"It's been a long road, getting from there to here."
Dorks will get that reference.
I guess I've had "self conscious" issues and never really posted actual pics of my car over the years ever since it got "violated" from a wreck 22 years ago. Only a few dozen people have seen it, and some pics of it might've been posted over the years by someone else as part of their car meet photos.
Well, I finally couldn't wait any longer
and spent enough money (that could buy a clapped out MSP) "restomodding" it to the way I nearly wanted 23 years ago when I bought my car.It likely would've costed even more money if I didn't have the local connections and negotiations/agreements like I did, and probably wouldn't have been done to my satisfaction because hardly anyone knows Proteges at the level that I do. So, the body shop's owner was kind enough to let me tear down the car, do some of the prep work, and swap out the parts I wanted. All he would do was basically do the painting and the associated basic work involved with that.
As I have said, I already had a "master plan" and vision of what I wanted my car to be since pretty much the day I bought it, 23 years ago. This allowed me to collect various parts over the years, some of which are now long discontinued and became "new old stock". This of course, also puts a smaller dent on the wallet because parts have gotten so expensive since COVID and some of which are impossible to get now. The only things I bought in recent years were the EDM headlights and the JDM Sport20 bumper, both of which were two different challenges and went over budget. You can learn more about the EDM headlights here: EDM 323F Sportive Headlights -- In-depth Look
Perhaps I would've posted pics of my car long ago if the shop (which I took my cars there for maintenance in my young and inexperienced days) that fixed my car 22 years ago actually did the job right. Even thinking about the things they did and didn't do today makes my blood boil. "I'll help you save your deductible. Bring it to me, lifetime guarantee!". Yup, instead of brand new door, it was a junk yard door that was not repainted inside, broke the weather strip while repainting the visible parts to the color of my car, painted right over the door lock mechanism that makes it hard to unlock the door by hand. Orange peel, and then peeling clear coat later. Fun. Mismatched black window frame paint and poor blending between the front and back doors. Headlight gap because the idiot didn't know he installed the headlight above a bolt that doesn't belong there (headlight supposed to bolt into that hole). You just feel violated, especially when the shop won't make things right!
Lessons learned, but money can solve the problem, so I made it happen. But what fun spending the week off work working up a sweat, just like the good old days?
Let the pics tell the rest of the story.
What it was, before it went into "rehab":
22 years worth of parts I got out of the mothballs. The radiator box has most of the parts from my original door when the car got wrecked. I reused everything from my original door because they were last known to work perfectly, and that they still do. The wind noise and door lock problem is finally fixed!
Mazda discontinued their primered bumpers more than 10 years ago. That just sucks!
Got the door off the car, and stripped it down to bare shell for painting.
Hood liner, washer nozzles, stock bumper off.
Inside of door restored to its original glory. Whole car ready for the paint booth.
Hood had the "normal" wear and tear chips on it over the years, but there was a huge dent right above the driver's side headlight. Some kid threw a ball or something out onto the main road years ago and it just came down from "out of nowhere" and literally went "boing" off the hood. I never saw where it came from. I'm doing the car no justice if I didn't repaint the hood.
Side skirt repainted. JDM bumper painted.
Fresh out of the paint booth
Door fully restored, sort of. The lock knob got totally scratched up by the shop, so I have new ones on the way from Japan (discontinued in the US)
Here, you can see the Yamaha "performance damper" brace with custom made brackets, and the JDM bumper support brackets all bolted up. The keen eye will also see there's the EDM low tone horn that goes behind the bumper. Only some EDM Protege's had dual horns! Before, I had another stock horn bolted up in front of what's now the intercooler. It never really fit well there and was worse after the intercooler was added (crack the "tool tray" part of the stock grille, but it already got damaged from solvents by accident before).
EDM headlights all bolted up and under testing
JDM bumper getting loaded up with the lower grille, MP3 fog lights with Flossler selective yellow +90 H3 bulbs, and MP3/MSP/MSF wind splitter
Bumper installed and fog light test
Ready for the final paint buff
Ready to go home!
