My P5 build thread...

dorkidori_s13

Member
:
2003 Mazda Protege5
Ok, since someone asked me when I was gonna start one in the "What have you done to your Protege today" thread... I caved and decided to start one.

Bought the car May of 2015 in a pinch. I had wrecked my Lexus IS300 5spd w/LSD and I was desperately in need of a daily driver. I have a damn near fully built and restored 1992 240sx Hatch at home that I was daily driving in the interim, but the car has WAY too much money invested in it to daily anymore (its sitting in the garage with a dead battery right now unfortunately). Found a guy here in Vegas selling a 2003 P5 Wagon in dark blue. He wanted $1500 so I went and test drove it. Car was from back east, had a lot of surface rust on bolts and what not. I live in Vegas so rust is really a foreign thing out here. The P5 needed quite a bit of work as well. The guy really took s*** care for the car unfortunately, but the interior was in nice shape and exterior wise was decent (needs body work and paint as far as Im concerned, but Ill do it later). Anywho, started working on it a few weeks after I bought it. Had the timing belt and water pump replaced immediately. Car had (and still does) a pinging issue in warmer weather when the car gets up to normal operating temps, but Im convinced it has something to do with the VTCS/VICS system as Ive replaced every major fuel delivery component in the car, but on to the pictures. Ive documented SOME of the parts and work Ive put into thus far...

DAY I BOUGHT IT MAY 2016:
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CHANGED HEADLIGHTS OUT TO PROTEGE SEDAN HOUSINGS (P5 housings were shot):
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CHANGED OUT CRAPPY SHIFT BOOT AND WORN OUT SHIFT KNOB TO OLD SCHOOL TENZO WEIGHTED KNOB AND EBAY BOOT:
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CHANGED OUT CRAP OE STEREO UNIT AND FOUND A SET OF PERFECT CONDITION USED FOGS VIA MAZDAS24/7 (OE fogs were completely shattered):
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WIRED UP HEADLIGHTS PROPERLY W/RELAYS AND INSTALLED FOGS:
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CHANGED ANGLE OF AEM AIR INTAKE THAT CAME WITH THE CAR AND ADDED K&N FILTER (filter was positioned directly behind radiator):
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Those are just the photos of the good looking stuff. From June to October, I added new rotors, brake pads, replaced rear drivers caliper, added brand new OE injectors, new OE spark plugs, new OE knock sensor, changed fuel sending unit, added new Bosch fuel pump, changed the sending unit screws out to brand new allen bolt screws with washers, 2 brand new front tires, installed a brand new OE FPR and replaced the coolant catch tank with a brand new unit given the original was totally rotted out. I know Im forgetting a few things, but meh... on with the story.

I got sick of hating my P5 so much cause it just felt so soft and numb driving it around. I decided a few months back to actually start fixing it up a bit... which meant suspension upgrades and replacements, engine bits and pieces and the most important part... WHEELS!!! lol

PICKED UP A SET OF GODSPEED COILOVERS AND INSTALL THEM ALONG WITH AN OBX AXLEBACK EXHAUST:
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After the coilovers, my OE coilpacks decided to crap out on me... Soooo I had been eyeballing the 1.8liter conversion for a while, thought it looked just swell! So I bucked up and hunted down all the parts to do the conversion. The valve cover was in horrible condition, so I stripped it, wire brushed the crap out of it and painted it matte black. Redid all the electrical wrap on the wiring harness as the OE tape was brittle and flaking off. After getting everything installed, I decided to wire brush the crap out of a load of brackets, nuts and bolts in the engine bay and paint them black. Also painted the air intake pipe since it looked like crap! I still need to replace the 2 couplers on the MAF with some quality ones (just havent gotten around to doing it yet).

BRAND NEW VALVE COVER GASKET, NGK WIRES AND FRESHLY REFINISHED 626 VALVE COVER WITH SNAZZY BRAND NEW OE COILPACKS:
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While waiting on my parts to show up from various eBay sellers who shipped my stuff on a slow boat from China, I hopped on Yahoo Auctions Japan and picked up a mint set of JDM Familia taillights for $120 shipped to my door! Dont EVER EVER EVER spend more than $150 on these things, you can get them off YAJ for dirt cheap (it was $60 for the lights and $60 for shipping).

FAMILIA OE TAILS:
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The wheel bug finally bit me and I happened on a mint set of my favorite wheels (also the same wheel I run on my S13)... Advan Super Racing Generation 2s! Found these bad boys for $180 over in Japan land! They will be arriving in May when my importers next container comes in.

ADVAN SUPER RACING GEN2 WHEELS IN WHITE 17x7.5 +45
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After installing my OBX axleback, I discovered the OE mid pipe was rusted out so horribly that I couldnt get it to seal anymore... even with a brand new gasket. So as luck would have it, a load of cheap catbacks popped up on eBay that included brand new mid piping! Ordered one for like $120 shipped immediately! Still need to install these suckers, but I will do that when I pick up a brand new mid cat in a few weeks. I also have a set of eBay ceramic coated headers sitting at home that will go in at the same time. Will be a brand new exhaust system from head to tailpipe! Im keeping my OBX axleback though, it love the way it looks! Sits flush with the bumper and has a super low and mellow tone to it!

The good folks at Corksport put together an exhaust hanger kit because mine were shot! Got the new hangers ordered and 2 of the 4 on the car immediately upon arrival! The OE hangers were/are rusted to the metal hooks, so theyre a major pain to remove. Ill install the final 2 exhaust hangers when I put the brand new exhaust parts on the car.

