SRAD600

Hey everybody...This is my first post.

Me and my friend are fixing up a 91 protege to use for an extra car or maybe to sell and make some money, if it's worth it, but it's got some problems i was wondering if you guys could help me with. We got the head milled down 15 thousandths of and inch and put new valve seals in and it needs a headgasket, but everywhere i look for one they're like $80. Does anyone know of a place online or anywhere where i could get one cheaper. Also, the top of one of teh front shocks is broken. The rubber on the top is split off. Would i be able to use a new piece from a junkyard or would i have to buy a new part? Oh and would it be worth it to use cv joints from a junkyard or just buy those new?

Thanks

Proto93

Well, not sure about the headgasket. I have noticed parts for these cars can get pricey, but I would think any good foreign car parts place would have the best price. If you've called around and that's the best you've gotten, it's probably the best you'll get within reason on-line. UNLESS someone else on here has found a real bargain place to buy parts. As far the CV axles go , buy new!! It's pot-luck with junk yard axles and for the price it's worth not having to pull them out again. You've also got the warranty that way. Shocks are cheap new as well in comparison. If you decide to sell, you'll get better response being able to claim "New Shocks and Axles", and if you keep it you'll have a better ride.

qjohn

Remanufactured CV joints are cheap at Autozone ($60 SOHC and $75 DOHC) and have lifetime warranty.

JQ

mannydingo

Correct, go with auto part store remanufactured ones, especially if you don't keep the car. You're trying to make money, possibly, right? The broken top of the strut is actually not part of the strut. It's what the strut connects to at the top. It's called a strut mount. It all looks like one unit when you take off the strut because you have the strut, the coil & the strut mount all as one unit. The cheapest I have found the strut mounts is $32 and they generally cost about $45. Unless you have a spring compressor and an air compressor and impact wrench gun to remove the center nut, you should just go to the junkyard. I would definitely go to a junkyard where you pull the part yourself and yank the whole strut with coil and strut mount attached. It's really not hard. The hardest part is taking the bolts that hold the calipers on just like when you're changing your own brakes. After that it's two bolts at the bottom of the strut and the four smaller ones from the top of the car. Also, buying new stuff and advertising it as "new struts" when selling the car and what not will not get you an extra dime. It will only get you a buyer a little faster. Not dissin' you Proto93. It's just my opinion from experience.

SRAD600

yep, my buddy got me a deal at Advance for the head gasket. It ended up costing me like $52 with tax. I think i can get the axle for about the same price there too. I'm gonna go to a junkyard for the strut mount. Actually i already went to get one yesterday, but i ended up getting lost and got there like 5 min after they stopped letting people in, but anyways... I should have it running by wendsday and drivable by sunday if all goes well. One more question...Does anyone know what you can use to patch a hole in a radiator? Theres was a hole in the bottom of the radiator, not in the fin part, and we made a copper piece to go over it and epoxied it on and it seals, but i kinda doubt it'll hold after it gets hot. How hot can jb weld get before it stops sticking? Anybody got some ideas?

mannydingo

Can't help with the radiator glue thing--don't know. About getting the strut mount at the junkyard: If it's the kind of j/y where you take off the part yourself then you're going to have a hell of a time trying to take it off. The junkyard idea is only good if you're going to buy the entire strut/coil/strut mount assembly. You can't take off the strut mount unless you compress the coil/spring part with a spring compressor(I'm not talking about an air compressor at this point). Also, like I mentioned before, when you try to take off the center nut that you see protruding from the mount when you look from the top of the car, it will be too hard. I had to go to someone with an air compressor and air impact wrench. As you turn that center nut without an air compressor the strut just turns along with the nut so it will not loosen. I tried putting one, then two vice grips on the strut bar but its surface is too smooth. It kept sliding on the vice grips no matter how tight I made them. The air gun solved it. The air wrench spins so fast that it goes faster than the strut can ever hope to catch up spinning. Just holding the strut with my hand was good enough. No vice grip needed. For the strut mount I recommend you call all the different auto parts stores around you and see who has the mount for cheapest. That's unless you will go buy the entire strut/coil/mount assemble at the j/y. The only thing you risk there is getting an old worn strut mount that doesn't absorb much shock anymore.

SRAD600

I'm just gonna get the whole strut, coil, and strut mount from the junkyard. I dont see why it would be so hard to get off, it only took me like 15 min to get the one out of my car.

mannydingo

That's exactly what I'm saying. Taking the whole shabang off is a snap. It's trying to get the mount off alone that's the son of a gun. You will probably get a good mount and a strut in reasonable or good-enough shape. You might want to ask what the price is before you pull it. It's probably not too much. Blessings at the J/Y to ya'.

SRAD600

oh i see what you're saying. thanks