#1289 - A story of rebirth

hornsfan10609 said:
That's a Protege5 front bumper. The MP3 and MSP bumper does not have the holes in the sides for the marker lights, the lights are inside the headlight instead. When I worked at Mazda back in 2012 I had the parts manager (3rd largest Mazda dealer in the country, mind you) look up parts for my MSP, wheel center caps, steering wheel, floormats, shift knob and seat covers were specifically what I looked for and at the time the only thing available was a set of front seat covers and I believe there were 1-2 front lips. Everything else was already obsolete, 3 years later and with all the new models Mazda has introduced since then, I guarantee they are clearing their stock of protege parts.
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So what I am taking from this, is that you COULD use this bumper, it just would need those holes filled... basically.

So this would solve the broken headlight area tab.. and now I just need to either replace, or fix the insert... no?
 
I don't think the lip will fit that bumper. I'll get a pic of my bumper with the lip off later today. I need to redo the adhesive.
 
There are p5's out there with the msp lip fitted so yes you can just have the marker holes filled, that is the only difference.
 
JDM is correct. uploadfromtaptalk1435605517237.jpguploadfromtaptalk1435605528805.jpg
Looking behind the lip you can see that there is plenty of space.
 
JDM323J48 said:
There are p5's out there with the msp lip fitted so yes you can just have the marker holes filled, that is the only difference.
Click to expand...


Sweet. I just bought another intercooler pipe / coupler kit.. spent another $100.. which is still WAY cheaper (per piece) than buying individual pieces and now I can REALLY dial in the way I want everything routed..

I have gauge rings and a SAP bracket kit (bumper sag fix) coming from hydro motorsports

I have a full Samco hose kit (every water hose) I can't find them anywhere other than this dude on FB from a Protege page.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=996790157000476&set=gm.366550416884159&type=1&theater

I just bought the last one until he does another group buy

I got an oil cap.. because I verified my oil leak is coming from there.. may get a rubber O ring that fits and throw it on there for now...

And I got a stainless steel 3.5" shifter extension, because as much as I llike the new sparco shifter I got, its not a screw in type.. its a universal.. which means it still has a tiny bit of movement to it, no matter how much you tighten it.. So instead of that, I am gonna extend the stock shifter..

So.. the next round of fixes/mods is already on its way
 
Quick update / question / brainpicking session.. I couldn't get off FB today. Arguing about how gay Miata's are / looking for parts.

Anyways, as everyone here is already aware.. this is what we are dealing with, 03.5 insert-wise on #1289



So as hornsfan pointed out.. finding these is basically impossible. I toyed with the idea of building that area back with fiberglass... but since I was an idiot (I should have just cut it all as one piece (if you are gonna cut) Instead all my pieces were no bigger than 1" x 3" and they all ended up in the trash... So I was completely F'ed unless I wanted to fabricate from scratch the missing pieces

SO I found this. (here's where we are all probably gonna differ in opinion)



Its broken on the drivers side




We are talking $60 to my door on this...... o_O Which I think is pretty fricken good regardless of the condition.. no?

SO I suppose the question is.. what would YOU do?

1) You could cut the end off the one on the car and fiberglass it to this one (hornesfans gonna say no.. lol) (THIS IS PROBABLY THE EASIEST) Requires joining and flushing 1 "side"

2) You could cut OUT the sections I've ****** up, and bring THEM to the current bumper. (THIS IS PROBABLY THE BETT(ER) OPTION. Will require "flushing 4 "sides" though, of the inside of that "square" (X2) WAAAAY more sanding.

3) Pull my current bumper off, use it to make a (partial) mold of the main front and side section, ignoring the vent areas and the passengers side completely... place broken bumper "in" semi mold.. fiberglass the broken drivers side (GETTING AWAY FROM COST EFFECTIVENESS.. BUT THIS IS THE BEST OPTION SO FAR.. preserves both bumpers)

4) Make a mold of a whole other (good) bumper and get into the business of making these. (NOT REALLY A REAL OPTION AT THE MOMENT) (don't have a "full" bumper yet.. lol)

Do you make a mold and rebuild this one? Or do you go easy and cut the side off the one on the car and just add it to this?
 
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... id just wait until someone puts a good one for sale...
 
Valk said:
... id just wait until someone puts a good one for sale...
Click to expand...

Whats the fun in that? lol

I bought it.

