I know we have an interior/exterior sub forum. But I felt this better applied to 3rd gen guys than anything

So I did some research on peeling interior and it appeared most people would solve this issue by removing the clear, sticky, gummy, adhesive Mazda called a "clear coat" and repaint the panels using either Plasti-Dip or Duplicolor Bumper Coating. After removing my plastics I decided to try something different as I thought it was silly to paint black plastic...well..black. This is how my 93 plastics looked after a 43.5k miles and 20 years.


Pretty ugly...When the interior would get hot from the weather, if you looked at it wrong it would scratch. It was quite painful to look at.

I grabbed some Scotch Brite green scrubbies and "wet sanded" the old clear off. I used some Goof Off miracle remover and it helped as well [safe for plastics ]. Afterwards I hit it with some Meguirs Plastx. This stuff is made for your headlights. So if you want a good hint, grab the headlight restore kit because it comes with a drill attachment buffing wheel . I discovered this after I had spent about 3 hours polishing by hand . Well enough blabber. Pics





I have ONLY done the door panel plastics thus far. I plan to hit the center console, AC panel, and gauge hood this coming weekend. I'm EXTREMELY satisfied with the result. It looks dead sexy.

Let me know what y'all think

Matt

 

Nice one. I think I'll give this a try when I have some spare time.

 

Looks new.

 

Looks great I must say! But....I imagine it would scratch quite easily?

 

Wow that looks great. I didn't know that could be done on plastic.

 

Well now the surface is just shiny plastic. There is no "coating" to scratch. I imagine if I TRIED to scratch it IE with a sharp object directly scratching I might scratch it. But I could polish it back out :P However taking my fingernail and repeatedly running over it yields NO scratches.

Well if you've ever restored plastic headlights you could put two and two together. I didn't think it would work and plan B would have been to go get some Duplicolor :P The headlight restore is as simple as sanding off the cloudiness, polishing it, then applying a UV protectant. I DID NOT apply the UV protectant to my panels. I wasn't sure if it would leave the panels feeling sticky or leaving a film. I'll post back how they look after a few weeks. But two days and they still look good! Again though, the Meguirs Plastx is basically a polishing compound safe for plastic.

 

Friend of mine did this to his but personally I didn't care for the over-all look...especially on the dash/HVAC panels.
And in my experience the plastic will scratch again. Maybe not with fingernails, but other things...keys, seat-belt buckles etc. Unlike Plasti-dip, which you could play Rugby on without a mark. And it matches the 93 OEM finish.

 

WOW. that looks great!

 

the plastic underneath already has a polished surface, getting to it might be a little tricky. simply buffing it from the start to get the cover surface off might be easier.

i do think it looks better than the matte black original color.

 

Jim,

Do you have experience with Plasti-Dip? How did things turn out? Any links here on RX7club that you're aware of discussing the topic?

Sorry for the quick diversion. BTW, love the gloss, just would rather clean up my OEM '93 plastics.

 

Plasti-dip is ideal as it bonds to anything esp plastic
If you screw up, its easy to remove. Look it up on Utube

 

Yep, I did my door plastics 3 or 4 yrs ago. I posted pictures in this thread.....
---> https://www.rx7club.com/interior-ext...k-trim-898507/

And apologies up-front to MrMatt, I'm not trying to de-rail his thread. It does look nice, just not my taste.

 

That looks great! Can't wait to see the gauge hood.

 

This does look awesome, I'm in for more pics.

 

The polishing looks good. Not what I would prefer, but to each his own.

I would think that a polished gauge hood would cause horrible reflections of sunlight, and headlights. I would not recommend it.

 

Kind of cool, I'd like to see it in person, I'm glad you recommended putting a clear coat on top of it, seems like UV from the sun would accelerate the breakdown. The plastic on my side vents is a little crumbly with some little chunks missing.

 

Looks good! almost looks like its painted montego bay blue.

 

I could see where you're coming from with the reflection of the sun or headlights, but looking again at my gauge HOOD, it is what it is.. A hood to shield light from the gauges. I'm trying to decide if I want to polish the gauge hood though. It's really the only panel I have that ISN'T scratched. Hahaha. Not to mention if I do end up polishing it, I was considering polishing only the face of the hood and leaving the top portion at the cut off the stock color. More opinions are appreciated! I'll definitely post pictures of the finished product. If the overall look isn't as glamorous as I picture it I'll end up painting it with the duplicolor bumper coating. It's just always nice to try something new.

Matt

 

Don't even think of polishing the gauge hood.You will be seeing a mirror image of it in the windshield,and trust me its the most annoying thing ever..

 

i agree, i would only polish the gauge face area if you do.

at which point you also would need to polish the stereo surround and then the center console cover, otherwise it won't flow together with a polished seam meeting up with a matte cover.

the door handle covers and center console are the first to start peeling so..

 

So after looking at my gauge good I can't figure out a good way to polish it without making it look silly. I think I might chicken out and just paint everything else. Seeing as my gauge hood is perfectly good and has no scratchs. Why ruin a good thing ? :/