00bluees' '02 Protege 5

[00bluees]

This thread will serve as a "build thread" for my car. Not a whole lot going on i will admit, but at least it can serve as a journal of my cars life and the mods i do.
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Here are some recent shots of my 2002 Protege 5 for everyone to view. Sure its not much, but its mine.:p Like everyone, i've got plenty of plans for the car, no point in listing them because most of them, as i have accepted, are dreams.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/055.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/057.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/058.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/066.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/060.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/061.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/067.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/065.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/070.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/069.jpg

So theres some pics. Heres an up to date list of things that have been done to the car.

black = same as last update/current mod

blue = removed etc.

red = changed/new as of May 2010

Under the Hood Etc.

- ractive 4-1 header (extended 2nd o2 sensor beyond 2nd cat)
- stock manifold, corksport j-pipe, removed stock resonator.
-medieval front and rear motor mounts
- "long reach" NGK plugs (part no. ZFR5F-11)
- new rust free oil pan
- Nyloil shifter bushings (thanks stagefour motorsports) i would recommend against these. have not been impressed.
- Racing Beat MP3 axleback shortened to fit. also have used custom ractive and mazdaspeed "sport" droneboxes.
exhaust videos page 4

Exterior

- Original Autoexe urethane front lip (repaired many times in its life)
- DRL elimination. fogs are on anytime ignition is on (and fog switch is turned on) used this how-to from MP5_tofu http://www.toprotege.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37352
- fog deletes
- '03 rims (painted black)
- painted top strip of front grille to match car
- stock grille (after accident)
- painted rear valence
- mazda 6 wagon rear wiper
- 323f badge (from London, U.K.)
- repainted read hatch and temp. repaired wheel well rust
- Nexen N2000 tires (suck)
- Apexcone 6000k hid's
- fiamm freeway blaster dual horns (hi/lo tone)
- Lamin-x "gunsmoke" headlight covers
- shaved hatch of emblems (complete new hatch)
- Rota slipstream 15x6.5 gunmetal wheels - 2 Kumho V710 and 2 Hoosier R6 tires. 205/50/15. Auto X wheels.

Interior/Audio

- Protege 5 Aluminum door sill garnish
- Pioneer DEH-P7600MP deck
- Clarion SRC 5795 front door speakers
- unknown cheap rear door speakers
- Mtx X-thunder 10" sub. mtx terminator amp.
- Viper alarm.
- DaveB (replica??) gauge rings

Suspension

- tokico illumina struts
- H&R springs (1.3" drop)
- Msp front strut mounts, P5 rears.
- Endlinks (courtesy of MOSI)
- progress technology 22mm rear sway bar

Recent updates fall '08

- freshly "removed" Autoexe lip from Krown (now in 4 pieces as opposed to the 2 i got it in):(

Thanks for checkin this out!

[dead_cactus]

Looks good. Any plans to lower it?

[iBbLaCkMaN02Pro5]

It's ugly.

So when we gonna meet up so I can take a better look at it? Curse you and those door sills!

[iJay]

Those door sills are bad ass!

[00bluees]

Looks good. Any plans to lower it?

yes. with tokico's and H&R's. however if you ask my wife the answer would be different. one day i will convince her.

[dead_cactus]

yes. with tokico's and H&R's. however if you ask my wife the answer would be different. one day i will convince her.

Nice choice :D

[The Destroyer]

Looking good Preston. Its definitely coming along very nicely. Good job as always!

[prot3g3]

krown ***ked up your lip?

whats going on with that?

car looks good dude, definately comming along, to bad winter is just around the corner

[00bluees]

krown ***ked up your lip?

whats going on with that?

car looks good dude, definately comming along, to bad winter is just around the corner

haha yea. they said to me "it was too low for our ramps, and it was too late when we noticed." no s*** sherlock!! its snapped on either side of the lower grill. the drivers side that had been fixed by a body shop long before i had it snapped clean in 2. my ghetto fix with PL on the passenger side was still clinging to life, and a small piece had snapped off where i had the screws in the fender well. they are taking care of it. maybe it will fit better when i get it back!! it needed new paint (already) anyways. it got molested by a gravel truck, along with the rest of my front end.

[prot3g3]

well thats pretty sweet then. when did they say you will get it back? and where are they getting it done

[00bluees]

well thats pretty sweet then. when did they say you will get it back? and where are they getting it done

the one guy that works there was taking care of the lip. he has a body shop at home and restores lots of cars new and old. then sending it somewhere to get painted. not sure how long i will take. he said said give him some time it will be more than a week. doesn't matter to me though, won't be going back on until spring. they can take their sweet time with it.

[prot3g3]

just make sure you get it back lol! and still keep on him, better to have it in your hands fixed ASAP so no headaches later lol

[greenlink1]

Sick car man!! Too bad about the lip, but at least ur gettin it fixed!
Any thoughts of gettin some sick rims? Its hard to decide wat colour though with a silver car. My friend has some 19" silver or chrome momo rims on his grand am... ther sick! His car is silverish lol!

[errnee]

Looks Nice ! Where did you get them door sills from ?? There cool I want some ;)

[00bluees]

Looks Nice ! Where did you get them door sills from ?? There cool I want some ;)

got them from an old guy at an auto flea market. who bought them from a guy in calgary at a flea market. i have no idea where you would get them or where they originated. came in an unmarked checkered box.

Sick car man!! Too bad about the lip, but at least ur gettin it fixed!
Any thoughts of gettin some sick rims? Its hard to decide wat colour though with a silver car. My friend has some 19" silver or chrome momo rims on his grand am... ther sick! His car is silverish lol!

i want some gold/bronze rims. i won't go big tho, probably stick with 16's. there aren't many 18"+ rims that i like for the P5, and i'll be going superlight too. but i won't have money to spend on wheels for a long long time. i'd lower it first and even thats a long way down the road.

[errnee]

Thats a smae about the sill plates, I'll have to hunt some down from some where....

Why not spray your stock wheels for now :noidea:

[00bluees]

Thats a smae about the sill plates, I'll have to hunt some down from some where....

Why not spray your stock wheels for now :noidea:

i'll probably be tackling that over the winter while they are off the car.

[GothicLolita]

We have the protege 5 door sills too, they are pretty rare from what I hear...but they are really nice.

[GothicLolita]

theres a thread here

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106601

with people selling them...theres light up ones too...

[00bluees]

theres a thread here

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106601

with people selling them...theres light up ones too...

i know i'd seen them on the net somewhere before. the guy had a price on mine of $25. i payed $15.:D he had a few more sets but i had no cash or i would have bought all of them and sold them. i was going to get the light up ones but he only had the "protege" and not "protege 5".

[dead_cactus]

If anyone is looking to buy the sill plates (both sedan and p5) they are on eBay, auction closes in less than 24 hours.

Protege sedan (http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mazda-Protege-Polished-Stainless-Steel-Sill-Plates_W0QQitemZ110304286480QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110304286480&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

Protege5 (http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mazda-Protege-5-Polished-Stainless-Steel-Sill-Plates_W0QQitemZ110304288818QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110304288818&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

[00bluees]

installed my MP3 Racing Beat axleback today courtesy of LondonMp3. sounds great paired with the ractive header. will have to get a video posted for all to hear. this is dead silent compared to the mazdaspeed "sport" axleback, but it really comes alive when you are on the gas mainly due to the header i believe. would be quieter with stock mainfold.

excuse the poor quality cell pics, my other camera was dead.

some before pics, installing to determine how much to cut off the tip portion. it looks silly otherwise (obviously)

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0490.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0491.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0492.jpg

after installation. worse pics. not 100% centered in the bumper cutout. that will have to be rectified when i install new hangers and tweak the rear metal hangers.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0494.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0493.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/SP_A0495.jpg

i am aware it still sticks out a little, i took out 5" of pipe between the muffler and tip. another 1/2" would be perfect, but the pipe cutter i used only allowed for 5" to be cut, and i wasn't about to mangle the pipe with a hacksaw or sawzall. i'm still happy with the length as is since it looks good. and he tip fits the exhaust cutout perfectly, despite being off a bit ATM.

from those with experience with off center exhaust, have any of you bent or adjusted the metal hanger at the 'front' of the muffler. (i.e. closest to the axle, not closest to the bumper) i could bend the one closest to the bumper but the other one doesn't look to be very moveable and is very hard to get a pry bar or anything on.

