First Turbo or Paint Job?

FL_PR5

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2002 Mazda Protege 5
alright my graduation is coming up (hence why i havn't been posting like i usually do) and i feel like giving myself a present. i've been saving up some money and hopefully will be getting money from relatives to make this possible. so the plan/question is that should i get my first turbo or get a new paint job? we all know how mazdas paint is a piece of crap and is really brittle. i baught my car used and i am tired of looking at the rock dents in the hood and front bumper a long with the door ding in my driver side passenger door (a few actually). i would either go with sunlight silver (stock silver) or perhaps spice it up and make it into a florida car and do some crazy color like a blue or yellow, i dunno. OR go the route of my first turbo. it would be a HiBoost turbo kit or a MAM turbo kit, preferably a kit that comes with everything that i need in one package. i called local paint shops and the turbo and paint job are around the same price. so now i just need help deciding of what the fate of my car is. i read awhile back that you shouldn't by a turbo if you don't have enough money to buy a new engine, is this true? i would just like to give myself something for my grad. so input would be great. thanks. (first)
 
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yea, i don't think i would ever do that unless it was a dier emergency for some odd reason. i'd keep it around 5psi daily i think.
 
ha, perhaps i shoulda made this a poll.
nealric, are you sure motors are that cheap? i don't know if they are. so i'm just wondering.
 
isn't the MAM turbo kit like 4,000$? how is that around the same price range for a paint job.. i knew paint jobs were expsenxive but that much?!
 
no, i'm not going for a $4k kit. and the paint jobs in my area i found out are around $2-$3k. it varies. so.. yea.
 
Turbo. But remember, only if you can maintaine the car and not expect it to run 100% all the time. If not. I say spicy orange would be sick.
 
uhh, i just tried it since i was curious... $850+

The trick is to not look under protege5. Look under another (generally cheaper) car that uses the fs-de.

Looking under 2002 protege (not 5), I found several in the 500ish range. One place offers one with a 6month warranty for 500 flat with only 32k miles.

Its my understanding (I could be wrong) that the mid 90s ford probes use FS-DE motors with just a different head. In that case, you can get a new short block for $200 on car-part.com :D
 
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I'd say turbo, specially if the rock chips or any scratches aint that bad, specially if you plan on later on getting a body kit or something, that way you can save enough for the body kit and paint all at once and get that over with.

And like Black_Pro said, noone will even see rock chips and scratches as you fly by.
 
nealric: i did a search using 2002 Mazda Protege 2.0L MT Engine. i'm not sure what you used exactly.

jomo: i am not sure what you ment by it not running 100% all the time. problems?
 

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