Kev's JDM 1997 Protege

[irishkev90]

Axle seals finally came in today. Hope they're the right ones. Rockauto lists "output shaft seals" and "axle shaft seals" separately (output seals under "transmission" and saxle seals under "drivetrain" I think). Output seals are two different part numbers for left and right, axle seals are the same for both sides.

[irishkev90]

New axle seals are in. Hopefully they solve my leak problem. Also did a test fit of the Miata end links and looks like they'll work fine. Still need to lower the subframe to do the bushings, but it's getting close to dinner time so another day.

Oh, also found out my passenger side lower coilover mount (or whatever it's called, the one that bolts to the steering knuckle) was loose. Not sure if that had an effect on driving or not, but it's fixed as well.

[bomdoutscort]

Nice, keep up the good work!

[irishkev90]

Thanks! Wish I could do more, but my spending is being bottlenecked by a cruise I'm going on in March.

[irishkev90]

Small update.

The RX-7 bushings will not work out of the box. Unless you have the front end out of the car, I don't see any way to get enough leverage to squeeze the bushing on.

The reason for this? The walls of the RX-7 bushing are much thicker than the stock pieces. I used a grinder to shave down the sides (and a little on top) until the bracket fit on the bushing very snugly without distorting the hole too much. Be very careful not to remove too much material if you go this route. I also found it easier (when the bushing is on the bar) to slide the bracket on with the split in the bushing facing the front of the car. I have no idea if this makes a difference and didn't see anything about it in the instructions.

I've only got about half the passenger side done because the rear bolt isn't cooperating. I'm going to enlarge the hole in the bracket slightly in hopes that it helps.

Driver's side looks like even more of a pain because the frame doesn't want to drop down as far. Oh joy.

[irishkev90]

Both bushings are now in. Need to bolt the subframe back up and do the end links then the front end will be done. For now.

Should also probably look into quieting the exhaust a bit.

[irishkev90]

Everything is back together, looking into exhaust option now.

One area of concern it the space between the sway bar and lower control arms. There is a bigger gap on the passenger side than the driver side. Everything measures the same (coilover spring height, overall coilover length, endlink length), but still a slightly bigger gap. Is there anything else that would cause this difference?

Just remembered I need to get new front tires, too. Damn it.

[FE3-323]

did you shift the swaybar over to one side more then the other? this is fully possible(doesn't hurt much- but can be annoying)
also measure from the ground to the bottom of the balljonit on each side. (level surface)

[irishkev90]

I'm pretty sure the bar is centered because of the stops on the outer side of the bushings, but I can try to slide it just to make sure. It's pretty tight with the new bushings, though. I'll measure ball joints tomorrow as well. Didn't think of that.

[FE3-323]

measure from the swaybar connection to where the k frame mounts to on each side... that'll tell you if its centered or not.

[irishkev90]

Everything is back together, including the new exhaust. Here's what I've got for you guys.

The RX-7 Bushings need a bit of work to make fit, but they are doable if you have a way to shave them down a bit (I never took measurements). Unfortunately my bar sits about 1/8" to the right (passenger side) and I wasn't able to move it back. Either that's because the new bushings are just that tight or the stops on the bar are preventing it from sliding in either direction. I don't have any installed/on the ground pics right now, but I'll get some tomorrow.

As for exhaust, I found a Magnaflow 3-chamber muffler that I was able to squeeze under the car about where the front seats are. The smallest I could get (with center inlet and outlets) was three inches. The body is about 7" in diameter and 18" in length, total length is 24 inches. The heat shield under the parking brake cable needed to be removed and it still barely fits. There's a small brace or mounting point of some kind that the muffler was hitting, so I forced my two old sway bar bushings up between the muffler and brace to keep it quiet for now. The reason being is the (in my opinion) unnecessary bends in the Mazdaspeed, as well as stock, exhaust that forces the muffler up towards the car. Everything is clamped in right now in case I didn't like it so I can easily take it back apart and put a straight or small opposite bend (down) between the second cat and muffler. That should give me enough space to prevent contact with the muffler and tunnel and get some air flowing up there to help keep things cool(ish).











The pictures are from before everything got clamped together, so there's even less room after. I don't have pictures of that either.

One recurring problem is the axle seals still seem to be leaking. The driver side seal anyway. It only seems to leak after driving it and letting it sit to cool down. After it sits for a while it's fine. It also leaks when jacking the front end of the car up, the rear can be jacked up with no issues. Is there a bigger problem here than just bad axle seals?

I also need to get an alignment. The steering feels a bit... off. Also, the inner shoulders of the front tires are worn almost all the way down. I adjusted the top mounts outward slightly to correct it a little bit, but I'm sure it's not perfect.

Anything else? No, I don't think so. That's it for now.

[irishkev90]

I think I found the real problem. The splines on the transmission end of the axles don't line up with themselves. What I mean is the gap for the C-clip has two different sets of splines on either side. Here's a picture of what I mean.



You should be able to see what I mean. The splines just don't line up. Which was causing the transmission to eat away at the tiny bit that was actually in the diff. I checked out the Kia axles I have in the shed just to be sure. Yup, they line up perfectly. Too bad they're larger diameter and I can't use it to replace this axle.



That 5-speed swap keeps looking better and better as time goes on.

[FE3-323]

is that the right axel for the transmission? remann?

[irishkev90]

It was listed as the correct axle on Rockauto. Ordered it two years ago, so I don't remember if it was reman'd or not. Haven't checked the passenger side, but wouldn't be surprised if it has the same problem. Both are from APWI.

[irishkev90]

Looks like the trans swap might be getting done sooner than expected. Just checked and even though the Kia axles are too big for the Mazda transmission (auto), they slide perfectly into the DX/LX hubs.

From memory checklist:
Kia G-series with taller 5th gear and MFactory LSD: check
Kia driver's side axle: check
Kia passenger's side axle: not check
Intermediate shaft: check
Shift linkage: check (came from a BG, I think, so I still need to make sure it works in the BH)
Clutch master cylinder: check
Clutch slave cylinder: check
Brake master cylinder for manual: check
SS clutch line: check
Clutch/flywheel/pp/bearing: check (Miata stage 3 kit)
Transmission mounts: check (might get new ones, need to inspect the rubber)
Bronze shifter bushings: check

All I can think of right now. Am I missing anything? I do have the ES brake upgrade, but I need to replace one or two wheel bearings and finish up the calipers. Don't know if that will get done at the same time or not. Depends on how ambitious I'm feeling.


BH Shift Linkage:


BG Shift Linkage:


They look similar enough, same part numbers. The one I have looks like the BG version. Only major differences I see are in the shifter setup.