[dead_cactus]

Looks good. My catback sticks out a bit as well.

I look forward to seeing the video clip of the new exhaust.

[LondonMp3]

Looks good man

[prot3g3]

Looks good. My catback sticks out a bit as well.

I look forward to seeing the video clip of the new exhaust.

with the rear lip mines a perfect fit.

the hangers are super tough to bend, they need to be heated the moved with vice grips or channel locks.

post up some vids

[00bluees]

vids are coming. i shot one but with my picture camera in video mode, it sucked. i'll make another with video camera, although still cheap junk, it makes a big diff.

i had no problem bending the one hanger, closest to the rear of the car, the other one will be tricky. will probably just live with it till at least spring time.

[dead_cactus]

with the rear lip mines a perfect fit.

the hangers are super tough to bend, they need to be heated the moved with vice grips or channel locks.

post up some vids

Yep, I had a rear lip but sold it. The exhaust was perfectly flush with the rear lip. Might even return the exhaust back to stock in the next coming months.

[00bluees]

FAIL. stupid splash shield keeps breaking, going to try to re-attach again this aft. one more break and its getting ripped off for good.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-14.jpg

FAIL. stupid rust. you can see where i did patch jobs in the next couple pics, failrly obvious lines where i had it masked off. going to grind it all down in the summer por 15 it and repaint.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-16.jpg

FAIL.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-16.jpg

FAIL. hatch, again already repainted. doing again in the summer. around the badges is still good tho.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-17.jpg

FAIL. broken din pocket from removing when cold. fixing with contact cement.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/006-13.jpg

FAIL. dirty winter interior

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/011-10.jpg

[00bluees]

6000k apexcone hid's from ddmtuning.com. looks better in person since my camera sucks.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/007-10.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/008-9.jpg

drivers side ballast.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/012-7.jpg

pass. side ballast.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/013-6.jpg

ballasts will be relocated behind bumper once the snow is gone and its warm again. will also be installing fog deletes from blackk03.

current trunk setup. nothing fancy. mdf box by myself since the sub instruction manual told me exactly what pieces i needed and how to put it together. and yes i have used the shovel a few times this winter.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/014-7.jpg

[iJay]

damn your rust is pretty bad, i feel your frustrations brother

[00bluees]

^yeh. its worse when all the snow and ice is melted off the car. i shake my head every time i see it. summer time will be fun. my garage will be transformed into a paint booth if the time permits me to actually fix it (temporarily of course) don't have the cash to get it done right.

i'm also still waiting on my lip from krown since they broke it in the fall. not worried since it will probably be sold when i get it back. i've got something up my sleeve but we'll see what happens.

[iBbLaCkMaN02Pro5]

When you're ready to fix that rust up, give me a call and let me know when it's good to drop my P5 off!

[00bluees]

i think 22v is pretty close to duct tape colour eh? i think ill just tape over the rust. you can check it out on my car first ramon then you can see if you want it done too. :p

[00bluees]

finally uploaded a video of my current exhaust. have to get a new video because the most recent one has bad quality. old video has best sound. both videos the header is installed.

old exhaust. ractive can with custom axleback piping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rllGtT12jc

currently installed. MP3 racing beat axleback. (bad quality)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFSrGVpQzxo

the mp3 axleback doesn't sound as bad as it does in the video. it sounds about the same as the ractive but not as loud, not that a video could really show you the difference in volume anyways.


i also upgraded/replaced the horn yesterday. my stocker died so i got some fiamm freeway blaster horns (high and low tones) from princess auto. doesn't sound gay anymore!! mounted both horns with the included brackets on the rad support behind the grill. easy install.

no actual video of my car but it sounds like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoIXBdYpfN0&feature=related

[00bluees]

new stuff!!

picked up a set of medieval motor mounts for the front and rear.

new hotness

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-19.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-20.jpg



old and busted uglyness

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-18.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/006-15.jpg

yes it actually was completly torn though. needless to say it drives alot better now. vibes are increased at idle but not too bad. i only installed the front mount today and the rear will be going in soon, not going to tackle that mess by myself.

install of front mount was easy. undo 6 10mm bolts for drivers side under engine splash shield, undo 3 nuts on engine mount, remove old busted mount, put in new mount with 1/2" x1 1/2" grade 8 bolts and nuts with lockwashers. (since medieval front mount doesn't have bolts included or tacked to the mount itself) all in all the install took maybe 30-45 minutes. most of that was looking for tools in my parents re-arranged garage.



coming soon: led eyebrows, fog deletes, blacked out headlights. black painted stock rims.

[Keegz]

I don't like that fact that the new front mount appears to have half as much PU / Rubber material compared to OEM... that there is an obvious reason for increased vibration.

[shrews8]

Did you replace the rear wiper arm/motor?

[00bluees]

Did you replace the rear wiper arm/motor?

i have the mazda 6 wagon rear wiper. the arm and blade. have not replaced the motor.

if you plan on doing this you have to order 3 parts. wiper arm, blade and $1 little cover for the bolt where it attaches. i paid like $35 for everything at the dealer.

[shrews8]

How much better does it work? ...seeing as how the stock one is crap

[00bluees]

How much better does it work? ...seeing as how the stock one is crap

works fine. been a year and its worn a bit but still cleans. when i got my car the stock one only cleaned about an inch of the window.

[shrews8]

I know it's crap and I thought that getting a really good blade would make it better but the whole thing is just crap.

[00bluees]

more playing around. had to get these hooked up even though temporarily. 9.5 inch led strips from ledshoppe.com. cost me $27 total and arrived exactly a week after i ordered.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-20.jpg

led on

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-21.jpg

led off

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-19.jpg


right now i have these plugged into the front marker lights just as a temp. had to do some trial and error before i got the wires in the right spot (detremining positive/negative. which wire made them flash, which was just power etc) so i have to turn my headlight switch one click or more for them to come on. i will be hooking these up to the fogs as i have them wired to come on whenever the fog switch is on and the ignition is on, so drl's basically. and my fogs will be gone in a few weeks so these are the replacements.

i will be taking my headlights off to black them out, at which time i will fit these strips inside the housing, same place at the top of the housing but not just taped on top. in the pics they are just being held in place by the hood seal, and i now have them attached with double sided tape. like i said the setup is temp for now.

[CulRidr]

Going for the new Audi look eh? Looking forward to the final look with the blacked out housings...

[Mazda_Son]

Looks good. Do you have any night photos?

[00bluees]

^^no night pics yet. probably tonight though.



well i got bored today so this happened.......



stock a-pillar :puke:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-21.jpg

suede!! and the best part is, its very close in colour to the stock faux suede stuff in the car.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-16.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-22.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-20.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/007-13.jpg

next up will be b-pillars sunvisors and other bits and pieces. any sewing work i'll outsource to my mom :p . will tackle the headliner this year too. after that a long way down the road i want to do the door panels and the whole dash, but that will require professional help.

