Mazda Protege Mazdaspeed Test Mule Restoration
About a year ago, I came across a gentlemen listing a Mazda Protege MP3 in one of the groups. I was initially interested in the car. But he had a note about it saying that it was a very special car with history. And if anyone was interested call or email as he does not get on facebook very much. Looking over the photos I did notice that it was listed as a 2001 Mazda MP3 which was NA, but it had a turbocharged engine from the Mazdaspeed Protege with only 36k miles on it. I talked to the owner at the time and he filled me in on the history of the car:
This particular car was pulled from production to spend time at Ford EMDO (Engine Manufacturing Development Operations) in Michigan, a prototype-only facility used for the production of engine prototypes for Ford, Jaguar, and Mazda. This car served as the mobile test bed in the engine development of the then upcoming 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege Turbo. Once the car had fulfilled its purpose and was not needed anymore, Mazda in 2003 gifted the car to a motor sports team who were wanting to run a third car in the Speed World Challenge series. This never happened because Mazda decided to switch from the Mazda Protege to the Mazda6 as the new racing platform for the 2004 season. The vehicle sat for nearly twenty years in a parking lot. Mr. Tindol was happy I was interested in the car. He told me that he had never had a title to the car. I was fine with that, because I intended to use the vehicle as a spare parts car for my race car.
We talked about the car and we almost settled on a price, but he was looking to sell his World Challenge Protege along with the MP3 as a package deal. While what he was offering was an amazing deal it was not in the budget at the time. The more we talked about the car over the week he had almost talked himself into keeping the car as he was finally able to get the car titled and get it legal. So we never settled on a deal, but we did chat every so often mainly about the race car and the progress of it.
Fast forward to the present, a MP3 popped up on marketplace in South Carolina for sale not running and really low miles. I looked into and had a hint that it was the same car I was looking at earlier in the year. After talking with the new owner and contacting the original owner, I confirmed it was the same car. At the time I was not really looking to buy anything as I had just purchased a RX8 and started to get back into some things on the Protege 5. But the car had a really cool history and it was a fun opportunity to restore something I was very familiar with. I had a good friend go and check it out for me just to confirm that it was what it was and make sure it wasn’t complete junk. He checked it out for me and it was in fair shape, but had been neglected and was a little rough for a low mileage car, but it was all there and I made the decision to purchase it..
After a week or 2 I had it transported down to Georgia and here it was. The original hood was put back on it from sitting in a parking lot once Mazda was done with it.
Initially the history of the car was word of mouth from the previous owner. But he did provide a few documents and information and details. One was the sticker of the car being sent from Mazda in Irvine to Callaway Motors in Connecticut as a promo vehicle. Callaway was in charge of the developing the turbo kit for the Mazdaspeed Protege.
After it left Callaway it was in the hands of one of the Mazda Engineers – Bill Kocher. I assume it was tested and kinks worked out for development of the Mazdaspeed Protege. Like most test mules it was sent out to pasture and sat for many years. After Bill owned it was purchased by the original owner and purchased for $500 and a handshake without any paperwork from Mazda as a parts car. The owner had it for a few years and was able to get it titled, and then it was documented as a street legal car for the first time 22 years later.
47k miles on the clock
Mazda installed the first version of their turbocharged 2.0 that eventually ended up being the power plant for the Mazdaspeed Protege. The transmission remained the stock non-LSD transmission. But the Mazdaspeed ended up with an LSD and larger axles. I was told the intercooler is different and I have noticed that some of the oil lines are different from the Mazdaspeed, but most of it did not change. The ECU is a modified version of the OEM MP3 Ecu.
Another cool decal on the engine bay..
I dont think these wheels came on the car from Mazda as they were not available until 2003, I assume the previous owner pulled these off his race car spares, especially with the tires on them. It would be cool to restore these wheels, but I am just used to seeing them so much and would rather change to something else. It is tough to get the original finish on these, and without the center caps it would be the same. I have got a few ideas on something that will stick to the OEM style but look much more appealing.
