What have you done to your P5 today?
- Thread starter Tg5
- Start date
Installed a new right rear door lock actuator. Fortunately, a couple of good posts on this forum on how to get the door handle off and get to the actuator out. So, that really helped.
Next, I replaced the instrument cluster light bulbs. I put 4.9W bulbs in the two larger bulbs and replaced the two smaller bulbs as well. I also removed the bulb condoms. Now, the gauges are visible during dusk conditions.
I started polishing the windshield to remove some of the wiper scratches. Unfortunately, my lone wool polishing pad came apart after finishing about 2 sq feet. Waiting on Amazon to deliver some replacements on Tuesday.
I started cleaning up some of the rust on the lower door seams. Got the Dremel out and cleaned up as much rust as I could and then treated it with some POR15. Unfortunately, I started poking at what I thought was some surface rust in the right rear wheel well, and the screwdriver went through. Crap. It's on the outside facing vertical piece in the front of the wheel well. The inner part of the panel is still fairly solid. So, I cut out what I could, ground down the rest and put on 3 coats of POR15. I'll have to Bondo it (yuck) this week sometime. It's a real pisser since the rest of the wheel well is very clean. I'm sure the other side is similar. Welcome to the P5 world I guess.
Next, I replaced the instrument cluster light bulbs. I put 4.9W bulbs in the two larger bulbs and replaced the two smaller bulbs as well. I also removed the bulb condoms. Now, the gauges are visible during dusk conditions.
I started polishing the windshield to remove some of the wiper scratches. Unfortunately, my lone wool polishing pad came apart after finishing about 2 sq feet. Waiting on Amazon to deliver some replacements on Tuesday.
I started cleaning up some of the rust on the lower door seams. Got the Dremel out and cleaned up as much rust as I could and then treated it with some POR15. Unfortunately, I started poking at what I thought was some surface rust in the right rear wheel well, and the screwdriver went through. Crap. It's on the outside facing vertical piece in the front of the wheel well. The inner part of the panel is still fairly solid. So, I cut out what I could, ground down the rest and put on 3 coats of POR15. I'll have to Bondo it (yuck) this week sometime. It's a real pisser since the rest of the wheel well is very clean. I'm sure the other side is similar. Welcome to the P5 world I guess.
I have a full Injen CAI in the FS section, ready to ship! (http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...ock-Garage-Clean-Up-Sale-Injen-CAI&highlight=)
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- -- 03 P5 / 23 CX-5 --
Couple of cuts to piping on hand and an adjustment here and there and waiting on black couplings for MAF then the new intake setup reveal.........
Super grainy low res ipad cam spy foto...............
Have to cut bracket off, smooth and then cut pipe off and then MAF will fit right in. Better pics when all is done. Summer '14 makeover faze 1 in progress..............
Super grainy low res ipad cam spy foto...............
Have to cut bracket off, smooth and then cut pipe off and then MAF will fit right in. Better pics when all is done. Summer '14 makeover faze 1 in progress..............
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Plenty of good intentions for the evening. Not much progress, though. Filled in the hole in the right rear wheel well where I cut out the rust over the weekend. Opened up my box of undercoating to only find 1.5 cans, with the one full can having a broken nozzle. Hit what I could with the partial can.
So, having been thwarted on that, I proceeded to remove the sway bar link. It came off without too much of a fight (no bent allen wrenches or cutting involved). I picked up a replacement at Advance Auto Parts. It was their Driveworks brand (not my preferred brand, but it's what they had in stock). Pop it in and start to tighten the nuts and they go down about 1/4" and then they get very difficult to turn. It's taking more effort to put these on than it took to take the old ones off. Something is wrong with the threads. I get a 10x1.25mm bolt and the nuts go on just fine. I tried the old nuts and same result. So, I put the old link back on the car and call it a night.
So, having been thwarted on that, I proceeded to remove the sway bar link. It came off without too much of a fight (no bent allen wrenches or cutting involved). I picked up a replacement at Advance Auto Parts. It was their Driveworks brand (not my preferred brand, but it's what they had in stock). Pop it in and start to tighten the nuts and they go down about 1/4" and then they get very difficult to turn. It's taking more effort to put these on than it took to take the old ones off. Something is wrong with the threads. I get a 10x1.25mm bolt and the nuts go on just fine. I tried the old nuts and same result. So, I put the old link back on the car and call it a night.
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- -- 03 P5 / 23 CX-5 --
Getting closer. Just waiting on the couplers now but here is loose test fit. Will be pretty much like this when done..............
Getting closer. Just waiting on the couplers now but here is loose test fit. Will be pretty much like this when done..............
Which headers do you have?
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- -- 03 P5 / 23 CX-5 --
Ceramic coated OBX...that is what started off all this underhood makeover 2014...that and a bunch of stuff sittin around for yrs that needs to go on the car. Scored the 505zoom air filter box from another member recently too along with the header so I've been customizing some piping I had on hand.
Chucklestheclwn
Member
- :
- 2002 Protege5
Anybody got some good tips to help fix or prevent further rust on my P5? I'm not looking for costly fixes, I'm just a poor college student trying to keep the body as clean as possible, but I fear the bad winters with salted roads may be too much to handle.
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- 2016 GT ST 47A
Not sure how well it works but I just bought a quart of Chassis Saver http://www.magnetpaints.com/underbody.asp Going to hit up the rocker panel area on the DS as well as the inner rear fender wells. Chose this over Por15 since you can apply right on the rust and it doesn't require the prep work. $50 to experiment is a lot cheaper than $1000+ to have a new dog leg welded in and painted.
bikingpro5
Member
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- 03 Protege5
ive had chassis saver on and in my P5 for the last 4 years and the rust has not gotten any worst, IMO its a great investment to slow down the rust.
