A few days late, but it's well worth it . The very first ClubProtege Ride of the Month for the 2006 year is long time member "Naprotejay" *claps*. This is one of my personal favorites among the 1st gens. It's such a clean car, and a strong motor under the hood to boot. Very few other members have contributed as much "NA" knowledge as Naprotejay, and his multiple dyno's have provided a lot of tuning information. Lets all give a big congratulations to this beautiful car.
1991 Mazda Protege LX
its been a great, reliable, fun car. Still like the looks as well compared to most cars of its size..... If I could go back in time and buy another just like it, I would
Modifications
Engine stuff:
Newly rebuilt 10:1 motor - see this post for the details -
Genie header
Catco cat in a custom 2" midpipe
EDM Martelius 2" mandrel bent resonated catback
Suspension/Brake stuff:
Escort ZX2 S/R struts with matching Eibach springs
Energy Suspension lower control arm, trailing link, and front swaybar bushings
Suspension Techniques rear swaybar
OffTheLine Motorsports rear tie bar
Corksport stainless brake lines and clutch line
Interior/Exterior:
MX3 front seats
MX3 SE leather steering wheel
PPG '10-year' clear white paint(factory match) with a coats of epoxy underneath it all and 4 coats of clear on the hood, roof, and trunk
205/50/15 Falken Azenis mounted on F2 Ultralights
Future plans:
Baseline Dyno comes tomorrow
Then Megasquirt II install; 'exhintake' cam ala Gen1GT; and some new - perhaps interesting stuff - for the intake......
Once I get that running well and tuned, I would like to do something to the exhaust from the header back........
About Naprotejay and His Car:
My 1st car was a '71 Ford 4-door LTD. A big 'boat' with a big engine - 429 4V ......... actually a fun car - had lots of torque
Anyways I had saved some money up for a downpayment and starting looking for a new small car. I remember looking at the Civic, Sentra, Escort, etc.... I then test-drove a Tracer LTS and liked it a lot. In fact I probably would have gotten one of those if my aunt hadn't sugggested I look at the Mazda Protege as well. So dad and I went, test-drove a maroon LX, and I was sold I decided on either a white or light blue LX with the optional moonroof package (was talked out of black - that was my original choice). The dealer didn't have one optioned like that, but a week or so later they located one about ~150 miles away. We signed the paperwork, and mom drove me to the other dealership so that I could drive it home (I wanted to personally pick up the car - NOT have it driven/transported to the dealer I was working with). I still remember spotting the car at the other dealership and driving it home............ That was Dec 5 '90, the '91 model had 15 miles on it.
So I varied the revs on the way home and for the next 600 miles. Then after that '600' mile mark passed, I remember taking it up to redline several times one night, and of course it has seen a lot of redlines over the years. The car was very reliable. IIRC only 2 things were needed under warranty: a bad thermostat, and a rusted out fuel filler neck. I have changed the oil personally since the 1,500 mile mark.
It has seen one accident I was on a twisty rural 2 lane road and while approaching a corner I took my eyes off the road to mess with the radio When I looked up, I was in the curve and going off the road.... so I just reacted by jerking the steering to the left. That sent me into a spin, and so 360+ degrees later I came to a stop when I smacked a mailbox on the front right passenger side fender. Needless to say, I owned up to my responsibility and bought the homeowner a new mailbox and pole. This did some pretty good damage to the front end of my car, and its something that still bugs me to this day; as the front-end parts don't line up like they should. I've worked on it some over the years, but I still need to hammer some stuff around to see if I can get it closer to the way it should be. Man that was a stupid accident.....
Mods have only come 'recently'..... I didn't do anything to the car untill the very late 90's when I came across mazdaracer's site on the internet, as well as the old protegetech site, and protegeclub.com. Some of the parts were wearing out/old, so I figured I'd start upgrading the suspension, do some bolt-on's, etc. The paint was really bad, as it had seen lots of rocks, etc while being in montana for 5 years. I helped out a good friend of mine in Florida who repainted the car for me in the middle of nowhere at a paint-booth he had set up at his grandmother's house.
