Nigel, the little P5 that could

Ban-Hammer

Member
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Mazda Protege5
Hello everyone, long time lurker, been registered for some amount of time, now I'm ready to take you guys on a journey through the life of Nigel, the red '03 P5 that used to be a mommy-missile until I picked it up for the princely sum of $2000.
That was the deal of the century, let me tell you. The body was dirty, a few dings and dents, peeling clear coat on the door handles and spoiler, and some mismatched tires.
I can't complain about the interior, it's MINT (for a 14 year old car with 232k on it), all electronics work and work well, nothing had been modified, and it still had the factory 6 CD changer in-dash. The only major complaints were the wornout shift knob and a squeaky clutch pedal (yes, its a 5sp!)

Since I've had the car for a year (3/18/2016) I'll be posting a catch-up thread on all the goodies I've fixed, repaired, upgraded, and all that jazz. Do not fear, my Nikon is dying to get some shutter time, so expect a plethora of pics!

Stay tuned for more!

Also, since I'm new, I figure I should post a little about me. I'm just a 24 y/o Portland guy that likes wrenching on cars. I took 2.5 years of Auto Tech in highschool and I basically live off Roadkill and MightyCarMods. For previous vehicles, I had a '13 Focus hatch that I started modding (Before the double clutch automatic died and Ford wouldn't cover it under warranty. I left the keys at the dealer). Then I got the holy grail, a 98 Chevy Blazer ZR2 (here's the Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/MiA6T). With a near 50-50 weight distribution, 4wd, a fat 4.3l V6 (it's a Chevy 350 V8 with the back 2 cylinders cut off), it was the PERFECT offroad machine. That automatic died after Autozone wouldn't read historical trouble codes ("The light has to be on" "bulls***, give me the reader") to tell me the clutches were slipping and on their way out. So I straight traded the Blazer with only 1st and 2nd gear for a 98 Civic DX Coupe. I had it for about 3 weeks (getting pulled over at least once a week to check if it was stolen isn't what I like to do) before getting a 95 S10 2wd. Tranny seized on that so I scraped together enough money and found some very nice people selling a very nice P5. It's been Zoom Zoom ever since!

I will say this, after being active on the ZR2 offroad forums, ih8mud, and various Honda forums, you guys are BY FAR the most well informed and kind people out there. Definitely looking forward to bouncing ideas off you guys and turning an admittedly boring grocery-getter into a go-kart of a daily!

Thanks guys!

Edit: Pics or it didn't happen:
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Sorry for the cigarette. Side note, the hood prop holder is an excellent place to hold a cigarette.
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Welcome aboard! The protege community is one of the better ones compared to others. Lots of friendly and knowledgeable people on here. Sadly, it's a dying platform but there are still a few on here that are active. Let's see some pics!

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Alright, time for some content! Here is an album of my P5 as it stands today: https://imgur.com/a/xBZlF (I forgot interior pics because I'm pretty dumb, I'll add some in soon!)

That being said, I've been a busy guy in the last year, so here is a catch-up post!

First mod right out of gate? Stereo? Intake? Tires? Nope. First mod was the stainless steel clutch line. The only thing I didn't like on my test drive was the clutch felt about as responsive as a wet sponge. So I ordered it up, threw it on, bled the clutch, and I (still!) have a solid, consistent, firm clutch.

Now that the rubber clutch line is a goner, it's time for the real mods! After using 6 burnt CDs for a few weeks, I got tired of the stock head unit. I need USB and AUX inputs! So I ordered up the pocket adapter, a wiring harness adapter, and a new harness for my stereo (Kenwood Excelon KDC-X498). I soldered up the harnesses, had a heck of a time getting that stock stereo out, and threw everything in! Also I went ahead and ran my power for the amp, ground on the passenger seat bolt, and remote. Ran signal and low wires to the amp under the seat (150w 2 channel amp, running in bridged mode) and the output to the Kicker 10" in the cargo area. Speakers are stock, mainly because of my EQ setup: LPF set to 85hz and HPF at 100hz. The speakers are only doing a little bit of mids and mostly trebel, and they sound pretty good until they get pushed (which is past my comfort zone anyway). The sub does supply all the bass, so the door speakers aren't working too hard. That'll probably be a future upgrade.

Next mod was the ghetto SRI. Yes, the filter is connected directed to the MAF sensor. Yes the AIT sensor is dangling. Yes it's dirty as hell. But I paid $30 for the filter to do what a $230 SRI kit does. This *might* be another future upgrade.

