turbonium959

Hi, guys. Can get some advise from the people who have replaced springs before, and / or installed strut bars. I know I have to raise the car to replace the springs. Do I need to raise it to install a strut bar?

Bruce95fmla

not only do you need to raise and support the car, (with jackstands) you need to get a spring compressor , and you can install the strut bar with the car on the floor with no problem
Bruce

turbonium959

Thanks, Bruce. I have planned in the back of my imnd to install the springs profesionally anyhow. Though the strut bar I did want to install myself. I did look at your site, and I have looked at some installation instruction you have up there. Can you tell me which tools I need to install a strut bar? Thx

Bruce95fmla

You will just need a socket big enough to fit over the nuts and then remove them , and after that you put the strut bar on , and put the nuts back on , but if you have cruise control you have to remount the bracket for the cruise control
Bruce

turbonium959

Thanks again, Bruce. I was just surfing the web for a strut bar and found this. Check out this link and tell if this is a good buy.
http://www.procarparts.com/store/dis...=9598PGESRTUTF
Thx.

Bruce95fmla

yeah that is a good , bar, looks like it to me , i have never heard anything bad about procarparts. so I think they are cool , I usually like thicker strut bars , but they are hard to find for our cars..... sux......

Well get it if you like it , that is what counts , do you like it ?
Bruce

turbonium959

Yeah, I think I am going to get it. I like the price, and looks great to me. I have seen others for Protege, though they were all in the price range of $50 or more. Therefore, I do not know whether this one is a good buy, or it is a cheap-o. I think I would get away with this bar for now, because I won't get new rims and tires for a while, and I am not going to drop it until after that. Though I am proud, I just bought front corner clears! I think they will look great. I really hate that orange color in the front, and the back end too. Thanks for advice.

Bruce95fmla

hehe , yah that orange is annoying as hell..... but that bar should really be sturdy enough , but if you want to go sturdier , go to www.speedpeople.com and email them and ask them if they are making strut bars for the 1995-1998 mazda Protege's anymore .. I have that one on my car and it is really nice
Bruce

turbonium959

I think I will go ahead with procarparts. I just placed an order for it, and my clear corner lenses from j-pec are on the way. So, I think it is a pretty good start for me. Maybe next step for me would be an air intake. Bruce, you used the one that fits Civic, and I looked at your site, and the instructions. Do you think it is going to be hard for an amatuer like me to perform that swap?
I have a DX which has 1.6 liter engine, and it is LACKING power. I put K&N air filter in it, to make it breathe a bit easier, and synthetic oil to keep it quite, but it is only so little. Thanks.

Bruce95fmla

Get the Ractive intake ,, dit costs about 90 bucks, and to be honest it is a better fit than the civic , I was experimenting with intakes on my car and the civic was a trial that I did .. although it did work very good, ...
you can get the Ractive at autotoys.com
it is the one for the

RACTIVE MAZDA 323 1.5 / 16.L 1993-1996

here is the link
bruce

turbonium959

Hi, Bruce. I just checked the link you gave. Though I have a '97 DX with 1.6L, is that intake going to work right with my engine?

Bruce95fmla

what state are you from and how did you get a 1.6L protege ,, when everyone else has a 1.5L ,,, but it will work with the 1.6L also
bruce

turbonium959

Thank you for pointing it out. I have no clue why I thought it was 1.6 and not 1.5 . Any how, I think I am going to invest in it, in a week or two, and I will let you all know my progress with corner lenses, and my strut bar.

Bruce95fmla

well you see the thing is , there are 1.6's , but I know they are really only overseas in the phillipines .. that is really the only place I have seen them
bruce