Another P5 on a College Budget....Meet Ozzie

esnave09

Member
:
2002.5 Mazda Protege5
I got Ozzie in March from a dealer in a small town not too far from where I was going to school. I chose it after driving another Protege and loving it, but someone had snatched it up before me. I paid $3700 and immediately started having/finding issues, and sadly not very many of them were cheap.

So far the total list of repairs (I'll add more as I remember them, cuz there's a lot):
-New battery
-New alternator
-New accessory belts
-New brakes all around (07 MZ6)
-Replaced pre-cat and J-pipe with header
-New struts, strut mounts, and end links all around
-New tires (Blizzak on stock rims, Kuhmo Ecsta on gold Mitsubishi Lancer GTS 18s)
-New coil packs
-New valve cover gasket
-New wheel bearings (both sides, 3x)
-New passenger-side steering knuckle
-New driver's side ball joint and lower control arm
-New motor mounts

And the mods (some listed from above):
-Windows-always-on (came with car)
-Header
-MZ6 brakes (red calipers)
-Painted valve cover
-Dipped winter rims, painted summer rims (soon)
-eBay intake, soon to be replaced by Weapon*R Dragon intake
-Shorty antenna
-LED brake- and backup lights
-S2K-type shift knob
-Kenwood DDX470 head unit
-Kicker 6x9s in front door (may be replaced soon, not much better than stock)
-6000k HID low beams (projectors soon)
-Yellow fog overlays (maybe 3000k HIDs soon)
-Shorty carbon fiber antenna
-RUST!! (jk, planning to get rid of it soon)
More to come! Eventually....
Now for the pics! The weekend I got Ozzie:



And currently:



 

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Also, if anyone can tell me how to get my images to show up in my post instead of with a link that would be awesome!
 
Sorry to hear about the rocky start with your P5. I loved mine when I had it and it was rock solid from new, until I sold it/relocated at just over 100k . Good on you for learning to play with the maintenance yourself--the 99 miata i have now is also apparently a good car to learn/wrench on, so I'm on the same path--no pizzas tho. Sorry, I was never any good at posting pics inline with the messages either---though I bet it's in the help section somewhere.

Also, isn't that a 2003 p5? I thought the presence of side markers on a 2003 vs absent on 2002 models were a quick visual cue on the model years. . .

At any rate, good luck!

Jason
 
Also, if anyone can tell me how to get my images to show up in my post instead of with a link that would be awesome!
U HAVE TO USE SOMETHING like photobucket to upload ur pics then once saved in photo bucket on the side of the pic will be a few links to share photo like this.........
CAM00150.jpg
[/URL] then click on the one that says img and it will copy the image.[/IMG] then in mazdas 24/7 post box u see the 3rd from the right looks like a green square u click that 1 and where the curser is paste the link and it will show up like so
 
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I use photobucket to upload the pictures, then i use the pictures location address/URL or whatever with the "insert image" button in the mess/post tool bar... thing.

For your picture i just right clicked on it after i opened it and copied it's location, so you could upload pictures to 24/7 and after posting them with just a link, go back and copy their locations and insert them into the post.

Nice car yo, i see proteges with pizza place signs and i think, " oh yeaaa, my car would look hella better with one of those stuck to my roof"
Reminds me of when we bought my car. When we bought our protege i had no idea how anything on it worked, and i never thought of modding anything on it. I do remember a shop wanting like $70 to change a belt on our elantra and me thinking "hellz no..." (which, back then, wouldn't have included a "z") so that's sort of how we got into working on our cars rather than having a shop do it. Those guys want a ton of money, and my time is worthless so perfect combination.

It looks like you've already got most of the typical protege maintenance done, yayyy! Look out for the EGR valve sticking open and causing a low/erratic idle and suspension clunks/noises though.

And apparently I had driven too long on the first bad wheel bearing (I had gone home for spring break, about a 140 mile drive one way) and it started to mess with the other one. Well, by the time another month had passed I was hearing the wheel bearing noise again, and it was both of the wheel bearings.

WAIT!!! I'm confused, did the old wheel bearing affect (effect? no... gotta be affect) the bearing on the opposite side of the car? wut. Or did you mean the new one got ruined from driving around on the old bad one for too long? Driving around on a bad wheel bearing can mess up the hub spindle, which might mess up a new bearing. I drove around on a bad bearing for 1000's of miles and my hub was fine and my new bearings are holding up fine. I had to have a shop press out the old ones and press in the new ones... i was worried they charged me $90 to wail on my hubs with a big hammer and i'd be back in like a month (hehe) needing a new bearing. Shops suk -_-

Strut tower bar and valve cover look good man-
-watch out for rust, make sure you wash your car a lot in winter. I thought i was doing a good job washing my car every couple weeks but now when i look at it i can see road salt's been doing more work on my car than i have. Proteges really don't like winter/road salt. Now they've been using some sort of liquid brine solution (it's brine from hydraulic fracturing wells) and i can only imagine what that's been doing to my car.
 
