This is 3rd Gen specific information concerning the availability of textured interior panels.

As most of you know, there are rumors going around that you can no longer purchase the 94+ textured A/C panel from Mazda because they have been discontinued. This rumor is partly incorrect. You CAN still by a complete 94+ interior from Mazda. The catch is that you cannot purchase the A/C panel by itself. Instead, you must purchase the entire A/C control assembly for around $650 which includes the textured AC panel. Once these assemblies are bought up, they will be extinct.

FYI: expect to spend around 2k to purchase all of the panels new.

smooth


textured



Now I notice in this last picture that the ashtray is textured, meanwhile you can only buy smooth non-textured ash trays in the US. Perhaps Ramy can look into this after he answers his server full of E-mails. Textured ash-tray GB perhaps? ;o)

 

Re: the textured ashtray, in my opinion buying the comfy jdm armrest that www.rx7.com sells is a much better way. You pick up a bit of storage room, and who the hell smokes in their FD anyway ?

 

wow thats crazy, good thing I have a 94... maybe I should buy a smooth a/c panel to chop up if I do the a/c relocation.

 

I've considered that, but I need to see more pictures of this installed. I think the arm rest interrupts the smooth flow of the interior lines, though it would be nice to have a little extra storage and a soft spot to rest me arm on.

Still wondering about textured ashtrays....

 

You cant **** captain in that 2nd picture

 

you can see enough to tell that the ashtray is textured

 

That AC panel will go for upwards of $550 if mint. so don't hack it up!

 

This armrest was the 1st thing I ever bought for my FD, and IMO one of the best. You now have a comfortable spot to rest your arm while holding the shifter, it looks great, and I can fit my cell phone in it

 

let's see a couple shots of that interior.

 

Sure thing.. unfortunately I dont have any good interior shots, they are all in direct sun and look washed out, but be assured my interior is as black as the day it came from the factory. Anyway, here are 2 where you can see the armrest:

 

Doesn't look too bad actually; blends in quite nicely. Nice seats BTW ;o)

 

If I would have known that, I wouldn't have hacked up the extra set I have. Oh well, my car is a94 and the original panels are fine.

 

2k is some pretty big green to toss on getting the genuine factory look. You still thinking of painting the panels piano black, Rob? Or are you considering going with this?

 

Well I already acquired a mint 94 hood, shiter console and AC panel so I'm pretty much pot committed. Piano black panels do look nice however. How about yourself?

 

Yea don't chop up the 94 one chris. When are you planning on doing the relocation? I would probably buy the panel off you if you were looking to get rid of it (nevermind... not for $550).

 

Thanks for the info.

I have a 93 FD and of course, got the unfortunate smooth surface version which has a ka-jillion scratches on it. Hmm...for the 94 textured style and with the $650 approx. price tag for the AC dash/control assembly....how much grand total are the rest of the surrounding parts (driver arm rest area, cockpit top and tach/cluster area, and center arm rest?). I haven't looked into it deeply but do plan to "hopefully" do so eventually.

 

As wanklin stated in the opening post, about $2000. Thank God I switched all of my panels out with the 94-95 finish last summer, when prices were (kind of) more reasonable and the 94-95 A/C panel piece was still available by itself.

 

hehe, yeah. How much was the A/C piece then. Like 50 dollars? lol

 

150 or 200 I think.

 

Wanklin/Rob, The pics in your original post don't look like the textures ones, they lool like the smooth 93's. I can't quite get used to the 94 texture when I see it... it looks like the texture they mold pillar guage pods in.

I got a replacement 93 guage hood from Malloy, and while it looks the same as the original to the eye, upon closer inspection it appears to be a painted finish, whereas the original factory's almost seem like a film that was applied. I didn't feel like testing the theiry though.

 

~it is most definately a finish....in my 93 it started to peel in areas so i tooks some aresol bumper cover stripper to it, that cleaned the satin finish off. Its like some sort of a latex type of coating, its weird.....like rubber or vinly. then i cleaned them up with fine sandpaper, prep+paint.
Drew

 

I'm still probably going to go piano black. I'll be hacking up the panels anyway (removing ac and recirculation, plus relocation of what's left) so they'll be refinished no matter what. One of the panels is actually a gauge surround that I bought from Nick over a year ago...once again we see how quickly I have been moving on this.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean Peter. I may get my orginal set painted for a couple hundred bucks and decide from there what I want to dobefore investing the other 1k necessary to complete this interior. I like the durability of the 94 panels and that is my main motivation for switching.