Next: Swaybar endlinks. Moog P5 ones in the rear (They're beefy, not sure where you guys get your flimsy little things) and Escape ones in the front. No more knocks going over bumps!

5: Mazda6 Wagon rear wiper. Whenever I see a P5 with the stock rear wiper, I cringe. It's hideous. The retrofit was easy and fast, and now the rear wiper applies pressure so I can see out the back!

6: Tires. So I had 3 205s and 1 215, and the 215 was on the drive tires! The 2 on the drivers side were looking pretty good, so they got put on the rear, and the new (admittedly cheap) Nankang NS20's on the front (205/45R16).

7: Muffler delete. Since been reverted for various reasons.

8: Plasti-Dip ALL THE THINGS! I dipped the rear spoiler and rear lip thingy BLAAACK because every fast car has lots of BLAAACK. I saw a red P5 in Portland not long ago that didn't understand that yes, you can overdo it. we're talking door handles, door bumper trim things, side skirts, black hood, rear license plate lip, the list goes on. It looked shoddy, and is the opposite of what I'm aiming for. Surprisingly, the front emblem was black when I bought it, but that was the only aftermarket thing I have found!

9: Shifter bushings from CS as well as Poly stabilizer bushings. Tightened up the shifts considerably, as the shifter had some serious walk.

10: Sickspeed horns! One of my favorites so far, they are SO LOUD, and are a bit more aggressive than the stock horn. Of course they're orange, because best color. This was more of a function upgrade in my book, as the stock horn just didn't get attention like the SS ones do.

11: Vinyls for the back window. The Heart in Oregon thing started out cool, but then all the Cali transplants started doing it and then they start calling the freeway "The Five" and they can't drive in the rain, but I digress. I'm a native, and I'm not going anywhere. K&N sticker because it adds horsepower. Since the mod isn't fully complete until the sticker is on, the Sickspeed and Corksport ones went on quickly. The others are just some bad music that's on heavy rotation. A Night in Texas, Stray from the Path, Born of Osiris, and Veil of Maya (might be replaced soon with Angelmaker)
 
12: Battery. Unfortunately the cheapo no-name battery lasted about 2 years, so that was replaced with another cheapo battery. This was eventually upgraded to an Everstart Maxx (Walmart is the closest place to my residence) and I also replaced the stock battery terminals at this time since the factory ones were pretty much toast.

13: The first real mod: Headers. They're the cheap ones from Ebay, but it's better than the crap manifold/precat that was on there. Definitely helped the engine wake up. I did do the Natural Gas line trick, but that was tacky so the EGR is capped on the header, and a breather on the EGR pipe. Also, the muffler delete was reverted at this time, mainly because it sounded like total trash. Not how I roll.

14: LEDs all over. Almost all the interior lights are LEDs, save for the instrument cluster (they were LEDs, but they took a s*** and I went to Amber 194s instead). Dome, map, rear cargo, license plate lights are all LEDs.

15: Wheel spacers. Controversial to say the least. I picked up 20mm hubcentric spacers, and boy do they make a difference. Wheels are very close to flush with with fenders, and makes the car look right, honestly. I can't justify buying $800+ wheels with proper backspacing for a 14 year old daily driver with 257k, so plz no flame.

16: Black headlight surrounds. Not a difficult mod, just time consuming. They look great, and I also tinted the corner markers, side turn signals, and front turn signals.

17: LED headlights. I picked up the OPT7 ones from Amazon, they are BRIGHT. I'm spraying light everywhere, and I am planning on doing projectors soon.

18: Got the Corksport shiftknob for Christmas! It's heavy and feels great, although my meaty paws enjoyed the fat stock knob.

19: Side trim removal! Makes the car look great, but 14 year old adhesive is a b**** to remove. Would do that mod again, for sure. It looks great.

20: Escape wiper stalk. Portland sees a lot of rain, so variable intermittent wipers are basically required. The mod was plug and play, 15 minutes, works like a charm, still in love today.

21: Foglight mod: So originally I pulled the glass off the mounts and glued on some 42w LED flood lights. They were too low to really do anything, so I never used them, and found myself wanting foglights more than not-totally-legal floods. So the stock lights went back in, and I did the straight switch mod: the switch enables the foglights regardless of light switch position, high beams or no beams, even when the car is off.

