Come on in and watch the transformation of my "new" car!

**Accumulator** · 07-16-2005, 05:39 PM

White95Max- Glad to see you found a car. Good choice. Looks like you`re making good progress :xyxthumbs

And yeah, get the right polishing stuff for those underhood parts. No sense in wearing yourself out.

Got any idea what you`re gonna use for polish/etc.?

**White95Max** · 07-16-2005, 07:43 PM

I managed to wash it tonight, and I clayed the windows and VM`d them, plus I cleaned the tires and dressed them, and used 303 WT on the wiper blades.

Unfortunately tomorrow I can`t work on it at least until the afternoon since I`ll be doing a silver Jetta tomorrow morning. But after I`m done with that I`ll probably just finish up on the engine bay. I do have a cordless drill, and I could probably use my ExcelDetail wheel kit for polishing that metal. I`m not sure if we have any felt wheels laying around. I also want to drain the windshield washer fluid reservoir, and refill it with a 303 Windshield Washer Tablet and distilled water. Then I`ll clean the throttle body.

For the exterior, I plan on doing:

QD

Clay w/ Showtime (I have a bunch of it laying around, and I really only use S&G for QDing)

SSR2 via rotary and green pad (2.5 may be necessary for a couple areas)

AIO

WG or UPP. I can`t decide :nixweiss I guess it`ll be a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing.

Another layer of WG or UPP

Paste Glaz

Mothers Plastic Polish on headlights/taillights

1Z Chromepflege on all chrome

Possibly shave the "MAZDA" and "PROTEGE" from the trunklid to make future washing/waxing/etc easier. Any opinions on this? I think it would look very nice with just the Mazda logo in the center.

WG on tires (already done)

VM/WG on wheel covers

303 on wheelwells

Clay/AIO/WG on door jambs, after cleaning them thoroughly.

AIO on trim, wiper arms

And then wait for the custom license plates to come in.

**White95Max** · 07-16-2005, 08:42 PM

BTW this is what the rear looks like if anyone has any opinions on shaving the MAZDA and PROTEGE emblems off, and just leaving the Mazda logo at the top center.

**Setec Astronomy** · 07-16-2005, 08:53 PM

Go for it on the debadging...just be careful I recall Accumulator telling us that the emblems on the back of his Mazda (MPV) were pinned.

PS What is that thing in the background? Portable car shelter? Greenhouse?

**imported_Sullybob** · 07-16-2005, 08:54 PM

Congratulations on your new car Paul.

Shave off the emblems. Make sure that they aren`t bolted on though.

**Corey Bit Spank** · 07-16-2005, 09:15 PM

I`m so happy you bought that instead of a Pisscort.

**Thomas Dekany** · 07-16-2005, 09:29 PM

woolite has done wonders for me on headliners. I spray it on a MF towel, and go to work.

Nice car BTW. Can`t wait to see it polished!

**Scottwax** · 07-16-2005, 11:01 PM

Anxiously awaiting the after pics.....

**imported_memnuts** · 07-16-2005, 11:41 PM

Sonus All-In-One work great for some stains in my headliner. No discoloration or fading resulted from usage. :xyxthumbs

**White95Max** · 07-17-2005, 03:08 AM

Setec - that`s our "shed". It`s basically just a shelter to house a bunch of stuff that was taking up too much space in the garage.

I`ll try Woolite and warm water on the headliner today, and I`ll let you guys know how it goes.

Is there any way to tell if the emblems are pinned on before removing them?

**jchetty** · 07-17-2005, 03:55 AM

Originally Posted by White95Max

Setec - that`s our "shed". It`s basically just a shelter to house a bunch of stuff that was taking up too much space in the garage.

I`ll try Woolite and warm water on the headliner today, and I`ll let you guys know how it goes.

Is there any way to tell if the emblems are pinned on before removing them?

dont bother debadging them because unforunately they are held by adhesive and its pinned :sadpace: ...at least that how it is for by boys red mica protege 03 ...overkill to say the least, each one the mazda and the protege sign have to 2 pins :bawling: , you might be able to see from inside the trunk or feel it with your hand

**trekvdm** · 07-17-2005, 05:41 AM

You really have a fun car there to play with. Mazda Protege`s are some nice cars. What do you have planned for her?

**imported_becks** · 07-17-2005, 07:37 AM

Yep the badges are pinned.

**White95Max** · 07-17-2005, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by trekvdm

You really have a fun car there to play with. Mazda Protege`s are some nice cars. What do you have planned for her?

Plans?

Well, aside from many more hours of detailing, I`m thinking about getting a cold air intake for it, although the Injen intake seems to cause problems on the 1.6L engine. Other intakes on Ebay are only like $35.00 (compared to $150 for the Injen), but I think if the Injen has problems, so will the Ebay intakes. So that`s why I took the largest resonator box off already, and I`m trying to get the second one off too. Then the air will pretty much have a straight path to the MAF sensor, rather than a slow, turbulent flow. It also sounds pretty nice now hehe

I might try to rig a cone filter in place of the stock airbox too. It sure clears up a lot of space in the engine bay when you remove the stock intake pieces. You can see the difference between the engine shots in this thread. One has the stock intake complete, and the other has the primary resonator box in the front removed.

I just won a front strut tower brace on Ebay, which should be getting here sometime this coming week.

Other than that:

Summer wheels/tires (16x7 ASA JS1 or 16x7 Kazera KZ-U)

20% tint (My B-day is on the 25th, so that`s my gift to myself)

I also might paint the calipers silver to match the car and new wheels. I`m in no hurry to do that though, since I have steel wheels on there now. Which reminds me, I want to try to scrape the rust off the steel wheels.

The only other thing that MIGHT happen, is getting new headers for it. Probably not though, since they cost a lot. Apparently the first O2 sensor doesn`t fit into the aftermarket headers so the only thing you can do is trick the computer into thinking that there is a sensor there sending the "everything`s fine" signal all the time. IMO that`s dumb, since you need that sensor to optimize the air/fuel mixture and stuff. So that probably won`t happen.

**White95Max** · 07-17-2005, 08:17 PM

Well I`ve confirmed that the badges are indeed pinned with two pins each.

Today I detailed a silver Jetta in the morning, but after that I made my way over to the Protege and I did:

Vacuum interior

Vacuum all floor mats and trunk mats

Scrub floor mats with an Autopia Upholstery Brush and Detailer`s Pride Carpet/Upholstery Cleaner

Polish headlights and taillights with PlastX and a MF applicator

Polish chrome exhaust tip with 1Z Chromepflege and a MF applicator

Cleaned out the ashtray

Acquired $1.12 while vacuuming

Clayed for 20 minutes (all I got done was half the trunk!

The clay sounded like I was tearing it up with sandpaper. :sosad: )

Inspected the spare tire and emergency jack

Polish chrome bar on grille with 1Z Chromepflege and a MF applicator

Tomorrow I go to the DMV to register it, and apply for plates.

But before that (I`m getting up at 5:00 to start working on it. I have shade until about 11:00 behind the house) I`ll be working on the car some more.

Clay (I`m planning on allowing at least 2hrs for this step...much longer than it takes me to clay the Maxima. But it will be real easy next time I clay it.)

SSR2 via rotary/green

AIO

UPP

Clean door jambs (this is going to take a while)

1Z Gummipflege on weatherstripping

Clean throttle body

303 Aerospace Cleaner on plastic/vinyl (interior) and Sonus Total Eclipse after.

1Z Lederpflege on leather shift boot and E-brake boot.

I`ll snap some pics of the interior tomorrow.