Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

94 Protege GX Worklog

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    94 Protege GX Worklog

    Yes, I know GX isn't an official Mazda trim package, but I figure since I'm taking a DX and adding most of a GT's bits to it, it's a GX. This all began when I started looking for a Protege shell to swap over the drivetrain and rear disc brakes from my EGT to. I found this car on Kijiji...









    Now from the pictures the car looked pretty good. MX-3 rims, recent paint. The front was a little tweaked but I figured that might be due to mis-alignment of body panels. Unfortunately, not so.

    The car was in a mishap of some sort. The story I got was that the previous owner's wife was driving and it slid into a dumpster or something. The frame from the wheels forward was shoved to the driver's side and the radiator support was sloped to the passenger side.







    I attempted to fit a set of straight headlights to it and noticed the gaps.





    And here is an attempt with headlights, grille and original hood that managed to come loose and fly up and get ruined (happened between the first pictures and when I bought it).

    97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

    #2
    My EGT was still sitting in my brother's yard so in the meantime I stumbled across a 25th anniversary edition Protege GT during my summer job and brought it home with me. The interior was stripped and the floor was in surprisingly good shape.



    GT seats in




    Dash


    Door panels stay off while I think of a way to mount the courtesy lights in the DX door panels (I swapped over the GT's door wiring harnesses for power windows).

    Here's a comparison of the GX and the GT to see how much the GX's frame is tweaked...



    Swapped in 97+ Escort wagon mirrors


    Finally got the EGT home and put the 7 spokes on


    And now I've straightened out the frame. Yes, this is the same car from the first picture.




    Hood is from the junkyard, headlights & grille from a silver 323 I had for about 2 weeks and the bumper is from the GT. I still need to play with the headlight alignment but other than that the frame is pretty straight! Now its time to start bodywork...
    97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

    Comment


      #3
      Okay! New stuff done...

      Finally completed the interior install, with the exception of the rear door panels



      The EGT foglight switch isn't wired yet, waiting on getting some driving lights. Also, I have no idea what shifter is in here but its shorter than normal and I can't get that knob off...


      Installed a "new" muffler (the lightly used 2-year-old muffler from my EGT, no pictures)

      Swapped out the leaky gas tank and disintegrating filler neck with newer aftermarket ones from the parts ProGT




      And finally swapped out the (seemingly factory) spark plugs with a spare set I had lying around that were still good. Between these two I fixed the hard idle problem and now she's purring like a kitten!

      I also started with the bodywork; first step was to fill in the holes and get rid of the bubbles on the trunk lid


      Badges from a late-model BJ
      97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

      Comment


        #4
        do u have a trunk for a 94 pro.

        Comment


          #5
          Actually the one I have I'm keeping as a spare... sry.
          97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

          Comment


            #6
            Now I have the car roadworthy and today was to be its maiden voyage. I left my house to go to school and the car died 3km down the road. Couldn't get it started again, so I walked back to my house. Drove back down and the car started right up. I drove it back and noticed that the battery terminals were still loose, even though I had them tightened as much as I could (damn factory terminals). I swapped over the aftermarket terminals from my EGT and started to drive "the loop" (a network of roads wherein my house is located, a total of 16km). During the drive the car stalled twice and I had to let it sit a few minutes before it would start again. When it would start I heard a squeal from the belts for a couple seconds then it would go away. I checked the belts when I got home again and noticed the tell-tale black powder everywhere suggesting that the alternator is on its way out, again. *sigh*

            Also, during the drive, the car bogs out frequently. With the pedal to the floor the car doesn't seem to accept any fuel and just starts slowing down. Eventually it'll pick up the throttle and away it goes. I'm not sure what is happening here, other than perhaps the fuel filter is clogged from the old rusty tank and needs to be replaced.

            When I first bought the car it bogged a wee bit until I put fresh gas in it then it seemed to be okay. I drove it to my girlfriend's place, which was a 36km drive and then a couple days later I drove it to my house, which was another 35km. Both trips I didn't have any troubles with charging or bogging.

            After getting to my place the alternator eventually seized and I replaced it with the one from my EGT. I've also replaced the plugs and the tank. Is my problem the fuel filter and potentially the alternator as well? Now that I have this thing road legal I really want to start driving it...
            97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

            Comment


              #7
              sounds like a vacuum leak

              Comment


                #8
                So we take the regular 94 grille that we all know and love...


                Pop out the eternal flame emblem...


                Replace with the emblem that the grille is made for...


                And voila!



                Oh yeah and I found some stocker hubcaps. Only three of them, though.
                97 Expedition XLT - 90 MX-6 LX - 95 Escort GT

                Comment

                Working...
                X