Lewis7789 2002 Protege5 build thread (tons of pics)

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I know what's next....

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^^^ That's the plan, dadeo. Well, minus one turbo and the AWD system... :(
 
I'm the noob around here, but my fsde has about 155,000 miles on it. I keep looking at how sick it would be to have the V6 powa in the P5. I'm gonna need to get into Lewis's thread and check it all out, but I'm not sure I have the skillz, space, and tools to do a swap like this.
 
I'm the noob around here, but my fsde has about 155,000 miles on it. I keep looking at how sick it would be to have the V6 powa in the P5. I'm gonna need to get into Lewis's thread and check it all out, but I'm not sure I have the skillz, space, and tools to do a swap like this.


Don't forget...you'll need A LOT of patience too...and another car to drive
 
lol

Why not?

HAHAHA

As Parapa the Rapper once said, "Money, money, money is all you need.". (wiggle)

PrjectBlack, if you have a general knowledge of mechanics and wrenching skills, you can do it. I'm no mechanic or genius and I got mine working with the help of a few friends. I would opt for the KLZE though. 30 more chp than my KL"DE".

In other news, I asked Josh to weld the screws in place on my UnorthodoxRacing underdrive pulley last weekend and I smoothed the welds out this weekend. Apparently that's a flaw with the UR pulleys. The screws come out and the metal plate the crank sensor uses creates havoc. Well mine's not coming loose anytime soon. I'm going to order some new belts and install this next weekend. It's MUCH lighter than the stock crank pulley.
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If I were to do it all over again, this is what I would do;

-Buy a reliable daily driver;
I had the good fortune of a co-worker who lives close to me, a girlfriend who didn't mind driving and many close friends for a ride.

-Buy a true, straight neck KLZE;
ZE's have 200chp (as opposed to my JDM KLDE with 170chp). But ZE's have a tendancy to drop valves because of the valve retainers, so just swap in some from a DE or aftermarket. And I would slap a curve neck intake manifold for the lower torque band and so you don't have to relocate your battery.

-Combine your Protege harness with the KL harness;
There are only a few things from the Protege engine harness you will still need to run the engine. Like the coolant temp sesnor, the reverse lights for the tranny and the speedo sensor if you don't have ABS. Plus it will look so much cleaner with only one wiring harness. I am running a KL47 (OBD2 Mazda Millenia harness, ECU and MAF) and the MAF performs better than the VAF. I know there is a MAF conversion for the OBD1 Probe GT harness but if you run an OBD2 harness you already have a MAF wired in.

-Do a metric s*** ton of research on KL's;
There are a bunch of different versions in Mazdas and Fords so make sure you get what you paid for and once you settle on a model year, stick to it. KL's are picky with parts and years and they span from 1993-2001. But they are great motors and are built well, reliable and designed to rev.
 
hey my battery is in the correct location :P. Also, the issue with the curve neck is that the vris points are different from the straight neck so a stock ecu with the correct points is hard to come by, where the straight neck u can use a kl31/36 ecu and je50 vaf they arent terribly different and will work just fine, just not optimal. I do agree on removing the protege harness and combining only what is needed is a cleaner way. As for the dropping valves, anyone that looks into the KL will find this, however its really only the majority of 7k+ rpms drivers that experience this, I know there have been a few that have not revved that high and have drop valves, but they are not as common. And like mentioned just get USDM DE springs, retainers, keepers. As for the MAF vs VAF there are tons of arguments over it. In boosted engines definitely a plus, however the VAF is not as restrictive as it looks and very little power gains have been shown with the MAF on a N/A engine.
 
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negative, the motor uses all 4 mount points that the protege has, you will need to use different mounts, but the points are the same, passenger and driver side mounts stay and front and rear is easiest to just buy mx6 mounts
 
It's only been a month and I'm having trouble remembering everything already (it's hell getting old) but I didnt need to buy any motor mounts. I used the mounts for my P5 and what came on the KL and tranny.

Of course, I did have to buy a different KL passenger side MM from a ZE/DE since mine was too long. But that was $20 shipped from a ProbeTalk member.
 
hmmm...excellent news! I probably have another year or two with this FSDE, but I will begin research on new motor and set up. Thanks fellas!

oh...one more question. The MX-6 transmission, does that require relocated mounts? I would be replacing the FSDE's AT trans.
 
No problem. There are a few members on here that are more than willing to help you out (myself included).
 
oh...one more question. The MX-6 transmission, does that require relocated mounts? I would be replacing the FSDE's AT trans.

I'm not positive, but you shouldn't need anything special. Just make sure your new tranny comes with the mount and you'll be golden. I'll take some pics for reference at an auto FS-DE next time I'm at the junkyard and double check for you. We all have manual tranny's around here. ;)

And you don't have to get the MX-6 tranny, any KL tranny will bolt up. But they all have different gear ratios so choose which one is best for you. The Probe GT, Mazda 626, MX-6 and Millenia all came with KL motors. Though, the Millenia was only offered with an automatic. I bought my MX-6 JDM tranny because it came with the JDM intermediate shaft and bolted right up to my JDM block. A lot of other cats needed to modify theirs to fit. But I think the JDM MX-6 5th gear is pretty short. I was at 4k rpm doing 75mph on the highway...
 
for the tranny mount you could also use the mount from a manual 2.0 protege. thats what i did
 
I'm not positive, but you shouldn't need anything special. Just make sure your new tranny comes with the mount and you'll be golden. I'll take some pics for reference at an auto FS-DE next time I'm at the junkyard and double check for you. We all have manual tranny's around here. ;)

And you don't have to get the MX-6 tranny, any KL tranny will bolt up. But they all have different gear ratios so choose which one is best for you. The Probe GT, Mazda 626, MX-6 and Millenia all came with KL motors. Though, the Millenia was only offered with an automatic. I bought my MX-6 JDM tranny because it came with the JDM intermediate shaft and bolted right up to my JDM block. A lot of other cats needed to modify theirs to fit. But I think the JDM MX-6 5th gear is pretty short. I was at 4k rpm doing 75mph on the highway...

Ahhh...good to know.

P.S...I have to justify my actions :), I actually bought the P5 brand new in 2003 for a job I had. There was sooooo much driving involved that I was talked into an AT. This car is actually the first AT I have ever owned, and I really never had any intentions of tuning it until about 3 months ago. Now the car is paid off and I'd like to have a little fun with it rather than trading it in or taking on an unnecessary expense. I do miss the manual transmission though. Four REALLY long gears in an AT is really not all that fun to drive until you are going at least 60-80 mph. At least it is the tiptronics version so I have some control. When/if I am able to do the swap, it will definitely be a manual. I pretty much have to replace everything anyway, I'll just punch out the clutch pedal hole near the floor board and make it happen (I hope).
 
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