REVIEW: BubbleTech map pocket lid
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Pensacola, FL
REVIEW: BubbleTech map pocket lid
Hey guys -
As I'm sure you know, the map pocket lids on the driver's side door panel on the FD are, frankly, crap. Mazda designed them with a plastic hinge and an agressive "snap open/snap closed" feature. Pretty much every FD I've seen has either had one totally broken or it was missing. Also doesn't help that it's made of the poor plastic that Mazda made the rest of the interior out of.
About a year ago at Deal's Gap I met up with Benny at the Bubble Tech booth and he showed me his then new map pocket lid. He handed me a sample lid and dared me to break it. I pushed on it a little, he said, "No, BREAK IT!" I couldn't. I was immediately very interested!
One of the guys here, Kurt (K-Tune) has a 93 FD that he's been restoring and putting back together after it sat rotting in a backyard for 10 years. He had my old 94 map pocket on his car, but just the pocket - no lid. He got the Bubble Tech lid and I checked it out before he installed it.
I compared it to my car - I have a NEW Mazda map pocket assembly that I bought about 4-5 years ago, so it's as close to "Mazda correct" as you can get. The Bubble Tech lid matches the color and texture PERFECTLY. I was hard pressed to tell a difference.
Kurt installed the lid on his car. The lid comes with an Allen wrench and an Allen set screw that has a shaft that becomes the front pivot point. You can put the lid in place then screw the pivot in, allowing you to install it without removing the door panel. Also, the metal pivot is a big upgrade from stock. There's also a "cam" on the new map pocket lid that's less agressive than stock so the lid doesn't snap open and closed as harshly as stock, which is nice on the rest of the plastics.
Overall, I'm VERY impressed. It's incredibly durable, easy to install, fits and looks great, and a great price. This is an innovative product that fixes a VERY common problem and does it great.
Attached are a few pics, I laid the lid over my stock lid to compare texture, and a pic of the lid just sitting in place on Kurt's car (the pin isn't installed in the pics). The gap at the front of the lid is partly from the pin not being in and partly from the rest of his door plastics being shot
.
Dale
As I'm sure you know, the map pocket lids on the driver's side door panel on the FD are, frankly, crap. Mazda designed them with a plastic hinge and an agressive "snap open/snap closed" feature. Pretty much every FD I've seen has either had one totally broken or it was missing. Also doesn't help that it's made of the poor plastic that Mazda made the rest of the interior out of.
About a year ago at Deal's Gap I met up with Benny at the Bubble Tech booth and he showed me his then new map pocket lid. He handed me a sample lid and dared me to break it. I pushed on it a little, he said, "No, BREAK IT!" I couldn't. I was immediately very interested!
One of the guys here, Kurt (K-Tune) has a 93 FD that he's been restoring and putting back together after it sat rotting in a backyard for 10 years. He had my old 94 map pocket on his car, but just the pocket - no lid. He got the Bubble Tech lid and I checked it out before he installed it.
I compared it to my car - I have a NEW Mazda map pocket assembly that I bought about 4-5 years ago, so it's as close to "Mazda correct" as you can get. The Bubble Tech lid matches the color and texture PERFECTLY. I was hard pressed to tell a difference.
Kurt installed the lid on his car. The lid comes with an Allen wrench and an Allen set screw that has a shaft that becomes the front pivot point. You can put the lid in place then screw the pivot in, allowing you to install it without removing the door panel. Also, the metal pivot is a big upgrade from stock. There's also a "cam" on the new map pocket lid that's less agressive than stock so the lid doesn't snap open and closed as harshly as stock, which is nice on the rest of the plastics.
Overall, I'm VERY impressed. It's incredibly durable, easy to install, fits and looks great, and a great price. This is an innovative product that fixes a VERY common problem and does it great.
Attached are a few pics, I laid the lid over my stock lid to compare texture, and a pic of the lid just sitting in place on Kurt's car (the pin isn't installed in the pics). The gap at the front of the lid is partly from the pin not being in and partly from the rest of his door plastics being shot
.Dale
I just received mine, and meant to post in the vendor thread:
This is not only an awesome, well made product (I can't even understand how he's making these things), it's obviously packaged with care and love—mine came nicely wrapped, with stickers and a little sack of bubble gum!... also not, not only does it come with the threaded peg (which I can't imagine is an off the shelf part, but maybe it is), it even came with an allen wrench for it.
Looks perfect, fits perfectly.
This is not only an awesome, well made product (I can't even understand how he's making these things), it's obviously packaged with care and love—mine came nicely wrapped, with stickers and a little sack of bubble gum!... also not, not only does it come with the threaded peg (which I can't imagine is an off the shelf part, but maybe it is), it even came with an allen wrench for it.