EBAY MID PIPING SECTION AND CORK SPORT HANGERS:
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FEW SHOTS OF HOW THE CAR CURRENTLY SITS:
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Over the last few days, Ive snagged some neat little tidbits! Managed to pick up good condition OE roof rack setup from some friends in AZ... also picked up a Protege MP3 intake manifold (bye bye VTCS). Still trying to hunt down an OE MP3 ECU. Also will be picking up a brand new Mishimoto aluminum radiator, SAMCO hoses, Aeromotive FPR, Corksport exhaust cam, FS-ZE intake cam and possibly new head in the next few weeks. My valve seals are SHOT (I go thru 1 1/2 quarts of oil every month). Would rather just swap in cams to a freshly rebuilt head and throw in some ARP head studs plus upgraded head gasket! But yeah, the little P5 is turning into a fun little project for a daily driver. Im just adding little bits here and there, its not gonna be a major rebuild like my S13 was/is. I need to keep it 100% smog legal here Vegas as well so eeking another 20 odd HP out of the car in N/A form would be perfect! Id like to add an STI lip, Mazdaspeed lip, sideskirt extenders (the little plastic pieces that run the length of the skirt) and possibly rear canards soon... Buuuuut thats the build thus far. Ill post more pics as I get more done.
 
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Neat man! I asked cause I kept seeing you collect some good parts.
 
Awesome man! I'll let you know if my mp3 ecu ever gets back from orange virus tuning I'll sell it to ya.
Hey put a bottle of amsoil performance improver in the tank and thank me later.

In my opinion the felpro head gasket set is all you need. It's a tri metal gasket with a coating on both sides and you can get the set that has valve stem seals. Also I have a whole mess of Sims for the fs9 head when you are ready to do the valve lash to the new cams.

Both of your cars look great! Good job thanks for the well done post.

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i really wanted to find a white or blue one like yours but for some reason, black cars love me. lol. i said no more black cars but im on my third one.
 
Back when I had the eBay catback, it did not fit with my Mazdaspeed axleback. Hopefully that was just an inconsistency with the one that I got, but it wasnt even close. I'd be willing to bet that your eBay piping won't jive with the OBX axleback.

I had the flange on the eBay piping cut off and rewelded at a different angle and clocked differently.

Just a warning, but other than that, all looks to be going well! I'm curious to see how those coilovers last. And I do have an mp3 ecu that could be for sale.

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well if i gotta have the flange re-welded, so be it... at least ALL of the exhaust piping will be new and easy to work with versus the rusted out crap thats on there right now!
 
the fronts come with adjustable sway bar links. when you run coilovers, there isnt a ton of tension in the sway bar due to fixed damper and spring length (the springs dont expand when the car is jacked up) so its MUCH easier to disconnect the sway bar.

but yeah, the fronts come with adjustables and you can reuse the rears. i plan on replacing the rears with adjustable links soon though...

Godspeeds arent bad for what they are... cheap $600 coilovers to lower your car and stiffin it up. however, you WILL need to modify the rear ebrake bracket to go lower than where my car is (its the lowest it can go without hitting the ebrake cable).
 
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picked up a Protege MP3 intake manifold from a member on here. unfortunately the VICS is missing so i will need to move mine over. still needs some clean up work (started that yesterday, just didnt take a pic). going to have my ECU flashed in a few weeks so i can run this manifold. also picked up a Mishimoto radiator, Mishimotor cooler thermostat and a set of black Samco hoses.... i wanted blue, but they wont be back in stock until July booooooo! will post pics once the radiator is installed! currently waiting on Hydra to make more blue valve cover washers. OH OH OH! found a OEM roof rack too! just waiting for it to arrive.

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Yeah that is the only difference, it's easy to delete the VTCS but having the MP3 or ZE intake is kinda nice since it doesn't have the holes to seal up and create turbulence.

You don't have to have the MP3 ECU to delete VTCS, just leave the solenoid plugged into the harness and delete the vac lines.
 
ive read in quite a few places that the car runs like filthy ass when its in start up mode without VTCS on a standard FS-DE ECU.

regardless, i paid $120 shipped for it and im gonna have it powder coated all nice n purty ;) i want the MP3 tune seeing as im trying to hunt down an FS-ZE intake cam and im gonna pick up a Corksport exhaust cam soon... plus ill have a full brand new exhaust from the headers to the muffler soon as well. would like a little bump in HP with the MP3 tune, especially since it does make full use of the Corksport cam + full exhaust ;)
 
JP Herrera guy wants $275 shipped for one... not super comfortable on spending $200+ on used camshaft. he was supposed to send me pictures of the lobes to make sure there wasnt any scarring, but he never did.
 
I paid $30 for a used intake manifold, just used my impact wrench to drill it in and red lock Tite. Haven't had to touch it for over 30k miles.
I'm just going to buy a used fsze engine and rebuild it. Seems like the easiest way
 
I paid $30 for a used intake manifold, just used my impact wrench to drill it in and red lock Tite. Haven't had to touch it for over 30k miles.
I'm just going to buy a used fsze engine and rebuild it. Seems like the easiest way

meh, my protege is my daily... i can prep this manifold and have it powder coated prior to install so it will be a much faster install than having to wait 3-4 days for the powder coating to finish up

im not fond of daily driving my 240, i get more than a little paranoid about it!
 
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