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- 2016 GT ST 47A
(alright) Great to hear some positive first hand experience.
bikingpro5
Member
- :
- 03 Protege5
just do not get it on your skin, you'll be wearing it till it wears off.
IMO there's really very little, if any, difference between Chassis Saver and POR15. Pick up a can of each and read the labels. Virtually identical. Some people say POR15 is a 3 step process, while Chassis Saver is a 1 step process. That's not completely true. Chassis Saver recommends using a water-based degreaser to clean everything first. That's the same as POR15. The only extra step with POR15 is the phosphoric acid step. This has 2 advantages - 1) it helps neutralize any remaining rust, and 2) it will etch any bare metal providing a better adhesion surface. Both Chassis Saver and POR15 need to be applied over a rough surface. If you apply them over a smooth surface, they'll likely peel.
As bikingpro5 mentioned, if you get any on your hands, clean ASAP with lacquer thinner. Once it cures, it's impervious to any solvent.
As bikingpro5 mentioned, if you get any on your hands, clean ASAP with lacquer thinner. Once it cures, it's impervious to any solvent.
Chucklestheclwn
Member
- :
- 2002 Protege5
I'll definitely have to pick up a can of either, just something to slow it down. It's fine right now, very little showing but I know what it will end up being eventually. Thanks guys.
Continued with the rust mitigation and prevention process today. Cut a chunk of rust out of the left rear wheel well. Same general location as the right side, just a bit bigger. Hit it with 3 coats of POR15. I'm waiting for that to dry before I fill it in. Also, hit the inner rear of the wheel well (right above the bumper) with POR15 as well. This area is only covered with primer. That explains the propensity for this area to rust. Pulled the plastic shield off from around the fuel filler pipe. Cleaned everything out good, including the strut towers.
Next, I finished undercoating the right rear wheel well. Then, sprayed as much of the underside as I could from the B-pillar back.
While stuff was drying, I pulled the blower motor out to see why it was a little noisy. A few pine needles and maple seeds in the squirrel cage. Removing those didn't make much difference in the noise. So, I pulled off the squirrel cage and put several drops of oil at the base of the motor shaft. That did the trick. Put it all back together and now all you hear is the sound of blowing air. No more motor noise!
Finally, I loosened up the front fender liners to clean out all the mud at the bottom of the fenders. OMG! There must have been 2 inches of dirt, leaves, and acorns in the bottom. Had to get the Shop-Vac out to suck out as much as I could, then I hosed out the rest. I don't think this area has ever been cleaned out before. It's one area I always hit in the spring on all my vehicles. It'll definitely be getting a good coat of POR15 when I get around to doing the front of the car.
I noticed that the left rear caliper is dragging a little bit. The parking brake mechanism seems to be moving freely. So, probably the sliders need to be cleaned up. The pads look brand new. I thought about pulling it off and checking the sliders. But, there are any replacement parts in stock in the area and the car needs to be road ready by Saturday morning. So, I wasn't going to risk messing something up.
Tomorrow I will be replacing the right rear sway bar link and polishing the windshield.
Next, I finished undercoating the right rear wheel well. Then, sprayed as much of the underside as I could from the B-pillar back.
While stuff was drying, I pulled the blower motor out to see why it was a little noisy. A few pine needles and maple seeds in the squirrel cage. Removing those didn't make much difference in the noise. So, I pulled off the squirrel cage and put several drops of oil at the base of the motor shaft. That did the trick. Put it all back together and now all you hear is the sound of blowing air. No more motor noise!
Finally, I loosened up the front fender liners to clean out all the mud at the bottom of the fenders. OMG! There must have been 2 inches of dirt, leaves, and acorns in the bottom. Had to get the Shop-Vac out to suck out as much as I could, then I hosed out the rest. I don't think this area has ever been cleaned out before. It's one area I always hit in the spring on all my vehicles. It'll definitely be getting a good coat of POR15 when I get around to doing the front of the car.
I noticed that the left rear caliper is dragging a little bit. The parking brake mechanism seems to be moving freely. So, probably the sliders need to be cleaned up. The pads look brand new. I thought about pulling it off and checking the sliders. But, there are any replacement parts in stock in the area and the car needs to be road ready by Saturday morning. So, I wasn't going to risk messing something up.
Tomorrow I will be replacing the right rear sway bar link and polishing the windshield.
Today replaced the right rear sway bar link. Got a Mevotech unit from Amazon. Much better design than the OEM. The OEM links have a sharp fold in the boot which eventually cracks. The Mevotech has a much smoother boot design. Took all of one minute to install once I got the old one off. I'll replace the other rear link when the car comes home in October as the boots on it are split open as well.
After a trip to the JY, I installed a wiper switch I pulled from a Ford Escape. Now I have variable intermittent wipers. I also pulled a 16" antenna off a VW Jetta. Looked almost new. Fit perfectly. So my old cracked one is now in the trash can. Not bad for less than $10 total.
Next, I polished the windshield and rear hatch glass. Now, 99% of the scratches are gone. The visibility is so much better now.
I ended the day by giving the car a quick wash.
After a trip to the JY, I installed a wiper switch I pulled from a Ford Escape. Now I have variable intermittent wipers. I also pulled a 16" antenna off a VW Jetta. Looked almost new. Fit perfectly. So my old cracked one is now in the trash can. Not bad for less than $10 total.
Next, I polished the windshield and rear hatch glass. Now, 99% of the scratches are gone. The visibility is so much better now.
I ended the day by giving the car a quick wash.
