1993 Mazda Protege

Zwolf

Zwolf

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I wish I would have taken more pics of this process, but I got this 93 mazda protege for next to nothing because the brakes were shot, and the AC "didn't work" Car has 123k miles on it. Fancy little car, moon roof, cruise control and power windows and locks:dblthumb2:

When I got the car, the paint was lifeless and dull. And it had a big rust spot, just one above the rear passenger fender.

I first got it driving and handling right. With new brakes all around and new complete strut assembly's, the car stopped and drove great. Cleaned the rims with some power purple and the inside with a green scotch brite pad. Threw in some new sway bar bushings and end links for good measure. Took it to my mechanic for an AC check, and 70 bucks later I have full AC that is checked and verified to be good;)

Next was the tint. I got some cheap pre-cut tint online for 35bucks shipped. Installed that myself, much better:)

Last was the paint and cleanup. I had to remove 8 stickers from the car, various parking passes and just sill stuff. Next was a good wash with Dawn soap, then followed up with my Zaino soap. Dried off and taped off for some polishing.

My polishing is my Porter DA from here, and I used the White LC pad with my Zaino PC. I wasn't going for perfection obviously but just some shine. I love the zaino pc as it works great for me. I did our 2012 Nissan minivan black with it and it turned out perfect. Its easy for an amateur like me.

I went ahead and sanded and polished the headlights as well. Car looks a million bucks better.

Now for the big work. I had my body guy cut out the rust and replace and seal with new metal. I did the sanding and painting. As you will see below it turned out ok. The color has faded over the last 21 years so it didn't match perfect but it sure is much better then a nasty rust hole. I hate rust...

Enjoy
Before the day I got it:)

 



Aww new parts.

New metal formed and put in. This wasn't me;)

Before filler


After filler and a coat of primer

After first stage of sanding


After a few more stages of sanding
 
First coat of paint


after a few more coats of

Some coats of clear


You can see its a bit darker as my original color has faded over the last 21 years. Some shots after all the tape was removed.

Much better then this
 


When I first got it!

Now Much cleaner and more shine, thanks to my PC and Zaino! And the best part, no rust!
 
Forgot to add that I did add protection. I added just one coat of my Zaino Z2.
 
For a 21 year old Mazda you sure know how to turn it's wrinkles in a sense into a flawless work of art
 
Nice work, you got it looking good! :dblthumb2:
 
Thanks guys. It is a great run around car. Its a blast to drive around somewhat sporty actually. And much better on gas then my f150;)
 
Looks like that Mah-zda was doing some "zoom zooming", LOL! Great pic up:cool:

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2
 
Thanks again guys. I am actually keeping this car as a daily driver. I just took an 800 mile round trip with it and it is surprisingly a great car to take on a road trip. Very comfy and a great ride. Plus now it looks great. Not bad for a $700 car:)
 
You can get $2100-2400 for that car EASY.. miles are great, sunroof, ac ,new brakes

A buddy of mine had a Protege and it pretty peppy too.

Great work, $700 is a fantastic investment for that car. I understand it will be your DD, but that's money in the bank.
 
I bought the cheapest tint they had. If I would have thought I would keep the car I would have bought their better quality stuff.

The cheap stuff is very thin. Color is ok. A bit purple ish. For 30 bucks it was a steal. It is still holding up great. The rear window was actually 2 pieces. I was a bit disappointed about that. But you can hardly tell.

I have always had mine done at a professional shop. They use top notch stuff and offer a lifetime warranty. So it is the best. And this is not that. But it does look great better then 80% of them out there I would say. But I have installed tint before so I know a bit of what I'm doing.

As anyone who has installed it will say it takes some practice
 
Ps thanks for the compliments! It is a peppy lil car fun to drive actually. And it does have more room inside then it looks. I can comfortably take my family out in it. Wife and 2 kids. 4 and 2yrs old.
 
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