so i have a 1993 Mazda Protege sitting in my back yard that im going to be using for a Chump Car 24hr le man style race. im pretty sure it still runs but i know it was parked because of the transmission. my brother was the owner at the time and figured it was the torque converter. i know very little about mazdas or automatic trans for that matter. how hard is it to replace the torque converter. and i read the NA Theory and mods threads. so i think im gonna stick with those because these cars have have a 500 or lesser dollar value... minus all safety equipment, and without wheels, tires rotors and pads. any other cheap ideas? for the car... the whole thing will be gutted? sorry this is like 2 or 3 questions in one.

 

Porting and polishing is a good idea. I'm not sure which engine management you could use with an automatic, but I know a lot of people modify from stock management on those races.

 

do you know anything about the auto trans in terms of figuring out whats wrong with it? any way to tell if its the torque converter rather than the whole tansmission?

 

The bad news is that it is rarely ever just the torque converter. Most of the time, the clutch seals are bad and they take the clutches with them. The good news is that you should be able to find a used one at the salvage yard.

 

ok sweet thats not to bad. im sure if we get ont from the yard we will just run through it real quick and make sure its good. any ideas on what to look for.