So i’m sitting here in class bored as hell and I figured i’d write this up for all the members who love their daily drivers way too much or are like me and all they have is a daily to love. Anyway here is what I have done to turn a junk 96 Mazda Protege into a car that I look forward to driving every opportunity I get. I will put up pics at the end of the week after I make some final additions…
So here is the car I started with…
-1996 Mazda Protege LX(Purchased for $1200)
-125K Miles
-89 hp
-Manual with a disturbing amount of play in the stick
-Crack in the windshield
-Cracked Oil Pan
-Exhaust Leak right under the front seats
-Cruise Control(Broken)
-Power Locks(Broken)
-Power Windows
-Awesome Bucket seats(Not being sarcastic, i fucking love them)
-JVC Head Unit(Broken CD player, half the speakers didn’t work)
-Shitted up 13 inch steelies with almost no life left on the tires
-Shitty wipers that did more harm than help
As i’m sure you can tell, this thing was beat to hell, low miles but obviously not treated too great…here is what my father, my friend, and myself have done to it so far.
-133K
-110hp(estimated, haven’t tested)
-Fixed up some of the play by tightening a large screw down in the boot, replaced the knob with a stock 1998 VW Passat knob, the old Mazda knob weighed more than a pool ball, the VW knob shortened the lever a solid 2 inches making for a much better throw. They even have the same diagram.
-Windshield crack stabilized above wiper path, still passes inspection
-Oil Pan replaced with a used ebay one, $70 shipped
-Exhaust leak patched up with basic patch kit, she still growls some more than a 4 banger should
-Cruise Control fixed, had to redo the wiring to the buttons
-Power locks fixed and synced up to an aftermarket keyless entry
-Power Windows still work…awesome
-Bucket seats…still awesome
-Pioneer head unit, after ripping out the goddamn JVC and replacing it with my Pioneer, all the speakers kicked back to life, so either the JVC wasn’t wired right or it was just blown
-Replaced the 13inch steelies with 14inch VW steelies equipped with fresh snow tires, 14" Alloys with new all-seasons expected to be delivered by the end of the week
-Bosch Icon Wiper Blades
-Bosch Platinum +2 spark plugs
-Hella xenon headlights
-Cold Air Intake, this literally cost me $30 and 5 mins, the way the engine is set up, all the sensors and hoses are hooked up to a rigid plastic pipe leading to the air box, including the maf, all I had to do was take out the air box and strap on the filter cone, I didn’t even need a breather. The result was waaaaaaaaaay more pull in the lower gears and a little more pep in the higher ones
-Spent a few hours with a shopvac, armorall, and windex and gave the interior a DIYdetailing
-Car wash
All in all it was a lot of silly garage DIY crap but in the end I walked away with a car I really love now. Anyone have any suggestions for what to do next? I almost want to repaint the the thing to help with the little bit of rust on it and the overall appearance but I feel it would cost more than the thing is worth. I’ve also been considering a lip spoiler or a low sitting pedestal spoiler but from what i’ve been told i’d need a whole new trunk lid.