And this is ultimately what Ozzie is used for: Delivering pizzas.
View attachment 203611

Funny, you're the first other P5 owner on here aside from me to admit that. My car was lucky enough to retire about two months ago.



Any plans on modifying your car or just trying to keep it running? I know at this point, I'm focused on the latter. lol
 
@protojason, thanks! I wish I didn't have the rough start too, but then again I did get it for cheap compared to what else I'm findin for sale. As for the side markers, I'm thinkin I have the 02.5 model. But then again, it could've been some mods one of the previous owners did. I wouldn't be surprised, since one of them did the "windows always on" mod, which I think is great!

@Brains, thanks for that! It defs will help out when I update here! I just started using Photobucket too, so hopefully it won't take long for me to get used to it. I love the way my car looks with the car top on and lit at night! I would try and get some pics, but mine all turn out bad cuz my phone has a crappy camera. haha but I will try and get something at sunset one of these days.
I have been noticing the odd idle lately (sometimes as low as 350), and have had issues with it stalling with the clutch all the way in, but I had no CEL on and it went away after a week or so. My suspension is clunking too tho, since my strut mounts are bad from (wait for it.....) RUST! ha As for the wheel bearings, The first driver's side bearing started making the passenger side bearing go bad (according to the shop the second time I went in), and then the passenger side bearing made the new driver's side bearing go bad. So that's when I had both of the bearings replaced (about 3 months ago) and I haven't had an issue since then! And I am watching my rust. Haven't gotten to it yet, mostly because my sander that I got accidentally went home to SD instead of to my apartment in MN. So I'm trying to figure out when I'll be going home next. ha Hopefully not too long though....

@Bastian I saw your thread dude! You've done some pretty sweet stuff to yours! I'm glad I'm not the only delivery guy here. haha That is odd how they assign you a car top though. At my job, they just have a bunch and you grab one before your shift. And that's how most places are here. Gotta get the name out! Plus, the cops are more lenient with pulling you over. :)
I'm hoping long-term to be able to do some custom stuff. Right now my goal is to get the brakes and struts redone (and alignment check), get some snow tires for my stock rims, and then get some summer tires on some other rims. If I can find one cheap I might get a new stereo, so I don't have to keep burning CD's (old school, right?). Any other cheap ideas? I did find a totaled MSP not too far from me, so I might try and pick that up or grab some parts off of it.
 
I think my hood would put everyone's to shame with how much rust there is... It doesn't help having a silver one.

Welcome aboard. Hopefully your P5 will give you many years (or at least a few) of driving enjoyment. Where they lack straight line speed, the twisties... For rust prevention, put some naval jelly (I think that's the right stuff) on the fender lip. Put that on there and maybe some other rust prevention stuff to try and halt thenrust from spreading. Again for me, living in Michigan is no fun... This winter I hope to tear the fenders apart and do some bondo work.
 
Oh it's so much fun in the twisties! Too bad all the ones around here are beat up with frost heave. And a poor DOT that doesn't do much to repair them. I just wonder if the liquid salt brine stuff they use on these roads is worse than actual salt. I didn't think mine would have that bad of rust since the first half of it's life was spent in Florida (my Dad suggested that the air there would be salty though, being close to the Gulf), but then it moved to Duluth MN, which is way up on Superior, and they use actual salt there.

Yeah, I almost bought a silver Protege. Thankfully that one sold, but the strut towers had some rust holes, and all 4 fenders were rusty. Kinda glad I didn't get that one! I am planning on doing a bunch of stuff today and tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get to the rust problem one of those two days. I'm still debating whether or not to go with some Evaporust, or if I should just sand it all off and Bondo it. What do you recommend as far as rust prevention once it's all repaired? And how would you repair paint chips that rusted on the hood (I'll try and grab some pics quick)?
 
