I'm in the process of grinding away some small patches of surface rust on my FC and i'm finding that in some areas the factory primer is extremely thick. 2 pack high build urethane primers are rated for a thickness of 100 microns, so what am I supposed to use to fill the other 2000 microns? What type of primer have mazda used on FCs?

 

I own a 1990 RX7 GXL, which I purchased new. It's a US spec model. After about 15 years, the paint started delaminating primarily on the hood. I remember reading that in 1990, Mazda started using water based primers on the RX7's. To the best of my recollection, I would say that the paint thickness was perhaps about 0.008" or 200 microns. This is just based on my judgement since I never measured the thickness of peeling paint.

 

mine's an 86. i guess that must be why the paint has been so rugged

 

Yes, I agree. My first RX7 was an '86 Sport that I also bought new. It was a dark gunmetal silver. I don't remember what Mazda called that color. The paint held up well for the 4-years that I owned that car. The only problem that I remember was that the painted aluminum hood was somewhat difficult to hand wax compared to the rest of the car. I kept that car until April 1990 when I bought the GXL that I currently own.

 

Actually, I misspoke here. So, let me set the record straight. As I was told, it was lead-free based primer that Mazda started using in 1990, not water-based primer as I've wrote. Although, nowadays many vehicle manufacture's are in fact using water-based paints. Mazda has been using the water based Aqua-tech Paint System since 2009 (https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/...er/paint_tech/).

 

interesting. didn't know lead was used in paints until that late. how did you find out that info?

 

About 15-years ago, when I took my car to several shops for repaint estimates, one painter told me that the lead-free primer that Mazda used was the reason my paint was delaminating.

 

K8 - Tornado Silver Metallic. attached is the color chart for the FC

 

the body shop manual for the FD gives the paint formulations, http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/FD...p%20manual.pdf

 

Thank you for your feedback, j9fd3s. Yes, the color of my '86 Sport was Tornado Silver Metallic.