overg4

Anyone know what tools are needed to do a owering kit yourself on a P5

Scarmiglio

It helps to have air tools. At the very least, socket wrenches, strength, and a spring compressor.

overg4

hmmmm, maybe I should just beat that guy up who told me 65/ hr. He should know what the heck he is doing, he has been building custom lowrider trucks, cars, vans, whatever for many years. Personally he is a stuck up ***** !

I need some dude that has the smarts and toolsd and will do it for a case of beer or something. I would do it myself, but i know i would screw it up

Scarmiglio

Believe me, you will be hard pressed to find someone willing to do it for a case of beer. Unless if you do it often and have a good set of tools, it is a pain in the ***. Shop around and you'll find someone willing to do it for around $100.

walight01

you won't screw it up. just remember how you took it apart and you will be fine. just allow alot of time for it(ie a day)

carguycw

To answer this question directly....

1) Torque wrench that goes up to at least 90 ft-lb
2) Ratchet
3) Sockets in the following sizes: 14mm, 17mm, 21mm (for the lug nuts)
4) Flathead screwdriver for GENTLY disengaging interior trim fasteners (the back seat, rear HMSL, rear package shelf, and rear seatbelts must come out)
5) Pliers for pulling brake line clips
6) Hammer for reinstalling them
7) 14mm wrench, preferably closed-end
8) Metric Allen wrench set
9) Spring compressor (rent one)
10) Floor jack and jackstands
11) Bottle of typewriter correction fluid (i.e. Liquid Paper or White-Out)
12) Breaker bar (not mandatory but really helpful when working on suspension)
13) Liquid Wrench (ditto)

Here's the only unconventional things about the Protege compared to other strut cars:
a) Rear seats, trim and belts must come out to reach the rear strut towers. However, all this stuff is not hard to remove.
b) The front strut tops are not centered in the strut towers; this is how the camber and caster are adjusted. (Use the search for more details.) Mark the position of each strut top in relation to the strut tower and reinstall them in the same location or you will screw up the car's alignment. This is what the Liquid Paper is for.
c) The swaybar endlinks use little balljoints that attach to tabs on the struts with a stud and a nut. The end of each stud has a cutout for an Allen wrench (sorry I don't remember what size); to loosen the endlinks, hold the stud stationary with the Allen wrench while loosening the nut with the 14mm closed-end wrench. If you try to loosen the endlink nuts without holding the studs, you will just spin the balljoint around in the hole and you won't be able to remove the nut; this obviously makes it impossible to remove these things with a ratchet and socket. (BTW almost all modern bicycles are put together mostly with metric Allen bolts; a standard bike wrench set has the correct size Allen wrench for the endlinks.)

Hope this helps!