Kia G-series in 2ng gen Protege

irishkev90

Member
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1998 Mazda Protege LX
Posted this on clubprotege, but thought it might be helpful here as well.

Did some research and compared the Kia axles to Mazda axles. For the record, I used a 1996 Kia Sephia 1.8L (what the transmission is coming from) and a 1998 Mazda Protege 1.5L (what the transmission is going into). Both cars use an intermediate shaft, no ABS and manual transmission.

The Kia's driver's side axle has 28 inner splines and 26 outer splines. The Mazda has 24 and 26, respectively. The Kia's passenger's side axle has 26+2 blank (28) inner splines and 26 outer splines. The Mazda has 26+2 blank (28) and 26 splines respectively.

So the passenger's side axles are the same, spline count-wise, but different lengths. The Kia axle is 24.25" long and the Mazda axle is 22.75" long (1.5" difference). The driver's side axles are different spline count-wise and also different lengths. The Kia axle is 24.0625" long and the Mazda axle is 25" long (1.0625" difference). I'm not sure how much of a problem the length difference will be. Maybe someone can shed some light on this factor?

Looks like I won't be needing new axles. The transmission is coming with the Kia driver's side axle and the Kia intermediate shaft. Since there is no spline difference between the Mazda and Kia passenger's side axles, the Mazda axle will fit in the Kia intermediate shaft. Therefore I can reuse my existing passenger's side axle. As long as the different lengths don't pose a problem.

I will keep this updated with information pertaining to putting a Kia BP G-series transmission in a 2nd gen Mazda Protege.
 
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Flywheel and clutch info.
*References at bottom*

Well, I checked www.napaonline.com to compare the Miata and Protege flywheels. I used a 1998 Mazda Protege and all four (1990-1993) Mazda Miatas. They are the exact same thing. Here's some info:

Part number: NNC 50913
Number of flywheel teeth: 112
Number of flywheel to crankshaft mounting holes: 6
Flywheel outer diameter: 11.366"
Flywheel step: Flat

This information is identical between the Protege 1.5L and the Miata pages. Though, it does not state an engine for the Miata, which is why I used all four years. Doing some more research I found the Miata FAQ which states for 1990-1993 (no link to the 1991 model) that the engine was "1597cc (97 cubic in.)" or 1.6L.

Well that's it for the flywheel-to-engine problem, now for the clutch-to-transmission problem.

Did some more research on www.napaonline.com using a 1997 Kia Sephia and a 1992 Mazda Miata.

Let's start with the Miata information since the F1 kit comes with a Miata clutch.

Number of clutch disc splines: 22
Disc hub inner diameter/input shaft size: 15/16"

Okay, so how's the Sephia measure up?

Number of clutch disc splines: 20(1.6L) / 22(1.8L)
Disc hub inner diameter/input shaft size: 7/8"(1.6) / 15/16"(1.8L)

Good thing this is a BP(1.8L) transmission. Everything seems to match up.

Now that we know a 1.6L Miata flywheel will bolt to a 1.5L Protege crankshaft, and a 1.6L Miata clutch has the same spline count/inner diameter as a 1.8L Sephia, it should be safe to say that I can use the Miata F1 kit in my transmission swap.

Miata flywheel
Protege flywheel
Miata clutch
Sephia clutch (1.6L)
Sephia clutch (1.8L)
Miata FAQ
Miata F1 Stage 3 flywheel/clutch kit
 
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same clutch can be found in the 2.5 KL also. mazda used the same clutch in the 1.6 b6,1.8 bp, 1.8 K8 v6, 2.0 KF v6, and 2.5 KL v6. hell, even the 2.2 F2 used the same clutch. lol

mazda has always been really good about reusing parts over the years. hell, i used a turbo II rx7 clutch in my F2t
 
Driveshaft lengths were copied directly from Napa's website. They have since changed their website layout and no longer have the detailed information, very disappointing. If anything is wrong, it was wrong on Napa's website.

But, plans have changed. I'm not using my Z5 when it comes time for the transmission swap. I'm looking for a KLG4 V6 to stuff under the hood.
 

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