Flav's Mazda Protege5

[Flav]

^ Thanks I did, got some helpful information from him.


Last week when I got to work, I noticed a burning smell.. at first I thought maybe I fried my amp or a wire got loose or something.. nope. I look over at my driver side rear rotor and it was GLOWING red.. so looks like my caliper is/was seized.. again.
Looked up some info on the board here and found that a good upgrade was the mazda 626 rears, so today I went out and bought some 2000 Mazda 626 rear calipers, rotors, and pads. Don't have the time to install them today, but hopefully I'll be able to tomorrow. I'll take some pictures to show the size difference for anyone interested.

By spring when I put my summer wheels on I'll probably upgrade to the mazda 6 kit as well to complete my OEM BBK

 

[Brian_K]

what are the specs of your dr31's?

 

[Flav]

what are the specs of your dr31's?

Are you referring to my summer rims? These are my summer rims

http://www.coreracingwheels.ca/Styles/Obsidian/Matte-Black

 

[Brian_K]

Are you referring to my summer rims? These are my summer rims

http://www.coreracingwheels.ca/Styles/Obsidian/Matte-Black

lol my bad, i just assumed they were either dr31's or rota torques. Thanks for the info, I might pick up a set soon

 

[Flav]

I already want new ones :-( Haha

 

[rit14623]

I can't put a lip on mine even if I wanted to. The angle of my driveway is steep. my bumper scraps the ground going in and out. The whole front bottom edge is rough.

 

[MrsZR7]

I love the wheels, but not on a dark colored car. I would've gone for a silver, but nothing darker than gunmetal grey. What size are the wheels and tires?
It looks great and really clean!

 

[Flav]

F**KN THING!
Had the longest brake job of my life today. So frustrated I probably won't even explain things right.
Here's a tip, mazda 626 brakes do not work on the protege5. Brackets rub up against the rotor (yes, mazda 626 caliper, bracket, rotor, pads)

Also, when I was pumping my brakes it seemed like my car just wanted to stall, does this mean that the brake booster is on its way out? Car seems so boggy and the brakes seem kinda spongey. We bled the entire system like 2-3 times and it never got any better in terms of firmness. Regardless though, the brakes do work, they could just be better for sure.

Lastly, I'm so sick and tired of the rust on my car, I think if i have the motivation, i'll just spray the entire thing flat black and complete murdering out the car. I love the blue, but matching it will just be a PITA I know, and also in direct sunlight the car almost looks purple, and it bugs the s*** out of me.

 

[Flav]

I got one hell of a deal today.. let me leave this here for now

 

[Bastian]

Racing seats??

 

[azuelke]

A free interior detail

 

[Flav]

Alright, sorry for the delay in pictures. Went to the wreckers the other day with a buddy to grab a part for his truck.. and to my surprise I found a full leather interior in great shape for... wait for it... $150
Needless to say.. I ripped those seats out of that car that second. I've been dying to find a good set of leather seats, so happy I grabbed these, really ties in my interior a lot better then the stock cloth one's did

Out with the old, in with the new!

Also, I finally had some time to do some lip surgery, and the lip is now back to 1 piece rather than 5.

Just waiting on a warmer day to paint it (gonna try out plasti dip)

 

[Bastian]

That looks beautiful. Back seats too?

 

[Flav]

The full family!

 

[Flav]

Today is the day!
I decided to sink some money into the car. Dropped the car off at a local body shop to get all the rust repaired. (Still not sure if I regret doing this)

The plan now is, do some minor body work myself once the BIG stuff gets fixed at the shop then plastidip the whole car a matte black (I'm open to negative feedback on Plastidip, but I've made up my mind)

Aside from that, I got a nice new clunk in the front of my car now, which, when I jacked up my car I facepalmed. Both front (rears are fine) strut mounts are rotted to s***.. (see attached picture) so those will have to be replaced...
Luckily for me a close friend recently got a shop discount account at Nappa

Could someone refresh my memory as to if i'm going to have to compress my spring when I replace this?

Here's some last pictures of the car in its old form including some close ups of the major rust.

Also: If i'm going hard on the car in high rpm's on the highway or country roads, I can smell burning oil.. never see any blue smoke, and see no leaks anywhere under the car. Any ideas as for causes?

 

[JDM_Pro5]

You make me believe I'll be the only Modded Midnight blue. You'll be matte black, JustanotherMP5's is wrapped matte white.

looking great though. Really like the drop on your car

What are your wheel specs, and do/did you have the same CF hood as me?

 

[sneakypete]

I know that most people would recommend that you use a spring compressor for safety, but since the Teins are shorter than stock, I found that I could just push the mount into place by hand and use an impact driver to tighten the top nut. When removing the strut mount, I just wedged it up against a fence so it didn't shoot too far when I undid the nut. Maybe I am careless, but whatever. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[Flav]

Wish I could say the same about the drop. I wish it were more! (maybe one day)

Suspension: KYB Struts, Eibach Lowering Springs
Rims: Core Racing "Obsidian" 17inch 38 offset
Wheels: Falken ZIEX ZE912 205/45/17

I do have some minor rubbing with these specs, but I'm having the fenders rolled

I used to have the same CF hood as you, but I wasn't feeling it for my car personally, now that I'm dipping my car.. I kind of wish I kept it. Oh well!

Where have you been seeing JustanotherMP5's progress? I love that guys car!

 

[stivine6]

yikes i had no idea the rust was that bad! Also i saw your ad on kijiji? you are selling the P5?

 

[Flav]

I know that most people would recommend that you use a spring compressor for safety, but since the Teins are shorter than stock, I found that I could just push the mount into place by hand and use an impact driver to tighten the top nut. When removing the strut mount, I just wedged it up against a fence so it didn't shoot too far when I undid the nut. Maybe I am careless, but whatever. I'm just sharing my experience.

Thanks Pete for the info, I think I may go to an autoparts store and borrow one of their spring compressor's