I'm leaning towards the cutting / swapping the vents route (since that is where the damage is anyway) also because its less noticeable in there, and there is clear room to lay some fiberglass, without worrying about the bumper flexing and distorting the finished product..
 
lol It was on the Mazda community page.. IDK I quit following it. Basically this miata guy was slammin mazdaspeeds.. mainly the MS3. I got group attacked by about three of em. (miata people.. lol) Its whatever. Just a bunch of trolls.
 
There's "protege parts for sale" and also "arecibo auto beauty group" on facebook,the latter has a member that does a replica msp lip in flexiglass but I think it suits fogs and not the deletes.
For the repair on your lip there are proper 2 part adhesives for these bumpers and lips, any panel shop will be able to steer you in the right direction, personally it seems that repairing the deletes sections with cuts from the broken lip would be the best bet with what you have.
 
Miatas aren't gay, some of the owners are but that's true for every car. They are by far the most reliable car Mazda has ever built (one of the most reliable cars of all time) and I wish I had one to slide around sometimes, just can't fit in them very well.


Anyway I say just repair the cut parts of your stock lip and keep it. Or cut out the lip more and install P5 fog lights.
Or even trim the top of the lip off and keep the bottom parts if you can make that work.
Like this:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...uild-Round-3&p=6307183&viewfull=1#post6307183

OR you could buy the lip in the FS section right now for $250 plus shipping, paint and install it. Then repair both your busted lips and sell them for profit. That's what I would do.
 
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The one in the FS section is not for me. He starts off saying $300 obo.. then its $400 shipped. Then its $475 shipped. And its not even painted. I'm guessing you think he'd take $250..

I did already buy that broken bumper. I think the smartest and BEST way to fix it is to just work on the area's I messed up to begin with.. SO basically what you said / my option #2.
 
Bought this



Failed at motor mount.. all samco hoses fit though.. so thats a bonus.

Painted the rad brackets silver metallic..

more pics to come
 
Bought this - $150.00 bought from the dealership, but never used.. so basically brand new

 
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Polished this..



and got these on.



Cleaning as much as I can / polishing stuff as I reassemble. I ran out of time.. I need to reroute the intercooler pipes. I got another pack of pipes and couplers.. all 90* bends.. some are 10", some are 12".. this pack came with 4 90* couplers as well. The CxRacing kit I bought only came with 2 90* bends.. and they were both 16".. the whole CxRacing pack was 16"... thats TOO big in my opinion. I had to cut a lot of pipe when I fit that up. Now I am gonna be able to really dial in what I want. I got another 8 straight couplers too.. and all the clamps. I am gonna have a lot of stuff left over.

I found my bushings on my lower control arms are shot. Thats gonna have to wait a bit.

I couldn't find my wheel stud. I swore I left it in the console, but it wasn't there. I didn't have time to paint calipers anyway.. so whatever. I guess if it doesn't turn up in a day or two, I will buy another. At this point, whats another $5. $5 bills are flying out of my wallet faster than I ever intended. BUT I love cars.. I can't help it...

There is a major car show at the end of the month. 1289 is not "IN" it, but I have a local car club I joined and I am gonna roll with those guys and they haven't seen the car in person yet. I don't like being that dude that has to make a MILLION excuses for his car.. I wanna get it as clean and dialed in before the end of the month.

I have the mishimoto coolant reservoir showing up tomorrow.. another reason why I didn't rush to put it all back together and get the system bled. That whole OEM setup / bracket just looks absolutely terrible. It's outta there and not going back in. lol

What else.. um.. Still haven't wired power to my boost gauge so I only get to watch it during the day.. (the car is not going anywhere at the moment anyways though)

The WORST part of this car right now (arguably 2nd worst after the bumper hack up) is the rear passenger door. There is an 8", horizontal crease right about in the center of the door, and there is 3 or 4 SHARP dents.. it literally looks like a pick axe or center punch hit it. You literally can't look at anything else after you notice it. So I asked around with people.. the guy who did my windshield.. my boss.. a couple friends.. PDR is not gonna be cheaper than the $170 I just bought this mint door for. SO that old one is outta there.

This thing was already clean when I got it.. Its gonna be awesome pretty soon.. (cheerbanana)
 
Thanks Hornesfan..

I fricken STOLE that bumper. Time-wise and finacially.. The "ad" was up for 9 minutes. Paid $150. shipped.

SCORE.
 
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