The Digital Slacker
Hard-core CEG'er
My Story:
After having my SVT since 2006 I decided it was time to let it become a dedicated garage ornament. Driving it less miles every year. 1200 miles in 2009, 700 miles in 2010 and 130 miles thus far this year. It doesn't need anything, I just kinda lost interest in it. Since it costs me so little to keep insured I just leave it in the garage if I need a backup car. I'll be back to do more work on it eventually.
I was looking for a sport hatchback that would let me carry things for work. Was looking for a 4 banger with a 5 speed and cloth interior. Pretty much anything else was negotiable based on price. I did some digging around vehix, autotrader, cars.com and fell in love with the yellow P5. After 4 months of looking I found one with 125k on it for 6300$. Went down to Delaware with 5k cash in my pocket and the dealer bit.
I drove it about 25k and the engine started to consume oil. It got bad. I am talking a quart every 600-800 miles. Big clouds of smoke every time the car started. After some reading on the boards here and posting up I had an offer from a local member to help replace the engine. We found a 2L from a Mazda 626 in a local yard and got that swapped. Put in a bunch of new parts: Timing belt and tensioners, plugs, wires, coil packs, air filter, and seals the whole way around. Took us about 10 hours from the time we started stripping the old engine down to the time I started up the new engine in the car.
About 8k miles later it started making a squealing noise. I was thinking, crap the new engine is toast. I'll admit, I'm not the best with cars. I like cars, I like working on cars... I'm just not good at it for whatever reason. So the only job I had was to tighten the tensioner for the accessory belt. I think I must have over-tightened it and the pulley on the waterpump went. Pat, from the boards, came down and helped me get that changed.
From there on out I got bit by the mod bug. Tokico blues and eibachs went on a few weeks later. A few more weeks later the brakes got done. A few more after that I fell into one of those limited production SLP hoods. Two weeks ago got a new in-dash navigation unit put in since the stock CD player stopped playing cds. Got the hood and bumpers painted and back from the shop two days ago. So here are some pictures of how it sits right now.
Future mods include rims. I'm torn with what I want to do. Going to 17's is a given since I want larger wheels. I think 18's are going to be too harsh for a DD. I hate the black rim look on cars so that's out. I am thinking about trying to find a set of the 17x7 Centerline Storms. If I can keep the shiny 5 spoke design I will. Otherwise I'd love to find a set of chrome plated Mazda6 5 spokes. I'm open to suggestions though if anyone has any.
As always, these are the mods I have made so feel free to comment.
Aesthetic mods:
- SLP Fiberglass Hood /w Custom paint
- Painted rear bumper exhaust surround
- Painted Gauge Surrounds
- Mazdaspeed Protege Shift Knob
Electrical / Audio
- Fog light mod
- jvc kw-nt3hdt in dash navigation
- MB Quart 5x7 replacement front speakers
- MB Quart Tweeter replacements
- 55w ApexCone HID
Suspension / Brakes
- Tokico Blues Struts
- Eibach P5 Spring Kit
- Crossdrilled & Slotted Rotors /w ceramic pads
ONTO THE PICS!
Before headlight buffing
After headlight buffing
Rear Bumper
Front Bumper:
Front Shot:
Interior:
Painted Rings:
Center console and shift knob:
Link to full pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/103507358764282447494/Protege520
After having my SVT since 2006 I decided it was time to let it become a dedicated garage ornament. Driving it less miles every year. 1200 miles in 2009, 700 miles in 2010 and 130 miles thus far this year. It doesn't need anything, I just kinda lost interest in it. Since it costs me so little to keep insured I just leave it in the garage if I need a backup car. I'll be back to do more work on it eventually.
I was looking for a sport hatchback that would let me carry things for work. Was looking for a 4 banger with a 5 speed and cloth interior. Pretty much anything else was negotiable based on price. I did some digging around vehix, autotrader, cars.com and fell in love with the yellow P5. After 4 months of looking I found one with 125k on it for 6300$. Went down to Delaware with 5k cash in my pocket and the dealer bit.
I drove it about 25k and the engine started to consume oil. It got bad. I am talking a quart every 600-800 miles. Big clouds of smoke every time the car started. After some reading on the boards here and posting up I had an offer from a local member to help replace the engine. We found a 2L from a Mazda 626 in a local yard and got that swapped. Put in a bunch of new parts: Timing belt and tensioners, plugs, wires, coil packs, air filter, and seals the whole way around. Took us about 10 hours from the time we started stripping the old engine down to the time I started up the new engine in the car.
About 8k miles later it started making a squealing noise. I was thinking, crap the new engine is toast. I'll admit, I'm not the best with cars. I like cars, I like working on cars... I'm just not good at it for whatever reason. So the only job I had was to tighten the tensioner for the accessory belt. I think I must have over-tightened it and the pulley on the waterpump went. Pat, from the boards, came down and helped me get that changed.
From there on out I got bit by the mod bug. Tokico blues and eibachs went on a few weeks later. A few more weeks later the brakes got done. A few more after that I fell into one of those limited production SLP hoods. Two weeks ago got a new in-dash navigation unit put in since the stock CD player stopped playing cds. Got the hood and bumpers painted and back from the shop two days ago. So here are some pictures of how it sits right now.
Future mods include rims. I'm torn with what I want to do. Going to 17's is a given since I want larger wheels. I think 18's are going to be too harsh for a DD. I hate the black rim look on cars so that's out. I am thinking about trying to find a set of the 17x7 Centerline Storms. If I can keep the shiny 5 spoke design I will. Otherwise I'd love to find a set of chrome plated Mazda6 5 spokes. I'm open to suggestions though if anyone has any.
As always, these are the mods I have made so feel free to comment.
Aesthetic mods:
- SLP Fiberglass Hood /w Custom paint
- Painted rear bumper exhaust surround
- Painted Gauge Surrounds
- Mazdaspeed Protege Shift Knob
Electrical / Audio
- Fog light mod
- jvc kw-nt3hdt in dash navigation
- MB Quart 5x7 replacement front speakers
- MB Quart Tweeter replacements
- 55w ApexCone HID
Suspension / Brakes
- Tokico Blues Struts
- Eibach P5 Spring Kit
- Crossdrilled & Slotted Rotors /w ceramic pads
ONTO THE PICS!
Before headlight buffing
After headlight buffing
Rear Bumper
Front Bumper:
Front Shot:
Interior:
Painted Rings:
Center console and shift knob:
Link to full pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/103507358764282447494/Protege520
hot lil ride though.. And loving the hood!
