195k Mile overhaul, All in the name of Love

[apowell0224]

So I just hit the 195k mark on my bucket of a p5 and im looking to make car thatll last me through college. Last year around tax time i spent close to $1800 on full suspension and i couldnt find it in me to sell the car after realizing my head gaskets going. Bought Ksport control pro coilovers, megan control arms & trailing arms, along with an AWR 12mm sway bar. Anyways, a while back i replaced three of the four toasted motor mounts and used awr side mount inserts thinking they would compensate for my laziness pertaining to the rear mount. Lasted a while, but ive just been bitten in the ass because my front's shot again and caused a crack in my exhaust along with a broken side mount bracket. In response i needed to make a decision, to either repair the current damage, demodify and use as a trade in, or take out a loan to make my whip as "like-new" as i can afford. Granted this cars been the love of my life for years now, i chose to take out a small loan to fix my baby. And felt the need to tell you all about it

So this is what ive chosen to buy on a $3000 budget:
Full Gasket set (including head studs) on ebay - $76
OEM Side Motor Mount Bracket - $80
OBX Exhaust Manifold from ebay - $120
High flow cat with midpipe from protegegarage.com - $320
Shift Linkage (Change Control System) from dealer - $300
Complete Timing Belt Kit from ebay - $260
Re-manufactured 5-speed Transmission - $920
NGK Spark Plug Wires - $27
Protege5 2 Row Radiator from ebay - $135
AWR Motor Mount Kit (all 4) - $435
Exedy OEM Clutch from rockauto - $108
ACDelco Flywheel from rockauto - $80
Oil Pump from rockauto - $75
Iridium Sparkplugs from rockauto - $20

Because my tranny's been going for a while now ive decided to just go with a reman. But if all goes well, i should have a mechanically sound protege5 to last a while. Ill provide pictures of the progress and take all advice i can get.

Tweaked the motor enough to snap the bracket

 

[Luken10]

Very cool! Are you doing all of the work yourself? Definitely a labor of love if you are!

I have been debating whether or not I will want to sell the car or put money into it later down the line. I know every dollar I put into this car is taking away from saving for something better, but at the same time I know it is cheaper in the long run to just keep maintaining the P5.

 

[apowell0224]

Oh yeah, all works going to be done myself, actually going to take the motor out for the first time. And at that, might as well go in depth clean the bay, and paint the block/tranny

 

[seventystangfan]

Pure devotion. So glad to hear that you are keeping the car alive! I'm curious to see how much closer you feel to your P5 after spending the amount of time you are about to. Also, to those that have rebuilt their engines, etc. how much more willing are you to do it again? Or to build up your engine for turbo?

Good luck with the rebuild and consult those advanced members on here for some phenomenal information. You have found a great community!

 

[tweety2300]

Do not use eBay head gasket, all the others are fine but not the head gasket

 

[Nocturin]

ANy updates yet?

 

[mp5build2013]

I am actually also doing a rebuild, except the reason for mine is a spun rod bearing. i see you bought a lot of ebay parts seperatley, i got an entire overhaul kit on ebay for $304. That includes oil pump, and complete timing kit, including the water pump. it is also my first time pulling an engine, and that was fairly simple, however i dont think i can do the machine work myslef. well i could.. but my crank has to be machined and yea im not messing with main bearing clearences, i want correct oil pressure lol.
My best investment as well as my best recommendation (if you dont already have something like this) is a craftsman cordless impact wrench. took everything off the engine on one battery, no problem. EASY.
my engine is beig pulled out tomorrow hopefully, i got the kit in today. ill upload the pictures of the items on my build thread "spun a rod bearing" when i get home from work.
It is very sad that this is my daily driver because i would looove to port the intake mani (remove VTCS). but i doubt i will have time. i NEED to get this engine overhauled and back in my car ASAP. nice build tho, looking forward to seeing your progress.
And props on not giving up on the car.

 

[apowell0224]

Havnt had too much progress because of school and waiting to hear back from the bank. Decided to go with a reman long block from rockauto. 3 years unlimited miles warranty doesnt sound too bad. Found more broken pieces along the way though, which is always a good excuse to buy new haha

 

[mp5build2013]

so what are you doing to the front end? body kit? new lights?

