My new MSP is in bad need of help. Advice needed

M

mazdarichie

Member
:
2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege
Ok, I picked it up on Sunday. I knew it was rough but man! Is this car rough! My goal is to get it back to stock or as close to it as possible. My blue one is completely stock and that is where I want this yellow one to be. But, It needs: Basically the front clip. I already threw the bumper cover away. It was garbage. Tossed the bumper reinforcement too. The engine wire harness has been butchered. I would rather find a replacement than try to repair it. Engine has got to go. It runs terrible and is not the original. Needs wheels. It is rolling on 4 spare tires at the moment. It's even missing all the exhaust and the trunk mech parts. Some idiot took them all out so you have to crawl in through the back seat to open the trunk lid. I really don't care what color body panels I find. I would love to find the yellow ones but this car is going to be needing a full repaint anyway. So straight body panels would be just fine in any color. Any suggestions on where to find all this stuff would be great. Thanks!
Richard
 
FB has a group https://www.facebook.com/groups/mazdaprotegeparts/

You have any pics?

i hate to say this, but I think its gonna cost way more than its gonna be worth to do all that work man. I can easily see over $2000 just to get wheels, front clip and an engine.. paint.. detail stuff.. are you sure about this? you have a MSP.. so you realize what your getting into, right?
 
Let him rescue the car, stock wheels can be had for a couple hundred bucks, only hard to find parts are the front lip and bumper. After a repaint and some restoration the car will be good as new. I would find what I could in local junkyards and then buy the rest online from people on the forums.
 
I am going to save it. I already have bought the stock racing harts for it. Got an engine and a new engine wire harness too. I am the only one around my area with a MSP. I will need to go check out the local junk yards for the body parts I need. I'm not really concerned about putting money into it. I want to fix it. I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon either. Thank goodness I have my blue one for a reference to look at! Yeah, my biggest challenge will be to find the lip and front bumper for sure.
 
mazdarichie said:
I am going to save it. I already have bought the stock racing harts for it. Got an engine and a new engine wire harness too. I am the only one around my area with a MSP. I will need to go check out the local junk yards for the body parts I need. I'm not really concerned about putting money into it. I want to fix it. I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon either. Thank goodness I have my blue one for a reference to look at! Yeah, my biggest challenge will be to find the lip and front bumper for sure.
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Awesome. You sound stubborn like me.. I suppose thats good for this car. lmao.

I am sure once you get the major items knocked out, between the MSP people on here and maybe a little FB parts groups.. you won't have too much trouble.

Still wanna see some pics though! ;)

I'd offer to help you out wit the lip if I could.. unfortunately, I have two that are both either cut on or broken.. ans when I am done with it there will only be 1 lip. lol.

Look forward to seeing your build though man.
 
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Nice man! That car isn't nearly as bad as you made it seem, with a front bumper it would look like a nice and complete MSP.
 
Before you write the engine off as needing a replacement, I'd look at fixing up the accessories where you can. (Unless the compression is shot, or it's got signs of rod knock, in which case... yeah) For one, that duct taped IC pipe is probably a giant vac and boost leak. That right there will make it run like s*** without any other help! MAF sensor, idle air control sensor, intake manifold gasket, throttle body gasket, leaky intercooler, incorrect vacuum lines are all other points to verify. And most of those are things you'd have to fix/inspect/replace when swapping the motor anyways.
 
I too have a blue MSP and bought a second in rough shape to fix up (a spicy orange). It's not done yet but it's close. I've wound up with a lot of extra parts and a lot of know-how on fixing these things up. Send me a message if you need anything
 
So far it's not moving forward at all with progress. I bought almost all the parts from another member on here for it. Been over two weeks and nothing has been shipped. All I keep getting are excuses. Quite frustrating! Paid him a lot of money through Paypal. I may need to open a case with Paypal to get all my money back. Not the best way to start a project.
 
mazdarichie said:
So far it's not moving forward at all with progress. I bought almost all the parts from another member on here for it. Been over two weeks and nothing has been shipped. All I keep getting are excuses. Quite frustrating! Paid him a lot of money through Paypal. I may need to open a case with Paypal to get all my money back. Not the best way to start a project.
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