22: AC fan detection fix. Soldered the resistors that Hydra was giving away, wrapped it up and tapped it in. The light stays on no matter what!
 
Now that we're all caught up, here's what the weekend looked like:
I ordered up those AWR mounts, the F&R and side inserts. I went ahead and did the 95d stiffness because I'm not very smart. The front mount was absolutely tossed:

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Replacing that was quite literally night and day. The side mounts were also in a similar state, so they were replaced with stockers. Inserts inserted and dropped in. The drivers side was the only one that need to be jacked, and it took about 3 hours for the front 3. The power gets down, 0 drivetrain lash, the pedal feels much more linear, and the shifting is simply excellent.

The plastidip I put on the silver bits in the interior (shifter and radio surrounds, and window switches) has been painted BLAAACK. Note to anyone doing this, you MUST sand the surfaces before painting, otherwise the paint will pool/spot. I gave it a few coats of the High Temp black I used on the headlight surrounds, and finished it off with some Tamiya black model paint left over. Overall it looks good. Better than scratched silver and fake carbon fiber.
Funny story, when I was putting in the HVAC stuff, I lost one of the clips for the temperature adjustment wire. My Mazda dealer said they would have to order it from Japan. I have no fing clue where that clip ran off to, but it's not in the vehicle, I looked in every square inch. I guess I can do the trusty Zip Tie and Super Glue method, right?

Recharged the AC since summer is approaching. The compressor seems to act better now, so that's rad. Totally (not) worth the $45 for the can of goop.

Also I got tired of the alternator belt squealing like a pig, and I figured I would do the PS belt too. Well in the process of relieving the tension, the nut on the slider deal thing was torqued tighter than something that's way too dang tight, so my 6 point socket was slipping off. Great. So I said **** it, yolo, and started loosening the tension bolt anyway. That went great until the bolt snapped in half. So I unbolted the whole bracket deal thing, somehow managed to break the slide nut loose (it had to have been 120 ftlbs or more, I needed a breaker bar to get that thing off), then drove without power steering up the road to Home Depot about 20 minutes before close. Now I didn't have power steering in the Civic, so I figured it would be about the same, just keep moving when turning and I wouldn't notice it. lol I bet you guys are laughing your asses off. It was a workout! But I made it there, luckily found bolts of almost the appropriate length and correct pitch and threw everything together. The slide nut is tight, but not "strip the head on a 6 point socket" tight. Anyway, I did the alt belt at the same time, that was much less eventful, and no more squeaks!

Then the big one, the biggest mod of all time: The MP3 flash. I got Spicy's ECU on Monday, you better believe I left work early for "reasons" and that ECU was plugged in faster than a horny toad hopping. That one mod has single-handedly fixed the bad idle, shut up the noisy rattly VTCS shutters, gives more power (holy crap it pulls everywhere in every gear!) and even lowered my cruising RPMs. 10/10 would do again. This vehicle has been transformed! It's still not fast, but it's not slow either, it has some spunk now.

So now that we're all caught up, here's what the future holds:
Remove VTCS and with the manifold out, the rear mount (excited to do it /s), Magnaflow exhaust and a Flowmaster cat, Projector headlights, Progress RSB, Maybe the Hydra crank pulley, I'll need a clutch soonish probably, all 4 struts and lowering springs (Tein H-tech, for a lower look without the full 2" drop), and when the FSDE gets tired, I'm thinking of an FSZE swap. With that MP3 ECU, it should rip.

Also on the dumb little stuff list, I bought all the junk for a full exterior detail: buffing compound, polish, and wax. I already took a clay bar to it and that made the paint noticeably brighter, so I just need to take that top layer of clear coat down and seal it in. Another dumb little thing is I'm looking for the Canadian washer fluid reservoir, since that has 5L capacity and the low fluid sensor. Also I want to do the Escape washer nozzles, and I'm actively looking for front wiper arms. If Mazda3 ones or really anything close will fit, I need them. The tension just isn't there anymore. Also maybe roof rail delete, maybe.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress that is made, what inevitably breaks, how I rig it back together, and maybe some other bits.
 
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Nice updates, very thorough. I too loved my mp3 ecu. It'll be even better once you get the vtcs flaps out.

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Nice updates, very thorough. I too loved my mp3 ecu. It'll be even better once you get the vtcs flaps out.