 

[31N007]

mp5build2013: I think the front end's off just so it's out of the way and won't get damaged when taking the engine out. Looks like in the last pic the bit that's supposed to support the light is missing a slidey bit. (I'm not very good with words) Also, to comment on what you had to say above, if you're looking to port/polish the intake mani, perhaps picking up a spare and working on that, then throw it in one weekend. All golden?? Then port/polish the one you have currently and sell that to make some money back.



I second what tweety has to say regarding the head gasket. I went with all my bits from onlinemazdaparts. Not to say rockauto isn't great either. They send you an email with a code for 5% off on every order a month after you order. We can share the code too, if you need to use it but don't have one just yet.

Hope you don't have to put up with the rusted bolts like I did. Underbody panels are held on by at most three screws and a few twist ties...

I envy you for being able to pull the engine (I could but I don't have the time now). Should make getting that rear motor mount replaced WAY easier. It's supposed to be a PITA if done while the engine is in the car... I did my front and the engine still bucks when I transition on/off load. Have a feeling it's the rear and side MM... I'll probably get to that at some point

If you're replacing the spark plug wires, might I suggest picking up a new set of coil packs? I replaced my wires on the premise that they were the reason my engine was misfiring- turns out it was the packs. If the car still runs fine, no worries. Just a suggestion as you're going this far. Unless the long block has all the ancillaries?

All the best on the rebuild/ maintenance. Sounds like your P5 has a great owner!

 

[mp5build2013]

Kingofspades: thanks for the clarification, this is how i pulled it out, no damage to ANYTHING.
and it was fairly easy, keep in mind it was my first engine pull. And i probably will go look for one at the j. yards, but as many engines as the guy had when i dropped off mine i might just have more than enough time to play with mine.

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[apowell0224]

Cant wait to have mine out! spending most of the day tinkering. But im not making any body modifications, like kingofspades said, its all off just to be out of the way. full front clips off and i got the exhaust off. Todays job consists of the radiator, intake manifold and everything attached, and the axles/control arms. Heard back from the bank so the loans all set to go through, but i overslept and didnt make it in time to file the paperwork today.

Been posting all the little problem i ran into. My drivers side lights been rattling for ages and the bumper never really lined up perfectly so i posted pictures why. turns out the drivers side bumper stay was destroyed. luckily thats the only problem so far aside from a few snapped bolts.

so my intents to take the engine and tranny out in one piece from the bottom, let me know what you think, it seems pretty straight forward but im open to all advice i can get. as for the rear mount, it definitely sounds like your engine buck trouble. Do your best to not be like me and put it on the back burner... a snapped j pipe is all that results and i found out the hard way haha

 

[apowell0224]

Little update since last, all work from the top of the engine is cleared out, thanks for giving the idea to hang power steering and the ac compressor (i planned on taking em out lol). But the manifold was a pain to remove because of the egr pipe. Instead of porting and deleting the front shutters myself i went ahead and purchased an already ported and deleted intake from another member here.

Oh, and ordered all parts aside from small odds and ends hoses and the shift control. Any idea on part numbers for the whole setup? mines rusted on damned good haha

Empty Front of Bay

Empty Back of Bay

Split Manifold

Battlestation

 

[XJ^remy]

Hey, you're in CT? I just finished swapping in a freshened up engine/trans in my P5, last month. Also had about 195k, but was burning a quart of oil every thousand miles. Found a good deal on a low-ish mile engine/trans, then got new water pump, thermostat, timing belt kit, front/rear/cam seals, & intake/exhaust/TB/VC gaskets for about $200.

Full Gasket set (including head studs) on ebay - $76
OEM Side Motor Mount Bracket - $80
OBX Exhaust Manifold from ebay - $120
High flow cat with midpipe from protegegarage.com - $320
Shift Linkage (Change Control System) from dealer - $300
Complete Timing Belt Kit from ebay - $260
Re-manufactured 5-speed Transmission - $920
NGK Spark Plug Wires - $27
Protege5 2 Row Radiator from ebay - $135
AWR Motor Mount Kit (all 4) - $435
Exedy OEM Clutch from rockauto - $108
ACDelco Flywheel from rockauto - $80
Oil Pump from rockauto - $75
Iridium Sparkplugs from rockauto - $20

Because my tranny's been going for a while now ive decided to just go with a reman. But if all goes well, i should have a mechanically sound protege5 to last a while. Ill provide pictures of the progress and take all advice i can get.

