Engine question........

1.) will the mazda protege 1.8 liter engine fit in place of the ford 1.8 liter engine with out any major modifications? OR would it be cheaper over all to buy a mazda engine and have it modified to fit in my 92 scort, rather than paying between 1300-2500 for a remanufactured "ford" engine?
2.) In general, how much SHOULD a "plain jane" paint job for my 92 scort cost? (it is white now, would like it to be re-painted white)

I believe that your motor was made by Mazda, and it's probably the same. Just looking and compairing will tell you.
You'll probably have to use your Ford motormounts.

The paint job really depends how much prep work they have to do. Plus the quality of the paint.
If your car is almost perfect to start with probably 600 - 800 Canadian to start with. I don't know what that is in U.S. funds.

If your planing on keeping the car I would not take it to Macco or simular companies.

just to give you something to go by...
I just paid an additional $700.00 Canadian to have my Topaz painted after an accident. Very little additional bodywork was needed after the insurance company fixxed the front.
It was a good quality paint job with PPG base/clear You'll get an ides of how it turned out on my web space, shown on my signiture

thanx

Aside from the body panels I believe they are the same car....