[00bluees]

another update. 16 pictures. i'll let the pics speak for themselves.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-18.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-20.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-22.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-23.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/009-12.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/014-9.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/016-4.jpg

couple pics to show new location of hid ballasts. drivers side pretty obvious. passenger side tucked underneath light housing.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/012-9.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/013-8.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/019-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/020-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/023-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/025-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/027.jpg

now in need of a wetsanding and polish. no time after i did all this.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/028.jpg



unfortunately my drivers side light didnt seal up 100%. after hitting the drive thru car wash the other day i noticed it was foggy despite having resealed both housings with silicone. guess i missed one tiny spot.

led's are wired as drl's at the fog switch (same as my fogs previously just tapped into fog harness) they are on whenever the fog switch is on and ignition in on. i love the new look with the black housing as i hated the chrome look from day 1. i also repainted my rims, they look good from a distance is about all i can say about that. better than before anyways. :lol:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/018-1.jpg

[timbit]

The LED mod is getting very popular lately
Should have mounted them on the bottom on the headlight assembly.
But still thumbs up for doing it yourself and being different with the P5.

[00bluees]

^yeh its getting played out fast. up here there aren't many cars with the mod, other than the factory audi's of which there are at least 3 a4's i see every morning with the led's.

i may change it up a bit but we'll see. don't like the look on the bottom of the housing though.

[dead_cactus]

Nice work, looks much better with the blacked out headlights.

[The Destroyer]

Looks great Preston! Nice to see the blacked out headlights and LEDs put in, great work!

Fog deletes look great on the car as well. Thought you were busy away from the car this weekend. :lol:

[00bluees]

Looks great Preston! Nice to see the blacked out headlights and LEDs put in, great work!

Fog deletes look great on the car as well. Thought you were busy away from the car this weekend. :lol:

this all took place last weekend. my internet refused to load photobucket all week or i would have had pics sooner. :p



if anyone is wondering how long this took. from start to finish a solid day, but i would set aside two to be safe. i took two full afternoons plus a bit. but i get distracted easily and did a couple other small things here and there.

[iBbLaCkMaN02Pro5]

Crap. All of it looks like crap. Go buy a Pontiac.

[00bluees]

updates. led's are f&*%ed up. only like 4 on one side light and 5 or so burnt on the other side. no idea why, don't really care. they are either coming out or getting covered by vinyl eyelids. therefore i have no drl's but who cares.

other update: ractive header is gonzo too. went back to stock manifold/precat, corksport j-pipe from culrider, deleted resonator in stock midpipe, same axleback.

soundclip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmmGE_y6aBo

not sure what else i have done really. drove 620.7 km's on 54 litres of fuel. that was lots of 130+ driving and hard acceleration, fuel light came on at about 530 km's. now i'm going boring and economical and going for 800km's on a tank. sitting at just above 2/3 tank according to gas gauge and 320 km's. will update. :p

[991.8l]

^ Thats too bad, the LEDs looked awesome... guess they were cheap.

[00bluees]

last pics before winter mode. now riding on tokico illuminas and h&r springs (these pics make it look pretty high up front but its very even on flat pavement) and a progress rear swaybar out back. must say i am impressed with the setup so far.

also installed the rear bumper step plate for practical purposes. lugging the big ass double stroller in and out of the back of the car scarred up the bumper, so this was put there to take the future beatings (and cover up some nasty gouges :p) looks pretty good too.

coming soon. winter tires and wheels, and winter mode maintenance. bit of rust touch up too before snow flies (even though it did already today)

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/020-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/021-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/022-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/023-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/024-2.jpg

[00bluees]

new pics from this past weekend. went for a nice backcountry drive.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-25.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-26.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/006-20.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/007-18.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/017-6.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/015-9.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/014-11.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/012-10.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/011-13.jpg

stuck.....lol

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/018-3.jpg

after pulled out

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/019-4.jpg

[1MAZDA]

^ What differences do you feel with the progressive bar?

[00bluees]

a lot more tail happy when you want it to be especially with the illuminas cranked up to the hardest setting. keeps the whole car flatter through fast turns unless you are really pushing it (autocross, track etc.) then it either turns the car into a tripod, or swings the ass end around.

autocross with stock suspension then after with the upgrades was night and day, as you would imagine.

[timbit]

Please keep that snow up in barrie,

Thanks.

[voy89]

nice

[00bluees]

new pics.

day after accident.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-28.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/006-22.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-29.jpg

during reconstruction.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/IMG00172-20100223-1555.jpg

finished!!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/025-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/026-2.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/027-1.jpg

debating what to do with the front end. have lamin-x tinted headlight covers in the mail. contemplating doing the top of the grille silver again and probably will. have silver vinyl for eyelids too. i dont plan on ripping apart the new headlights to black them out, if anything i'll get the "JDM" black sedan ones from ebay come summer time or something, but we'll see.

i might swap out the fog deletes. i do want some driving lights and was thinking of putting them behind the lower grille but i'm not sure yet. it depends on if i go for a small projector lense or a big fat 6" light. no stock fogs to revert back to since i sold them. i want more light output ahead of me anyways.

[dead_cactus]

Looks good. What's the name of the place that did the work? Satisfied with the work, would you recommend them to others?

[yangsui]

She's beautiful! Welcome back from the brink.

[00bluees]

Looks good. What's the name of the place that did the work? Satisfied with the work, would you recommend them to others?


Bromley Automotive located in Oro near Bass Lake. they do have a really good website but i can't find it. i type in the address and i think the site is down, is was up a few days ago.

I am very satisfied and would recommend these guys for anything. my vehicle has slight fitment issues (due to the cheapest aftermarket parts they could get in order to save my car) but when you pay full price you get fantastic work. They also did all of the areas Mazda protege warranty rust work when it applied. i checked out the '55 studabaker in the back room they were restoring and the work is unbelieveable.

save for the cheap parts on my car, the paint work is immaculate, and if my tax return is good enough i'll be heading back right away to get more paintwork and corrosion repair done. the owner told me he hated having to get the cheap parts for my car but it had to be done in order to save it, and that works for me!

[991.8l]

whats going on near where the fender meets the bottom of the driver door? Did they replace the fender at all?

[mazdaP5]

You had the black lights. Why didn't you try them again instead of the clear ! If you wanted clears I would of traded you for the blacks. Lol

[CulRidr]

His headlights were destroyed and the metallic ones were surely cheaper then the black ones...

[00bluees]

whats going on near where the fender meets the bottom of the driver door? Did they replace the fender at all?

nothing is going on, not sure what you are seeing exactly. maybe a visible gap accentuated by the direct sunlight? and the fenders weren't replaced just repainted/blended to match the new bumper/hood paint.

You had the black lights. Why didn't you try them again instead of the clear ! If you wanted clears I would of traded you for the blacks. Lol

chrome was the cheapest option. that aftermarket supplier only had the chrome, black would be from the dealer and mega $$$. plus mine were originally chrome i painted them black myself.

[991.8l]

^ cool, looks good. Ya I guess its just the sunlight, I thought there was some metal pushed out of place down there.

What is aftermarket on the car? Hood, bumper headlights? Fitment looks pretty great.

[00bluees]

^ about 95% of it was aftermarket. other than little pieces like some a/c piping and little clips and shit that are dealer only parts everything was aftermarket.

fitment is ok. the hood comes close to the fenders up near the windshield and it seems to have more of a crease down the centre compared to OEM.

also the pass. side headlight sits a tiny bit funny with the fender, like its facing towards the centre of the car a bit, but i can live with it and probably fix it next time i have the bumper off.

this of course is just me being picky, i have a sharp eye for the little things most of the time, especially with my vehicles.

[The Destroyer]

Looks good Preston. Glad to see it fixed and back on the road. Hope to see it out at some meets this year if you can find the time.

[DuRWooD]

Looks like they did good work, and matched the paint quite nicely. A lot of the times you can see different colour body panels in pictures especially. If I didn't know, I wouldn't suspect it was ever done. Glad she survived man.

