End of season detail: '99 Mazda Protege LX

W

White95Max

New member
To prepare for the harsh Wisconsin winter that my car has to go through, I've been working on it for a few days now. I've got everything done except the wheel/tire swap and Gummipflege on the weatherstripping. It's the end of October now, so both of those will be done very soon. Before long, I'll be glad I've got snow tires!



The car had AIO + UPPx2 + Paste Glaz already, and then yesterday I wiped it down with S&G, and then added #16. I left the #16 on for 12 hours before buffing the excess. I had no problems removing it this morning, except in a few spots where I applied it a bit thicker (on accident of course). Those spots took a little more effort.



And the wheels still have the same application of AIO/WGx2 that I put on when I first got the wheels in early September.

The tires have PB's Natural Look, 4 days old.

VM/#16 on the glass

Meg's PlastX/#16 on the headlights/taillights

PB's Trim Restorer on the trim

Mother's Mag/Aluminum Polish on the metal areas of the engine bay, and the exhaust tip

NXT Tech Protectant on the plastic/rubber components of the engine bay.



So here it is...







AIO_UPPx2_16_-_2.JPG




AIO_UPPx2_16_-_1.JPG




AIO_UPPx2_16_-_5_-_C.jpg




AIO_UPPx2_16_-_4.JPG




AIO_UPPx2_16_-_3.JPG








It's too bad the sun couldn't peek out for a bit. I do like the ominous clouds in the background though. :)

I'll see if I can get a few shots in the sun tomorrow.
 
Now that you got 'er all cleaned up and the pictures taken, you'd better put the snows/steelies on pretty soon ;)



Did you end up doing anything about the rust around the hood latch?
 
I put the rust converter on there, but I didn't touch it up yet. Does that stuff work as primer by itself, or does it NEED rust to work as a primer?
 
It works OK by itself, but better where it's converted some rust. See how well it sticks to the unrusted areas over the winter and just deal with it in the spring. I have a small area on the MPV's passenger door that is rusted; I put the converter on it and I'm gonna see how it looks next April or so. No real hurry about this stuff, at least based on my past experience. The trick is to get the converter on there and the rust neutralized before it spreads to someplace you can't get to.
 
I found some bubbles in the paint on the edge of the hood (underside) too. :( Should I scrape them with a wire brush or a sandpaper pen? I hate rust :mad:

I'm so tempted to just find a highlight silver hood from some junkyard. I can't stand all the paint chips on my hood either.
 
Bust the bubbles in the least aggressive way possible. Clean up the rust a little so it's not loose and then treat with the converter. You might want to consider having the underside (the area we're talking about) reshot next spring. I've had that done before (just the underside, not the top) and it worked out well.



Getting another hood would just give you a second hood with similar issues so I'd probably just put up with its problems for a good long time ;)
 
Looks excellent!





Too bad thats about the best it will look for another 4-6 months :(. I'm not looking forward to winter, as usual.
 
Corey Bit Spank said:
I <3 your car. I'm actually considering Protege5's for this spring. :)
Click to expand...





There's a guy from Green Bay that emailed me a couple weeks ago. He said he'd drive his black 03.5 Protege5 over here for me to detail before winter. Which reminds me, I'd better remind him before it starts snowing around here!



Truzoom - I love having my own garage. It's bad enough washing the car when it's 10*F outside, but it's a TON worse when you have to wash it outside in the wind too. Another plus is the fact that I have that cul-de-sac right down the street from my apartment, to take pictures. There are no houses there yet, just trees. But in the third pic, you can see that they are building a house there soon. :( You can also see the garages for my apartment building on the far right side of the pic. I drove all the way there at 1500RPM in first gear, cuz I didn't want to get any sand/dirt on my car before I took the pics! :)
 
truzoom said:
The way you transformed that car makes me want one. :drool:
Click to expand...





Just wait until spring!



-Paint calipers/drums silver

-Install OEM rear spoiler

-Install OEM fog lights





I couldn't find a 5spd ES, so I'm going everything I can to make it as close to an ES as possible! No engine swap though.
 
GSRstilez said:
Too bad thats about the best it will look for another 4-6 months :(
Click to expand...



No way! I'll wash it every couple days during the winter to keep that nasty road salt off!

The thing I love most of winter (well, one of the only things I love about winter) is driving a clean, freshly waxed car when everybody else's car is all nasty and covered in salt/grime. People really notice my car then! :D
 
White95Max said:
No way! I'll wash it every couple days during the winter to keep that nasty road salt off!

The thing I love most of winter (well, one of the only things I love about winter) is driving a clean, freshly waxed car when everybody else's car is all nasty and covered in salt/grime. People really notice my car then! :D
Click to expand...

LOL! And the fact you can spin the tires easier! Donuts are really fun in the rain, never had a chance in the snow though, but in an empty parking lot, that would probably be fun as hell! But you have FWD so you gotta do reverse donuts. LOL
 
Pontman43 said:
LOL! And the fact you can spin the tires easier! Donuts are really fun in the rain, never had a chance in the snow though, but in an empty parking lot, that would probably be fun as hell! But you have FWD so you gotta do reverse donuts. LOL
Click to expand...





I don't like to do FWD donuts in reverse. It seems so hard on the car. When it snows, I prefer to just get going at a slow speed, turn a little, and pull the E-brake. That's fun!

Only in a large parking lot with no cars and no light poles though. :)



I wonder how different the E-brake drifting will be with snow tires?
 
White95Max said:
I wonder how different the E-brake drifting will be with snow tires?
Click to expand...



Won't behave all that differently, you'll just need a little more speed to get things going. And the tires will wear a lot faster if you cut through the snow.
 
GSRstilez said:
Looks excellent!





I'm not looking forward to winter, as usual.
Click to expand...



Agree on both points. 39 degrees this morning here in Arlington and 6 days prior, we had the nation's high for the day at 94.



Your car looks absolutely terrific, Paul! :spot
 
It never looks its best in overcast conditions. I'm still waiting for the sun to peek out. I saw a little bit of blue sky before sunset, so hopefully I can get some more pics tomorrow. I need some more pics to remind me of what I have to look forward to in the spring!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top