Mega post here....
Agree - sounds like the big issue with these cars is the PITA rear mount. There's no free lunch with doing motor mounts for cars though. On many European cars you have to remove the timing belt to get to the passenger mount. Just these Japanese cars that use a better design.
I'm thinking of testing out one of those short shifters (since I'll be attempting to replace the rear mount anyway), so I'll look at your recommendation. Usually any non-insulated shifter lever will vibrate like mad, so I'm not too concerned yet.
I'm in Beaverton, where are you located?
Hey cool! I'm in Eugene. Glad to know there are other P5 enthusiasts around. I only know of one other person from Oregon on here in recent times. Seems like there were a lot more of us back in the day when these cars were newer (and before I had mine).
I would definitely recommend the short shifter, but maybe don't go with the design that I did (the Megan Racing design) which has it's own bushing thing that replaces the stock one. I would recommend something like the OBX-style that mimics the stock shifter, having a pivot ball in the middle that fits into the stock plastic bushing. That's just my thought on it. These are the shifters I have saved in my eBay watchlist that you could take a look at for reference of such a design:
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RACING SHIFT SHORT for Mazda Protege 5 & Mazdaspeed / Ford Escort ZX2 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OBX High Performance Short Throw Shifter Applies 2002 Mazda Protege at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OBX Performance Short Throw Shifter will fit 1998-2002 Mazda Protege at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Thoughts on the rear mount below \/
A bunch of guys have done the rear mount with a few extentions and a 6 point socket from the top down.
You don't quite fit squarely on to the nuts/bolts with a long extention, so you need a few wobble sockets/extentions to fit the nut squarely.
You will need to break off the little stud coming from the firewall that is in the way right near the nut, and then seal up the hole.
Push down HARD from the top while breaking it free to keep the socket firmly squared.
It's on a bit of an angle and those nuts be F-in tight...
You can do it in two hours.
Unless you strip the nut/bolt.
Then you're FUBAR'ed.
I replaced my old (stock, and I think original) rear mount with a new stock one last year. Did not remove the intake manifold or throttlebody (TB), though would probably remove the TB next time. I used a few cheapo sets of Harbor Freight impact extensions and u-joints, and the only casualty was my ratchet, where I shouldn't have been using at such torque anyways.
I used a Dremel to cut the stud off at the firewall. The nuts were tight, but not hard to break loose with a 3-4ft breaker bar. Just sounded like I broke something every time.
Alas, my results, or lack thereof, were not impressive. The car is still very jerky to drive. My current mount setup is described below.
My guess is to not go too hard of a durometer on the rear mount.
If it's too hard, it's too much trouble to replace.
Go hard on the other three because they are easy to replace.
I remember one guy that had no rear mount at all.
He went turbo and broke his studs off in the transmission.
The three front and side mounts support the engine and can be easily changed out if you don't like the ride..
I've heard people say that filling the rear mount with a 30 to 40-ish durometer polyurethane sealant is a good balance between something crazy firm and stock. Unfortunately, when I did it I didn't let the sealant dry for long enough (only 2-3 weeks), and it squished out quickly after some driving. I filled the old mount I removed with the same PU and it has been drying since, but I can't bring myself to install it.
For all intents and purposes, I am running a stock and fairly new rear mount.
My passenger mount is stock and older, but not torn and has AWR poly inserts (which have not made much of a difference).
I had AWR poly inserts in my (stock, older) trans mount and they made the car pretty bad to drive. Tons of vibrations and clunking/creaking noises, less jerky though. Took them out.
My front mount is 100% stock and fairly new (I have another stock one filled with 40-duro PU and it made the car more jerky and very hard to drive smoothly, lots of vibrations.)
PCB, I've heard that if you beef up everything but your rear mount, it'll wear out your rear mount more quickly, which scares me.