[991.8l]

^ Silver is not bad, pearl white is a crapstorm though :(

[DuRWooD]

^ Silver is not bad, pearl white is a crapstorm though :(

lol yeah, a friend of mine got the front of his white corvette painted, another buddy of mine said "hey, you got the front painted" hahaha, he painted the whole car the next week.

[iJay]

Welcome back mane!
SiK cAr Yo

[00bluees]

Looks like they did good work, and matched the paint quite nicely. A lot of the times you can see different colour body panels in pictures especially. If I didn't know, I wouldn't suspect it was ever done. Glad she survived man.

yeh this silver doesn't seem too hard to match. i mean i repanited my whole hatch myself the first time i ever used a real spray gun, and the hatch doesn't even have clear on it, matches pretty good if you ask me (see all pics in this thread)

up close it looks like hell due to my half-assed prep work, but the colour matches.

[00bluees]

just a couple pics to show my latest (very small) updates.

lamin-x gunsmoke headlight covers.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/107.jpg


babies sticker :p since this is my family runner. wouldn't dare put them (or even let anyone else) in my death trap neon

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/109.jpg

and if i don't have to pay in for my tax return this year, the hatch is getting re-painted or replaced. will see what is most feasible and long lasting.

[madeinhk]

that rust is hurting my eyes and my heart ... LOL

[Shulman_]

^ headlight cover legal?... I was stopped yesterday, and my tinted tails could have gotten me a ticket... also my license plate cover, and exhaust lol

[The Destroyer]

Don't worry Preston, yesterday I saw a P5 with over 1/4 of the hatch covered in rust so your's isn't too bad. :P

Would be nice to have the visible rust removed.

[iJay]

damn the laminx looks dope!

[ejaz89]

smoked taillights are cool but i'm not a fan of smoked headlights but looks good, prefer them on more of a black car going for the stealth look.

did you put them on yourself?
if so how was the application process?

[dead_cactus]

I like the headlights. How's the light output compared to before?

[00bluees]

^ headlight cover legal?... I was stopped yesterday, and my tinted tails could have gotten me a ticket... also my license plate cover, and exhaust lol

they aren't legal, but i have seen worse and the cops in barrie are far to concerned with street racing and drifting (their own cruisers)

Don't worry Preston, yesterday I saw a P5 with over 1/4 of the hatch covered in rust so your's isn't too bad. :P

Would be nice to have the visible rust removed.

i have some silver paint and i have contemplated just spraying over it, but it should be in the body shop in a week or two.

smoked taillights are cool but i'm not a fan of smoked headlights but looks good, prefer them on more of a black car going for the stealth look.

did you put them on yourself?
if so how was the application process?

i did them myself, they aren't perfectly lined up on the inside lower corners of the headlights but you can't really notice. it is waaayyy different than working with window tint. but since you can pull off and re apply this stuff so much it is ok.

it took about 15 minutes for the first headlight then 5 for the second. it will take a week or more before the adhesive settles and they show through perfectly clear, and there are still some small bubbles i need to poke with a needle, but the film is magical and heals itself somehow.

I like the headlights. How's the light output compared to before?

they claim they still let through 90% of light on their website and 95% for the lighter "tint" (mine is gunsmoke). looking at it during the day i would say the main light output is slightly less but still way brighter than halogens since i have 6k hid's. i have yet to go out at night so i can't comment on that yet.

[Shulman_]

^ I really like the headlights, but I'm already riding the gray area... cops in Richmond Hill love to bug me and pull me over!

[00bluees]

^you have an '03 with black housings don't you? i only did this to distract from the chrome headlights as i would rather the black housed headlights, but since these are brand new i wanted to both protect them and add the black style without tearing apart brand new headlights to paint them myself like i did my last set.

[00bluees]

my wife has given me a $500 budget from my tax return to spend on fixing or replacing the hatch.

i'm aiming for fix so i can get the pinholes for the badges shaved.

yay....excited. :D

[The Destroyer]

Sounds great Preston, should look much better with a replacement or shave job. If you get it shaved let me know how much you're quoted as I've been looking to shave the badges off too.

[00bluees]

^ can do.

some people asked me where i had my car after i wrecked it.

http://www.bromleyauto.com

they currently have one of these getting painstakingly restored. no stone left unturned and its quite the car and the project.

1955 studebaker speedster

http://www.familycar.com/Classics/55studebaker/Images/27Stude.jpg

[non_event]

Let us know how the hatch fix goes. The only visible rust on my P5 is around the back glass.

[00bluees]

reaplced my hatch this weekend. was going to go in to get an estimate at the body shop but didn't make it the day i planned on going. the day after i went to the local wrecker to see if one of the 2 hatchs they had listed on car-part.com was silver......it was.

$310 later i walk out with a nice clean hatch in which the emblems have been shaved off of. might even be an old members or something, since not many people in the area would have shaved the emblems and had a twmperformance sticker on the window.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/077.jpg

installed

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/036-2.jpg

its dirty so you can't see it in its glory, but its so much better than the rusted junker i had on there. install went well, quite easy just kind of lame that you pretty much have to either remove or loosen all of the trim in the rear end to get to everything you need. i even swapped over the lock cylinder.

the spare hatch will be used for spare parts and projects. maybe shaving the keyhole in the handle part, definitely will be getting a subtle lip spoiler added onto the existing spoiler at some point.

also test fitted my autox setup today.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/035-1.jpg

15x6.5 rota slipstreams +40 offset. 205/50/15 hoosier road slicks will be out back and better condition kumho v710's will be up front. just need some hub centering rings and lugnnuts and i'm off to the races.

i say new lugnuts because.....

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/032-1.jpg


i assume this isn't really ideal with the stock lugs shoved so far down in there. i will get new ones anyways since the 21mm socket for the stock lugs barely gets into the lug cavity, as you can see from all of the paint removed in the lug area (most was from previous owner)

[00bluees]

and can a mod move this to the club projects section please?? just call it 00bluees' '02 Protege 5 or something like that.


thanks :D

[dead_cactus]

Looks good Preston

[sumrandomguy]

nice score on the already-shaved hatch! hopefully theres no rust on the backside of this one!

[The Destroyer]

Wow looks great Preston, nice find! Did you scuff up the rims with the stock lugs or was that already existing? Maybe time for some Gorilla lugs.

[991.8l]

nice score on the already-shaved hatch! hopefully theres no rust on the backside of this one!

+1 great score!

[00bluees]

Wow looks great Preston, nice find! Did you scuff up the rims with the stock lugs or was that already existing? Maybe time for some Gorilla lugs.

they were scuffed already, no biggie. i picked up some 19mm lugs at costco today for $0.55 a piece. should work much better. the 21mm socket was a tight squeeze and the tiny little stock lugs didn't help the cause.

also picked up hub rings today so i'll probably throw these on tonight and go for a rip and see how they feel.

[00bluees]

picked up these DaveB (replica??) gauge rings from Ramon aka IbBlAcKmAn02pRo5 on the weekend. tossed 'em in tonight. really like em and really like how easy the install was. took about 7 minutes and 23 seconds. :p

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/037-2.jpg

and a couple other pics from today and from autocross showing my track wheels and the cars my first outing this year. and yes the painters tape was needed. don't want to scuff the new paint on the bumper, wife would kill me.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/051.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/048-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/141.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/143.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/GP_2010_05_16_0017.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/GP_2010_05_16_0018.jpg

[dead_cactus]

Nice. Glad to see the wheels and tires are being put to good use.

