new project, completely diff direction!

ok guys, i now (sorta) have a...., are you ready? a 97.... mazda protege!!!! haha heres the deal. i drive abt 90 miles a day to work and home, and at 17 mpg, my silvy is killing me in gas. so, a deal came my way. a 97 protege. four door, fully optioned with sunroof, power windows locks and mirrors, cruise, rear defrost, and factory cd/cassette player. and get this, everything works. except for the driver door power lock. but thats it! and the price? absolutley free! i traded an old, burnt up TH350 tranny he needs for his blazer. im jus waiting on the title to make it legal. anyway, there are a few problems. the driver side rear door glass was forcefully removed, it was missin the gas cap, and a hub cap, it overheats a bit, and it doesnt quite run right. more on that in the engine section. but thats my project, project black beauty lol. i had to put the bumper back on, it had a run in with the other guys tailgate after it jumped off the trailer lol. but i can hopefuly get this sucker runnin so i can save on gas. 30 mpg sure would be nice!

Black Beauty !!! I can't wait to see picks It's too bad it has come to this, but in order to save a buck, You do what you have to do.
Maybe with all the $$$ your gonna save you can buy your sad and neglected Silverado a treat.

[quote="Maybe with all the $$$ your gonna save you can buy your sad and neglected Silverado a treat.[/quote]

i just bid on a trailer brake controller on ebay lol

jeez, yal take this pic thing serious! lol i should know that by now

Oh !!! You didn't know ??? One of my other duties here other then moderator, I'm also the Picture Patrol

Hey I need an electric brake controller too. When I got my Silverado it wired for the electric brakes but the guy that traded the truck in took it with him.
I should check the prices on ebay.

You have 24 hrs to present your 97 Mazda Protege pictures or I'm yanken your licence. Zoom Zoom

what licence? lol. ok, ok, i got the camera charging now. bear in mind it aint much to look at, but ya kno.

Hey my Mack wasn't much to look at, but most of us have the ability to see the potential in a truck. Especially the classics and antiques

ok, finally got an update. the car has mostly jus been sittin out in the yard until today, so bear with me. i'll get some pics eventually lol. anyway, i got a rear glass for it a couple weks ago for $16 bucks and got it in so i could finally get it off the garage. but the door is missing a little sound deadening, that thing was a PITA to get in. ive been thinkin abt sellin it, but its kinda fun to drive and there cant be much wrong with it. so after i got home today, i popped the hood, and cleaned what i believe to be the idle control motor. i also adjusted the idle, something i wasnt sure i could do on a fuel injeceted car. i fired it up, and after a few seconds of the normal rough idle, it settled into a nice, smooth, kinda steady idle. WAY improved over the last time i messed with it. so i figure a tune up wouldnt hurt. i called my dad, and he picked up the parts. $75 for plugs, wires and distr.!!! ok, four cylinder motor with extremely easy spark plug access should be a 15 min job. on the third plug, we find that the old plg goes in fine, new plug will not start. after a few min, we notice that the old plug has some kind of threaded sleeve on it. somewhere along the way, somebody rethreaded the hole. great. so now i gotta wait till tomorrow for a test drive, hopefully i can get the little bugger on the road soon. oh yea, gotta bead on the overheating issue to one of the two electric fans isnt turning, so i think thats the clulprit. hopefully i'll have good news tomorrow.

That sucks.. Sounds like somebody put a heely coil in your third cylinder. I hope it holds the new plug for ya.
I wouldn't stand in front of it while it's runny.

ok, final update. the mazda has been SOLD. I sold it last week to some guy, I hope he has good luck with it. it was still running the same, no better no worse. but when it came down to it, I needed money more than I needed another car to insure and maintain. so with that, project black beauty has ridden off into the sunset. (cheesy I know).