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1993 Mazda Protege LX Daily Driver

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    1993 Mazda Protege LX Daily Driver

    I figured this would be a good place to put all my information down.

    I just got this awesome lil example of an LX for a steal.

    It has 121,000 Miles and is in great shape. The AC is weak, but has been converted over to R134a.

    The breaks are terrible. Sticking calipers, rust everywhere and not very good.

    So I will be replacing rotors, calipers, and pads. Suggestions? How To's on this would be very appreciated.

    Here are the pics

    More to come later!
    1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

    #2
    I did the brakes a few weeks ago. Took my time and everything went great. This was my 1st time replacing most all of the brake parts. I have done rotors and pads on my 91 ford 2wd truck. Easy work. I also have done all the brakes on my 52 GMC truck, all drums.

    I just bought this car for next to nothing, because the brakes "Didn't work very well"
    My left front brake was very sticky. To the point it was hard to accelerate. Drug pretty bad. The pedal was very very firm, like there wasn't any power assist. As I took all the wheels off to access the brakes I came to the conclusion that I might as well replace them all. The overall condition of the fronts were bad, the rotors were warped as well. The rears weren't much better. Pads thin and wearing unevenly and very rusty and just didn't look good at all. Once I got everything off I am really glad I made the decision to replace them all.

    So a trip the O'Reilly's was on order. I picked up new calipers, rotors, ceramic pads, and hoses for all 4 corners. The hoses were all dry, but some were cracking, and I have to bleed the brakes anyway, might as well do it right and be done with it. For the last few days prior to this I have been spraying down all my connections with PB Blaster. Awesome penetrating fluid!

    1st off was the sticking front right. Got the caliper off and yeah it was impossible to move. So I took it all off and sure enough the back pad was stuck to the rotor. A lil tap and it came off. So I banged on the rotor for a while to get the rotor free from the hub. No luck. Then I notice a small screw or bolt threads on the rotor. I go get an old bolt, thread it in and wrench it down. The rotor pops right off! I'm sure that is why its there, but I was excited I thought of it. I'm sure you true mechanics will tell me DUH! I then remove the old hose. and all the old parts. I get the new fat shinny rotors on and new caliper and hose. Easy peasy to put it all together.

    Next I do the front drivers side, and then move on to the rears. All my little clip / springs that hold the pads out away from the caliper on all 4 corners were busted and most were either half gone or gone.

    Next was to adjust the parking brake, thanks for the write up on that guys! Very easy to follow and super helpful. I would not have known about that little hidden screw if it weren't for you all.
    I then get my helpful wife to help be bleed the brakes. Took about 30 min as all my fluid was out due to me changing the hoses. But the end result is awesome. Perfect tight pedal, very easy to push in so my booster is just fine.

    Oh while my wheels were off I gave them a quick clean. Some Power Purple and a green scotch bright pad on the back side and about 3 min and here are the results. Might as well since they were off right My tires are almost new. Old owner just replaced them.

    Oh and this car is a blast to drive! I love the mazda and how it handles. It is off to the shop tomorrow to get the AC checked out it blows cold, but barely. Im sure its low, but I am having a guy evacuate it all out, put the correct amount of oil in and refrigerant. Cost for that is a little bit more then just buying a can of R134a. Its been converted over already. Next I will start on some other mods or maint items. I'm sure I will have some questions.

    Now on to the pics!
    1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

    Comment


      #3
      Last week I took the car to my mechanic. I had him evacuate check the ac system and recharge with proper oil and gas and I had him put in a new CV axle on my passenger side as well. I noticed the boot was torn when I was doing the brakes. He only charged me $100 labor for that. So I was very happy to pay that, as I don't have the tools to do that work. I could but I for my time, naw, I did the brakes myself saved a bunch of money there.

      Also the AC works and it works great. He said it was low, so he evacuated the system, checked for leaks. There were none, recharged it with the proper amount and type of oil, and gas. For $80 bucks!!! The can of R134a was going to cost me $45 alone. And really without a proper set of manifold gauges you cannot get the correct level into the system. Also as I just bought the car I had no idea what was in there before. So it is nice to know that the system is working as it should with the correct "stuff" in there.

      Also gave the car a good wash last night, and scrapped off all the stickers. There were 4 parking lot stickers, and a few silly ones on the truck. Much better now! I hope to get a chance to polish it and get some sealant on the paint now. Then maybe off to the tint place soon.

      This past weekend I gave the lil car a general tune-up with new made in Japan, import direct brand rotor and dist cap. New NGK platinum spark plugs, and new air filter.

      Picking up the car at my other mechanic today had the oil changed, coolant flushed and automatic transmission flushed as well. Crazy with my coupon the oil & filter change was $21 bucks with semi-synthetic. I have done coolant and transmission flushes before and to get 100% fluid exchange on the transmission is difficult and messy. So I am just having my shop do it.
      1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

      Comment


        #4
        Car now has 100% fresh fluids. I also ran some seafoam through the intake. Now the more miles I drive the smoother the car is. I also changed the spark plugs, cap and rotor. with import direct parts made in Japan. Now the car does not shake or vibrate near as bad when in drive sitting at a stop light. It has smoothed out I would say 75% or more! Fantastic. I honestly think the seafoam and the trans flush did the trick.

        I will get some pics up later, but I did tint the windows. https://precutautotint.com/precuttin...1990-1994.html
        At $31 bucks shipped I did it myself. All look perfect except the rear window. I have a few small, less then 4 inches winkles in it. Not terrible, but hey the car isn't brand new anymore. So it will work.