[00bluees]

couple pics from the weekend. nothing much, just 600+ pounds of new sod for my lawn in the car. wasn't even close to full and had plenty of suspension travel left. :p

the kicker was the sod had just been cut from the field so i had a gallon or so of water in my spare tire well and on either side of the rear floor. all dry now though. :lol: the tarp i put down had holes, apparently.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/031-1.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/032-3.jpg

haven't done much to the car. still haven't got around to installing my gtspec lower tie brace, still need to lube my shift rod bushing to stop it from making so much noise, still need to sand down and paint over my nasty fender rust for a temp fix (again). and i still haven't eve given it a spring wash/wax and haven't cleaned the interior since summer of 2008.

poor car. :(

[00bluees]

i think i hate my car......:(

i am just not overly interested in it anymore, especially in the last few days. i will be keeping it because i have no choice, but i think its going to go back to stock and just be maintained well to last me another couple years until i can get an actual family vehicle and a commuter and/or fun car for myself.

[mmorriso]

what happened?

[The Destroyer]

what happened?
Rust happened. :(

[00bluees]

what happened?

nothing. just growing tired of the old girl i guess. i am picky and have some type of ADD with a lot of my possesions. i will love them and vow never to part with them endlessly then one day just get bored and move on. it drives my wife nuts. i am always flip flopping between purchses and decisions too. like in a week i'll probably love the car again and go buy a bunch of stuff for it.....just wait and see.:lol:

[00bluees]

ok so just got off the phone with my wife. she was on the highway for about 10 minutes then she noticed a burning smell and smoke started billowing out of the center vents above the radio. she killed the fan and dropped the windows and pulled off the highway. smell had disipated and when the fan was turned back on there was no more smoke.

wtf?? i guess the car heard me when i said i hated it now its trying to commit suicide. selfish prick.

[00bluees]

so apparently my father-in-law is giving us a '98 caravan this weekend. that puts the P5 in my hands again and makes the neon go to hell, or possibly the demo derby in the fall. i'll likely part it as much as i can for a few bucks then scrap it. this of course relies on the fact that this van is roadworthy, or at least more roadworthy and safe enough for the wife and kids.

as for the P5. as it stands now i will just keep it as a comfortable reliable DD and take it from there.

[991.8l]

ok so just got off the phone with my wife. she was on the highway for about 10 minutes then she noticed a burning smell and smoke started billowing out of the center vents above the radio. she killed the fan and dropped the windows and pulled off the highway. smell had disipated and when the fan was turned back on there was no more smoke.

wtf?? i guess the car heard me when i said i hated it now its trying to commit suicide. selfish prick.

lol what was wrong?

[00bluees]

^ no clue. i have the a/c flicker problem, maybe shit is shorting out and burning things? i have no clue. it has done it a couple more times apparently. my neon does it too once in a while when i have the a/c on which is rare.

[00bluees]

was out driving around and took some pics. not very good quality, nor are they thought out just kind of random. plus it was raining fairly hard so i didn;t want to get soaked taking pictures of a stupid car.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-22.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-29.jpg

Great artwork......oh wait, it isn't.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/010-12.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/007-22.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-30.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/008-16.jpg

[yangsui]

LOL. People that don't know this location might think it snows all year round in Barrie :P



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-22.jpg

[distr0]

arena?

[00bluees]

yes :lol:

Molson Centre where the TLMC autocross' are held.

[The Destroyer]

yes :lol:

Molson Centre where the TLMC autocross' are held.
It snows in Barrie all the time, who are you kidding.

[00bluees]

since its still on the topic, this was taken this morning.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/074.jpg


as for a project update. i have front wheel bearings to install along with outer tie rod ends. will also be flushing hydraulic system before serious winter along with a new battery and typical other maintenance.

pretty boring. i am just so busy, barely have time to browse forums let alone post stuff. c'est la vie.

[00bluees]

got my front drivers wheel bearing replaced (the noisy one) a week ago. ***ked up the boot on the lower balljoint while doing so. anyone know if its possible to just get a boot and replace it or is it not a seperate piece? if not i'll just slap another boot in there for some protection since the balljoint is in good shape for now, but its at 192k.

also replaced the outer tie rod end on that side while i had everything apart. it was in immaculate condition for how old it is. now i still have a passenger side bearing sitting waiting for that one to wear out.

got my winters installed this weekend. while doing so i painted over the rust around the back wheels. took out a couple chunks of rotted metal along the passenger side lip. just a quick spray of tremclad was all it got. its too far gone to try and save it. my bumper isn't even attached to the body anymore at the lip since its completely rotted and the bumper just shakes in the wind and makes irritating squeaks. fml.

edit: just called the dealer and ordered a couple boots for the lower ball joint, so yes they are available separately.

[00bluees]

picked up new shoes for this year. cleaned 1 up quick to show off. :D

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-30.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-29.jpg

x4 of course. currently mounted with 225/50/16 r888's that are shot. to be replaced by 215/50/16 Dunlop direzza dz101's. will be test fitting in the next couple days. yay!

[kuhl]

siiicccckkkk

[BLACKK03]

The fog deletes i sold you look tight.

cars looking good too!

[dead_cactus]

What's the specs on those wheels? Should look pretty sweet on your p5.

[00bluees]

RX7 FD wheels. 16x8 +50mm offset. these are the reinforced version from later years which have thicker spokes and mounting area as the older wheels were prone to cracks on the spokes due to being more hollow.

i will need at least a 3mm spacer all around for rim to clear strut and hub. hub bore is the same as protege's at 67.1mm but it is more shallow and would not allow wheel to seat fully on rotor, which is fine since the strut needs room anyhow.

i'll likely run 5mm spacers all around since i already have 4 (for the front winter wheels of the P5 and my neon since the rims don't clear the brake calipers) just universal spacers. these rims hav ethe same 60 degree taper as most rims so having little to no hub to seat on is no problem.

i'll also likely need a decent fender roll in the back. we'll see once i test fit. doesn't bother me as my wheel arches are rusted to shit so even if i don't get a true roller i'll just hammer the shit out of them.

[Azi]

i dunno if you can run a 5mm spacer with the stock studs. i thought 3mm was the max. you should look into it.

[yangsui]

Aw, damn! You got the reinforced ones. I should have done a secret swap with my set when I had the chance :P

[00bluees]

@ yang. lol. :lol:

@ ammaar. 5mm seems great out back, but in the front its pushing it. must be a bit longer in the back or the rotor is thinner. i'm going to pick up some 3mm all around to have that extra bit of thread until i have time to swap to extended studs. would rather be safe than sorry. i'm sure it would be fine though even with 5mm. EDIT: i do run 5mm spacers up front with my steelies, it still grabs on plenty and have run it like that for 2 winters now with no problems. i also run them on my neon in the winter and have significantly less threads but its been 3 winters now with no issues.


heres some pics from a quick test fit from today with the r888's on that came with the wheels. they are 225/50/16, i measured roughly with a tape and at the thickest point they are about 245mm wide. which explains a lot.

fronts look ok, pretty aggressive. this is with the 5mm spacer, i will get 3mm though.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-23.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-30.jpg

the backs....LOL :lol:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-31.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/004-33.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/005-31.jpg

if you can see the dirt line on the tire, thats from the fender. :lol:

luckily the physical tread of the 215/50/16 direzzas i will be actually using barely measure 215mm wide, so i'll have extra room. still need a good roll though.

EDIT: i'd like to point out the absolute necessity of running spacers. tried fitting the wheels without a spacer. both front and rear the inside of the rim touches the strut (well it would in the back, with these tires the tire was touching) also the rim will not actually fit over the hub. the bore in the rim is tapered at first, and then isn't large enough. so even if the rim didn't touch anything, you would still need spacers to clear the hub. i'll have to take a pic to illustrate, and find my caliper and measure the bore in the rim. it is my belief anyhow that there is no need for any wheel to hub contact due to the 60 degree taper lugs, how do you think lugcentric wheels work?

[yangsui]

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123787337-Hub-Centric-Wheel-Spacers

Just saw this today. Not too bad price for spacers.....I think. I don't actually know how much spacers should cost.

