LankyKiwi's Rally-flavored SP20

Thanks guys, it seems like the way forward is to keep the stock swaybar and leave the aftermarket one for wall decoration. For the price I paid ($35) I'm not too worried if it doesn't get used

It was a mongrel to get out, even with the engine and shocks out of the way, getting it in will be another big job and not something I'm too keen to do just yet.

Current plan is to redo the bushes, boots and bump stops on the shocks and arms, install those and see how they go
 
Things you can fit in the back of a Mazda hatchback: (Not all at the same time :) )

- 5 x road bikes and one on the towbar

- 6x 54L bins full of parts and 4x 17 inch wheels

- 8x 2+M lengths of wood, steel and other miscellaneous materials


Moving house and garage means that the back of the Mazda has been working hard! It also means that I've had no time for doing anything major to the car :(


I have, however, chased a few more clunks and rattles away, fixed a broken exhaust flange and welded in a flexy joint, and it's getting an oil/filter and spark plug change this week.

I also took the Tokicos apart and it looks like all 4 are blown, none of the shocks rebound when compressed by hand :( Still, the springs are good and they'll go on sooner or later....
 
Things you can fit in the back of a Mazda hatchback: (Not all at the same time :) )

- 5 x road bikes and one on the towbar

- 6x 54L bins full of parts and 4x 17 inch wheels

- 8x 2+M lengths of wood, steel and other miscellaneous materials

Or 13 bundles of shingles.



 
Thankfully no bearing blowouts this weekend, everything moved without a hitch.

However, the new place has a steep driveway to park the car on and the handbrake isn't quite cutting it


How do we adjust handbrake strength on a protg?


Still need to do a service and find a rear suspension clunk/Squeak
 
How do we adjust handbrake strength on a protg?

There's an adjustment nut under the P-brake lever.

Remove the plastic shroud around the handle to access it.



My cables were so old, stretched and rusted that the adjustment nut was turned all the way and still no adequate braking.

The cables were binding too leaving little pressure at the back.

New cables fixed it.
 
Thanks PCB, much appreciated.

I've a funny feeling that the adjuster is all the way in, might be time for new cables, if I can find a supplier
 
Rockauto has them.



There's a third center piece as well.
I reused mine, it was still working.



I don't know how much shipping would cost for you or how your dollar compares but you can get a full price quote before you buy.
 
Does your SP 20 have disc brakes ??

The cables for drum brakes are different. They have different lugs on the end of the cable.
 
There's also the parking brake pad adjustment screw on the calipers too isn't there? I would think the caliper adjustment would be done with the in cabin adjustment somewhere in the middle position to allow fine tuning from the cabin?
 
There's also the parking brake pad adjustment screw on the calipers too isn't there?

Yes, but if your rear calipers are working properly they should self adjust.



The P-brake cable attaches to the operating lever that rotates every time you pull the P-brake handle.
That rotation is what slowly adjusts the internal adjustment screw one notch at a time to keep your brake pedal at the proper height.

If LankyKiwi can still get his P-brakes to do something then his calipers are probably working OK.

In my case, the cables were binding so bad that the little return spring didn't have enough force to rotate the operating lever back after I released the P-brake handle.
Then that caliper wouldn't release, then, as the pads wore down my foot pedal height started to change and the P-brakes stopped working.

I Jerry rigged another spring on the attachment point to pull on the cable harder to keep it moving and self adjusting.




Another thing LankyKiwi could do is, get in your car and push the brake pedal hard and hold it then operate the hand brake lever 40-50 times.

This will make sure your rear calipers are fully adjusted and it might be enough to hold the car on your hill.
 
Thanks guys, especially PCB- Legend!

