeed3.
When and how did you get started with the Mazdaspeed platform?
I vividly remember the first time I saw a mazdaspeed6. I had no idea what it was but knew it sounded amazing and looked much nicer than every other 6 I had seen. I was in my early 20’s and found out what it was and fell in love looking at pictures all over the internet. Being a broke Honda kid with a dead-end job, the car never seemed to be within my reach. It wasn't until 2018 when I bought my black Gen2 Mazdaspeed 3. The opportunity arose, the price was right, and I jumped on it! It all took off from there.
You went big turbo on the Mazdaspeed 3, then sold it to Spooling Up Performance. Why did you sell the car?
I ultimately sold my gen2 for a few reasons. The car had a built short block, a 4” hood exit and it became my daily driver shortly after finishing the build. Not only did I not want to put the miles on it once it was “finished” but driving daily with fireballs blasting out the hood in Louisville wasn’t ideal, to say the least.
I also had found a RCSB Silverado that caught my eye and I had to jump on it. The biggest reason for selling was honestly I enjoyed building it way more than driving it, sad but true. That was the first car I ever fabricated anything on. I had little welding experience at the time. If you knew how many times I redid certain parts as I got better, you’d probably cry haha. I wanted to start fresh with everything I had learned over the course of the build!
When did you get the idea to throw a Honda K20 into a Mazdaspeed3?
The idea of the K Swap first came to my mind after I had been sourcing parts for the MZR setup. I felt like a good majority of the go-fast parts only available in group buys because of little support of the platform. I got into cars after owning a slew of janky Hondas but knew that any and everyone made parts for them, so even a SFWD build wouldn’t be too out of reach. My buddy had a Piston/Rod/Spring/Retainer K20z3 he was selling for a steal so I gave it some thought and ultimately wanted to test my skills to see if I could do it. So I bought the engine and just ran with it!
There isn't exactly a guide on "how to put a K series is a Mazdaspeed." What's been the biggest challenge in the build so far? How beneficial has it been being a welder/fabricator for this project?
You’re absolutely right, there definitely isn’t a manual, nor other people to ask about this specific setup, but you’d be surprised with how easy it actually is. I had a few coworkers with EK/EG chassis and I took some measurements. The speed3 was only 1/2” difference in width of the frame rails in the bay! I didn’t go through the hassle of keeping the car CANBUS or any of that, so it has a stand-alone engine harness that integrates into my chassis solid state PDM from RyWire.
The biggest hurdle to date would be how much less room there is on the engine to firewall compared to the MZR. The K series has a 15° lean back from the factory. I could have done lean mounts to stand it straight up but I felt the lean is, for choice of better words, iconic to the K20/24. Since I decided to change to AWD after I started the build, I'm battling clearance issues. Had I chose this route originally, I would have lifted the engine a few inches to clear the transfer case on the subframe. However, now that the setup is almost complete, lifting it would now cause a ton of collateral damage (to my wallet) with making new radiator hoses, new intercooler pipes, and potentially changing the axle length to prevent any sort of bind. But without a doubt, I WILL make it happen!
To answer the second part of the question, none of this would have been possible for me financially had I not known how to weld! I feel as though I spend a ton of time questioning how I ever built a car without knowing how to weld because it seems like each stage of the car I have found myself needing to weld one thing or another. I’m by no means a weldporn welder, I’m no Jesse James when it comes to fabricating, but I take pride in learning more with each arc I start! I must make a huge shoutout to Jimi Geese and Nick Sweeney for all their pointers and help over the duration of this, among my other builds!
What are your plans and goals when the car is finished?
Currently, I want to finish up the few things I have left to test the car (fwd) and dial everything in. The car still has weak points in the build (stock sleeves, cams, and synchro trans) but my end goal is an AWD track setup that I can just enjoy, make memories in, and push the limits of my skill set!
Any word of advice for anyone interested in such ambitious projects?
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone that wants to take on a project like this, it would be this: have fun with it! Push yourself, and keep striving for more! I have countless amounts of people that ask how I’m able to do the things I do. I just tell them to dive in head first, learn, mess up, try again, and never give up. I’ve had weeks where I just want to sell it all. I’ve had weeks where I weld like Ray Charles. There were times I test fit things numerous times and then out of no where it decides not to fit. Times I didn’t think far enough ahead and need to take 80 steps back to make things flow together... but seeing the car get to where it is, and seeing how much love I get for it- which I thought I would be blacklisted from the Mazdaspeed pages for this swap- makes it ALL worthwhile! I feel as though sometimes people take this too seriously and they end up killing all the enjoyment that it once brought to most of us. At the end of the day we all have a passion, and that’s what brings us together!
To follow the progress on Jason’s K Series Mazdaspeed 3, follow him on social media. His Instagram is #junkiebuilt, and he posts often on his Facebook page and the Mazdaspeed Facebook groups. Thanks Jason for your time, and we can’t wait to see this thing rip! To see other Mazdaspeed builds, go check out the other big names in the speed game.