This is making me worry about my planned setup. The Toyo R1Rs I plan to run will likely have the same wide footprint as the R888s. I'll have -ve camber up front to tuck the tire into the wheel well. I want lots of -ve camber at the back too but that will be achieved by adjusting lateral links outward, pushing tires out further. Looks like there will be lots of rubbing. At least I don't have to worry about strut rubbing. The AWR coilovers are pretty skinny compared to stock strut. So 3mm spacers for me.

Are you planning on renting a fender roller? Maybe we can roll our fenders on the same weekend and save a bit of money. I can come up to Barrie or meet half way or whatever.

[00bluees]

thats not too bad for spacers. the ones i have are a universal 5 bolt, so they have a million holes in them. got them for $10 each at performance improvements. they get the job done.

i'm trying to find a roller available in barrie that i could borrow/rent. i also considered buying one from princess auto as i heard they sell them, then just taking it back when i am done. :p

i know MOSI has one they rent but i didn't want to stray very far to pick it up and have to bring it back to, although its still an option. i'm gonna be asking some places tonight in town and see what i come across.

[SpelingChampian]

You're running R comps :O? Welcome to the club lol! If you need help lemme know!

[00bluees]

You're running R comps :O? Welcome to the club lol! If you need help lemme know!

no no no. there are r comps on the wheels now and they are dead, i will be running street tires.

[SpelingChampian]

no no no. there are r comps on the wheels now and they are dead, i will be running street tires.

Boo lol - R comps 24/7 :D

[00bluees]

so i picked up some 3mm spacers at performance improvements. they were $5.99 each. and as it turns out the spacers i currently have are 6mm ones.

asked princess auto about fender rollers and they don't carry them any more. there are a couple in stock in other stores but the closest was sudbury, and they were $300.

[yangsui]

I was planning on renting a fender roller from this guy:
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-other-FOR-RENT-EASTWOOD-FENDER-ROLLER-W0QQAdIdZ263068577

"Don't be a fool, rent my tool" LOL

[kuhl]

those look pretty cool man!!! sickkk love it!

[00bluees]

picked up a fender roller today from Mike_Moss (the one MOSI rents) so i can roll my fenders and get these wheels on.

also went to the junkyard. picked up a leather wheel, HVAC controls (most updated version without the fan speed a/c flicker issue), gauge rings and MP3 cd pocket. forgot to find some roof rack attachment point covers since i am missing 2 of mine. good day overall. if its not raining all day tomorrow hopefully i can get out in the driveway and get something put on the car.

[00bluees]

teaser pic for now. it was after 8pm so it was pretty dark.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-31.jpg

again 16x8 +47 offset all around (+50mm wheel with 3mm spacers) with 215/50/16 dunlop direzza dz101's. fenders are rolled flat and then some out back. not pretty since they are pretty rotten. lots of paint body filler and rust came off during the process, which i was expecting. no rubbing. drove rear wheels up on a curb 1 at a time to tuck the tire and nothing caught, well except for the bumper on one side, but its not connected to the body anymore and i have it ghetto secured and its not where it should be. :p no roll or anything up front. would only be an issue if i hit a huge bump when i had the wheel cranked.

LOTS of clearance on the inside of the wheels (LOL!! :lol:) like 3mm or less between the rear tire and the strut, and up front a few mm between the inside of the rim and the strut.


i also installed the new HVAC controls and what i thought was an MP3 cd pocket :lol:. turns out its from a honda. i just found it sitting on a protege in the junkyard so i assumed. looks kinda the same, fits well but had to go in behind the radio trim bezel (fine since it was off already). also put in new gauge rings, again.

[dead_cactus]

Rims look awesome on your p5. If you ever decide to sell let me know :cool:

[00bluees]

not gonna happen, not even after you sell me your MSP lip. :lol:

[Azi]

That looks proper. Nice job!

[yangsui]

That looks amazing! So must roll the rear fenders eh? Got it.

[00bluees]

:)
look's good,

Sometime you and Alex should head over...Finally in the new house, Would be cool to chill with the 2 of you again..then I can get a better look at your p5.

can do. thursday night meets are up and running again. start at 6 for now, dunno if you work till 8 every day. otherwise we could get together later maybe?


That looks amazing! So must roll the rear fenders eh? Got it.

yep. tires hit pretty bad when its not rolled, but once its rolled out of the way there is lots of room to play.

[midnitehour]

are you rolling and pulling the fenders? it looks like a roll alone won't cut it unless you deamon camber it.

[00bluees]

are you rolling and pulling the fenders? it looks like a roll alone won't cut it unless you deamon camber it.

me? i just rolled. it kind of got pulled a bit too since the metal is so weak and rusted on my car and it just happened. i tucked the tire and had 5mm+ clearance everywhere. i also have no camber (well nothing outside stock)

if you are referencing the pictures in post 123, those are different tires.

i'll have some better pics tonight to show off. its sunny!!

[Mike_Moss]

Lookin' so sexy in person! Keep up the great work!

[00bluees]

took some more pics a while ago, then got sick and haven't made it to the computer. so without further adieu....

edit2: thats better

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-24.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/006-26.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/007-24.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/008-18.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/009-21.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/010-13.jpg

[Azi]

mmmmeaty

[yangsui]

Those FD rims look great on a P5!

[00bluees]

couple pics from this past weekend.

http://www.tanneymotorsport.com/gallery3/var/resizes/Autoslalom/2011Autoslalom/2011Event4/2011_06_12-AutoslalomEvent4-0259-web.jpg?m=1308085988

http://www.tanneymotorsport.com/gallery3/var/resizes/Autoslalom/2011Autoslalom/2011Event4/2011_06_12-AutoslalomEvent4-0260-web.jpg?m=1308085988

haven't done anything lately really. changed the oil, put a hose clamp on my rear exhaust hanger as the rubber is slowly tearing and the tip was getting further and further from the bumper.

oh i guess i blacked out the front badge an painted the top grill strip again.

i've also been rubbing my rear tires on my bumper, not the fender, but the tread hits the bumper. just over large dips with the car loaded though, the tires just burn the plastic away and the tires are left unscathed.

still need to fix my shifter that rattles around 90-100kph, haven't had the opportunity to climb under there and see just whats up.

kind of bored with the car in general right now, didn't even have fun at the autox on the weekend. i just doesn't drive nicely. i like it purely for looks as it stands. its so slow, and with lots of ppl i know getting new cars, it makes me want to do the same but that won't and can't happen.

[yangsui]

C'mon man. Can't be that bad. You still have a decent suspension. From what I heard, everyone had trouble at that TLMC event. Give it another chance!

[00bluees]

some new LED's. dome and map lights, licence plate bulbs and reverse lights. the reverse light pic is pretty misleading. they look like that straight on but my licence plate lights actually put more light on the ground.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/045.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/050.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/052.jpg

next on the list include a indicator light 'red out' on the tails, and the reverse light will be tinted lightly black. both with nightshades (i was not aware until this week that they made red night shades! :p and i am thinking of something to do with the orange bumper sidemarkers.

after that, nothing for a while. a new vehicle will be joining the stable (neon replacement, FINALLY!) soon and money will be stretched to the limit for a couple months.

however future plans include (mostly for my knowledge, as i forget what i want to do half the time)
- HKS axleback
- front lip of some description
- 5th gear swap
- coilovers (very distant future :lol:)
- bodywork (HA! whats the point?)

[dead_cactus]

Looks good Preston.

Check Kijiji there was a HKS axleback on there recently for about $30.

[jmoua]

wow now that's bright! lol....what brand are you using? if you don't mind me asking.

