Stupid question, but Id like to see if i can get an answer. I noticed a while back that the rear quarter marker trim on the passenger side is different then the driver side. ive never seen it on another car before. it looks the same except there is a small ledge or ridge that extends over the lense.

crappy picture of before the car was painted and had s14 SEs... not very noticeable in the picture but there is a 1/4 innch segment that ridges over the lense, the driver side is flush with the lense

 

i think most FCs are like that. i know the 2 FCs that i have had, both had that lil hang over...

 

That's normal.
Best theory is that it was designed that way to protect the side marker lense from gasoline splashing from the gas fill door.


-Ted

 

yeah man my car is an 88 gxl and it has the same thing. i was wondering the same thing.

 

yeah that theory sounds like the answer to keep gas from getting into the side maker and creating a short. which could lead to a fire.

 

at the junk yard they are different. it was a base model and a 10 AE, but they both had flush trim. ive never really seen any FCs around here or payed attention to the trim pieces if i have...

...not that i really care, just wondering how original it was. i think the car was wrecked in the rear quarter and passenger door because when i sanded down the primer before i painted the car there was white body filler and i found a spare trim piece in the filler neck cubby.

 

a 5 watt circuit is not going to start a fire if it shorts... the worst that could happen would be a blown fuse. plus there is a rubber boot that seals the lenses.

seems like a waste of mazda engineering talent...

 

Speaking of which...
You know the glow ring around the cigarette lighter?
Turns out there is supposed to be a box/light diffuser thingie behind it to hold the lamp (also directs feeble illumination into the ashtray apparently)...OK, you guys prolly knew that but my car's (91na) was missing.
Next trip to the boneyard I found two 87's and snagged this piece from both (figured I get a spare) only to discover that it doesn't fit.

Why in the world would Mazda reengineer such a trivial part?

Another bit of junkyard gained knowledge...
Removing seatbelt assemblies, I was puzzled by the bolt head sizes that Mazda (and the other Japanese manufacturers) uses.
Typically, I would expect a bolt of this size (I believe it's a 12mm) to use either a 17 or 19mm head but nooo, it's some oddball size (16mm?) and I had to use a 5/8" socket.
Honda does the same thing which lead me to wonder if they are all sourcing the seatbelts from the same company or if there is some safety regulation in place ("They can't **** with 'em if they don't have the weird sized socket!").

It gets lonely wandering around in acres of trashed cars, so I have lots of time to obsess over ephemra like this...