Kev's JDM 1997 Protege

[irishkev90]

Pictures incoming. Apologies if they're too big. I'll resize them when I get more time.

MX-3 LCAs with spherical bushings installed in a BHA Protege LX. Installation was simple and the arms bolted in as if they belonged there.




Here's where some issues started popping up. I had to use a large nut as a spacer to create clearance between the sway bar and endlink. Unfortunately, the clearance was minimal when in the air...


...and nonexistent with the car on the ground.


Here's the reason why. The pictures don't show it very well, but there's about a half inch difference between the endlink mounting tabs on the LCA from the MX-3 compared to the Protege. Measured from the inner ball joint stud to the center of the mounting tab hole.




I'm still playing around in my head the best way to fix this. Maybe rotate the tab 90*, but that might cause the end links to bind. I could also move it forward or backward a bit. All of this is just in my head for now, though, since the shed isn't yet wired for a welder. I'll keep this updated as progress continues.

[FE3-323]

badass!!! hows it feel if you just leave the front swaybar unhooked?

[irishkev90]

Not too much of a difference with the bar disconnected, to be honest. It is a little bouncy, since I was using the sway bar to reduce the coilover bounce with one endlink slightly longer than the other. Daily driving/handling doesn't seem to be affected much, if at all.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have two ball joints ordered, should be here tomorrow, and found some pitted areas on both front struts.

Driver side.


Passenger side.


I took the driver side apart (loosened the spring, not completely apart) and pressed the strut down. It returned to the starting position and turning the adjustment screw did affect the rate of compression and rebound, so I don't think that spot has had much negative affect. Not yet anyway. I still need to do the same with the passenger side, but my hopes aren't very high. I found some fluid on the bottom of the strut and the control arm and couldn't find a source, so I'm just assuming the strut is blown. We'll see for sure when I get it apart.

[irishkev90]

Got half my ball joint order from Rockauto. The box was crushed and had a hole in the corner. Two ball joint boxes were inside, but only one actual ball joint. Filed an insurance claim with USPS and requested a replacement from Rockauto.

Anyway, the ball joints I got are cheap and have a removable rubber cup and a zerk fitting instead of a sealed joint like I usually get. Installed just fine and went for a test drive, but can still hear clunking. Going to try to find a grease gun and fill the joint a little more and see if that takes care of it. I hope it does because I don't currently have the money for the more expensive sealed units. *unemployed sigh*

[HMT]

Cool, thanks for the info guys!

[irishkev90]

Still clunking. Took another look today and noticed some play in both axle shafts. The driver side has maybe 1mm of shaft play in the outer joint and a bit of rotational play in the outer joint as well, I can rotate the hub a few millimeters back and forth before the axle shaft starts to move. The passenger side is the opposite, little rotational play, but 2-3mm of outer joint/shaft play. I ordered the two axles and a pair of the sealed ball joints I usually get. My bank account is kicking me in the nuts right now, but I really need to solve this annoyance. If this doesn't fix it, I'm burning the car.

On a side note, I took the struts apart and they compress and rebound normally. The adjustment screws seem to be working as well. I didn't feel much difference when pressing the struts down, but the rebound was a bit slower/stiffer when turning the knob to full firm as compared to full soft. The pitting on the shafts doesn't seem to be affecting their performance, so I can put replacing these at the bottom of the list for now.

Moving to the rear of the car, there was some play in the rear end links, but tightening them up appears to have cured that, at least for now. Replacements for all four corners is on the list for whenever I get a job and some spending cash. I also noticed the trailing arms are able to slide on the bushing to the car's body. I was able to put a pry bar between the bushing housing and the bracket and could slide the arm back and forth on the bushing. I'm going to assume that's not supposed to happen, so they will also be replaced.

[FE3-323]

energy suspension trailing arm bushings! they make a great deal of a difference. im wondering if you have balljoint issues/ a loose bolt somewheres. thats always been the case when i heard clunks like you are describing

[irishkev90]

I hope it's not a loose bolt somewhere. I've checked everything I could find. Anyway, the saga continues. Ordered the wrong axles. One for an automatic instead of manual and the other was too short. I did get the ball joints replaced with normal sealed units instead of those open pieces of crap from before. The noise is still there. Also need an alignment. Also also need a job.

