A little background info:
I bought the car as a beater so I could give my Escort some much needed attention and to save it from the PA winter. I didn't really plan to do much with it, or even really care much about it. The guy was asking $850 but I talked him down to $600, which seemed like a good deal at the time. It was inspected, ran well and the transmission shifted smoothly. The seller said it needed nothing, but I could tell it was going to need a rear wheel bearing in the near future. The car was absolutely filthy and the PO smoked in it, but I could tell it was salvageable.
So I got it home, started doing the routine maintenance such as oil change, plugs and wires, etc etc when I started noticing lots of little indiscretions... a few examples were some hackjob wiring repairs and stereo "upgrades" and I could tell the interior had been taken apart once and not put back together quite right.
So my girlfriend Nikki and I spent about a week completely gutting the interior, scrubbing and shampooing everything, and reassembling. It came out really nice but still needs some replacement panels to be complete.
Then the wheel bearing got worse as I drove the car, so I had it replaced.
Then I took a trip of about 300 miles and the car developed an oil leak. It wasn't bad, just a few drips here and there.
I spent about $300 on winter tires.
Then it started leaking out onto the exhaust and smoking everywhere.
Then it started leaking a whole quart a week.
Then one day the engine started knocking, the oil pressure light came on, and it struggled to stay running. I checked the oil, noticed it was bone dry, kept adding oil until it was full. Turns out it had lost over 2.5 quarts of oil in just over a week. It wasn't burning the oil, mind you, it was just plain leaking out. This ended up being the death of the motor, so I parked the car and got the Escort back on the road. I contemplated cutting my losses and ditching this POS Protege but I decided it would be better just to replace the engine.
So I found a place in Pittsburgh that had an engine for $150. I wasn't expecting much for $150 since I paid $300 for my Escort's SPI, but I went with it anyway since it's just a winter beater. Nikki and I drove to Pittsburgh to get it one day, and it is the cleanest junkyard motor I have ever laid eyes on. It looks like it's in awesome shape.
Last weekend, I started ripping out the old motor and getting ready to install the new one. Today, my dad and I got the new engine prepped and bolted in the car. We have some more work to do tomorrow but we're hoping to get the car back on its feet either tomorrow evening or early Sunday. My Escort's starting to rust really badly and I've only had it on the road for just over a month of winter type weather.
Well without further adieu, here are some photos. I neglected to take ANY pics when I first got it, or pics of our cleaning job... because I didn't even think I'd care much about the car. Now that I have to put an engine in it, I've decided to keep it as a full-time winter beater / spare car.
Comments, please!
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This is the 1998 Protege DX, 1.5 DOHC with automatic trans. The EGT wheels are from my Escort since I had to put the Protege's steelies/snows on the Escort. I like the colour scheme the PO was going for, but it was poorly executed. I think he used Rust Oleum spray paint or something lol
Nasty engine bay and subframe/arms
The filthy old engine and transmission (BUT it has a new starter!)
All washed up. I did the best I could with some Simple Green and a power washer in 22 degree weather lol
After disassembly, found the torque converter and transmission shafts appear to be in great shape.
Pic of flywheel on bad engine. Seems to be in good shape.
This is what the old engine looks like. It is completely covered in 230,000 miles worth of grime and oil.
Front side of old engine.
Evidence that the front main seal was the culprit, or at least one of them. It's even more gross looking in person.
This is the new engine installed in the car - all the oil on the valve cover and intake mani are just from us handling it. We don't have too much more to go.
Front shot of the new block - it's a little dirty here but it's nice and dry.
Another shot of the tangled mess that is a Protege engine bay. It's a whole different ball game than my Pony.
I bought the car as a beater so I could give my Escort some much needed attention and to save it from the PA winter. I didn't really plan to do much with it, or even really care much about it. The guy was asking $850 but I talked him down to $600, which seemed like a good deal at the time. It was inspected, ran well and the transmission shifted smoothly. The seller said it needed nothing, but I could tell it was going to need a rear wheel bearing in the near future. The car was absolutely filthy and the PO smoked in it, but I could tell it was salvageable.
So I got it home, started doing the routine maintenance such as oil change, plugs and wires, etc etc when I started noticing lots of little indiscretions... a few examples were some hackjob wiring repairs and stereo "upgrades" and I could tell the interior had been taken apart once and not put back together quite right.
So my girlfriend Nikki and I spent about a week completely gutting the interior, scrubbing and shampooing everything, and reassembling. It came out really nice but still needs some replacement panels to be complete.
Then the wheel bearing got worse as I drove the car, so I had it replaced.
Then I took a trip of about 300 miles and the car developed an oil leak. It wasn't bad, just a few drips here and there.
I spent about $300 on winter tires.
Then it started leaking out onto the exhaust and smoking everywhere.
Then it started leaking a whole quart a week.
Then one day the engine started knocking, the oil pressure light came on, and it struggled to stay running. I checked the oil, noticed it was bone dry, kept adding oil until it was full. Turns out it had lost over 2.5 quarts of oil in just over a week. It wasn't burning the oil, mind you, it was just plain leaking out. This ended up being the death of the motor, so I parked the car and got the Escort back on the road. I contemplated cutting my losses and ditching this POS Protege but I decided it would be better just to replace the engine.
So I found a place in Pittsburgh that had an engine for $150. I wasn't expecting much for $150 since I paid $300 for my Escort's SPI, but I went with it anyway since it's just a winter beater. Nikki and I drove to Pittsburgh to get it one day, and it is the cleanest junkyard motor I have ever laid eyes on. It looks like it's in awesome shape.
Last weekend, I started ripping out the old motor and getting ready to install the new one. Today, my dad and I got the new engine prepped and bolted in the car. We have some more work to do tomorrow but we're hoping to get the car back on its feet either tomorrow evening or early Sunday. My Escort's starting to rust really badly and I've only had it on the road for just over a month of winter type weather.
Well without further adieu, here are some photos. I neglected to take ANY pics when I first got it, or pics of our cleaning job... because I didn't even think I'd care much about the car. Now that I have to put an engine in it, I've decided to keep it as a full-time winter beater / spare car.
Comments, please!
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is the 1998 Protege DX, 1.5 DOHC with automatic trans. The EGT wheels are from my Escort since I had to put the Protege's steelies/snows on the Escort. I like the colour scheme the PO was going for, but it was poorly executed. I think he used Rust Oleum spray paint or something lol
Nasty engine bay and subframe/arms
The filthy old engine and transmission (BUT it has a new starter!)
All washed up. I did the best I could with some Simple Green and a power washer in 22 degree weather lol
After disassembly, found the torque converter and transmission shafts appear to be in great shape.
Pic of flywheel on bad engine. Seems to be in good shape.
This is what the old engine looks like. It is completely covered in 230,000 miles worth of grime and oil.
Front side of old engine.
Evidence that the front main seal was the culprit, or at least one of them. It's even more gross looking in person.
This is the new engine installed in the car - all the oil on the valve cover and intake mani are just from us handling it. We don't have too much more to go.
Front shot of the new block - it's a little dirty here but it's nice and dry.
Another shot of the tangled mess that is a Protege engine bay. It's a whole different ball game than my Pony.
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