protege shaving?

[Roadkill17]

I was wondering how to remove the side moldings on my 01 protege es? Are they simply glued on? Can this be done without removing or damaging the paint? Also, can the rear emblems be removed safely?

Im also throwing in a few picks of my exhaust; the usual ricer muffler wasnt my style so I took a more redneck approach.

Resonator was replaced with a cherry bomb and I welded on a side pipe. Im going to have it manually valve operated next spring. (sorry for the low quality cellphone pics)

 

[Tom03es]

Yes, the mouldings can be peeled off. Use a heat gun to help loosen up the glue. I used WD-40 to get the remaining glue off.

Interesting exhaust.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

right...

 

[NCZ13]

your one of those guys who i hear drive by me, and i look at my friend and say

"probably has a hole in his exhaust"

sigh

 

[crashkelly]

your one of those guys who i hear drive by me, and i look at my friend and say

"probably has a hole in his exhaust"

sigh

haha i was thinking the same thing...no offense man, i am all for the "do it yourselfer" but at least save a few bucks and put a rolled tip on the end of that thing and make it somewhat presentable.

 

[NCZ13]

sometimes i was wondering what it would be like if this forum was like honda tech. they have a 0 tolerance policy for this kind of stuff.

on a sidenote, if you want a really good read, visit the honda tech kill forum. not only will you get occasional good kill stories, the superiors (youll see whos who) are very creative with the flaming and whatnot.

/threadjack

 

[Roadkill17]

I threw in the exhaust as a side note; I didn’t realize that everyone was all for the bolt on chrome coffee cans. I prefer something different, I’m simply trying to use my imagination, not my wallet. So can anyone tell me if the emblems can be removed without damaging the paint or leaving a mark?

 

[Roadkill17]

funny, everyone was quick to insult me, but ive only actually gotten one real answer.

 

[jamesk]

no i dont think it was a bad idea. i mean you just put it on, obviously your gonna make it look nicer. but why do you have a hole there? i dont get that part?

the molding just peals off. i think a blower dryer would do the trick. just hold the blow dryer to it, then start peeling.

 

[Roadkill17]

I cut the hole in the exhaust pipe after the glass packed muffler( 2nd pic), and then welded a pipe over it, coming out the side of the car(3rd pic). The exhaust fumes travel trough the passage with the least restriction, which is the hole covered with the side pipe. I kept the stock muffler in the rear, so when I don’t want to be loud, I can simply cap the side pipe and the exhaust fumes travel trough the stock muffler.
The side pipe is then legal, loud and hard too see (that’s why it is flat black). My car is stock on the outside, it's more for go than show.
Thanks for the help with the moldings, any idea if this works on the rear emblems?

 

[Tom03es]

The rear emblems are held on with similar glue- basically a double sided sticky tape. But there are also pegs on the emblems (I think for alignment in the factory) that go through holes in the trunk. Heat up the emblems to loosen up the glue, use some dental floss to break the tape bond, and then pull them out.

 

[NCZ13]

shaved sides= plus
debadged= good

im still not convinced about the exhaust, i think your losing power, because in order for the exhaust to travel straigh through, that sidepipe would need to be plugged all the way to the weld... if your just sticking a plug on the end, i believe your causing unnecessary back pressure, and restricting the flow.

 

[Roadkill17]

Thanks allot for the info, not sure if I’m going to remove the emblems, I don’t know how difficult it would be to cover over the alignment holes.
I hadn’t thought about the exhaust creating back pressure, but then again, it isn’t often capped... I'm working on having it valve operated next spring, with the valve being close to the original exhaust pipe, near the weld. It will be redneck, once again.
Thanks for the info though, it really helps. Im new to the forum thing, and like anyone else, I don’t like having my work made fun of (though I agree a side pipe isn’t very stylish). I'm just taking a different approach at modifying my car.

 

[Nomad]

What they said about the emblems and mouldings is correct. I don't believe the Protege emblem has mounting holes, just the Mazda one.

As for the exhaust, most all of your exhaust will take the path of least resistance, which means it will continue on the straight line path out the rear of the exhaust. Gas doesn't like to go straight, stop, make a right angle turn, and then go straight again. Sure you'll get some exhaust out of it but essentially you just have a hole venting to the side. KNowing a little about turbulance will tell you there may be a buildup of turbulent air there, essentially slowing the gases, making less power.

As for the cherry bomb you put on there, I sure hope it is a straight smooth perforated core, not a louvered core like 99% of the resonators out there. If it's louvered you're already down on power.
Not sure what you're going for but an exhaust cut out is best UNSEEN. What have you done of rpower? The P5 is underpowered as it is and super loud ass exhaust won't change that.

Having a rear tailpipe and a side outlet just gives everyone the impresion that you don't know what yu are doing. Maybe you do, not sure by looking at that setup.
I'd get rid of the rear pipe, put a 45 degree bend on the pipe and direct it out the side. At least then it'd be the real deal.

I won't bash you unless you tell us you have the stock muffler up there still, if you do, take it off or forget the whole side outlet thing, that's just retarded.

Maybe you're new to this forum thing, so here's a tip. If you don;t want to hear any negatives, don't post up your stuff. You gotta have thick skin, who cares if everyone thinks your car is backyard hackjob rice rat. Big deal, it's just the internet...

 

[peterbuilt]

"backyard hackjob rice rat"

Thats a new one for me!

 

[Nomad]

I should make that my signature.