Hmm...just reading through all of this. It's cool to see another Protege5 being 'resurrected' from a no-maintenance demise, so to speak. Especially a nice blue one, I don't see those often.
Anyways, I'm seeing talk about steering shake and worn rotors - two things I have and need to address on my car - i'll be lingering around and gathering helpful info.
I know a steering shake can be the symptom of a lot of different issues, but I had almost brand new wheels put on and then balanced, and I did it also around the same time that I did a lot of front suspension work...now I don't know where my problem is.
Anyways, don't want to pirate the thread...keep at it!