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I'm happy to introduce February's ROTM winner, wheresthericego. He has a beautiful 2nd Gen Protege that is often times over looked, but this is one that deserve a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th glance to appreciate the hard work that has gone into it.
I'd like to be the first to congradulate him on ROTM!
Well this car was my first car. I got her when I was 17 and i've had her for almost 6 years now. She was in rough shape with 132k miles when I bought her. A few dents and dings and chipped bumpercovers. I wasn't complaining much as it was a Mazda and a 5 speed which is all I wanted. At the time I didn't konw what potential this car had and I started painting interior pieces white and putting stickers everywhere. I had a fart canister welded on and I was good to go. I kept the car maintained even though I was a broke ass highschool student and was constantly fixing things which started to turn me off of the car. It started having emission problems and thats where my nightmare began. After numerous inspection tickets and fines for the inspection being out I decided that I would sell her. I put her for sale for 6 months and nothing. No calls no hits nothing so I was at a loss. After not having a decent vehicle for a DD I decided that I would do the infamous BP swap. At the time it was a very daunting task as I have never done anything like that before. I found a low milage engine that I got from a junkyard in Maryland. I searched for a year for a wire harness with absolutely no luck so I got tired of waiting and called a online mazda parts dealer. He said that he could get me a brand new one for 800ish. I ended up getting it for 750 shipped with some misc bolts. At that time I started buying parts to give the engine a fresh tuneup. Also changed the timing and waterpump while the engine was out of the car. I got the ECU which was easy to get from a junkyard. I met Nick (OCD-SPEED) about a year prior to my engine swap. He helped me do the swap giving the poor car a new heart after sitting for a year and a half. I then had a new look at the car. I loved it. It was like a new child to me that I made. Something that I created. I removed some of the stickers and painted interior pieces. I have been putting money into her making her better ever since.
Suspension:
KYB GR-2 struts I had to buy 2 sets, the first one I got ripped off and never got them.
MMS 4-way rear adjustable swaybar
Mazdaspeed front strutbar
Cusco CBA Lantis Lower tie bar
Engine:
1.8L BP DOHC
F-series tranny filled with synthetic
MSD Wires
NGK plugs
TB coolant bypass
Custom CAI
Custom Exhaust
Exterior:
JDM tails
OEM new front bumpercover and fresh paint on rear
Flying M emblem cut on front
Removed door mouldings
Removed pin stripe
Clear corners
Clear rear reflectors
Interior:
Tan to grey interior swap
Flying M airbagon steering wheel
Netami racing seats
Shorty shifter and Veilside knob
Stereo:
Exclusive...
All tucked wires and hidden amp. Very nice install
I plan on keeping her forever and keeping her looking simple. I'm glad I bought her as a first car and most people never bring a ****ty first car back to life. I've loved every second of it no matter how much it was annoying that stuff kept breaking.
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