I started to notice there was a good bit of mud and dirt on the underside which is unfortunate. I assume it sat after it stopped running, but some of this dirt looks like the car may been driven through dirt and beat on.
It did spray off and reveal the Tokico Struts and Racing Beat Springs the MP3 came with. While the Tokico struts are no longer available I would like to keep it on the car if they are in decent shape. But I will see how they ride once the car is back on the road and see.
Racing Beat Exhaust was used on the MP3 and it looks to be the same version used on this prototype. It looks to be missing the tip or maybe it was removed, or maybe it was a test exhaust minus the tip..
Interior is in decent shape, most of it looks like it can be restored nicely, no major cracks on the seats, but its a bit faded from sitting for so long.
The most important part is the fabric seat middle section and the door fabric that is specific to the MP3. of this most of the other panels were used in most other proteges. But the interior looks promising for the restoration.
The heart and soul and big selling point of the MP3 at the time was the Kenwood Audio system, which had the infamous Kenwood Excelon Z919 CD / MP3 Radio. It also had Kenwood speakers and a 100 watt 10-Inch Speaker in the trunk.
We ended up having a Mazdasped Protege at the shop for some minor repairs when the MP3 showed up. I took this photo to show the main differences in the two side by side. The Mazdaspeed features a front lip and a different style wing on the 03.5 year model. But the 2003 model did not have the front lip on it, and was almost identical to the MP3 on the outside, which is why most will think they are the same car. It also got side marker lights and the painted upper grill. The Mazdaspeed and the MP3 both got the darker housing headlights compared to the base model that had chrome housings Proteges and Protege 5 that got chrome housing dual beam headlights.
I made a few attempts to figure out what was up with the motor and possibly see why it had no compression. Hoping that I would have had some signs of life to attempt a repair and not have to replace the engine. The previous owner told me that it overheated a little and immediately stopped driving, which almost everyone says. But the engine had absolutely zero compression and 100% leak down in every cylinder and coolant sprayed all over the driver side. I came to find out that it looked like it was form a pinhole in the upper radiator hose. The FS doesn’t handle abuse very well and from my experience and if it was overheated to the point of cutting off it cant be saved and the head is warped. I made the decision to scrap the engine and get a replacement.
Some signs of aftermarket installs from the turbo kit installation. Not sure if I have ever seen a P-clamp used on the assembly line.
On the Mazdaspeed Protege the turbo oil drain went into the main bearing support plate above the oil pan. But on here it looks like they modified the oil pan for a more traditional way.
While it may have worked fine, I can see how it may not have been something that was mass produced and sold with a warranty. Its about a 12 inch feed line that curves around the downpipe. Something that I will probably change up to be more efficient.
Another photo of the oil pan and the drain tube. Looks like they spent some time actually making it work properly with a different baffle as well.
A mixture of dirt, coolant and corrosion. a lot of cleaning up to do.
More corrosion from the coolant spill from the upper coolant hose that I assume caused the overheating and the head gasket damage.