Our car had a ton of rust damage- the rear bumper cover mounting tabs closest to the wheel both rusted off (making my bumper flap around on the highway, and the driver behind me lol) and the area around my wheels was completely gone. We used a grinder to cut off all the rust, treated it with some rust converter, then when that was all done we bondo'd everything back to what a protege almost looks like:

487877_480057612023692_907941280_n.jpg


The darker red stuff is like an "after the bondo, bondo" filler- we used it to fill in not-smooth areas after the main bondo'ing. (pro tip) It's been about a year since the rust removal and i'm seeing the rust return along where the bondo meets the car in some places, and my rocker panels are getting pretty bad again. Meh.... I don't think you can stop rust once it happens. The paint chips that were on my hood and around my windshield when i bought the car have become big rusty bubbles by now and it's only been a little over a year... or 2? I don't know how long i've had this car? I've thought about buying fender patches or just new quarter panels and paying a body shop to weld them in, but by time my rust prevents me from driving the car it'd be cheaper just to buy a different car. (although.... i'll be sad :'( )

We used a liquid rust converter that we applied with a brush back then, but recently i've been getting better rust-conversion with some more expensive spray on crap i bought from Jegs. It seems to work well unless it's super humid outside. I would recommend treating the rust/bare metal before putting on bondo eh?
 
Awesome! I will keep that in mind! Hopefully the snow holds off until December again so I can get it all fixed and waxed first! I really hate not having a garage to work with.....
 
Just saw your post Brains, and yeah, you probs can't completely stop it. But mine's getting pretty bad (worse than any car my family has ever had). But getting rid of the Protege will be a very sad day. But that's when you upgrade to a 3, right? haha
Well I just ordered a bunch of Evaporust, so hopefully over the next week I'll get that put on and then get to the bondo. I just need my sander from home first....and hopefully I won't be delivering much once I get that started. It could get me more in tips though, if it looks like crap. But we'll see.
 
I would recommend a yearly undercoating even after body repairs. I go to Krown every year ($135) and they say it slows the progression of rust by 85%.

I've seen a car for sale (here in Toronto) that had a yearly Krown treatment and didn't have a speck of rust on it. It really helps resale and the lifetime rust through warranty is transferable. (the lifetime rust warranty only applies if it is sprayed every year from new)
 
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I will check them out! Seems a little spendy (speaking from my parent's perspective, since I still have to pay for school). Do they have a DIY treatment?
 
Just kidding, found it. The closest one is over 500 miles away. :( And I'd have to jump the border. ha I might try some of their aerosols if I can afford it!
 
I would recommend a yearly undercoating even after body repairs. I go to Krown every year ($135) and they say it slows the progression of rust by 85%.

I've seen a car for sale (in Toronto) that had a yearly Krown treatment and didn't have a speck of rust on it. It really helps resale and the lifetime rust through warranty is transferable.


When I worked on rust on one of my other vehicles, I made sure to use a wire wheel on a drill to reach deep into the rust pits until the entire surface was completely shiny. (a bright light or sunny day helps)

When I did the second side,.. I got lazy and didn't remove all the rust till it was shiny metal,... (the last bit of rust is kinda black in color and needs to be removed)

The side that wasn't shiny rusted again within a year.

I'm talking about the visible outer surface where you are going to feather in the Bondo. The rust converter helps but getting the surface COMPLETELY down to bare metal was the key for me. I had to push on the wire wheel until it scraped into the pit all the way to the bottom.
 
I will check them out! Seems a little spendy (speaking from my parent's perspective, since I still have to pay for school). Do they have a DIY treatment?

Yea they do actually,... it's available here at Home Hardware,... but the big thing is to get the spray up inside the pillars and rails and places where it starts and hides until it finally rusts through and then it's too late. Try to find a place in your area that drills holes,... I think Rust Check does and operates in the US.

When Krown spays, it comes out as a fog and they use wands that are up to 4 feet long to reach into areas that you simply can't get to with a spray bomb.

I went to a different place a bunch of years back and they were done in less than 15 minutes. I just went to Krown last April and they spent 1 hour and 15 minutes on my car. I removed everything from the trunk (carpet, spare tire, moldings) and pulled off the "kick plates" below all the doors to pull back the carpet a bit and removed the splash shields from the wheel wells and under the car. That gave them great access for their spray and exposed all kinds of rusty areas that hadn't been sprayed before (like under the front carpets where our cars tend to start leaking).

Even if you only get the expensive treatment once, and then go to a cheaper faster place following years, it can save you huge money in the long run. The hidden places tend to be well protected and the coating will stay there many years without washing away, so getting it sprayed once may be all those areas need.

Think of it like insurance,... it helps stop things like gas lines, brake lines, gas tank, brake cables, etc. from rusting out and even helps to lubricate things like your power windows which helps keep the sliders moving to ease the strain on the motors helping to prevent them from burning out. (or breaking the plastic gear inside the pwr. window motor,... a common problem for our cars.)

You can do a most of it with a spray bomb and removing body panels but I really recommend getting a shop to get in there with their equipment at least once.
 
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Wow. That does sound like it's worth the money, and considering the brake line on my last car blew because of rust, I will defs be looking into that! Thanks!
 
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