MazKid's project "Nice Car"

[MazKid]

Yeah the name is lame, might change, but that's basically what this car will be. Here's the story so far:

ForceFed, a member of the Mazda forums, bought this '03 Protege5 for $2500 with a bad engine due to oil starvation, and dings, dents, and scratches galore. This was his project car, and he spent literally thousands on parts for it. It was going to be awesome...but he changed his mind and decided to sell it all. Here's pics of the car before he dug into it:



Many more pics of the car in progress and with what parts he bought and his plans can be found RIGHT HERE.

I've been looking for a Protege5 for months now as a be-all end-all replacement for my 323. Nothing wrong with my 323 really, but I want something newer, more fun to drive, safer, better audio, faster...everything really. The problem was, I didn't want a complete, running Protege5 as I knew I was going to just rip the drivetrain out and go with a KL V6. I've always wanted a KL car, I love the way they run, how quiet they are when cruising but sound amazing when on it, and how smooth as silk, can't tell it's on, they run.

So a while back I picked up a '99 626 KL 5 speed drivetrain, 110K miles, $500 for everything(engine, trans, wireharnesses, all accessories including full A/C setup, shift linkage, ECU, all of it).

Then I saw that ForceFed decided to part the project out, right in the middle of painting it. Here's some pics of it in progress:




Then epic fail happened, in the form of Hurrican Ike hitting Ohio right as the car was being sprayed with clearcoat. The guy tried to keep going in a frugal attempt to not waste clearcoat. With the power out, poor lighting, and no ventilation, the clearcoat came out horrific. As I had already dibbed the shell in painted and clearcoated form for the price he had first posted, he unfortunately had to sand all of the clearcoat off and do it again. He had fears that it wouldn't end up very well done, but I held my breath hoping for the best.

Here's what it looks like as of today(10/5/08). He just got it home from the paint booth. Looks VERY nice IMO, I know pics aren't to be trusted much but he said it looks good, not like a factory car, but like the best of a repaint. As I was going to pick up a preowned, probably beat to hell Protege5 with no plans of getting it repainted, I'll be happy with it.





Here's a rundown of what is with the car, as far as I know:
Factory exterior/interior with the following exceptions:

• MazdaSpeed Protege front bumper(no bumper marker lights)(brand new)
• MazdaSpeed Protege headlights
• MazdaSpeed Protege front sway bar
• Familia S-Wagon tail lights(brand new from CorkSport)
• Some sort of aftermarket radio but including the factory one(aftermarket FTL!!)
• Maybe a P5 roof rack, to be determined, he plugged the holes in the roof for it(under the roof strips) and I probably would never use it anyway.

Purchase price for me is $3,500. Not bad at all IMO!

My plans at the moment:

• 626 V6 5 speed drivetrain - already have
• Protege MP3 17" wheels - already have
• Protege MP3 seats - have located, not sure if I'll get em or not, probably will
• MazdaSpeed Protege LSD diff
• 626 FS 5th gear swap
• FC RX-7 Enkei alloy spare wheel
• H4 high/low HIDs
• Quiet exhaust, will have to be custom ofcourse.
• K&N drop in filter maybe
• Eibach Prokit OR some good riding coilovers
• RX-7 Convertible BBS wheels with Bridgestone Blizzaks for winter use

That's about it so far. I should be making the drive to Dayton this Sunday. Stay tuned!!

-Ryan

[Kitty]

get the p5 leather seats. much nicer than the mp3 garbage.

dont get the roof rack. multile reasons

3.5k still seems alittle high for a p5 rolling shell and shipping will bump it up to 4k more than likely.

[atomicEGT]

What's all that crap on the roof?

Factory paint sucks. If it's not as good as factory... good luck.

Is he putting the trim pieces, door handles, etc, back in?

[MazKid]

Originally Posted by Kitty

get the p5 leather seats. much nicer than the mp3 garbage.

dont get the roof rack. multile reasons

3.5k still seems alittle high for a p5 rolling shell and shipping will bump it up to 4k more than likely.

My brother has a set of P5 leather seats. I'm not a big fan of leather for grip and heat reasons, but I might go with them anyway. I haven't seen the seats my brother has so I'm not sure of the condition or if I would like them. If I went with those I would put heaters in them though.

I'm picking up the car myself. It's 380 miles away.

$3.5K isn't bad considering that it has fresh paint, no dents, the MSP parts, JDM tails, etc, and includes everything else. It is the cheapest P5 I have seen with the exception of one in Detroit with a blown engine and rust that was $3100. I have been looking for a P5 since the middle of summer, searching Craigslist, eBay, and forums. These things go for $5K and up unless it's yellow and/or beat, then it's in the 4K range, for a running car that is. I don't need a running car.

Originally Posted by atomicEGT

What's all that crap on the roof?

Factory paint sucks. If it's not as good as factory... good luck.

Is he putting the trim pieces, door handles, etc, back in?

Not sure what's on the roof, he just got the car back from the paint booth today.

As far as the paint, all I can do is wait and see how it is. Of course I hope it is perfect, but I won't be upset if it isn't. This isn't a show car, and when I'm "done" with the car, I will be somewhere in the $5K range for total cost, which if you look at the prices these cars fetch, is still less than one in fair condition with 6 or 7 year old paint, scratches, dings, and dents.

Yes, he is putting everything back on the car. I will post any pics he posts for me once he does that. The only things I may have him leave in the car are the headliner, since it has a few tears and I will be getting one from the junkyard, and the plastics for the A/B/C pillars/etc that would have to be removed for that. Oh and I'll have him leave the door trim off the car as I like the look without it. I like how the car looks without the side skirts too, and would opt for the factory Protege front mud flaps, but unfortunately the car still has the holes in the rockers for the skirts, so I'll have those on the car.

[Turpro]

Man that's going to be a nice ride when you get the v6 in it. Good luck with the project.

[Chad]

nice, i have always been a fan of the p5... and i do miss my KL

[Mazda_Powered]

good call on both car and drivetrain!!!!

JACK.

[bpt323]

I know the KL swap is possible but how hard is it to do with the 3rd gens whats all involved?

[Mazda_Powered]

All you have to do is use the V6 mounts Ryan. Since the Probe/MX6 came with both FS and KL08

the V6 mounts will bolt right into where the FS mounts once sat.

It's a direct swap from what i've heard. Probe/MX6 V6 mounts are required though, not MX3 or BG related. Only BJ haha...BJ.

JACK.

[MazKid]

When I posted the idea on the Mazda forums, which is like THE BJ forum, a few people said that there are a couple of KL P5s but no one seems to know where they are.

I have the V6 mounts so that's no issue. It seems straight forward to my brother and I. Should be a quick thing once I have all of the parts.

[viper_707]

post thats of pic if u do the v6. i was thinking about this myself

[therieldeal]

emissions could be interesting

[Kitty]

Theres obd2 probes/mx6's so should be no problem at all.

[13thghost]

stick with the fs engine. this will make the head pains lots less.

[jumpncrash]

the KL P5s are in Quebec or at least 2 of em, and there are 2 2001 race prepped KL proteges here too

Nick