[00bluees]

bought from this seller on ebay

http://stores.ebay.com/warden-jp2002

the plate ones were the "ultra power" 194's

[00bluees]

added another mazda to the stable. pick it up later this week.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/5.jpg

2007 Mazda 5 GS. Strato Blue Mica. 5 speed manual.

Things to be done. Tint windows, add leather wheel with cruise control, new shift knob, (unless my wife likes the puny stock one) paint calipers, winter wheels and tires. Would like to pick up some 17's for summer instead of the 16's but the tires are brand spankin new so i think i'll wait.

Didn't spring for the GT since they were more expensive (generally) and the extras that i can't get my hands on just weren't worth it. The sunroof is depressingly small and pointless, the rear power doors are more pointless, don't care about the heated mirrors, 17's are easily aquired, etc. etc.

good bye neon!! now my username officially has nothing to do with anything. :p

[mmorriso]

congtats on the new ride.

was the power steering fixed yet?

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/848988--90-000-mazda-3s-and-5s-recalled-in-canada-for-power-steering-problems

[00bluees]

not sure yet. going to let my local mazda dealer tell me that once i pick it up.

[00bluees]

picked up some rice the other day. :lol:

HKS axleback and a broken DG lip that i can slap together and throw on and see how long it survives. been after some type of cheap lip for a while and this came up at the perfect time.

also got an extra IM top half that i can mess about with, tear out the VTCS and give it a little P&P love. maybe get better highway fuel mileage???? don't care about power, i've accepted its slow as eff.


i'll probably throw the exhaust on tonight, i'll have the Racing Beat axleback up for grabs sometime if the HKS isn't too loud for my wife.



the 5 has also arrived. its sooooo nice to drive compared to the neon OR the P5. and the neon is GONE! yay!

[00bluees]

got the DG lip hacked back together and half painted (going two-tone black bottom half) and will have some custom "splitters" made up tonight probably. will have to toss it on quickly tonight to make sure i can get in and out of my driveway without ripping my entire front bumper off. :lol:

also have the new exhaust on. sounds great. have to get some pics and sound clips up sometime. anytime i think of it i either don't have a camera or its pouring rain. need to weld on a 2nd hanger as one of them was broken off and the midpipe hangs a little low and looks silly. i'll probably ad a hanger in front of the rear axle somewhere as the HKS is notorious for having hangers ripped off as there is a lot of weight bearing on the hanger closest to the front of the car.

i've been concentrating too much on the "rice" lately, but its been the cheapest!!:p still need to replace my shifter bushings and rear wheel bearing. will also be hopefully getting a new rear motor mount as mine is toast. probably put that in the same time as my new top half IM that i ripped the VTCS out of this weekend. just needs a little love from the dremel.

[00bluees]

quick pic of the HKS.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/003-34.jpg

[iamthewheelman]

Looking good man, can't wait to see that lip in action!

[00bluees]

couple more days. :yes:

and it does hit the ground when i leave my driveway..eeevvvver so slightly.

[iamthewheelman]

drive up on an angle maybe? I am gonna guess you tried that but just in case you didn't.... try it lol

[00bluees]

if its an entering the driveway at an angle its fine. its just my reverse out of the driveway angle that gets me. its all good though.

hell i'm probably going to just rip it off the first time i go to work with it on because i'll forget about it and take my normal entrance into the parking lot, which has my stock bumper scraping sometimes depending on the angle of approach. :lol:

[iamthewheelman]

haha well just patch it up again and slap it back on, nothing beats free 99!

[00bluees]

couple pics.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-28.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/002-34.jpg

not really feelin the 2 tone like i thought i would. would have been better with my black wheels. pretty good for costing nothing. put the last coat of paint and a very thin coat of clear (ran out of paint) 30 minutes before i left for MOM and tossed it on the car. so its still quite ghetto looking. i'll be repainting it all silver, and filling in all of the cracks and big paint chips before i do so before it goes back on in the spring.

didn't get a chance to install my "splitters" yet either. need to finish the edges of them as they are pretty rough.

[iamthewheelman]

wow man your car is looking sick, your making me wish I kept that lip and put the time into it!

[00bluees]

the cars this morning.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/IMG00148-20111111-0731.jpg

winters go on tomorrow on both cars. thankfully the roads were just more wet than anything on anything other than my side street as my summers wouldn't have been able to take snow covered roads.


as for the P5, i've got a bunch of stuff i want to get done to it maintenance wise, but the time and funds just aren't there. needs at least 1 rear bearing still and my rear motor mount is still sitting on my bench waiting to be installed, that will probably wait until spring or maybe christmas holidays.

the muffler is off and in the FS section, lip has been sitting under my deck since the day after MOM awaiting a full silver paint job for spring maybe. if things go well i'd like to get rid of the P5 and either get something smaller and better on gas (thinking ek hatch) or fast and comfortable (M3,M5). the P5 is basically just used for commuting to work so i'l likely just get something smaller that won't cost $60 a week in gas.

[00bluees]

just off the phone with the body shop. car going in probably next week to get front bumper repainted under warranty as its got peeling issues. i've been staring at it forever and just recently decided "hey maybe i should see if this is under warranty" apparently they have had a few silver cars come back with issues and he doesn't know why.

[iJay]

I can tell you why.

1 of a couple reasons.

1 our OEM bumpers are eurothane and require a flex agent in the paint as the bumper has alot of flex. This usually will show up in cracking or peeling.

2 too little hardener in the paint. I am not sure of the body shop you went to but alot of these guys will not add the required amount of hardener to save a couple bux. I know one quart of pp6 hardener is around the $80 mark. However this usually results in chipping

3 no Adhesion promoter used. Again a cost cutting measure that shows its face by peeling and cracking of the paint.

4 poor prep work. Alot of body shops see a 10 year old car as a waste of time for them, they just do everything on a time constraint.

Those are just some of the common reasons for paint to peel, not all of em.

[00bluees]

me thinks its a combo of 3 and 4 and the fact that its a non OEM bumper, which would call for much more prep work to get it proper.

[iJay]

There are also different qualities in aftermarket bumpers. This I have seen first hand. Alot of cheap body shops will buy a $60 bumper and well the end result looks like a $60 job.

The P5 doesnt have such a cheap option out there. 99% of what body shops buy are reman or a used bumper as they are alot more cost effective.

At any rate good on the shop for repairing it underwaranty make sure you get that in writting before sendign the car in to avoid any hidden fees popping up. Again I have seen that happen too.

[dead_cactus]

I can tell you why.

1 of a couple reasons.

1 our OEM bumpers are eurothane and require a flex agent in the paint as the bumper has alot of flex. This usually will show up in cracking or peeling.

2 too little hardener in the paint. I am not sure of the body shop you went to but alot of these guys will not add the required amount of hardener to save a couple bux. I know one quart of pp6 hardener is around the $80 mark. However this usually results in chipping

3 no Adhesion promoter used. Again a cost cutting measure that shows its face by peeling and cracking of the paint.

4 poor prep work. Alot of body shops see a 10 year old car as a waste of time for them, they just do everything on a time constraint.

Those are just some of the common reasons for paint to peel, not all of em.

Good info here :yes:

Jay, sounds like you could teach SFT a thing or two..

[iJay]

SFT I dont know how they are still around, I know for sure they have a niche market for those who are fixing vehicles out of pocket on a budget. Other wise known as Cheap mother ***az LOL.

I havent dealt with them since back in 08.

[00bluees]

There are also different qualities in aftermarket bumpers. This I have seen first hand. Alot of cheap body shops will buy a $60 bumper and well the end result looks like a $60 job.

The P5 doesnt have such a cheap option out there. 99% of what body shops buy are reman or a used bumper as they are alot more cost effective.

At any rate good on the shop for repairing it underwaranty make sure you get that in writting before sendign the car in to avoid any hidden fees popping up. Again I have seen that happen too.

yeh its just an aftermarket supplier. was still like $250 list price for the bumper, still less than the $400 and change from mazda. and since my car still ended up being withn $200 of being written off by insurance despite using all "economy" parts whenever possible, i took what i could get so i could keep the car.

and this is far from a scammer shop, so i'm not worried. its one of the few fantastic shops located out in the country up here where the $$$$$ people take their expensive shit and projects to get worked on.

