Keith's '02 Protege ES Worklog

[Sleezer1533]

OH MY GOD ITS IN!!
Got the rear mount removed and the AWR in, all this after two snapped universal joints and some cut up knuckles.

Heres some things:
Couldnt get at the damned bolt under the plastic wire harness bracket so I stuck a pry bar behind it and popped it off lol


Dunno if you can see it but the mount rubber was torn and separated from the top:

Old versus new


Here she is in her new home, my god what a PITA im glad its basically done:


Also took some intake cleaner and sprayed out the intake manifold halfs, not perfect but waaaaaay better:


Ill put everything back together in the morning

[89BG 323]

good, im glad to see it coming along! keep it up man. where did you buy the mounts from?

[Sleezer1533]

Just the rear mount for now, but I got em from crossover auto

[89BG 323]

huh. ill have to check it out. ive been realizing that i need new mounts, too. whenever i shift i can feel the rocking of the engine and trans thru the shifter. and its either get junkyard mounts that are in better shape, or go all out and get these awr mounts.

[Sleezer1533]

the awr ones will transfer a bit more vibration through the car, so if you want oem vibration damping def go with oem moutns

[Mazdaspd2008]

the aftermarket mounts will transfer a lot more vibration (when you have the whole set) but youll have no engine rocking of any kind with all solid mounts and a lot more power gets to the ground because its not dampened by the engine rocking taking some of the transferred energy.

[Sleezer1533]

Yea, I went with the 70 duro so hopefully that will keep the vibration decent for a daily driver

[89BG 323]

anybody know what a general cost is for the awr's? im aware of the vibration issue, which is why i'd prolly only do 2, maybe 3 of the mounts at most. that and how interchangeable are they between chassis'? obviously the rear mount that you have wont work for me, but would any of the others?

Edit: nvm, i just found my answer. lol.

[Sleezer1533]

My rear was about $90 shipped if I remember correctly, obv you can get a better deal if you buy em as a set, and I have no idea about the interchangeability

[Sleezer1533]

SH!T SH!T SH!T

I knew this thing couldn't go off without a hitch.
Started putting everything back together, intake mani and throttle body are all in and bolted down, so I moved onto the fuel rail and noticed that the right most fuel injector was missing the black plastic spacer ring that goes between it and the mani. Cant find it anywhere. Junkyard with the protege that Ive pulled parts off of before isnt open so Ill have to wait till tomorrow so see if the injectors are still on the car.
Guess Im done for today, although I may pull the power steering pump and pull the old pulley off so I can take it and the new pulley to Fat Guys Customz tomorrow and have it pressed on.

[Sleezer1533]

So heres what I got done today before I ran into the missing fuel injector spacer:

Hooked up the new EGR pipe
Intake side:

Exhaust side:

All connected:


Like I said I got the intake mani and throttlebody all connected up so this is how she sits as of now:


Also pulled the power steering pump and removed the stock pulley:


So tomorrow Ill head to the junkyard to see if I cant get the spacer for the fuel injector off the only 3rd gen on their lot . Then Ill stop by Fatguys Customs to see if they cant press that new pulley on the pump for me. Then hopefully Ill get her finished up tomorrow with the grounding kit being installed as well.

[Mazdaspd2008]

Good luck! Wish we had any new gen anything at junkyards around here

[Sleezer1533]

This is the only one Ive been able to find

[Sleezer1533]

So I went to Fatguys today and they dont press pulleys and told me to go to American Foreign Auto. They wanted to charge me $35 bucks but that seemed steep. So I went to the Tire Center where I get my car inspected, they dont press either and told me to go to Napa. Went there and they said the dont have a machine shop anymore but they guy who worked in it bought the equipment and started his own machine shop. Stopped out there and he said he could do it for $20, I went with that, so it should be done around 5:00.

As for the fuel injector spacer, I went to the junkyard and they owner only wanted to sell all 4 injectors as a set for $50, pissed me off a little that he couldnt help me out with just that damn spacer so it look like Ill be taking a set a guy offered me over at Mazdas247 ... Ill just have to wait a while to finish this project up I guess.

[Sleezer1533]

So the new trunk carpet will be here later today so I used today to prepare the trunk.
I cleaned up some of the wiring and also bent the spring rods to maybe give them proper clearance with the sub/amp deck setup .... that is if I can ever figure out how to get em back in lol.


Heres my plan for the trunk, a little ambitious but I think it will be clean when done. I want to cut out a piece of wood the shape of the trunk mat and glue the mat to it to give things in my trunk a flat surface to sit on. I want to be able to hold it down using the spare tire bolt. But I think Im also going cut out a square door that can be lifted up to give acces to the spare tire if needed. And also Im thinking of making some quick release mounts somehow for my spare jack and jackstands that my bro got me, so I can have a small set in the trunk at all times...