[irishkev90]

I need to go into town today, so I gave the car a quick check and decided to do a redneck alignment, just eyeballing it. Both front wheels had noticeable toe in with the steering wheel straight, so I corrected that ever so slightly and now it tracks straight and maybe a little more responsive (maybe just placebo). After the axle snafu the other day, I loosely put the original axles back in a snugged down the axle nuts. Today I tightened them back down as much as I could. The passenger side ended up in about the same position as before, but the driver side (where the clunking is coming from) went a few degrees tighter than it was originally. I forgot to mention last time, but I tightened the front Ksport springs by about an inch. Went for a quick test drive around the neighborhood where the clunking is usually most apparent and...... I didn't hear anything. Short test drive turned into a long test drive and went on the highway to hit the bridge where I also notice the clunk and again nothing.

I'm sot sure if the alignment change, spring tightening, or axle nut tightening was what did it, but the noise is gone for now. I'll keep an ear open and report back if it returns, but for now at least it seems to be gone.

I have a phone interview for a job tomorrow, too, so maybe things are finally looking up over here. Fingers crossed.

[FE3-323]

hope the job comes through for you & glad to hear things are looking positive for the clunking issue.

[irishkev90]

Been a while and things have gone a little downhill. The clunking is making its way back, haven't gotten word from any potential employers despite filling out applications/sending in my resume to multiple positions every week, and we just had to put down our oldest dog.

I was able to get some repair work done on my driver side fog light, though. All three mounting tabs were broken, but I was able to fix those. I think I'll put the JDM bumper back on soon, too. I also did a backyard mechanic fix on my wiper transmission. One of the bushings for the driver side arm wore out and caused a lot of play, even causing the arm to swing off the windshield/over the A-pillar if the wipers were on while driving over 60mph. I found an old plastic drain plug I was able to cut a hole in and pop on over the ball and put the arm and socket back on. The plug was just the right height to keep the arm nice and tight, no more play in the arm. I'll also be taking a short auto body restoration class at the community college next month where I'll be able to fix all the issues with the body and my dad is media blasting and repainting my Miata wheels.

[irishkev90]

JDM bumper is back on, but I removed the MS lip. There was double stick adhesive the full length of the bumper to hold the lip on and was a pain in the ass to take off. Ripped up some of the paint in the process, but the whole thing needs to be repainted anyway, so I'm not too hurt by that. The fog lights need to be rewired, so they're installed, but not wired up. I should probably get the replacement hood scoop cleaned up for the class, too. I think the suspension clunk is coming from the struts. With the bumper and headlights off, I was able to stand on the frame rail and bounce around to simulate bumps in the road. Everything up top and underneath is tight, but while adjusting the strut from full soft to full hard the clunking changed a bit, too. Replacement strut bodies are $200 each, so hopefully they at least stay together long enough to come up with that amount.

In other news, still no responses from job applications, but one of my dad's friends wants me to make him and his buddies some military-themed shirts so I'll get a little bit of income from that if I can get them done they way he and I want.

Also, the car looks kind of funny without the front lip since I've never seen the naked JDM bumper before.

[FE3-323]

what type of jobs are you going for? what was the reasoning behind taking the MS lip off??

[irishkev90]

The lip has some damage that needs to get fixed. I'll be bringing it with me to the class I'm taking in a couple weeks to repair and repaint it.

As for jobs, I've been in warehouse pretty much since high school and I'm Kind of sick of it and ready for a change of scenery. So I've been applying to a lot of different positions; automotive detailer, photography, welding, construction. Trying to tailor my resume for each application, but doesn't seem to be making much of a difference. Or the job market/hiring process is way different in NC than what I'm used to in NY.

[irishkev90]

Not much of an update, but the auto body class starts tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to fix all the little dings and scratches around the car and make it look nice again. I haven't taken the side skirts/rocker covers off so I don't know what it looks like under there, but the rest of the car isn't too bad. I might be able to sneak some time with their welding equipment to relocate the sway bar brackets on the control arms, too.