The Protege engines are pretty reliable, but most used engines are higher mileage and would need a good rebuild to be trustworthy enough for this project. Its much easier to get a JDM engine instead. There are a few different versions of the Mazda 2.0 FS engine. We got 2 versions here in the US in the 99-2003 Protege , the FSDE 2.0 that was rated at 130hp and came in the Mazda Protege ES , Protege 5 and the Mazda MP3. The Mp3 had a power bump with a tuned ECU that bumped it up to 140hp, the base model Proteges in this generation came with 1.8 versions of this engine (FPDE) often mistaken for what came in the Miata and previous generation Protege which was the 1.8 BP engines. The other version we got was in the Mazdaspeed Protege which was the FSDET. It was pretty much a stock 2.0 with the Callaway intercooled turbo kit , injectors and ECU reflash. The turbo kit gave it a power bump to 180hp with 6psi in stock configuration and it was only sold in the US. In Japan Mazda had another version of the 2.0 called the FSZE. This version was naturally aspirated and made 170hp by way of higher compression and aggressive cams. The FSZE came in a few other Mazdas in the early 2000s , but did come in their versions of the Protege named the Familia Sport20 and SP20. It had a resonance chamber on the intake manifold as seen above and most featured a engine cover as well. They did sell the normal FSDE overseas as well, and they also have the resonance chamber on them like the ZE, but one way to tell is if has an engine cover on it or the studs for an engine cover, but the only true way to tell is to pop off the engine cover and check the cams. Also In Japan, they sold a Mazdaspeed version as well called the Mazdaspeed Familia it originally had a even higher output version of the FSZE originally but the car had a lot of cold start issues and it was eventually reflashed and the power was reduced to 170hp. With all that being said, it was only right to go with the FSZE as they are readily available in Japan and offer a bump in power especially with the turbo kit installed. It would have been cool to reuse the engine but it was beyond repair and not worth the investment especially with the ZE as an option.
Valve cover off and verified FSH9 FSZE cams.
The engine looked really good overall and I can only hope its in good condition. But since the engine was going back in the car with fresh paint I wanted to clean it up and make it look as good as possible.
I hit it with some engine block paint to freshen it up without going too crazy.
The turbo manifold looked to be the standard Callaway turbo manifold. They are prone to cracking from heat stress and being strained by holding up the turbo and exhaust system. I want to look into having some sort of brace to help relieve the stress on it once its back together. The turbo itself looked to be ok and in good shape, but I wanted to get it checked out by a professional and cleaned up and looking new. So it will be sent out to be rebuilt.
I managed to salvage the heat shield, but lost a few bolts in the lower downpipe. 
Most of the turbo kit out and cleaned up. Most of it will be cerakoted and the rest cleaned up.
Parts back from Cerakoting by way of Flowershop Powder Coating. A little different from the OEM color, but very pleased with the look.
Next step while I wait for the turbo to get back was to tear it down sand get it ready for paint. Besides being sunburned it was not in bad shape body wise. The plan is to go back to the original Laser Blue color and get it looking pretty again.
The paint was not bad overall in the bay. The mud will hopefully be cleaned, and the clips and hardware and hoses in the bay are in really good shape and look as if they have lived a 47k mile life. But the driver side was splashed with coolant and started to corrode the frame.
A little power washing and it looks better..
Driver side with corrosion from the coolant spray.
Passenger side much cleaner.
Mostly everything removed from the passenger side engine bay.
Driver side cleared and a much better visual of the corrosion from the coolant spray….
Front end removed.
For the most part the MP3 and the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege had a specific front lip that is pretty hard to find in good condition and somewhat of a hot item nowadays. Most of them have been damaged and or broken so its cool to be able to still have it.
Loaded up and ready for paint…
The car is being painted by a good friend Alex and owner of a Protege himself. He has moved on to a much nicer Miata these days. But he had a really really cool protege build years ago. One of the first and few with shaved a shaved engine bay and just a really clean looking car at the time. It has sense been parted out and has been sitting in his basement for a few years. I have a few of his old parts on my Protege 5, but I have always pushed for him to put the car back together.
Alex’s Protege in its prime back at Southrnfresh 7…
The car will not be painted here obviously but Alex will start on the body work and get it ready for paint while we wait for parts to come back and the motor to get put back together.
Engine bay prep started..
Slight scuff and prep for spray.
Alex ended up spraying the engine bay at his house since it was small and a quick job. We decided to leave it how it was done at Mazda and not to clear coat the bay.
The next step was the body work, Alex started to sand it down and get a few of the small dents and blemishes out of the body.
Primer laid and the car is ready for the booth in a few weeks. I have brought back a good bit of proteges, but this one would be the first that gone this deep with restoration and have it painted. Looking forward to seeing the car with fresh paint. Thanks for reading…I will do my best to update with a new post once I have more exciting updates.
