Help A New Prowner Out!!
June-3rd-2002, 02:52 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Washington State
Posts: 48
Help A New Prowner Out!!
I just got a 1st gen a couple of months ago! It took me forever to find any websites about it- i wanted to know what kind of mods and stuff there are for them. This site has definitely solved that problem! BTW this is my first car! yeah i'm a young'n. I have a 93 4dr protege dx, 1.8L SOHC, Blaze Red (It's a VERY nice looking little car!). I've done a couple things to it : 16" American Racing Rims, Low profile tires, window tint, and also, I had the exhaust system taken out and bumped up to 2inch piping from the Cat Converter back to a new "turbo muffler" and beautiful chrome tip 
And last but not least a put in a K&N airfilter. So as you can see i haven't done many engine mods (They're expensive and to be quite frank, they scare me becouse I'm no mechanic). I'm on an almost non-existent budget (i'm only comfortable with popping about $350 a mod). I don't know what direction to go with it next. If any of you have any ideas on what order you would do things i would really appreciate it! I'm thinking i want some engine mods (but no $2k stuff ok?) and maybe lower it a bit, and I need to get a spoiler for it (IMHO the back of these cars needs some help in the looks dept.),and a "bra" front bumper cover (or maybe a body kit???). So thanks a ton for reading and hopefully responding to a young prowner's cry for help!
And last but not least a put in a K&N airfilter. So as you can see i haven't done many engine mods (They're expensive and to be quite frank, they scare me becouse I'm no mechanic). I'm on an almost non-existent budget (i'm only comfortable with popping about $350 a mod). I don't know what direction to go with it next. If any of you have any ideas on what order you would do things i would really appreciate it! I'm thinking i want some engine mods (but no $2k stuff ok?) and maybe lower it a bit, and I need to get a spoiler for it (IMHO the back of these cars needs some help in the looks dept.),and a "bra" front bumper cover (or maybe a body kit???). So thanks a ton for reading and hopefully responding to a young prowner's cry for help!
June-3rd-2002, 03:22 PM
#4
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Washington State
Posts: 48
Holy crap it's been less than an hour and i have a couple replies already! I'm loving this site- Ok so thanks for the advice, How low do you suggest i lower it (1inch? 2inch? it has to be practical, you know, it's going to be my daily driver for a long time)? and what parts would i need to buy (i can do it myself, right? I'm not a total moron just so you know)? I hear people talking about bars and stuff, how does that relate to lowering?
No i dont' have pics, unfortunately. I will soon though. we broke our scanner and don't have a digital camera yet.
Also i forgot to mention in my first message that i need to keep my car as legal as possible
Thanks
No i dont' have pics, unfortunately. I will soon though. we broke our scanner and don't have a digital camera yet.
Also i forgot to mention in my first message that i need to keep my car as legal as possible
Thanks
June-3rd-2002, 03:31 PM
#5
Hey Bartender
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: The WDM
Posts: 1,122
what part of washington do you live in? i just moved from whidbey island. as for springs you could go with a 2" drop on a daily driver. we have a few people on here that have that set up. which is what i am looking at. Also, some Eibach wouldnt be bad tho. thats a 1" drop. oh and yeah you can put them in. if you do run into problems just post and we will help u out.
June-3rd-2002, 05:05 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Washington State
Posts: 48
I live in Spokane. The two inch drop sounds good! It would be nice to get rid of that huge gap between the tire and the wheel well. The roads here aren't perfect, but that's not TOO low. Thanks for the advice. One last thing, i could probably find this out myself but what price range are we talking about- and where can i get or order these springs? any recommended brands? Thanks a ton
June-3rd-2002, 08:50 PM
#8
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Huntington Beach, CA Uhhh Surfs up Dude
Posts: 2,367
you may run into trouble with a 2" drop or any drop for that matter, the problem (if any) would be with the width (of which i suspect to be 7" anyway) but the offset is the deciding factor. You may get horrible fender rub with say a 35mm offset, 38mm is the most you'd want witha drop.
Welcome to the board!!!
Welcome to the board!!!
June-3rd-2002, 09:13 PM
#9
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Washington State
Posts: 48
This is great- thanks for the info everybody! About the offset...you say that i could have really bad fender rub with a drop- well is there a way to tell whether that will be a problem or not? could I measure something and see if I would have enough room (ie. the width of the tires?)? 
I feel dumb for asking but what do you mean by "offset"? Thanks for the engine mod suggestions, you guys are really helpful! 
I feel dumb for asking but what do you mean by "offset"? Thanks for the engine mod suggestions, you guys are really helpful!
June-3rd-2002, 09:48 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Huntington Beach, CA Uhhh Surfs up Dude
Posts: 2,367
the offset is the value given in milimeters, which determines how far outward or inward the wheel sits. the larger the number (38mm, 40mm, 42mm) the futher "sucked" under the fender the wheel will be. The smaller the number (35mm, 33mm, 30mm) the further out the wheel sits (33 or 30 will push the wheel PAST the fender. There's also positive and negative offsets, although my mind is blank as to which one it is our cars use, i think it's positive. (i.e. +38mm)
so a typical wheel spec would be - 16x7 4/100 40mm - 16" diameter, 7" wide, 4/100 is the bolt pattern, 40mm offset
our 1st gen Protege's can handle a 1.25" drop @ 35mm offset with a 7" wide wheel and a 195/50 tire. (a 205/50 tire rubs) best to stay at 38mm or 40mm for 1-1.5" drops and 42mm for anything more. Although be aware, any lower than 1.5" and you lose usable suspension travel, and inturn you will be riding on the bumpstops near 99% of the time and have a VERY bouncy ride.
use a string with a weight attached to it, hold the string at the top center of the fender. This will tell you how close your wheel/tire is to the fender lip. If it's too close (i.e. 35mm) you can always have the wheels shaved to a 40 or 42mm offset, i beleive i checked around and found it to be like $25 a wheel. That's worse case scenerio though. Also, check spacing between wheel/tire and the struts also the rear trailing link arms
Hope that made sense? Hard to describe without the hand puppet descrpitions
so a typical wheel spec would be - 16x7 4/100 40mm - 16" diameter, 7" wide, 4/100 is the bolt pattern, 40mm offset
our 1st gen Protege's can handle a 1.25" drop @ 35mm offset with a 7" wide wheel and a 195/50 tire. (a 205/50 tire rubs) best to stay at 38mm or 40mm for 1-1.5" drops and 42mm for anything more. Although be aware, any lower than 1.5" and you lose usable suspension travel, and inturn you will be riding on the bumpstops near 99% of the time and have a VERY bouncy ride.
use a string with a weight attached to it, hold the string at the top center of the fender. This will tell you how close your wheel/tire is to the fender lip. If it's too close (i.e. 35mm) you can always have the wheels shaved to a 40 or 42mm offset, i beleive i checked around and found it to be like $25 a wheel. That's worse case scenerio though. Also, check spacing between wheel/tire and the struts also the rear trailing link arms
Hope that made sense? Hard to describe without the hand puppet descrpitions