        Also I re did the headlights. Sanded and polished out the yellowing. Looks much newer now! All that is left is a quick polish with my porter PC and some polish then some protection using Zanio.
        I hope to call my retired body guy to see if he will weld in some metal for my one rust spot...
        1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

        Comment


          #5
          Alright, got new sway bar end links installed. New bushings will be next as I ordered the wrong size.

          However in the mean time I have ran my DA over the car with some compound from Zaino and the shine is back up to par. Put on some Z2 for protection and it looks great.

          I am taking the car into my body guy to fix my rust. He will cut out and replace with good metal and I will paint it. I will post up some pics of the area soon! Can't wait, I hate rust
          1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

          Comment


            #6
            Alright old rusty metal cut out and new metal put on. I will be doing the painting on this one myself. I will post up some pics of that later when I get a chance to do it. Glad to have my rust fixed!!!
            Last edited by wolfy; 10-22-2014, 08:59 AM.
            1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

            Comment


              #7
              I posted this on my other thread, but thought it would go nicely here as well.

              Rust fixed! I called up my guy that did my door on my 52 GMC Truck a few days later he came back with this! Cut out all the old metal and cut and formed a new piece and got it in primer and ready to paint for me. He did a great job!

              So to paint it he gave me directions on how to paint it up.
              Guide coat, 240 dry
              guide coat 400 dry
              guide coat 800 wet
              guide coat 1500 wet

              Then clean and paint. I am just an amateur but it did turn out good. This paint is very difficult to spray with a can as it is a gold champagne color meaning it has gold, brown, grey and silver plus flake in it. I had O'Rileys mix it up and put in in an aerosol for me.

              Color came out darker as my car is 21 years old and has obviously faded a bit. But it looks much better then the rust hole. The color is a bit splotchy. I could see it coming out the can that way. Yes I shook it for over 5 min straight and often. My guy told me that is normal for that kind of paint coming out of a can. No big deal as I don't have a spray gun or equipment for this.

              Last was 3 coats of clear. It is very shinny at least In the next few days I will clean the car and see what it looks like. But for now it is sure nice to be rust free!

              Remember this is a car I bought for $700! I have less then $300 in the rust repair including paying my guy.

              Doing this work really makes you respect the good body guys out there!
              Ok now on to the pics

              Started out as

              New metal formed and put in. This wasn't me

              Before filler


              After filler and a coat of primer

              After first stage of sanding


              After a few more stages of sanding

              Final stages

              1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

              Comment


                #8
                Continued
                First coat of paint


                after a few more coats of

                Some coats of clear


                You can see its a bit darker as my original color has faded over the last 21 years. Some shots after all the tape was removed.

                Much better then this
                1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well done!
                  Team Fail Motorsports

                  That's just the nature of the beach.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Thanks Green! It sure isn't a professional job, but hey at least I don't have a nasty rust hole anymore. Man I don't like rust...
                    1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

                    Comment


                      #11
                      My older thread, but just an update. Car has been running great. Just did the timing belt, water pump, and anything else that needed replaced in there, which was just the idler and the drive belts. Also I had an exhaust leak, so a new kit from the cat back from Rock auto fixed that. The intermediate pipe with resonator new muffler and tail pipe. She runs and drives like new now. Brand new tires were put on a few months ago as well. Car has 140k miles on it now and runs like new.

                      Did have a small problem. My AC condenser fan wasn’t coming on, however the main cooling fan would kick on with the AC like it should. I thought it was the relay, because testing showed that it was bad. However that may have been the case, but the new relay didn’t fix it. The is a control wire that I found to be bad. So last night I replaced that wire, less than 6’, now the fan kicks on like it should. I found it wasn’t coming on because as I sat in traffic when the temp is 90 and above and super humid, I found the AC wouldn’t cool as well. So when I got home I saw the AC condenser fan wasn’t operating. Yep no air flow when sitting. Fixed it and now she cools ice cold again all the time.
                      1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Just thought I would suggest you look at the top strut towers in the rear if your quarters are that rusty.

                        Both the 323 and protege's are very bad for rusting up in the rear body area, so take a look up in the area where the struts bolt to the body of the rear trunk.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by 323Permin View Post
                          Just thought I would suggest you look at the top strut towers in the rear if your quarters are that rusty.

                          Both the 323 and protege's are very bad for rusting up in the rear body area, so take a look up in the area where the struts bolt to the body of the rear trunk.

                          Thanks for this reminder! When I did the struts and springs a few years ago I did check this. And my passenger rear one was just starting to have some surface rust. I was able to grind it down, put some rust converter on it and then primer paint and some stone chip paint. Got it sealed up nicely. The drivers side was still brand new looking.

                          But I will put this on my yearly checks!

                          Thanks!
                          1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Well sad to say the car is sold. I just needed a bigger car with 3 kiddos. Sold it to a nice lady that appreciates the car and how it drives and all the work I have put into this car.

                            Here are some pics of the "new" ride Price difference between the two was under a grand


                            1993 Mazda Protege LX All stock with 121,000 Miles

                            Comment


                              #15
                              fancy
                              ---Has ClubProtege helped you in someway? show your support by Contributing--- Click Here---

                              1992- project FE3..... 313 WHP @ 9.3psi




                              I pet my dash when I get into the car..."good car"
                              he actually has a mazda tree, parts grow on it

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