I have an R1 strut bar that is not in 100% mint condition. Has anybody repainted one before? I am assuming that the color is Vintage Red but I want to be sure. Also, what is the original coating on the brackets, threaded rods, etc? It looks to be a smooth galvanized surface. I thought I would ask advice before I go trail blazing on my own.

Thanks,
Adam

 

I bead blasted mine and had it painted to match the car. Chromed the end parts.

Don't know the exact color red of the stock bar, you could have it color matched. The brackets are painted silver, no plating. I don't know what plating is on the nuts and bolts.

 

Thanks Jeff. I will probably just match the paint as you mentioned. I am missing the nuts and bolts between the brace and bracket. When I bought this "complete" from a member it had hardware store nuts/bolts that I'm not about to use.

 

Buddy of mine locally drilled out the rivets holding the "RX-7" logo on, then had a shop powdercoat it blue and riveted the logo back on. Looks fantastic.

I'm sure you could probably track down the bolts, nuts, and washers from the stock bar. I doubt they're available separately as a new part, but I'm sure someone has spares they'd be willing to sell.

Dale

 

The bolts/nuts that hold the bar to the ends are available from Ray, about $30 each side.

Vince

 

Thanks guys. I do have the RX-7 logo removed. It looks like I'll probably just get the hardware from Ray as suggested.

Thanks

 

I did that same exact thing to mine.

 

I removed my logo and repainted the bar with "Duplicolor Metalcast Red" and it looks amazing (even 7 months on, the gloss is still great)

Worth noting that the 1997- 2001 cars I have in storage, all got powdercoated black strut braces instead of red, and no 'RX-7' plate riveted on, from the factory.

No idea why the factory went to boring black. I prefer the earlier red with plate.

 

Any suggestions on the bracket paint? I was going to do it all in Dupont Nason 2k-thane. I have the reducer and catalyst already.

 

Check out this post for examples of ones that have been redone. Best that I have seen.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...n-need-588418/

 

Like Dale described, I drilled out the logo rivets, had the bar powder coated gloss black with two coats of clear and had the brackets powder coated silver with two coats of clear. My car is SSM and I think black looks the best in it. Mazda is "proud" of the strut bar bolt, FD03-56-491, and nut, F153-43-954. However, Ray at Malloy Mazda will take care of you on pricing. No sense in posting a picture since it looks like the black ones that technomentor linked in his post.

 

Awesome. Thanks for the details information and part numbers. Is anybody 100% certain that the OEM color is Vintage Red? I'm not sure if there is a large enough flat spot on the bar to do a computer color match.