Lewis7789's 2003 Protege5 build thread

[Cleverfrog]

Yeah but still cats are more effective.

And more restrictive

 

[XCLR8TN]

AJ- it's the Racing Beat with a catless midpipe. But remember it's got the short exhaust tip for the P5, might be too short for your sedan. If you're interested I'm sure we can work something out since Corey wants the long block.

Cam- I'm moving down there then. NC has a pretty good music scene too. And the people there are cool as hell. My old band always used to stop in NC and SC for gigs and always had good turn outs for live music. Live music here in Ohio is pretty much dead. Wow, I'm getting way off topic.

:squint: I'll be heading to TN soon. See ya down there lol!

 

[Lewis7789]

Wait, what? You're moving, Jess?

 

[Lewis7789]

I got all my parts in from Rock-Auto, man I love that place. So it looks like I'll be putting the motor back together soon. I got some bits for my Dremel to port match the heads (oval) to the IM (square) last night so I'll do that tonight. It's slow going but fun nonetheless with some good music on in the garage.

 

[XCLR8TN]

My state has the most paved roads in the country. Anything from dirt trails to giant highways. Flat roads, mountain roads, curvy roads, straight roads, lakes, beaches. Large Mazda scenes in the large cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. Rust isn't really a problem. You can get away with super loud exhausts, emissions, no hood, bright lights. You only need 1 license plate so your front can look all sexy. Cost of living is CHEAP. I can't complain

I thought you guys had to pay taxes on each car you owned and have a safety check or something!?

Evan what's the latest, just parts collecting? Anything I can help with?

edit: you snuck that last post in on me, on the previous page nonetheless! nevermind I guess haha

 

[JDM_Pro5]

I thought you guys had to pay taxes on each car you owned and have a safety check or something!?

True. Yearly taxes on my p5 is about $37. Yearly taxes on my MZ3 is about $45. I didn't know if all states had taxes on cars or not, it is a property. Yearly inspections are easy. basically, if you don't have a CEL on you pass. At least where I go it's that easy.

 

[Lewis7789]

Thanks for the verification, Shae.

 

[spacebull1]

Most Carolina Mazda members are in the Charlotte area which is a 1-1.5 hour drive for me

Lucky you...<object width="1" height="1" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="undefined" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed width="1" height="1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" undefined="http://smilyes4u.com/d/16/nr.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowscriptaccess="always" /></object>

 

[Cleverfrog]

Only issue I have now is that it has a bit more nose-dive under extreme braking (causes me to hit the bump stops if I lock em up <no ABS>).

So can you decrease the nose dive by increasing the spring rate? With say, adjustable coils or stiffer springs?

 

[Evan9999]

So can you decrease the nose dive by increasing the spring rate? With say, adjustable coils or stiffer springs?

Adjustable coils or stiffer springs should do the job. I definitely noticed a decrease in nose dive after my coils.

 

[RicoP5]

got the plug lik 2 days ago lewis. thanks!

 

[Lewis7789]

No problem, Rico. I'm sure you can figure out how to swap out the wiper motor just be careful when installing the plug, that glass is bloody sharp!

 

[Cleverfrog]

No problem, Rico. I'm sure you can figure out how to swap out the wiper motor just be careful when installing the plug, that glass is bloody sharp!

The irony

 

[THE Phen]

Its an SLS catless midpipe, and the header held up quite well seeing as how it probably has close to 140k on it. FWIW, im not 100% sure how that muffler will fit on a sedan properly seeing as how it has been modified to fit the P5. It was orginally off of an MSP, the tip has been cut/re-welded for the wagon. It came off of aMaff's old P5.

Man... that s***'s getting around!

 

[Lewis7789]

Picture time from this weekend.

SInce I have a JDM KLDE the heads are oval, and the intake manifolds are square. A common thing for Probe guys is to port match the heads to the IM. Simple, cheap and only takes about an hour to do with a Dremel. Will you notice huge gains? Probably not. Is it worth a couple of Dremel bits and an hour of your time for better airflow? Yes.

I used the intake manifold gasket as a template.

Then use some sponge squares to block the metal shavings from going into the head and use a vacuum to carefully suck them all up when done.

Finished port matched heads.

All done and cleaned up.

Then I shaved down the block fins to clear the RR Racing crank pulley.

Installed the new Gates water pump.

Installed the new Gates timing belt and TB tensioner. It always takes a couple tries to get the timing just right but it's bang on now.

The new valve covers gaskets and VC's are on and new IM gaskets and IM are on and everything torqued to spec.

Wrapped up yesterday with a shower and some Sahlens hot dogs.

 

[etipp98]

How was the wieners?

 

[Lewis7789]

Honestly, they were pretty damn good. Even microwaved for lunch today they were still damn good.

Just in case cats aren't hip to Sahlen's weiners and GrandAm race team.

http://www.teamsahlen.com/index.cfm?template=news&news_id=4994

They're based in NEOhio and are SUPER awesome to us local Mazda owners with a yearly shop tour. (2thumbs)

 

[RicoP5]

i want that catless mid pipe!

 

[Lewis7789]

If AJ doesn't buy it, you have 2nd dibs, Rico.

Impulse buy from the forums the other day.

 

[magnumP5]

^^^ Hopefully you got a smokin' deal because I could have pointed some good vacuum blocks from McMaster for MUCH cheaper than what Vibrant is asking.