Curious what your trans is doing that makes you think it's "going"? Why do you need new shift linkage & why you're willing to pay $300 for it?? Get some rust penetrant & let it soak, wire wheel the rust & paint it (thats what I did). No need to blow more $$ than needed.

Did you go with this list of parts, or you going with the reman'd block from rockauto??

If you are in CT, I'm in Meriden, I can lend a hand. I have a ton of bookmarked info... torque specs, write-ups, manuals, etc.

 

[apowell0224]

Hey, you're in CT? I just finished swapping in a freshened up engine/trans in my P5, last month. Also had about 195k, but was burning a quart of oil every thousand miles. Found a good deal on a low-ish mile engine/trans, then got new water pump, thermostat, timing belt kit, front/rear/cam seals, & intake/exhaust/TB/VC gaskets for about $200.



Curious what your trans is doing that makes you think it's "going"? Why do you need new shift linkage & why you're willing to pay $300 for it?? Get some rust penetrant & let it soak, wire wheel the rust & paint it (thats what I did). No need to blow more $$ than needed.

Did you go with this list of parts, or you going with the reman'd block from rockauto??

If you are in CT, I'm in Meriden, I can lend a hand. I have a ton of bookmarked info... torque specs, write-ups, manuals, etc.

Aw damn man, i literally just finished pulling the engine. Pics coming along soon. But im all the way up in east windsor, decided to go along with the reman engine from rockauto, come to find out it doesnt come with an upper oil pan/block support plate. So im planning on taking mine off the original engine within a day or two. As for the transmission ive had a feeling its been going for a while because 2nd gear grinds no matter how perfect the shift and 3rd starts to act up occasionally. So i went with a reman from Man Trans. Shift linkage has been eaten up by the elements to the point where i cant get a socket on the bolts at either end. Seems better to replace it before it breaks.
I guess i could just cut the bolts off and fix this bracket, but id rather just replace everything.

 

[apowell0224]

All finished and have the engine set on blocks. Was much easier than expected. and decided to pull from the top. Used a "wind up toy" from the shop, a rigging strap, and about 8 industrial zip ties. Along with a 4x4.

Used zip ties to hold the strap on one side, but was a bad pull so needed to devise a better lifting plan

all out nice and smooth

This Mount being shot...

Caused This...

Next up, Taking the crossmember off, running it to the shop for a couple structural modifications, along with rust repair and painting. Figure theres too many holes along the factory welds just asking to be filled. I may even go as far as replacing some of the thinner sheet metal with structural steel.... perks of working in steel construction

 

[XJ^remy]

Aw damn man, i literally just finished pulling the engine. Pics coming along soon. But im all the way up in east windsor, decided to go along with the reman engine from rockauto, come to find out it doesnt come with an upper oil pan/block support plate. So im planning on taking mine off the original engine within a day or two. As for the transmission ive had a feeling its been going for a while because 2nd gear grinds no matter how perfect the shift and 3rd starts to act up occasionally. So i went with a reman from Man Trans. Shift linkage has been eaten up by the elements to the point where i cant get a socket on the bolts at either end. Seems better to replace it before it breaks.
I guess i could just cut the bolts off and fix this bracket, but id rather just replace everything.

Crazy, I was just up there today. Met someone who bought the trans & then took my dogs to the dog park (south windsor though, i think). Daaamm, thats a pretty penny for that block. Does it come with everything else?? I had to do the same thing with the engine I bought. Came from a MSP, & the guy wanted the MBSP (main bearing support plate) from that engine because it had the oil fitting for the turbo.

Wow, quite the hoisting set up you used there... Let me know if you need/want a hand with anything. I did the swap by myself, & there were times another set of hands would've come in handy.

 

[apowell0224]

ill toss ya a parts list. Snapped 2 bolts on the axleback so i got a catback from protegegarage along with the sls midpipe. Should sound pretty nice. But the motor comes with everything but the block support plate lower oil pan and a valve cover. Re-manufactured from the ground up according to rockauto, along with a 3 year warranty. Theres a dog park across from the park in east windsor, maybe you came by my place. Im up for the help rebuilding everything too man. Itll be nice to have a second set of eyes trained to the fs-de setup and wiring harness haha

 

[zackmac]

Small world, I used to live in south Windsor right next to the dog park... Now I'm in Glastonbury

 

[16vPete]

Great thread! I wish I had these kinds of resources!