That's pretty much the story - its been a great, reliable, fun car. Still like the looks as well compared to most cars of its size..... If I could go back in time and buy another just like it, I would
1991 Mazda Protege LX
its been a great, reliable, fun car. Still like the looks as well compared to most cars of its size..... If I could go back in time and buy another just like it, I would
Modifications
Engine stuff:
Newly rebuilt 10:1 motor - see this post for the details -
Genie header
Catco cat in a custom 2" midpipe
EDM Martelius 2" mandrel bent resonated catback
Suspension/Brake stuff:
Escort ZX2 S/R struts with matching Eibach springs
Energy Suspension lower control arm, trailing link, and front swaybar bushings
Suspension Techniques rear swaybar
OffTheLine Motorsports rear tie bar
Corksport stainless brake lines and clutch line
Interior/Exterior:
MX3 front seats
MX3 SE leather steering wheel
PPG '10-year' clear white paint(factory match) with a coats of epoxy underneath it all and 4 coats of clear on the hood, roof, and trunk
205/50/15 Falken Azenis mounted on F2 Ultralights
Future plans:
Baseline Dyno comes tomorrow
Then Megasquirt II install; 'exhintake' cam ala Gen1GT; and some new - perhaps interesting stuff - for the intake......
Once I get that running well and tuned, I would like to do something to the exhaust from the header back........
About Naprotejay and His Car:
My 1st car was a '71 Ford 4-door LTD. A big 'boat' with a big engine - 429 4V ......... actually a fun car - had lots of torque
Anyways I had saved some money up for a downpayment and starting looking for a new small car. I remember looking at the Civic, Sentra, Escort, etc.... I then test-drove a Tracer LTS and liked it a lot. In fact I probably would have gotten one of those if my aunt hadn't sugggested I look at the Mazda Protege as well. So dad and I went, test-drove a maroon LX, and I was sold I decided on either a white or light blue LX with the optional moonroof package (was talked out of black - that was my original choice). The dealer didn't have one optioned like that, but a week or so later they located one about ~150 miles away. We signed the paperwork, and mom drove me to the other dealership so that I could drive it home (I wanted to personally pick up the car - NOT have it driven/transported to the dealer I was working with). I still remember spotting the car at the other dealership and driving it home............ That was Dec 5 '90, the '91 model had 15 miles on it.
So I varied the revs on the way home and for the next 600 miles. Then after that '600' mile mark passed, I remember taking it up to redline several times one night, and of course it has seen a lot of redlines over the years. The car was very reliable. IIRC only 2 things were needed under warranty: a bad thermostat, and a rusted out fuel filler neck. I have changed the oil personally since the 1,500 mile mark.
It has seen one accident I was on a twisty rural 2 lane road and while approaching a corner I took my eyes off the road to mess with the radio When I looked up, I was in the curve and going off the road.... so I just reacted by jerking the steering to the left. That sent me into a spin, and so 360+ degrees later I came to a stop when I smacked a mailbox on the front right passenger side fender. Needless to say, I owned up to my responsibility and bought the homeowner a new mailbox and pole. This did some pretty good damage to the front end of my car, and its something that still bugs me to this day; as the front-end parts don't line up like they should. I've worked on it some over the years, but I still need to hammer some stuff around to see if I can get it closer to the way it should be. Man that was a stupid accident.....
Mods have only come 'recently'..... I didn't do anything to the car untill the very late 90's when I came across mazdaracer's site on the internet, as well as the old protegetech site, and protegeclub.com. Some of the parts were wearing out/old, so I figured I'd start upgrading the suspension, do some bolt-on's, etc. The paint was really bad, as it had seen lots of rocks, etc while being in montana for 5 years. I helped out a good friend of mine in Florida who repainted the car for me in the middle of nowhere at a paint-booth he had set up at his grandmother's house.
That's pretty much the story - its been a great, reliable, fun car. Still like the looks as well compared to most cars of its size..... If I could go back in time and buy another just like it, I would
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