Looking Into '03 MSP

H

HLSilver Es

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2000 Protege Es
...lets see if 3rd time's a charm. Come on internet, don't crash again.
So I'm interested in an '03 MSP I found earlier on Craigslist. 75k Miles, good looking body. The ad says it needs minor work like exhaust hooked back up, needs a tune, and needs 1 tire ((eyeballs)). The ad also says the car runs but is not driveable, I'm not sure why that is though. However the biggest issue I'm concerned about is he says it needs small repairs as it just had a "t3/t4 upgrade" done. Not sure what trim.

Now I understand the t3/t4 would cause a need for tune. My question though is will the stock internals be ok on the t3? I tried looking around for an answer but I got mixed results. At the price the guy's asking I'm positive it's stock internals. I'm planning on seeing if I can get some more info from the guy at a decent hour but for now I'm curious as to whether it's worth a look or not.
The ad is a bit sparse on info but it looks like he's running the stock SMIC with all plastic pippings, only mods being the turbo, wastegate, header, and bov.

Any and all insight is appreciated!

TL-DR: Will stock internals hold up with a t3/t4?
 
Just depends on how big the turbo is and how much boost its running. The stock internals can "safely" handle 10 psi on stock turbo. You can also change it to a t3/t4 without going to a bigger turbo.
 
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If the car runs but wont drive maybe the transmission diff is broken. Thats about a 2g job. Also i think its still possible just to turn down the boost even on a t3/t4 just get a boost controll installed.
 
Yea, I knew it could hold 10 PSI safely on the stock turbo and I assumed it would be fine on the T3 provided boost was kept low, but then I started looking around and found a thread or two that mentioned something about different flow so it wasn't safe or something to that effect. Can't remember really.

And for the diff. being a 2g job is that for a new diff. or a used one? My sister is dating a guy with an '03 MSP who had to replace his diff. a year ago or so and IIRC they got a used one fairly cheaply.

*Edit* Just talked to the guy and he says it's not drivable because it "runs too rough". He drove it 5 miles but said he doesn't recommend driving it until it's tuned.
 
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Buddy. Do yourself a favor and run away from that car as fast as you can. Plenty of these cars out there in much better condition, take your time and the right one will come along.
 
Yea once I started getting some info from the guy it started looking more and more like a ticking time bomb. Particularly after he sent me a picture of the motor and it's the stock intercooler and the piping is duct tapped lol. I haven't been really looking for an MSP, I've been looking for an '02-'03 WRX but being a Mazda guy at heart I get excited every time I see an MSP pop up for sale. Thanks for the info guys!
 
This brings up an interesting dilemma though. What do we do with these cars?

I feel like someone should save them from their abusive deadbeat owners like taking kids away from their abusive parents and putting them in foster homes.

The problem is it always takes more money to repair these cars than to just buy one in better shape, so they just end up rotting away in some deadbeat's yard. Or eventually, someone comes along and buys it, but the only people dumb enough to buy cars like this don't have the money or skills to repair it properly either.

If I ever had IPO type money, I think I would open homes (gigantic garages) to help all the abused and molested cars out there.
 
Yeah, theres a yellow MSP that lives about a mile away from me that I've been trying to buy for a while now, but she won't sell. It has euro tail lights. When the diff goes or something else that the fat chick can't afford to fix, it'll be mine and it's going back to stock...
 
jdwk said:
This brings up an interesting dilemma though. What do we do with these cars?

I feel like someone should save them from their abusive deadbeat owners like taking kids away from their abusive parents and putting them in foster homes.

The problem is it always takes more money to repair these cars than to just buy one in better shape, so they just end up rotting away in some deadbeat's yard. Or eventually, someone comes along and buys it, but the only people dumb enough to buy cars like this don't have the money or skills to repair it properly either.

If I ever had IPO type money, I think I would open homes (gigantic garages) to help all the abused and molested cars out there.
Click to expand...

I have seriously thought the same thing!! A lot of MSP's end up like GSR's, BEAT TO CRAP AND RICED OUT.... Fact is most people have no idea what theyre doing. They think slap on a MBC@12PSI and theyll be running 10's safely, no consideration taken into corresponding parts and then beating on the car. PLUS bad DRIVERS!! HAHAHAH "granny shifting, not double clutching like you should" hahahah Obv we dont all have the money/ability to rebuild them. But Im always looking for cars like this post. DONT BUY IT, DONT BUY IT, DONT BUY IT.... If its cheap enough, SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY. Spend 2K, fix it for 1k, sell it for 5k$?! 2k PROFIT?!?!?!? SIGN ME UP......

^^ Giving away all my secrets!! hahah BTW another secret, youd be surprised how fairly cheap 1 or 2 acres of RANDOM undeveloped land is. I plan on buying some for a garage in the immediate future, ^^^^ to build a collection lol ;-)
 
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My neighbor was flipping cars for a living for a few years. He pretty much stuck with BMWs, but occasionally he'd pick up something cool like a 300ZX TT. I think the single most profitable car though was a CL600, '02 I believe. Pretty sure he picked it up for around 12k and sold it for nearly 20k and did absolutely no work to it. It was in surprisingly good shape for 12 grand. He eventually got tired of working on them though and now sells cars at a dealership. He also moved, so I no longer have access to his tools, which is a shame.
 
Ya exactly. That's big bank!! That's the idea tho! I've had 8 cars in 16 months. Unfortunately the land/storage situation has made it a little harder. I have to DD what I'm flipping. But that also lets me review/inspect it first. I just moved to MA from FL and unfortunately there's not as much open land and its more expensive. I've been looking in NH under 10k$. That's cheap.

I bought a VR6 Jetta for 1500, every MIL on, basically needed to be hooked up to a VAG-COM, 1abs sensor, 1 O2. 100$ sold it for 3500. Which basically got me the MSP.... SECRET #99 People love MSP BBBBUT GIVE AWAY 626s!!! You can buy an entire motor for 2-300$.
 
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I have a friend with a 626 2.5L that's in not so good shape he's looking to get rid of. I would love to do a KL swap at some point, but I don't have the room or time for that kind of project. Only 35 more years until retirement, then I'll have time for all sorts of projects that I'll be too old to care about anymore.
 
check out Havelock Auto sales, and run a search for Protege. they have one as well. little on the pricey side. that's where i got mine from.
 
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