Mazda Protege swap possibilities

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I'm SERIOUSLY debating grabbing suspension parts from a 98 protege tomorrow. Has anyone used their knucles/calipers before? They have 13b/22v stamped on them. I want to get the steering column and all it's amenities too and try to make that work. I haven't been able to come up with much info on them using the search. Nobody has posted why how or why not to use anything but an engine and trans from a protege. Looks like a 4x100 bolt pattern to me.

It's either I go spend $80-100 for knuckles/calipers/rotors/steering column/wiper switch/ignition switch/steering wheel/door locks/whatever else I feel like grabbing, or I can travel 2 hours one way and spend who knows how much more money on the parts I know will work.....you should pretty much know I'm gonna buy this junk if there's even a remote possibility it will work...so somebody tell me otherwise before I waste more money.

[sketchman]

Check rockauto for parts interchangeability. Axle spline count in the hub would be my first thought. I know the same year range of Escort will NOT work because of that, and they are easier to find knuckles from. That's why I looked at those first.

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Yea I looked that up on clubprotege, from what I can tell the bf, bg, rio, festys and aspires all use the same outter spline count for the axels. I'll take an old axel with me and make sure it will work but I should be able to get all my stuff out of the junk yard tomorrow, it's dry out and I've got the day off so I guess wish me luck. I am worried about the lower ball joint diameter but I suppose I'll figure it out when I get that far. Gotta do something with these rotors, feels like the front end is gonna fall apart every time I hit the brakes.

[Festevil3]

Let us know how things work out

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I think the 98 would be too new to interchange much. 90-94 would be a closer match. I know is its a sohc of those years the rotors and calipers are the same as auto aspire/Rio. I have modified the front struts to fit using coil over sleaves. The bottom holes needed to be ovaled out about a 1/8 inch to the center on both to line up to the aspire/Rio knuckle holes, and the spring seat needed to be trimmed down to clear the tire(only for use with coil-over sleaves). They are a very short strut body, so even slammed it still had some travel before hitting the bump stops.

[JPT]

The bottom holes needed to be ovaled out about a 1/8 inch to the center on both to line up to the aspire/Rio knuckle holes, and the spring seat needed to be trimmed down to clear the tire(only for use with coil-over sleaves).

Got pics?

They are a very short strut body, so even slammed it still had some travel before hitting the bump stops.

How much shorter?

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Well boys it's confirmed, they DO NOT BOLT ON..

The protege axle is much larger and the festiva axle just spins in the hole.. I think the lower control arm ball joint hole is substantially larger too, but I'll know more tomorrow.

I ended up buying both whole knuckles for $50, but luckily, the caliper does bolt to an aspire spindle. I was just short a couple calipers to make it work with stuff I have laying around, so I rebuilt a couple aspire knuckles I had and I'll use the calipers off the protege if possible. I got halfway through the swap and it got dark on me.. I'll finish it up tomorrow.

[Festevil3]

^that sucks, but at least you were able to salvage something from the parts