95 Protege LX/DX

[SilentSno]

I found one in the junkyard with minimal left front fender damage and a little on the door. If motor is included i may go take a stab at it for a project car.

It was meant to have the 1.5L engine but would the 1.8 swap with no probs?

Any other suggestions what do look for before making this purchase?

Edit:

I read about the pretty easy swap to the BP engine, but the part listings on the Protege FAQ from the sticky shows alot from the 95 model, so assuming i have all those i should be ok for just direct swap.

But i have another wild idea.

Whats the thoughts of swapping to the 1.8L BP engine from the miata and using its RWD transmission and supension, rear end etc...?
Is it possible?

Or even do a rotary swap from an RX7 1st gen maybe 2nd gen...

 

[jared]

anything is possible with money.

but it would be VERY difficult, the whole rear suspension mounting points are completely different.

 

[wanger68]

a 1.5 to a 1.8 is a PITA

it can be done... I believe bruce95fmla has done it, but I do recall him saying it was an ordeal. the 1.5 is a lot of fun. I had one and I totally miss it. its a good "beater" I guess you can say, but it is fun and it can hold its own in auto-X.

as for the other swaps, again, not so easy. if you got time and motivation its obviously an option.

 

[SilentSno]

Ok stage 1 of this would just be either getting the stock 1.5L if they have it, other wise put the 1.8L in the car and get it running and fix the damage.

Stage 2 would either be doing a Miata rearend and drivetrain swap and custom fabrication for all suspension. Or doing and Rotatry swap from an RX7 along with its drivetrain.

Or i may just get the 1.5L or 1.8L running for my beater car and buy a motor to built up for the mp3 to be turboed....

decisions....

 

[turbonium959]

The swap is not easy, but of all possible options, this is your best bet.

 

[bruce95fmla]

I don't know about the rwd ordeal, but if you could make it work.....

anyway the 1.5 to 1.8 swap is easy in terms of droping the motor in. Fit's up easy as 1 2 3.

If you decide to use the G tranny, from a 95, you will need to change the driver side engine mount and also (maybe the shift linkage.).

The wire harness can be the b****y part. Depending on if you have a 95 or a 97/8. They are both done differently. It's not hard, for 95/96 I think you add like 3 or 4 wires.. been a while since I put any thought into it. I still have a CEL that I am trying to get rid of and some bugs I am trying to fix. May need a head gasket also .(not sure).

 

[SilentSno]

Yeah i've read on clubprotege.com that if i get the wireharness from the 1.8 i'll be fine.

I need to do a good complete over on the car today on my lunch hour to see if its really worth it. gotta make sure there isn't frame damage.

 

[crispixoo7]

this is an old thread....but any updates??

 

[SilentSno]

Not at this stage, as I found a 3rd Gen Protege that i'll be turning into an SCCA monster car.

I didn't feel like ripping out the interior of my MP3.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

Stage 2 would either be doing a Miata rearend and drivetrain swap and custom fabrication for all suspension. Or doing and Rotatry swap from an RX7 along with its drivetrain.
..

i saw you talk about using a 1st gen rx7 rotary engine, i would advise against it. the 12a never made much power stock and you would get much more from a 13b

 

[SilentSno]

Ya if i came around to doing that, i'd go with the 13b anyday.