Mine has disks on the rear, I'll get it up on stands on the weekend and have a poke around, hopefully I'll get a bit more out of the cables
 
I did all my rotors/pads the other day and had to adjust the ebrake after. I'm not sure if it'll be the same for you, but you can either adjust the 10mm ebrake adjusting nut thing that PCB posted above or do it with your rear calipers.
There's a 12mm (i think?) bolt in the back of the calipers near the top. When you unscrew it, the bolt is very short and threaded like half an inch.. you'll know if you did the right one.
Take that out then you stick an allen wrench inside to adjust it. This turns the piston for the pads. Just make sure you don't do it too tight; you don't want your wheels to drag bc of the pads. Plus you'll know you did it too tight if the ebrake feels super stiff and locks at like 2 notches lol. But yeah make sure its all adjusted by pulling the ebrake a bunch of times like PCB said.

TLDR; I found this website you can follow:
http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?57880-Rear-caliper-adjustment-procedure!

Also I moved up the clamps for my sway bar and it got rid of the clunking for me. It looks like you have it at the softest setting, which is what I had it at. I moved it into the front of my lateral links so they don't hit them anymore. When the car is raised up while you're setting it to that, it'll look like the clamps are super close to the end of the lateral arms, but once the car is on the ground it'll adjust and move away.
Here is how mine looks on the ground:
73sAHqw.jpg
 
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Thanks guys, managed to get it adjusted last weekend, it holds on the hill now


Last weekend I gave the SP a bit of a birthday, new oil and filter, new sparkplugs and a good clean all over

I also chucked in the Racing beat springs all round, Got a 15mm drop up front and a 20mm drop at the rear. The tokicos will go in IF they can be rebuilt, which I doubt :(

68j34Bl.jpg


I'd like the front to be a bit lower to get the nose down more, and it scrubs at the rear so I'll need to roll the guards at some point (Soon!) but I'm getting happier with how the car is sitting now. I'll pull the towbar back off and hopefully that will get the stance back to level.

After the springs were installed, I went for a hoon to Kawhia Bay, about an hours worth of twisty back roads to really settle the suspension in lol

It's an incredible bit of road, and the SP20 is perfect for it. Just enough power to be quick, but not terrifying, and it handles like it's on rails through the flowing sections. I love these cars!

kFvhvlf.jpg


Been thinking about what's next for this car as well, so far I've got a list of little things to improve, and some long- looooooong term goals

Little Things:
- Mazda 2 air con knobs
- Repaint champagne interior trim to gunmetal/ silver
- LED light upgrade
- single din headunit with either a storage pocket or some auxiliary gauges (Oil pressure, oil temp, water temp?)
- Badgeless front grille/ AutoEXE grille (Hopefully I can get the BJ1 grille to fit)
- Better map lights and interior lights (I'm thinking a centre roof console from something else grafted in)
- Short shift and gearknob (Any recommended companies?)
- Replace suspension bushes all round

Long term:
- Retrim door cards and seats (red suede would be amazing)
- Strip and paint the wheels either white or factory grey
- Repaint the whole car to Velocity red (one day.....)
- Supercharger...
 
There's something not right about the front height. Almost every set of springs (factory or aftermarket) for the SP20 (P5), would have the rear slightly higher than the front. Never the other way. So either you have a mismatched set of springs, or something weird is going on with the front suspension.
 
That's a good point actually...

the penny dropped last night, these springs are off a sedan, which would be lighter over the rear wheels than the wagon, so the springs would be softer than wagon spec rear springs... That could be it, but I'll have a look under are the front as well to double check


There's a set of BC Gold coilovers going really cheap ($350 cheap ;) ) Maybe I'll bite the bullet and grab those


Edit: The fantastic protegefaqs website has these specs;

Racing Beat lowering springs
prototype spec MP3 springs
(aprox 21% stiffer than "stock")
Drop:
'99-'01: 0.875"
'02-'03:
F: 0.75"
R: 0.875"
F: 162lbs/in
R: 111-190lbs/in


So the later model springs are lower in the rear by .125" or 3 and a bit mms. That might explain the nose up stance :)
 
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