[00bluees]

quick BB pic of winter mode applied last night.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/IMG00150-20111117-0759.jpg

[Flav]

^ lol nice, i was thinking of doing something with my steelies too, just dunno what.

[dead_cactus]

Looks awesome

[00bluees]

yay for ridiculous winter wheels!

[00bluees]

i have been informed that my car is back from the bodyshop with a shiny new front bumper. i'll see it wednesday when i am back from timmins. then i can enjoy the barrie heat wave of -1 weather.

[991.8l]

yay for ridiculous winter wheels!

lol wacky barrie winter wheels.. gotta get together for a photo shoot.

[00bluees]

updated my fuelly finally for this and the 5

[/URL]
[URL=http://www.fuelly.com/driver/00bluees/protege5]http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/sig-metric/81925.png (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/00bluees/protege5)

http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/sig-metric/106023.png (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/00bluees/5)

[00bluees]

this is the year i finally got sick of the stock washer nozzles. i broke down and bought tribute nozzles. 1 came in today, 1 was forgotten so it will be in tomorrow. if its not ridiculous snow crazy shit tonight when i get home i'll install the first one. since i tried to re-aim the stock nozzles (not reccomended) they have just sucked, spray in all the wrong places. hopefully the tribute nozzles are as good as everyone says they are, especially for $14 each. :eek:

[00bluees]

argh. the tribute nozzles are not at all what i had hoped for. not at all worth $30. they don't cover enough of the drivers side windshield below my eye level, and at 120 on the highway they barely even reach the glass. the problem isn't really with the nozzles, the placement is the issue, they are too ***king close together on the hood plain and simple.

i'm going to try to swap over the nozzles from my 5, and see if they work better. when thawed out they have a 4 streams of fluid with a much wider reach than the tribute nozzles.

[991.8l]

argh. the tribute nozzles are not at all what i had hoped for. not at all worth $30. they don't cover enough of the drivers side windshield below my eye level, and at 120 on the highway they barely even reach the glass. the problem isn't really with the nozzles, the placement is the issue, they are too ***king close together on the hood plain and simple.

i'm going to try to swap over the nozzles from my 5, and see if they work better. when thawed out they have a 4 streams of fluid with a much wider reach than the tribute nozzles.

I have to agree with you.. not sure if the spray nozzles on my 99 are the same as the 01+ but they do the job very well.. 13 years old and still working like new.. lol. They throw a ton of fluid on the windshield with 4 large jets of water.. i find the mist doesn't do the best job in the world....

[iamthewheelman]

Interesting, I loved my tribute nozzles

[Mike_Moss]

I have a set of Tribute nozzels FS. Shoot me a PM!

[00bluees]

I have to agree with you.. not sure if the spray nozzles on my 99 are the same as the 01+ but they do the job very well.. 13 years old and still working like new.. lol. They throw a ton of fluid on the windshield with 4 large jets of water.. i find the mist doesn't do the best job in the world....

really. those the stock ones? the stock ones on the P5 only have 2 jets.

[991.8l]

really. those the stock ones? the stock ones on the P5 only have 2 jets.

two jets for each nozzle right?

[00bluees]

yes, oh thats what you meant by 4 jets. total i guess. the ones on my 5 have 4 jets of fluid EACH. well between 3-4, i dunno why exactly. depends on the day.

[00bluees]

long time no pic. one from this morning.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee181/00bluees/001-29.jpg

[00bluees]

***king shit!! spent a few hours replacing front wheel bearing today. that wasn't the ***king noise!! grrr. bearing needed to be replaced as it was in rough shape, but something else is still growling up front. i'm dreading it being the axles as i don't have any money to spend on fixing this bastard machine anymore. and to top the day off, on the way home the battery light kept coming on and the alternator was making loud whirring noises. just damnd great. asshole car. FML

[distr0]

***king shit!! spent a few hours replacing front wheel bearing today. that wasn't the ***king noise!! grrr. bearing needed to be replaced as it was in rough shape, but something else is still growling up front. i'm dreading it being the axles as i don't have any money to spend on fixing this bastard machine anymore. and to top the day off, on the way home the battery light kept coming on and the alternator was making loud whirring noises. just damnd great. asshole car. FML

other wheel bearing

[00bluees]

other wheel bearing

yup. i ruled it out cuz i only did it a year or so ago. but it is. car went to the dealer today to get alternator replaced. i also need control arms because the drivers side ball joint is pooched, and the passenger won't be far behind. might go for the hardrace ones. cheaper than OEM and i'm sure better than other aftermarket from canadian tire or whatever.

oh the joys....:(

[00bluees]

install of parts pile next week (hopefully all of it)

2 control arms (didn't get hardrace, just dormans), VC gasket, rear engine mount, shifter bushings, VTCS removed and ported IM, drivers side wheel bearing, rad cap, more washers for "washer trick" on rear struts. should keep me busy for a couple days.

[midnitehour]

Bump, it's spring, how's the build going?

[00bluees]

^^ lol :lol:

1 week went by of being laid off. didn't get everything done i wanted to but i did accomplish the following:

- added 2 more washers on top of rear strut to quiet things up a bit. worked, but swaybar bushings are also toast.

- installed 2 brand new front control arms. really tightened up the front end. eliminated clunking from balljoints, but again, swaybar bushings are still toast.

- removed useless garbage nyloil shifter bushings (needed a torch to melt them out of the bottom of the shifter, they were totally seized to everything) and replaced with OEM bushings and new bolt with nylon locking nut, and lots of anti-seize.

- customized stock shifter to make it a "short throw". moved the ball on the shifter up by a very scientific 17mm. made a nice difference.

- installed ARP wheel studs up front, and replaced drivers side wheel bearing. bought longer lugnuts to accomodate the longer studs (had well over an inch of stud with 6mm spacers on my steelies)

i think thats all i did.


well, i also examined the rust issue on the rear fenders. they got WAY worse over the winter. its going to need to be addressed sooner than later. probably going to buy the replacement panels from crosscanada, cut the old shit out, epoxy the new shit on and paint it myself the best i can. good enough to last a couple more years until the car gets replaced. its a shame because other than the rust, and some regular worn out shit, the car is perfect and i love it.

[00bluees]

to do list as of today (no particular order):

replace rear hub assys with ARP studs (ready and waiting)

replace valve cover gasket (ready and waiting)

replace rear engine mount with hardrace, and at the same time install VTCS deleted/ported intake manifold

buy and replace/paint rear fender surround

remove and repaint front fenders ( rusting around lip and inside)

start rustproofing with KROWN again

custom exhaust project for fun

fix dents in roof, possibly cover with flat black vinyl

[midnitehour]

dents in roof?

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4dYcq9MbaCQVxmlyeic_p485hQJycxA-5STCk3l9loctQq3g2EHt1loO1Ow

[iamthewheelman]

Damn, I would have kept my Protege if I had known thats how cheap those replacement panels were, I am curious to see how that goes

[00bluees]

just bodywork left now on this bitch, then i'll drive it until it explodes, or until the stock timing belt breaks (i'm at 220k and based on how it looked when i had the valve cover off, i aint doing it any time soon) at which point i'll fix it again.

this past weekend did the valve cover gasket and painted the black window trim on the drivers side doors, as you can probably see from any of my pictures of the past the paint was slowly flaking off, so i repainted it. also tinted the rear turn signals red and the reverse lights black.

i guess i can probably get some pics up sometime soon showing current condition.

[stivine6]

i wonder how hard it would be to put the rear quarter panel together, have you tried getting quotes from body shops?