Lewis7789's 2003 Protege5 build thread

[ihone]

Mine clear my turbo piping as of now. No pics of the mockup - as I went deadinthehead for that session. But I will need to wrap the feed from the bottom radiator outlet to the inlet of the waterpump - it's about 1.5" away from the hotpipe feeding half of the spoolie.

I don't have any pics of the updated hose routing since I changed it over, but I can say this

Radiator perspective, looking from the front of the radiator - toward the rest of the car.
- top (inlet) has a 90* left turn and runs along the top of the radiator, just behind it - then makes a 45* right, then another 45* right - to the outlet where the flat-cap is atop the water spigot/outlet on the engine.
- bottom (outlet) has a 90* right - running flat along the bottom edge of the radiator. I cut an elbow from another hose to create the upsweep to to to the water inlet on the waterpump. It runs straight from the 90 on the bottom edge of the radiator - up to that inlet.

I'll get some pics soon - it's raining and nasty outside so I'm not getting underneath that thing unless I absolutely have to.

 

[Lewis7789]

Haha, no worries, man. You explained it well enough and I'm sure I'll figure it out once the motor is in. Did you use some reducers for the P5 radiator to match the inlets/outlets? And did you just go through your local auto parts stores inventory for tubing that would work or do you remember any part numbers/year, make or models?

 

[Lewis7789]

Gates timing belt, TB tensioner, water pump and belts, Fel-Pro valve cover gaskets and IM gaskets ordered. Should be able to button up the motor and make her look all purty this weekend.

 

[bikingpro5]

Gates timing belt, TB tensioner, water pump and belts, Fel-Pro valve cover gaskets and IM gaskets ordered. Should be able to button up the motor and make her look all purty this weekend.

waits for pics...

 

[Protege03ak46]

Amazingly jealous right now.

 

[Lewis7789]

It will be the same as my old KL. I liked the OEM look of it. But this one's engine bay will be much cleaner. I'm actually excited to work on the wiring harness and run all the sensor wiring and HID wiring in main harness and make everything super clean.

 

[Cleverfrog]

Im going to ask a noob question since I dont want to hunt. Are there gains with the v6 setup vs the 4 cyl turbo/SC? Do you know how much weight it adds? Just curious

 

[Protege03ak46]

^ one of the biggest thing's I'm looking forward too. Now that I've learned how everything works I feel pumped to do it right and clean.

 

[ajkulish]

adds about 50 lbs, and the motor is much more suitable for power modifications. it can handle plenty of boost without worrying about popping it constantly like when you boost an fs.

 

[Cleverfrog]

adds about 50 lbs, and the motor is much more suitable for power modifications. it can handle plenty of boost without worrying about popping it constantly like when you boost an fs.

What about torque? The only dumb question is the one that isn't asked lol

 

[ajkulish]

ill let evan chime in on that one, im just a spectator giving advice

 

[Lewis7789]

Im going to ask a noob question since I dont want to hunt. Are there gains with the v6 setup vs the 4 cyl turbo/SC? Do you know how much weight it adds? Just curious

adds about 50 lbs, and the motor is much more suitable for power modifications. it can handle plenty of boost without worrying about popping it constantly like when you boost an fs.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as a noob question. I hate that term. There was a time when NO ONE on here knew how to change their own oil.

Anyway, exactly what AJ said. I've heard the KL weighs about 60lbs more (I'll remember to weigh the motors this time) and it's just designed better than the FS. I don't mean to bash the FS and Wes and I were just talking yesterday (he's putting a KLZE in his 626, when he gets motivated, lulz) that we don't mean to sound like that guy when it comes to the KL. But it's just a better platform to work with than the FS. And I loved both my FS motors and they are/were both great for me. I put down 115whp on a Mustang dyno with my 2002 FS and the current FS has 222k miles on it and still runs like a champ and is my DD when it's not raining out. But when the FS is reved past 4k rpm it feels like it want's to kill itself. The KL just loves the revs and is a sturdy platform. And I wouldn't be able to get near 280whp with an FS without spending a lot of money and forging the internals. Again, I'm not bashing the FS since I have nothing but good things to say about them in my experience. I just think the KL is the better motor of the two. That's all.

edit- I type slow.

I had 169whp and 160lbs of torque on a Dynojet with the JDM KLDE (rated at 170chp).

 

[Cleverfrog]

I don't see that as bashing. We all know the FS is probably one of the most under engineered motors for boost lol. 60lbs is like the weight of the ac compressor on the FS (lol JK)

 

[Lewis7789]

Those bloody things are indeed heavy as balls. I'm deleted the A/C on this motor and possibly the PS as well. I bought an aluminum PS delete pulley for the KL from ProbeTalk saturday, but the way those guys are who knows if it will actually ship...

 

[ajkulish]

lol except not that much jk..... the weight of the whole ac ssystem coming out of my car was about 30 lbs...

and evan i think you should hang onto power steering just under drive it. with all that power to the front wheels youre really gonna run into some torque steer and thatd be a b**** to sort out with no power assist to the steering.

 

[Cleverfrog]

lol except not that much jk..... the weight of the whole ac ssystem coming out of my car was about 30 lbs...

That's a small child lol

 

[Lewis7789]

Yeah, I'm still on the fence about deleting the PS. I bought the pulley because it was custom and a great deal at $55 shipped from Canada. The stock PS lines bolt right up to the KL. Just routing the low pressure side is a pain to find tubing that works but I think I'll just use an aftermarket can with the correct inlet/outlet.

I'll probably keep the PS the more I think about it. Modifying the '91 Protege manual rack and P5 hubs/tie rod ends doesn't sound like much fun. heh-heh

 

[Lewis7789]

I ordered the Mishimoto Protege radiator from my home boy at CR3 Motorsports. I asked Pope about his turbo KLDE setup in his MSP and he said he was having cooling issues on hot days at idle with the MX6 rad setup. And Wayne Nonemaker (of Team Shalen's in ALMS) said when they ran MX6's back in the day the motors were great, just that they ran a bit hot. So I think the Mishimoto radiator setup is the way to go. And since I'm deleting the A/C if I don't have room to mount the SPAL slim fans and pullers they can be pushers.

 

[ihone]

nice. I've noticed that mine runs a tad on the hot side honestly. Even with the temp gauge reading normal.....it will definitely heat up to a rather "uncomfortably warm" level - u can tell it's not happy at times just by the way it reacts to snap-throttle jerks.

The engine/trans that came out of my P5 (FS with a craptastic auto) honestly was only 32 lbs lighter than my KL/MTX pieces I swapped into her. I have noticed one thing though - with suspension. I'm running Tein S-Tech's. Been running them since I had the FS. Felt just fine (no suprise there, eh?) with the FS - and still does with the KL. Only issue I have now is that it has a bit more nose-dive under extreme braking (causes me to hit the bump stops if I lock em up <no ABS>). But - on a positive note - it does ride a little smoother due to the added "ballast" in the front end.

Lewis - let me know about that radiator. How it fit. How it installed. Fitting dimensions, etc. I'm looking to make a swap sooner or later - as I still have some work to finish on this (AC needs to be done soooooooo bad, exhaust re-do, wiring cleanup).

 

[Lewis7789]

ihone, will do. You should know by now how nerdy and anal I am about all this stuff so I'll take plenty of pics and document everything.