Ok, here's the deal. My dad runs a plastic injection molding shop (the owner is above him in management, but that is it). We were talking today about the small crack in my surround, passenger side at the top right corner of the radio opening.

I told him how much it was for a new one and he laughed at me. He said I will have to live with it like that then and I whole-heartedly agree with him.

Then he came up with another suggestion:

Where is the steel mold used in the press to make this surround?

The only reason these things go bad is poor manufacturing. Either the material didn't have enough UV stabilizer in it or else they didn't add enough to the mixture before molding took place.

If we can find the actual mold, I can begin the process of getting it and then.........

New radio surrounds at a maximum cost of HALF of what Mazda wants for them (just don't tell, ok )

I can also have them molded in different colors (black, red, silver, gray, etc). The different colors will possibly affect the cost a little, different material costs and what-not.

I will personally run these off on my time off, if we can get the mold.

This also goes for the deminster grills that are always breaking and any other plastic pieces that we can find the mold for.

The only reason that I believe this will actually work is another point my dad brought up:

IF these molds haven't been destroyed, then Mazda will most likely let his plant have the molds if they agree to run service for Mazda if they ever wanted to order more parts. My dad said he has done this before with Chrylser and Ford. They will just let molds lay around for some time, they will send the mold to a different plant that is making other parts for them and then demand parts run off at random times to fill stock orders.

So...Begin searching if possible guys.

 

ebay. The 1989+ ones don't crack normally.

 

I realize that the 89+ surrounds don't crack easily.

That is not what I am referring to in this thread.

I am looking for the steel mold that is dropped into a plastic injection molding machine in order to produce brand new surrounds and other plastic components.

Would you rather spend $50-100 on a used surround or spend $100 on a newly made one that will definitely last much longer than a used one will?

 

Why would Mazda give them to you? For starters the parts are made in Japan, good luck finding someone to talk to over there. Even if they are still producing trim pieces (the car's been out of production for 11 years...), there's no way they'd give you molds a component they want you to buy, not reproduce for everyone else cheaply (why else would you want them).
What about making your own mold? If you have the ability to do injection molding, you must be able to have molds made.

 

well, from what he said the molds are made from metal, and that would probably be pretty expensive to make for something you're not making substantial amounts of money off of.
I'll just get one of mazdaspeed7's surrounds if/when he gets them made.

 

Yeah, like Mazda is just going to give you the mold..

Sorry man, but you're better of buying one, then making a mold (illegal to be sure)..

PaulC

 

They will let us have the mold if the other company is no longer running it for Mazda, as long as we agree to store the mold properly (so it doesn't rust or anything) and also agree to run parts if they ever want them run again.

I didn't mean it like Mazda is just handing the mold over to us for no reason and not expect something in return. We would now become the supplier for Mazda on any parts that we have the mold for. My dad has worked with Mazda in the past, he helped design and ran parts in the FD.

If I accidently ran a bunch of parts off for our stock and the numbers didn't quite add up, oh well. I will run what is supposed to for stock and then add more material to the hopper and keep running them for my ownership.

Instead of destroying the good ones however, I would toss em in the back of my 7, install a new one in my car, and sell them to anyone needing one online.

I am glad you guys are skeptical of this, just like I got ridiculed for trying to find OEM driveshaft U-joints, which I did find and rebuilt my driveshaft.

Skepticism only makes me want to do this more than ever. Thanks for the motivation guys!

Oh, and building a mold costs thousands of dollars, thus not at all economical to my plan here. The goal is to produce these parts for as cheap as possible to then pass along the savings to you guys.

 

Since your dad has contact with MAZDA in the past , it should be a simple matter of calling his "contact" person and asking to be their supplier for small runs of oem parts no longer economicably viable to be stocked.

 

I just called my local dealer looking for the radio surround and brand new in the mazda wrapper, it is 92 bucks.
I saw a pic on ebay (the guy that sells the leather shift boots and ebrake boots) where the radio surround and gear shift surround are carbon fiber. Unless they repainted it to look like carbon fiber, there is a mold out there somewhere.