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

I thought about it some more tonight, and my guess is that the bar is for the Protege ES, which has the bigger engine. It's probably a slightly different setup, for which this bar WOULD fit correctly. However, the auction didn't mention whether it was specifically for the 1.6L or the 1.8L. Live and learn I guess. At least I'll have a nice decoration for my new garage! :)
 
Here's a few shots from yesterday's work...



I pulled the front wheel covers off to clean them. The Protege LX only has 2-wheel discs, so there isn't much brake dust accumulation on the rear wheel covers.



DirtyWheelCovers.jpg




I cleaned them up somewhat, but since it was taking a lot of time/effort to clean them, and you can't even see the back of the covers unless they're off the car, I decided to stop wasting my expensive P21S Wheel Cleaner and just get the easier stuff off.



WheelCovers.jpg




After AIO + WG:



WheelCoverFlakes.jpg




And I finished up on the engine bay too. I had to buy another can of Mothers Mag/Aluminum Polish. I used over half a can of the stuff!



ValveCover2.jpg


ValveCover.jpg




Now I have to go wash my car and my mom's car before we reach our forecasted high of 92*F :(
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Looks to me that it's the cruise control bracket that it's interfering with. Is that a standard option? Or are you now saying that you didn't get the right part?
Click to expand...





Thats exactly what I thought, the cruise is an option.
 
Tomorrow the Protege gets its windows tinted. I'm pretty sure I'm going with 20% all around, like I had on the Maxima. I'm just wondering how the cops are in Stevens Point (where I'm moving to in 2 weeks) about tint. It makes me want 35%, but every time I look at a car with 35% I think "it would look better with 20%".



And BTW I filled up with gas today. 248 miles on 6.33 gallons = 39.18mpg! There are some things you just have to love about a 1.6L engine. :xyxthumbs That was almost entirely highway miles at ~70mph.
 
I have been following this thread since it started. It is looking great. Now if the owner did this, He could have gotten a few hundred more for the car. Detailing is a good selling tool for people selling their cars. Tell them that the 200.00 they spend with you can get them $400 more. It works for me and isnt just a sales pitch
 
Definitely. I was actually looking for a car that was only in average condition. I have all the necessary equipment and products to transform it, so I might as well save myself some money and do all the stuff myself. Unfortunately for me, the exterior was in worse shape than I first believed (as far as bonded contaminants).

Oh well...I get to try the FK1 decontamination system now.
 
I was just in WI! I should've hunted you down and visited :chuckle: ...I too have been following this thread since day one and I cannot BELIEVE what you have managed to do so far...those hub caps are looking AWESOME...and not to mention that headliner overhaul! There is no need to say good luck with the car; just get more pics up!
 
any word on what the ebay seller said? maybe a strut tower brace doesn't work with cruise control?



car is looking good so far. i can't believe how flakey the hubcaps have. nice.



*update - just searched around the internet for some info, try checking out this forum thread i found on the mazdaiii.com forum board. it seems like you need to get a cruise control relocator bracket. good luck. :xyxthumbs
 
Thanks for the link Hirosh. My dad came up with an interesting solution. I haven't sold my strut tower brace for the Maxima yet, so we compared the length of the actual bars. The brackets are different, but the bars are equal length. I unscrewed the brackets from both bars and swapped them. The Maxima's bar has a slight dome shape to it, so I took it out to the car and tried to fit it. It sits about 3/4" above the manifold now, and barely touches the cruise control bracket. I can always fix that. The mounting plate on the strut tower will also have to be cut.



Hopefully this works out.



Evo - where in WI were you? You would have been welcome here!
 
White95Max said:
Ugh 92*F and dewpoint of 75*F... heat index = 102*F. Miserable. Just miserable.
Click to expand...





Tell me about it! :help:



Yesterday it was 96*F and dewpoint of 73*F...Heat index was at 105*F. How bad can it get? I waited until 9pm to wash my car, and it was still 85* and I was dripping with sweat.YUCK!
 
White95Max said:
Thanks for the link Hirosh. My dad came up with an interesting solution. I haven't sold my strut tower brace for the Maxima yet, so we compared the length of the actual bars. The brackets are different, but the bars are equal length. I unscrewed the brackets from both bars and swapped them. The Maxima's bar has a slight dome shape to it, so I took it out to the car and tried to fit it. It sits about 3/4" above the manifold now, and barely touches the cruise control bracket. I can always fix that. The mounting plate on the strut tower will also have to be cut.



Hopefully this works out.



Evo - where in WI were you? You would have been welcome here!
Click to expand...



I was at the Red Oak Campground in the Baraboo area right next to the Dells....it was this big Russian camping thing for tons of Chi-towners so I went with my pops.
 
White95Max said:
Tomorrow the Protege gets its windows tinted. I'm pretty sure I'm going with 20% all around, like I had on the Maxima. I'm just wondering how the cops are in Stevens Point (where I'm moving to in 2 weeks) about tint. It makes me want 35%, but every time I look at a car with 35% I think "it would look better with 20%"...
Click to expand...



I'd find out how the cops are gonna react to the tint before you do it. No point in getting hassled/cited/forced to scrape it off by the side of the road to avoid an impound ;)
 
Well I already know the legal limits, of which I exceeded with my tint decision. The cops here don't seem to care about tinted windows, but I can't be sure about the ones in Stevens Point. Calling the police station wouldn't help me, since they'd just tell me the legal limits. I got 20% black tint, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's just right.



BTW if you get caught with tint that is below the limit, you get a "fix-it" ticket, so you just have to get it taken off within 10 days and take it to the police station to show them that you fixed the problem.



Evo - Baraboo is a long way from here. You were on the southwest area of the state, and I'm in the east / northeast area. I'm on Lake Michigan, so you'd have to drive quite a ways from Baraboo. Did you get to see Devil's Lake? I love that park.
 
Yeah, we went to Devil's Lake for a nice swim...I taught my little 7 year old cousin how to swim :D (I used to be on the team). If I ever go up to Wisconsin after I get a car (maybe december?), I will attempt to come around your neck of the woods because autopians are good company ;).
 
No problem. In December you'll just have to drive north to Stevens Point rather than all the way over to the Green Bay area. I'm moving in about 2 weeks.
 
OK I'm done with the Protege now.



After FK1 decon kit, clay, Optimum polish via rotary, RMG via PC, UPP via Wolfgang Polishin Pal and gray pad, and #16 by hand...

After3.JPG


After51.JPG








Here's a nice comparison shot for tinted windows / non-tinted windows:



PS_BeforeTint.JPG


After11.JPG




Here's what the tint looks like from the inside at 6:30AM:



Tint_No_Tint.JPG
 
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