That's what I've been hearing, I'm just waiting for a dry weekend to do it. As much as I want to just go ahead and to it, I'd want to do the rear mount at the same time since the IM being out will give me more room to work.

That being said, am I missing anything? Are there any "must do" mods I'm not planning on? I'm always down for something inexpensive that improves function or tasteful appearance mods.
 
During my most recent stint of mods, when the HVAC unit was pulled out of the dash, I somehow lost one of the clips that holds the adjustment wire for the temp controls.

Which really sucks because my heat is stuck on! I performed tireless research, google query after google query, finally I broke down and hit up my local Mazda dealer, the part is like $3, but they have to ship it in from Japan. I pre-paid and it'll be here next week. I'll continue searching for that clip...

I was also very productive at work today, and tore through quite a few build threads. I must say, you guys make me look like an amateur! But I did see a lot of stuff I like (Mazda 2 HVAC knobs) and I got a few more ideas, like mounting an LED strip on the underside of the hood and using a mercury level switch to make it automatic (I can probably get the whole assembly off a wrecked S10 for $10). I also am once again coming around to the idea of a Roof Rack delete, but all mods (except VTCS delete and rear mount) are on hold until I get the Magnaflow catback. After that, the flood gates will open, as I want this done before summer is over.

Please point me towards any suggestions/mods/whatever that will take this car to the next level! Like I said previously, I'm down for anything tasteful that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, adds practicality, or flows with the OEM+ look.
 
Wire tuck the bay! When you have the manifold out is a good time to start! Move the solenoids off the top of the manifold to behind/under it.

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Wire tuck the bay! When you have the manifold out is a good time to start! Move the solenoids off the top of the manifold to behind/under it.

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lol looking through your build thread, your bay is scary clean! I'll give it a shot when I have the intake out!
 
Went out and took care of a few little things this evening:

The clutch pedal has been a squeaker since I bought it, so I figured I would rectify that. I took some graphite lock lubricant and shot it on all the pivot points. Now it acts smoother and is silent! Woo!

Also went ahead and modified the mount for the temperature adjustment wire. Took a 3/8" bit and shot it through the back of the "ear" thing, put the cable where it needed to go, and threw a Mazda Certified Repair Tool (ziptie) on it. Took some CA I had lying around (RC tire glue) and glued the ziptie to the mount, and glued the cable to the ziptie. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and it's solid! Almost as good as factory. This should hold me over until the clip comes in next week.

I need to clean up the interior, it's a wreck with tools and trash and all that jazz from recent mods. I need to give it a full cleaning one of these days, complete with carpet removal and probably throw some sound insulation in (previous owners had dogs...)

On a side note, it pays to own a Mazda! I found .17 under the passenger seat, so I'm making money!
 
Nice, the clutch engagement height is also easily adjustable, so if you want it a little higher or a little lower, it can be done in minutes.

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Welcome! looking forward to the build
I'm actually considering moving to oregon and might ship my car up there

Also... 20mm spacers? daymm
I run 15mms on springs/steelies and i used to rub like crazy until i rolled the fenders; couldnt have more than 2 ppl in the car
 
Welcome! looking forward to the build
I'm actually considering moving to oregon and might ship my car up there

Also... 20mm spacers? daymm
I run 15mms on springs/steelies and i used to rub like crazy until i rolled the fenders; couldnt have more than 2 ppl in the car

I'm running 205/45s so there isn't a whole lot of meat there, and I'm not lowered. I figure I can throw a set of H-Techs on to give it a better look.
Also I found one of my rear tires has a camber issue. Not sure which side yet, but I have some investigating to do
 
How do you find out camber issues in the rear? Both of my tires wear quickly on the inside part of the tire.

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My local Mazda dealer sent me a coupon for a free alignment check, I might do that soon just to see which one is out. I'm also going to remove the spacers to see if they're pooched. I smacked a real nasty pothole doing 70 on the freeway, so I figure that's it. Or I can pull apart the cargo area and see if anything is loose.

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Also, whenever the hvac kicks in, heat or cool, AC on or off, it smells like feet. That very distinct feet smell. Ick. Gonna grab some HVAC cleaner/deoderizer/feet smell remover spray and nuke it.

Gross. Other people's feet. Inside my nose. **** that. I'd rather have wet dog smell.

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Went ahead and deodorized the interior. It smells nice and clean, the feet smell is either lingering or I'm trying to smell it. Either way, hot upholstery in the summer never smells good, so I hope this helps.

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