new owner

[benskatin]

I bought my black P5 less than a month ago. I've been on the forum as a guest and finally have some minor modifications to show, nothing big, but oh well.

I painted all the logos black (except the 5 on the Protege 5 logo). I like the stealth look.

I painted the callipers red. I did a combination of brush and spray. I felt like the spray coated better. I spent lots of time taping, than touched up with a brush.

After a few more paychecks I'm going to do intake and exhaust so it's not just cosmetic mods, just making do with my financial limitations. I'm going to do AEM short ram intake, don't want to take the chance with Injen cold air and the water. Not sure about exhaust. Any opinions.

Eventually black rims and tint.

Here are the pics. sorry about the collage. Let me know what you think.

LAKERS 4peat !!!!

 

[Bijou-MP5]

if you can afford and want gain performance on your future exhaust go for racing beat cat-back! it costs about $400 or if you just want to add nice sound and good looking then go for mazda sport exhaust costs ~$200.
Good luck~!

 

[azeli73]

benskatin! Nice job on the mods thus far. Can you tell us what steps you took to paint the emblems? The calipers look great too!

I'd say check out http://www.srmotorsports.com they have a cat back exhaust that gives you good performance gains and looks tight. has a nice deep tone to it. there are pics of the exhaust on my black pr5 on my www tab.

Carlsbad is a nice place. I have family there.

 

[benskatin]

painting the emblems and calipers

To paint the emblems I bought some black car paint from Pep Boys. I just left the car outside in the sun for a little while then used a plastic spatula to carefully remove the emblems. They came off pretty easy, just be gentle. Then I laid them on a piece of cardboard and sprayed about 3-4 coats giving it plenty of time to dry between coats. For the P5 emblem I carefully taped the 5 to leave it red. When I went to put them on I used some double-sided tape but it was the thick foamy and it didnt leave it flush, so I manipulated it just putting limited amounts in key spots. They have stayed on in rain and through lots of freeway driving; its been about a month, no problems yet.

The calipers were a little more difficult. I have a floor jack and jack stands but couldnt find a spot on the car that seemed safe to lift so I ended up doing one wheel at a time with the factory supplied jack . First I cleaned the calipers with a metal brush and some degreaser (they should be shiny, not chrome but shiny). After making sure the calipers were clean and free of any residue, I used some red caliper spray paint from Pep Boys, sprayed into a plastic cup and started to paint the first caliper with a brush. The brush didnt seem to coat very well and after about 2 coats I decided to tape it off and spray. The masking took me about 40 minutes per wheel. I used masking tape and an X-acto knife (art supply store) to cut the tape around the small parts, leaving extra tape on the caliper versus exposing some of the rotor (afterwards, I touched up with the brush, the paint went on better with the brush after it set for a little bit anyways). I did 4 coats. I let it dry over night before driving and havent had any problems with chipping or flaking, Im still reluctant to hit the calipers with the high-pressure sprayer when washing, but I just give them a little TLC hand wash. All in all, it was worth it for the $15 and 8 hours (emblems included). If you know where you can jack up the car and do two wheels at once you could easily cut the time in half by taping both than spray one while the other dries, the paint dries rather quick, especially in warm dry weather.

Good luck and thanks for the response.

 

[NetGuy]

I like the look of the front Mazda emblem...I always thought that bit of chrome on there seemed a tad too "shiney". Not so crazy about the rear badge painting, but hey...it's all about personal preference, right?

I've also got a black P5, and was trying to figure out what color to paint the calipers when spring rolls around. I love the red!

Are the black headlight housings only a Canadian thing? Those and the fender-markers are what sold me on the 2003 instead of a 2002 at the dealer.

 

[Bijou-MP5]

Are the black headlight housings only a Canadian thing? Those and the fender-markers are what sold me on the 2003 instead of a 2002 at the dealer.

Yup black housing is only for canadian MP's
US only allowes chrome housing...which I don't like it.

 

[Sir Nuke]

Hi benskatin and Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have. (stash)

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!! (stash)