MazKid's project "Nice Car"

[psiturbo]

Wow, that is some freakin surgery on that Mazda 5.

Man you sure got guts to jump into a project like this one, give you props for such unique thread!

Major Kudos!

[MazKid]

It's been 90+ degrees EVERY FREGGIN' weekend so I haven't made any progress lately besides slapping on the sideskirts and front bumper grill. :/ After working in the heat all week I don't feel like sweating on the Protege5 on my days off.

Waiting for some better weather. :/

[shark524]

any new info on this? it is a sick project

[MazKid]

Haven't made any progress. lol I've been busy with life and all. Ugh.

Soon...

[MazKid]

What's better than one Protege5? Two.





I call it Protege5-B. It was a Buy-Here-Pay-Here car, sold back in, well, as the temp tag says, May. The woman stopped making payments on it, then it overheated. Compression comes out the radiator cap. Doh. So we repo'ed it. It's an '03... auto... 97K miles, sunroof/6CD package, polished wheels, cargo net. Mine for $1700. Currently hunting for a FS for it. The plan is to get this one on the road ASAP. I may be selling my 323 tomorrow, hopefully... this will be my winter car, then I'll sell it when KL-P5 is done.

Sold my 2000 Miata on Tuesday and made $2,200 profit on it. Downsizing my fleet and getting priorities right, while still enjoying the Mazda life. lol

[shark524]

not bad. whats it need a new head gasket? anything else? i wanna see that done so i can see the kl done

[MazKid]

not bad. whats it need a new head gasket? anything else? i wanna see that done so i can see the kl done

The FS's don't blow head gaskets 'cause they're steel... they warp heads. Due to the car being a buy-here-pay-here car, payment being stopped, etc, pretty sure that the woman that "bought" it didn't maintain it at all. The oil is black. I'd feel better putting a good engine in it than putting a head on it and hoping for the best.

Really, that's all it needs. 2 tires also, but I have a set of 15" RX-7 Convertible BBS wheels from a Cash-For-Clunkers car last year, with good tires on them. I'll see how they fit... otherwise I'll just buy 2 tires and call it a day.

Will be removing the front plate bracket, roof rack... we'll see what else I do with it. Needs a good detail and some touch-up work. And a windshield. Nothing horrible though... it looks pretty nice.

[FE3-323]

MLS gaskets can blow too. but having the head surface checked is always a good call

[shark524]

do you still have the engine from the other p5?

[MazKid]

do you still have the engine from the other p5?

I bought that P5 without an engine or transmission... Would have been nice. LOL!

[MazKid]

Welp, my BF 323 is gone. Now I don't have to worry about fixing everything that went wrong with it while it sat... I can focus on my P5s.

[Mazda_Powered]

wow buying and selling haha, that's awesome man. glad to hear you made some money off the miata. what did you get for the 323?

so now you have all your ducks in line, what's next on the list? pay attention to the "nice car" or the "protege5-B"?

[nerd racing]

Welp, my BF 323 is gone. Now I don't have to worry about fixing everything that went wrong with it while it sat... I can focus on my P5s.

you were supposed to sell it to me!

[MazKid]

wow buying and selling haha, that's awesome man. glad to hear you made some money off the miata. what did you get for the 323?

so now you have all your ducks in line, what's next on the list? pay attention to the "nice car" or the "protege5-B"?

I got $1,000 for it... I may have been able to get more, but this guy from the local forum wanted it. The longer I had the car, the more that went wrong with it. I didn't drive it enough. In the past year or so I've had to do a muffler section, rear shock mount/spring perch, power steering return line, battery... rear brakes kept sticking, front brakes were sticking a bit, new exhaust leak at the pivot point. Windshield cracked, rust starting to get a lot worse, etc etc.

I'm happy I sold it today... it was due for renewal by the end of the month, and my insurance policy starts in a week, so I avoided shelling out more money on it.

I also got rid of a bunch of clutter in my house... I gave the guy all of the original/other parts I had here: spare tire, original grill, headlights, side moldings, visors, steering wheel, radio, '86-'87 rear speaker brackets, original door/rear panels, rear seats, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, disty, automatic transmission parts, 4 hatch struts, 2 pairs of door handles, locking fuel door, SE front console, rubber shift boot and knob, etc etc...etc...

I need to get a duplicate title, my dad and I have no idea where the original went. He swears he gave it to me but I know for a fact I never transferred it to my name when I bought it from him in Feb. '07. Ugh.

So what comes next? Protege5-B. Why not the KL? Well, with the BF gone, I need a winter car. It'll be far less work to get it running than the KL, rather, it'll be easier to get it running bug-free. I expect things with the KL car to be amiss right off the bat. I'm gonna get crackin' on B as soon as possible... but I'm also looking to get Lasik by the end of the month/my B-day. Things might get a little delayed...

you were supposed to sell it to me!

I honestly wasn't ready to sell it. Kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I like to sell cars in a condition up to my standards. The BF wasn't, to be completely honest. I spent 4ish hours yesterday detailing it, including buffing it. Here's a pic from yesterday:



Yeah, it looks nice... but in my mind it's a sort of facade. Everything under the car is rusted... suspension, exhaust, brakes, rust rust rust. Rust was forming on the pinch welds, rockers, bottom of the doors, driver's side A-pillar(?!), under the rear mud flaps, and front edge of the hood. Oil was leaking from somewhere, not terribly though. Simple stupid things like the door seals being so old and smashed that wind/road noise was so loud. I wish I could keep everything, and it be in the best shape it could ever be, but it's just not feasible for me right now.

'Was time to move on. A change for a better tomorrow!

[Mazda_Powered]

oh well! out with the old and in with the new! just don't get rid of your protege!