Lewis7789's 2003 Protege5 build thread

[Leyland23]

Will they take back the endlinks ? I was about to pick up some but if you don't think they will work ill save my money and time! Where did u order your ecu from? Should i get a flashed one when i get my build going?

 

[Lewis7789]

They probably would take them back but after the spirited drive down to my little test track I don't have any clunking or rubbing. So they just might work afterall. I'll get you those specs tomorrow, Cres.

I got my ECU from DIYAutoTune.com but it's set up for the Probe GT. Don't get the re-flashed MP3 ECU if you plan on going turbo. You'll be fine with an Mazdaspeed Protege ECU.

In other news, after a little test ride around the block over to my favorite twisties the car feels great. No clunking or rubbing and handles like a boss. I'm going to lower the front about 1/2" then will wait for my trailing arms to come in then off to the alignment shop. I have an appointment for Friday so I hope the trialing arms come in before then but I'm not counting on it.

 

[Lewis7789]

Oh, and I ordered some Hawk HP+ rear pads to match the fronts I have sitting on a shelf. Along with some StopTech front and rear SS brakelines. Ordered once again through CR3 Motorsports, you're one stop shop for quality aftermarket parts! (That was in my cheesy radio voice). Once they come in I'll stop by Summit Racing for some Wilwood 600 brake fluid and speed bleeders and swap everything out and bed in the pads.

I sold the Mazda6 rotors/calipers to Wes for his 626. My last P5 braked amazingly well and with new rotors on this one and the Hawk front pads already on my shelf, not having to mess with the rear brake lines on the MZ6 calipers and brake bias, I decided to stick with the P5 brakes.

 

[CR3 Motorsports]

I ended up getting some racingline Endlinks for TOProtege. So no need for the Specs.

Let me know if you find another set of Mazda6 brakes. =)

 

[PrinceValorum]

Yo dawg, heard you had some tint to remove:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...ndow-Tint-The-Easy-Way!&p=5955015#post5955015

 

[Lewis7789]

^^^ Nice How-To, dawg. I want some mac&cheese bites now.

Well, I just got back from Conrads in Akron for the alignment. They charged me a little extra since I wanted a custom setup, which is totally fine. Lou once again did a good job and the guys liked the dozen donuts I brought as a bribe to take care of my car.

Before and after spec sheet;

During surgery;

So far it feels really good. Straight steering wheel and alignment and hitting the corners feels good. And no rubbing with the 225/45-17 tires is always a plus.

 

[PrinceValorum]

How about pics from the install?

 

[fishdonotbounce]

Alignment looks great Evan. I think I might take mine in for another one before the auto-x. It's surprising how close the alignment was before minus the steer ahead and a bit on toe.

 

[Lewis7789]

Oh I didn't even attempt to align it myself before taking it in. That's why I barely drove it until it was aligned. If you go back in just ask for Keith at the desk, he knows Marlon. And ask for Lou in the shop. I told them I send them Mazdas because they do good work. But this alignment was $142 because I wanted these specs so it's labelled a "custom alignment". But still, not bad at all. Poor Chippy paid around $300 for his alignment. They said they could put camber bolts in the rear to even out the drivers side for an additional $90 but I didn't want to add camber bolts to just one side of the car. I'm weird and wanted the OEM bolts in there and asked them to just do the best they could with what they had to work with.

I installed my GT Spec trailing arms friday after work. Such a quick install I didn't even have to change my clothes beforehand. And it only took me 20mins, and we all know how slowly I work. heh-heh.

Stock U channel arms and solid GT Spec arms. And the bushings are a higher durometer. I noticed the rear was much firmer after the install.

Camber (-2.3 front and -1.6 rear) and fitment of the +40 Rays with 5mm spacers.

How she sits now. I'm going to ask Wes if we can do a photoshoot soon.

 

[Lewis7789]

And June 3rd is my first auto-x. I'm super pumped.

 

[Circuit]

Damn those tires are beefy!

 

[Protege03ak46]

Liking the specs. I've always been a firm believer in those exact alignment settings. I was very happy with it. That alignment sure was expensive! I paid 150 for a custom alignment plus corner balance! What a difference!

 

[Lewis7789]

Yeah, I don't know of many shops that will do custom setups. There's Galati's in Cleveland (Kia driver Mike Galati's shop) and I'm sure they can do a custom job. I'm definitely going to get her corner balanced after the KL is in. I can only imagine how wonderful the setup would feel after it's properly tuned.

ps- You had those 245 series tires on your Protege at one time right? Now that was a beefy tire! Feel free to post that pic again.

 

[KZL_99ES]

So no more rubbing issues then???

 

[Protege03ak46]

Nah, 235s. But that was the best 4 months I've ever had in her. Especially after I installed the AAC rear link kit. I'm working on fitting 245s on a 10 wide, if I can afford it that will be my next set up. But before anything I'm looking to do a totall re-design of the rear end. The fact that 6 bolts are holding in the rear subframe is a little in settling. Hopefully some 1.5" DOM will take care of some problem....

And some pics!
Rear

Front

PS: arnt your coilovers slotted? Couldn't you just pull them back in a little?

 

[Leyland23]

What's a corner balance do? And what rear end links did u go with?

 

[PrinceValorum]

Yeah, I don't know of many shops that will do custom setups.

The place I go in Ravenna didn't squawk that I was lowered (heck they even installed the suspension all those years ago), and I get a printout with it as well. I'm sure they'd do custom setups; the owner is super cool.

I'll ask Dave to borrow one of his fancy lens' and then we can do a shoot. Think of a nice location!

 

[ajkulish]

ahhhhhhhhhh! youre autocrossing with us in toledo june third!??! now im even more excited!!

 

[PrinceValorum]

youre autocrossing with us in toledo june third!??!

Is your car running? You got the missfire sorted out?

 

[ajkulish]

Yup it was bad Ecu connections. Fixed it the day of the bbq. If I would taken that half hour to resolder earlier I coulda been there. But Yup runs strong now.

Also sorry for the ridiculous enthusiasm in my last post. I had just gotten back from a wedding reception..... Lol.