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I don't drive my 93 FD very much. Today I took off the car cover and drove it about five miles to get its annual VA state inspection. On the way home I noticed the cover on the left side popup headlight was flapping in the wind. I pulled over and found the plastic tabs that held it in place had dry rotted and were broken off. It took a while to find a place that had what Mazda called the "lid" part FDY2-51-SH2. $134 for an un-painted new one. This is the old one.
Very common problem. You will never fix the old one, people have tried and they fail again in short order.
Get 2 new covers and have them painted. If one is broken the other one isn't far behind. It's also the same cost for a body shop to paint one as to paint two.
I caught mine cracked but not yet completely broken and used plastic-compatible jb weld clear epoxy and strips of cut aluminum beer cans to reinforce them.
The driver side was so brittle it could not be repaired. The passenger side has a cold air intake opening cover I installed a few years ago. So far that is OK. I don't remember if I saved the old cover. Have to look in the dozens of boxes of old parts.
When I bought my FD several years ago the tabs and tab braces for both lids were cracked badly. A friend of mine in the car repair business told me about this glue that 'you need to keep in the refrigerator'. I laughed at that but decided to try it anyway. Bottom line is that this stuff worked for me. It's pretty awesome in my opinion. I used the thin version first....hit it with the accelerator to harden it instantly and then used the the thicker glue, dusting it with the composite filler before hitting it again with the accelerator. Stuff is amazing as it works better than any glue/epoxy I've ever tried. Anyway, my 2 cents FWIW. Here's one link...you might find it elsewhere as well:
Redbul said "Show us your parts." Right............... I have replaced just about everything that could be upgraded. The people that bought my farm in NC probably don't know that there is a complete exhaust system, stock springs, stock sway bars and stock turbo stored up in the rafters of the horse barn. I kept most small parts, but figured I would never put the stock parts back on the car. I should have kept them to take up even more space with all of the crap I replaced when I restored my 1968 Corvette convertible.
While there are some good ideas for reinforcing/repairing the cover, there is no substitute for a new cover, full stop. I'd rather get a new cover, get it painted, and never worry about it again.
Passenger covers seem to break most often because people lean on them when working on the car.
Dale is on point regarding the dreaded "heavy lean" as often the cause of lid breakage...maybe the primary cause.....and you don't know it has happened until they fly-off at speed.
Accordingly I reinforce BOTH used and new lids per attached pic.
If you look real close you find the material at the attachment point bracket-to-lid is PAPER thin just like the flimsy gussets ....strange design.
All the aftermarket copies I've seen are pretty crap with fit. I have a nice real JDM vented cover on the passenger side and fit is crap, I'm going back to OEM when it comes paint time.
I had a FEED vented cover on mine years ago. Still have it somewhere. Surprisingly I didn’t have any issues with fit but as I recall it was a different plastic that seemed to have more flexibility than OEM. In fact I leaned against it once, the mounting tabs held but it flexed enough to crack the paint even with the flex additive.
Pic # 1,The Problem: Old CF Tape pealed off, old JB Weld broken. Pic #2: JB Weld in mixing tray. let, sit for 30 seconds. Pic#3 - JB Weld applied - it has a mind of its own. Smush it on and wait. Pic #4 - 24 Hours later, JB Weld cured, largely turns clear .Piano wire attached for tie down purposes. Pic #5: Duct tape applied. # Pic 6, installed, piano wire fastened to frame at adjusting screw.
Last edited by Redbul; 11-30-20 at 11:03 PM.
Reason: added text
I found that a single piece of "aluminum preformed shingle" from Home Depot provided just the right amount of material to reinforce both lids for about $6. (Use aviation snips to cut). https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gibralta...M-10/317149646
One thing to note, I have poor fitment on my fenders and had to forgo one reinforcement to avoid the back of the lid scraping when opening. Make sure you've got enough front-to-back wiggle room before applying the epoxy.
Gluing or repairing the headlight covers is a short term fix. I've NEVER seen any solution that worked long term. They WILL fail again.
New OEM is the only way to go.
Also don't lean on the headlight cover when working on the car. IMHO that's why 90% of them fail, right handed person puts their left hand on the passenger headlight cover to balance while doing something. They eventually break and fly off.
Yeah I reinforced them as a preventative measure. Who knows whether it will help but I can say that literally 15 minutes after I screwed in my brand new lids I caught my 14 year old leaning on the passenger side lid.
Also don't lean on the headlight cover when working on the car. IMHO that's why 90% of them fail, right handed person puts their left hand on the passenger headlight cover to balance while doing something. They eventually break and fly off.
Dale
+1 if you see an old miata with crazy gaps between the headlight covers and the hood, the covers are bent from someone working on it
11-10-20, 10:10 PM
Fixed mine about 6 or 7 years ago. No issues since. But you’re right, I should pull the other one and have a look.
JB Weld and Go
