the end of my gearbox... again... :(

ok... to cut the story short... i broke my gearbox last december, fixed it and then blew my gearbox on the drag day.

yes... this is my second time.... few months ago i did 15.4sec and broke my 3rd gear....

this time basically the 2 top engine mounts broke.... and the one under the battery snapped.... must've been after the burnouts.... i didnt realise... then after that, when i launched, the gearbox just pop on the second gear... no internal gear was broken, but the cage is cracked open and i guess the engine on angle give stress to the gearbox and driveshaft which appearently also snapped....

damage report: gearbox have hole, drive shaft snapped, 1 engine mount snapped, 2 others engine mount broken, fan shroud broken / get hit by the engine, selector link snapped... thats all i can find atm.... hopefully no more...

after doing some research, the closest design to mazda3 gearbox (G35M-R) is the MTX-75 gearbox from ford focus.... i bought the australian version... with 4.06 final drive... planning to put KAAZ or QUAIFE LSD in it too... ford MTX75 has Rib cage and stronger built... but the mazda3's gear ratio is better.... (but ford MTX75 can be easily upgraded to QUAIFE gear set)

i'll convert to MTX75 (ford focus gearbox) and hopefully it will hold better... maybe its not mazda3's gearbox fault.... its me who probably cant drive properly...

i'm starting the conversion next month... in the mean time, im just gathering info and inputs... please give me as much info as possible and please let me know if you have any suggestions or other possibilities... and i'll keep you guys imformed...




if you look at the pic... the mount that snapped are not the rear one... but the big top left mount under the battery holder....



appearently that top left engine mount snapped then drop the engine on angle.... and the driveshaft also on angle... and then pressure build to the gearbox then BOOM!

i started researching abit last night.... the bolt pattern are not the same.... and the MTX75 are bigger than the G35M-R.... but the MTX75 built are more solid with rib caging....

i need to custom the driveshaft... i probably had to make billet one... and custom the engine mount too...

i've got the gearbox + flywheel + clutch + 4.06 final drive ratio for $750AUD (secondhand from a local junkyard) thats cheaper than $2000AUD secondhand mazda3 gearbox.... so i have to make this conversion work...

also the LSD for MTX75 is alot cheaper than the LSD for mazda G35M-R...