gut2stuff

Sup everybody, I jus' got my hands on a 90 Protege SE and although my license is suspended, dat doesn't mean it can't be my project car. I've named the project "Project Gut 2 Stuff" (hence the name). I only paid $500 for it. It was my sons mothers and it's got 145k on da odometer. First thing I did was throw da exhaust out...the whole thing straight to the header. As of right now it has a bosal down pipe, not installed and I forgot to mention the RActive front strut bar also in my signature. After I dropped the exhaust I gutted the interior it was in terrible shape. Threw in sum Celica Seats and Integra GSR front seats in the back. I have one question though...can u fit a 2.0 in dis cars engine bay? I know u guys probably wont like dis, but if it can fit it's gettin' a Nissan SR20DET dropped into it...Engine will be in the future though, but here are my future plans and keep in mind dat all these mods aren't from a mazda vehicle, I jus' want to build a car dat makes u wonder wut it is. Headlights are gonna be switched out for JDM Integra Type R HIDs, Taillights are gona be S2000 or '01 civic SI (I hate honda's but I'm tryin' to keep inside the body lines) Suspension is gonna be on bags. Back doors are goin' suicide (a lot easier to get my son in his car seat dat way...lol) AWR Racing makes a fiberglass 1.5 lbs dash for a 02 Protege and I plan on modifyin' dat 2 sumhow make it fit. If the new Mazdaspeed engine will cost less than the $1,500 needed for the SR20DET (dat 220HP is so nice) I may drop dat in2 it....Right now I'm open 2 suggestions.......

fire

if i remember right, i could be wrong though, the sr20det is a rear wheel drive motor and a protege is a front wheel drive. it will take a whole lot of modifications to accomplish this swap. if i were you i'd just turbo out a dohc engine.

gut2stuff

SR20DET "Bluebird" comes in both FWD and RWD, although everybody is tryin' to talk me in2 swapin' in a RX7 rear end and havin' a RWD protege...but my bank account isn't full of all those funds...

fire

well good luck. i'm also a member of the nissan altima site and from what i hear fwd sr20det engines are hard to come by. it will also cost you a nut to get it over here if you find one and also to modify your protoge to take the engine.

gut2stuff

to drop in the fwd version, I already got an estimate at $2,500 for the engine and install, but dat estimate could get up 2 4k dependin' on fabrication

fire

don't forget about getting an ecu, tranny, modifying the driveshafts to fit the smaller protege,and also the problem with the steering, since sr20det engines are in a sense backwards here cause the cars that have these engines(bluebird usually in australia or new zealand from what i hear) have their steering wheels on the right instead of on the left like here. i'm not saying it won't work, but like i said in the altima site they have been trying to do that for years and i don't think anybodies been able to do it yet. and the altima and the bluebird are almost the same vehicle except for the engine.

gut2stuff

yeah I know bout all those mods 2 do....I was lookin' for a 240 wit' a blown motor to convert to right hand drive, sr20det and silvia front end, but didn't find one, was also lookin' for a 97 and up mirage to switch to right hand drive wit' da cyclone motor and a veilside dtm body kit, but the kit is worth more than the car...and the protege jus' kinda fell in front of me so I took it

fire

well good luck with whatever you do. hope everything works out. keep us posted.

THAPRO1

1st off welcome
and its kool ur the only other person i've seen with a 90' se i'm sure theres more i just don't know about em.....lol

but anyway why not just get the bp and build it up instead of the sr20det? i mean having an altima myself and being a huge fan of nissan(there right up there with mazda if not a lil higher....j/k) i love the sr20 motors too but imo why go to all the trouble of having to modify everything to fit in a smaller car when there's already a great engine for it that will fit right in? just my .02
but in any case welcome and hope everything works out for ya

peace dante

gut2stuff

I want 2 drop in sum power and build from there, if the 2.0 from the mazdaspeed turbo protege will fit, dat would be my first choice....I wasn't really big on Mazda's till I got dis protege

fire

that's what i'm talking about

gut2stuff

I loved the P5 when it came out but my first thought was it needed more power cause of it's look, then my friend bought the only yellow mp3 in my area dat we know of and I started to look at proteges...now there's one in my garage...lol. and dis lil' engine has 150k on it so it's time to junk it in favor of sum new power cause it's the lil' engine dat could, but i don't want to spend the money to build it up when I can spend da same amount on an engine wit' da amount of horsepower I would get if I built it up

THAPRO1

oh ok i understand what you mean the only thing is since the engine style i guess you could say is different in the mazda speed then in the 1st gen's it could be put in but its a pain and pretty much a waste of time because you can get a bpt and it has 180 hp as opposed to the msprotege's 170 plus its a LOT stonger and will make WAY more power in the end than the new engine i belive i could also be wrong but i know theres a thread that you could read in the engine forum part on 1st gen's i think it something about putting a mp3 engine in a 1st gen you could read that


awww yeah hopefully i'll be able to get a 240 within the next yr and do a silvia s13 conv on it

peace dante

gut2stuff

my boy has a 13b sittin' in a 89 rx7 he wants me to drop in, but I'm not too big on rotaries

THAPRO1

yeah i agree i LOVE rx7's i just don't like trying to work on an engine where i have no clue as to how it works........lol
plus that it seems would be the hardest engine swap we've said yet