im sure this has been covered before but i tried searching and couldnt find anything.

so why do i see so many fc with their ftp removed. whats the benefits/purpose?

 

mine where faded/broke, i'll be fixing them and putting them back in, on both my cars

 

Pulled mine for a repaint. That was two years ago...............

 

most (almost all of them) the studs in the back are broken.
alot of people (including myself) pull them to repaint their car. some people never put them back in because either they are faded, cracked, filled with water, or the studs are broken.
btw, aluminum polish works amazing at restoring the lenses if they are faded.

 

and sometimes you get people with after market front bumpers, and they just lever put them back in

 

+1 for faded/cracked/broken. mine were badly faded and spots of the factory clear coat were gone, so I just sanded it down from rough to fine, scratch remover, polish, and they looked as good as new

 

some of the idiots remove one to think it helps their air relocation tube

 

I took mines out cause one fell out, and it looked stupid with just one side.


-Ted

 

^ mine fell out too! i just took the other one out cause like RETed said it looks stupid.

 

my friend was drunk and fell and smashed his stupid looking drunk Russian face into my ftp lens........ when he fell everyone was "omg" and ran to him while i went "MY CAR!" and ran to my car, he was ok. he didn't feel anything nor remembers what happend

 

the back part where the stud mounts on the plastic broke on my original ones. i eventually found a set and put them on. i dont know why some people say it looks better without them.

btw when they are faded you can buff them and they look like new. it only takes about 1 minute of buffing on each one.

 

Car looks odd without them. I went through a lot of trouble to get mine back to new (signature picture is way outdated).

 

where can you buy new ones

 

I took mine out to spary them with niteshades, but when the niteshades dried it cracked(the paint not the lense) so mine are out until I get another pair or get the paint sanded off

 

http://www.mazdatrix.com/n-1a.htm

they go for about $90 a piece
I just removed mine over the weekend to polish them up and sure enough the studs broke in the back of one...so I'll probably leave them out till I feel like buying new ones.

 

Noob question, what is an FTP lens? I didn't see it in the list of abbreviations in the FAQ.

Edit: Is it Flash To Pass lens? The clear one in the front?

 

Flash To Pass

 

Cool, I just though of it after I posted. I got thrown off by people saying the factory clearcoat came off them?

 

yep - and it's not flass

 

omg really?!

 

Mine were nice and clear but I took them out to repaint the bumper and never put them back in. I actually think that a black FC looks good without them.

 

send them to me! LOL I'll trade ya some busted ones :p

 

I bought mine new from the dealer 2 years ago and from day one they still fogged up. I tried to take them out about 3 months ago and one of the damn studs broke just like every other set and they are only 2 years old!!! Crap I tell you just crap!!

I ended up fixed it though because it looks gay without them so we're all good again!

 

One of mine fell out around a corner.... clink clink clink... the studs were all messed up. I went back and picked it up. Have yet to fix it, so I took out the other one.

 

Mine were faded and filled with condensation so I decided to take them out and clean them up but the studs broke. I've been meaning to buy new ones; just another part on the wtb list...