seventystangfan's '02 Midnight Blue P5 Build/Progress

Nice ride!

The next thing you should do is get a TWM Short throw shifter!

My favorite mod I've done to the P5 and I can't imagine driving another standard car without one! :-)
 
Damn it, i really wised my car a 5speed but all of the ones in my are were auto when i got mine. Nice car man
 
On my Focus the whole assembly was adjustable and while it wasn't quite perfect it was indeed shorter. The short time I had both cars it was slightly awkward to drive the Focus. I'll put the TWM on the Christmas list! I dig your light setup up front. HIDs I guess I can add to the eventual upgrades ;-)

the shorter throws are definitely giving it a more sporty feel, and it's not a loose "guess which gear I'm in" anymore- you'll know!

but thanks! I will always recommend DDM tuning for HID kits, built well and a lifetime guarantee. never heard of anybody with problems on these. I use 6000k for low beams and 3000k for fogs. if you like yellow fogs, contact bluebatmobile for overlays and lastly, you could black out your headlight housing yourself with the use of an oven and black paint, there's a great how to on here. good luck with your p5!
 
The P5 has separate high and low beam bulbs, I hope you didn't order an H4 kit those are for the Protege sedans.
 
Thanks zackmac! Just ordered some hi/lo HIDs from DDM, per your recommendation and the results I see from your car! I was considering projectors but they are way too cost prohibitive. I'm super pumped about this and ready to get some night visibility going! As a plus, they were on sale too! I'm going to hold off on fogs for the moment, and yes I do like them to be yellow. And the housing painting I did once when I had my Focus, and it did look pretty killer. I'm going to see if I can track down a spare pair of headlights and then use them as a project.

Did I mention that I love this car? And it has a great community!

The P5 has separate high and low beam bulbs, I hope you didn't order an H4 kit those are for the Protege sedans.

Uh oh, I hope you didn't get the ones for a sedan headlight! P5s use H7 i believe for low beams. With that, you can keep the normal high beams and you won't ever need to use them... I still have mine and just never touch them.
If you want projectors there is a very easy DIY on how to retrofit projectors into our headlights. I plan on doing it eventually, but I want to get sedan headlights to do it on because I like how they look better, just personal preference though.

and you did hit the perfect time, I just got an email from DDM with their sale. Only thing that sucks is they charge a lot to ship, that's what made me decide to just get fogs at the same time to avoid paying for shipping again later
can't wait to see the progress!
 
I wanna say the H3 bulbs is for the fog lights. The high beams are 9000-somethin. Don't know the actual number.

But welcome! You're gonna have to give me tips on the HID install, since I'm hoping to get some for Christmas. Like everyone and their brother up north will say, I'm so jealous that you don't have rust on yours. Mine's so bad I'm planning on taking it to a shop in a few months over finals week when I won't need my car for a few days for work.

I would definitely paint your valve cover too! If you have to replace the valve cover gasket, that would be the best time to do it, but it really makes your engine look nice. And gives you that ricer hp. :D
 
The stock fogs require H3 mini bulbs. Low beam is H7, high beam is 9006 and fogs are H3 but if you get an aftermarket hid kit the normal H3 doesn't always work.
 
Rust=the enemy. One of the only downsides for my desire to move up North is that cancer your roads are so fond of giving ;-)

^ I hear that,... But,.. if your car is in good shape now, rust wise, then you can prevent the rust and all it's related problems by getting a good undercoating done before you move. Get it done at a place that drills holes to get it inside the frame and pillars and all the hidden spots that you don't see until it rusts right through. Don't get dripless stuff,... it needs to be thin and oily to creep and seep into every nook and cranny. Plan on doing it every year.

It kills me how people think it's too much money to spend $150 a year on undercoating but they'll spend way more than that on washes, waxes and other superficial stuff while ignoring the rust,... then they'll spend hundreds or even thousands on body work, brake lines, gas tanks, etc.

I wish I could have afforded a newer car when I got my P5,... then I could have jumped on the rust prevention before the cancer set in.
 
Even after spending a couple years in Colorado my MSP managed to escape without a single spot of rust. I hope it stays that way, I have seen some ridiculous cancer damage on these Mazdas.
 
The stock fogs require H3 mini bulbs. Low beam is H7, high beam is 9006 and fogs are H3 but if you get an aftermarket hid kit the normal H3 doesn't always work.

just to go back to this for a second, he is technically right. but a lot of people have problems with the mini h3s and find they are not worth it, i looked into this a lot before i ordered my kit from ddm
i ended up going with the same as you, normal h3s. the only problem I had was that the bulbs themselves were not too big, but the assembly was too long.

fog-rear.jpg


where the pink sticker thing is on the back of that fog light, i had to drill out the back with the biggest bit i had and even try to make it a little wider, i'd say about a dime size hole
but i just ran it straight through the back and it turned out being an advantage. haven't had any problems either. just a heads up you might need to take the fog light out (easy 1 bolt) and do this
 
I'm pumped for the install! Maybe I'll even attempt a write-up, but I'll definitely do a small how-to for this thread. Rust=the enemy. One of the only downsides for my desire to move up North is that cancer your roads are so fond of giving ;-)

Valve cover and brake calipers should give me an extra 40-50 horses right? The only thing I'm unsure of on the cover is what color scheme I want to set. Color match? Black? Etc.?

How far north would you be moving? Just make sure you get a good quality rust-proofing before you get up here, and probably every fall before it snows, just to be safe. I bought my car with some light rust around the rear fenders and over the summer it popped through the paint and looks terrible. Time to take it to a shop.....

As for the valve cover, here's what I did to my engine bay on my black P5:


I'm probably going to get a new oil cap, cuz I messed that up pretty bad, but I think the rest turned out well. And I'm gonna paint my new calipers the same red as my valve cover and tower brace, so that way it'll match. Extra hp, FTW! Not really.....
 
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Ah. Not trying to be rude, but why those states? I'm from the "big city" of SD and it's not that great. haha Maybe in the Black Hills I guess if you really like mountains, but I couldn't find another reason. And I've heard NE and WY are worse.

But yes, I've been thinking about an aluminum cap. Or maybe carbon fiber, if I can find one? hmmm..... But yes, the brakes should be red. Or maybe a yellow? Kinda Porsche-like? Could look good if you get a big-brake kit.
 
If you are looking for smoked headlight overlays I have a set I never installed. Got them from bluebatmobile for about $20, 15% tint IIRC.
 
If you are looking for smoked headlight overlays I have a set I never installed. Got them from bluebatmobile for about $20, 15% tint IIRC.

go with bluebatmobile, you definitely won't be disappointed!!! just got my yellow fog overlays today from him i posted in my thread
 
The only time I ever had smoke tinted headlight covers, they were on my car (a Neon at the time) less than 12 hours. I drove to a friend's house late that night and took them off when I got there, I couldn't see to save my life. And when you're driving at night, you need to see, literally to save your life, lol.

Also - YAY Missouri!
 
That's why I never installed them, I thought you would still be able to see with a set of HIDs but I now have HIDs and I never tried the overlay.
 
Do you know if your horn ever got wet? Mine got soaked this weekend and now is about half or a quarter of the volume it used to be, so I gotta replace mine soon too.
 

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