Riot_Polizei
Comp Engineering Student
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
Back in my hands; future plans
God, it's been so long...or at least it felt like it. One can be separated from their mechanical friend for so long before the days slow to a crawl.
Ultimately, I couldn't get my weld nuts off. By extension, I couldn't get my heatshield off, so I was advised to send it into the shop. Blocking off the driveway frequently is a great way to piss off the ones you live with, so I had to go with it. Man, didn't even get to put the new Mazda6 brake assembly myself...no sir, just had to send it all to the shop. The old man isn't fond of me screwing with my daily, which I can understand, but can't a guy enjoy a spot of tinkering every once in a while? Then again, I don't blame him too much, since I did brick my car behind his for a night, and that didn't go well.
While the P5 was gone, I had another vehicle to use. It was also a lovely shade of yellow, but was even older than my car. It certainly helped me get places, but can't say it was nearly as fun:
:^)
Anyhow, the shop I dropped the vehicle off of was one that the family's been going to for quite some time now. The owner's good people. He almost always gets the job done really quickly and with high quality, and never pushes/upsells any other maintenance routine or item, and only brings up fixes of interest if its important or pertinent. I told him that the brakes I bought were off of a Mazda6, and he had no problems installing them.
They look fantastic!
I got what was supposedly an upgrade to the stock 2003 Mazda6 brake caliper. It's by a company called "Powerstop", and of the reviews and forum postings I read about them, they seemed pretty solid. Plus, they were awfully pretty.
One thing, though. The banjo bolts are in awkward positions, and do not allow the brake lines to rest in their typical strut-mounts. This is a slight cause for concern, as that means that the calipers I bought are not a true "bolt on" mod. My mechanic told me that if something bad ever happens to the lines, which after test-driving the car they believe wouldn't happen, that I can bring it back in and they'd fix it up for free. Heck, driving it today didn't feel goofy, so I think I'll be fine. Perhaps these calipers need Mazda6 lines to go with them, or perhaps I should do a braided brake line upgrade? Either way, I love the fact that they don't shake the skeleton out of me whenever I brake.
Here's the unmounted brake line:
So, what's next?
I met a guy during Time Attack who took a shine to me. He knows a thing or two about welding, so I'm thinking about doing a bit of a trade with him. I'll lend a hand in his many projects in return for reinforcing my struts for the rear sway bar! I'll finally get that bar in...christ, to think it's been almost a year since I bought it...
I've been saving up and doing research on new wheels and tires. I'm almost ready to commit now. There's a mad sale going on; I can get a set of four Konig Controls for about 250 bucks!
Finally, I gotta get an Intake Manifold worth a damn. I still have that bad broken one sitting in my garage. I want to turn the MP5 into an MP5-MP3 (MP3-5?), but need an actual part. I got into contact with a guy parting out an MP3 north of me, but the pinhead forgot to meet with me the day we arranged to commit to the transaction. I haven't heard from him since. Jesus I was so close to owning a stock MP3 intake manifold...irresponsible people make me angry!!
Suppose that'll be it for a little while. I've started summer semester, and have a few time attacks to attend in the meantime. I'll upload pictures, and hopefully be able to keep up with you folks.
Man, it's been quite a ride so far.
God, it's been so long...or at least it felt like it. One can be separated from their mechanical friend for so long before the days slow to a crawl.
Ultimately, I couldn't get my weld nuts off. By extension, I couldn't get my heatshield off, so I was advised to send it into the shop. Blocking off the driveway frequently is a great way to piss off the ones you live with, so I had to go with it. Man, didn't even get to put the new Mazda6 brake assembly myself...no sir, just had to send it all to the shop. The old man isn't fond of me screwing with my daily, which I can understand, but can't a guy enjoy a spot of tinkering every once in a while? Then again, I don't blame him too much, since I did brick my car behind his for a night, and that didn't go well.
While the P5 was gone, I had another vehicle to use. It was also a lovely shade of yellow, but was even older than my car. It certainly helped me get places, but can't say it was nearly as fun:
:^)
Anyhow, the shop I dropped the vehicle off of was one that the family's been going to for quite some time now. The owner's good people. He almost always gets the job done really quickly and with high quality, and never pushes/upsells any other maintenance routine or item, and only brings up fixes of interest if its important or pertinent. I told him that the brakes I bought were off of a Mazda6, and he had no problems installing them.
They look fantastic!
I got what was supposedly an upgrade to the stock 2003 Mazda6 brake caliper. It's by a company called "Powerstop", and of the reviews and forum postings I read about them, they seemed pretty solid. Plus, they were awfully pretty.
One thing, though. The banjo bolts are in awkward positions, and do not allow the brake lines to rest in their typical strut-mounts. This is a slight cause for concern, as that means that the calipers I bought are not a true "bolt on" mod. My mechanic told me that if something bad ever happens to the lines, which after test-driving the car they believe wouldn't happen, that I can bring it back in and they'd fix it up for free. Heck, driving it today didn't feel goofy, so I think I'll be fine. Perhaps these calipers need Mazda6 lines to go with them, or perhaps I should do a braided brake line upgrade? Either way, I love the fact that they don't shake the skeleton out of me whenever I brake.
Here's the unmounted brake line:
So, what's next?
I met a guy during Time Attack who took a shine to me. He knows a thing or two about welding, so I'm thinking about doing a bit of a trade with him. I'll lend a hand in his many projects in return for reinforcing my struts for the rear sway bar! I'll finally get that bar in...christ, to think it's been almost a year since I bought it...
I've been saving up and doing research on new wheels and tires. I'm almost ready to commit now. There's a mad sale going on; I can get a set of four Konig Controls for about 250 bucks!
Finally, I gotta get an Intake Manifold worth a damn. I still have that bad broken one sitting in my garage. I want to turn the MP5 into an MP5-MP3 (MP3-5?), but need an actual part. I got into contact with a guy parting out an MP3 north of me, but the pinhead forgot to meet with me the day we arranged to commit to the transaction. I haven't heard from him since. Jesus I was so close to owning a stock MP3 intake manifold...irresponsible people make me angry!!
Suppose that'll be it for a little while. I've started summer semester, and have a few time attacks to attend in the meantime. I'll upload pictures, and hopefully be able to keep up with you folks.
Man, it's been quite a ride so far.