Looks perfect, fits perfectly.
to Bubble Tech.
The map lid is so beefy that it also restored some rigidity to that whole brittle/squeaky plastic door pull area of the door.
Be sure when installing that the new map lid is in the full "open" position so you aren't fighting the cam/spring while installing the metal hinge screw.
Be sure when installing that the new map lid is in the full "open" position so you aren't fighting the cam/spring while installing the metal hinge screw.
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From: DC Metro
First of all, thank you Dale for posting this. In my childlike enthusiasm to tear open the packaging and look at my new toy, I hadnt noticed the screw post and allen wrench tidily packaged under the label. I was wondering how I would mount this. Went back to the wrapper after I read your post, and problem solved!
On to the piece. It's great. Thick, nicely made, easy to install, doesnt rattle when in place.
I got the '93 texture and I have to admit it doesn't match the rest of my door trim. It's lighter and more matte than my old peeling OE trim, which is dark black and a bit shiny. HOWEVER, it does seem to match the brand new replacement '93 gauge hood I just ordered from Mazda over the winter. It does not match the factory brand new replacement console and HVAC panels I also ordered from Mazda (at great expense!) with the gauge hood, which are another few shades lighter again and almost a matte dark gray. But neither does the new cluster hood! The point? The '93 plastics are crap; no one could match them because they don't match themselves. The first run plastics are falling apart and the finish has degraded unpredictably, and Mazda revised the '93 plastics so many times that even the factory replacements don't reliably match each other.
So great job, Bubbletech. A much better job than Mazda did with the original, and you did at least as well as they did in trying to match their own original texture!
I hoped that by spending a bunch of money on factory-new (well, warehouse-new) plastics, I'd get the interior back to like-new quality. Unfortunately, staring at the color change where the (new!) gauge hood meets the (new!) HVAC panel is driving me nuts, so someday I'm still going to have to end up painting or wrapping everything. Regardless, I'm glad I'll have a map lid that will at least last forever and fit perfectly.
One more piece falling into place in my obsession with getting this car just right.
On to the piece. It's great. Thick, nicely made, easy to install, doesnt rattle when in place.
I got the '93 texture and I have to admit it doesn't match the rest of my door trim. It's lighter and more matte than my old peeling OE trim, which is dark black and a bit shiny. HOWEVER, it does seem to match the brand new replacement '93 gauge hood I just ordered from Mazda over the winter. It does not match the factory brand new replacement console and HVAC panels I also ordered from Mazda (at great expense!) with the gauge hood, which are another few shades lighter again and almost a matte dark gray. But neither does the new cluster hood! The point? The '93 plastics are crap; no one could match them because they don't match themselves. The first run plastics are falling apart and the finish has degraded unpredictably, and Mazda revised the '93 plastics so many times that even the factory replacements don't reliably match each other.
So great job, Bubbletech. A much better job than Mazda did with the original, and you did at least as well as they did in trying to match their own original texture!
I hoped that by spending a bunch of money on factory-new (well, warehouse-new) plastics, I'd get the interior back to like-new quality. Unfortunately, staring at the color change where the (new!) gauge hood meets the (new!) HVAC panel is driving me nuts, so someday I'm still going to have to end up painting or wrapping everything. Regardless, I'm glad I'll have a map lid that will at least last forever and fit perfectly.
One more piece falling into place in my obsession with getting this car just right.
I got this lid also, and agree with everything said here. Absolutely one of the best vendor experiences I've ever had. I also have BubbleTech's tranny extender - a great solution for keeping the tranny oil temperature in spec on the track.
Thank you Dale for the review and everyone else for you feedback and support!
You're right it was VERY tough to paint match the lid as almost every car's trim would be slightly different depending how new/sun faded their plastics were. We sampled a variety of "blacks" by numerous manufactures and found this to be the best.
If anyone is having color issues and would like to paint their other plastics, We found that SEM's Landau Black paint gave the best results. SEM makes some great quality paint and that sprays easy!
First of all, thank you Dale for posting this. In my childlike enthusiasm to tear open the packaging and look at my new toy, I hadnt noticed the screw post and allen wrench tidily packaged under the label. I was wondering how I would mount this. Went back to the wrapper after I read your post, and problem solved!
On to the piece. It's great. Thick, nicely made, easy to install, doesnt rattle when in place.
I got the '93 texture and I have to admit it doesn't match the rest of my door trim. It's lighter and more matte than my old peeling OE trim, which is dark black and a bit shiny. HOWEVER, it does seem to match the brand new replacement '93 gauge hood I just ordered from Mazda over the winter. It does not match the factory brand new replacement console and HVAC panels I also ordered from Mazda (at great expense!) with the gauge hood, which are another few shades lighter again and almost a matte dark gray. But neither does the new cluster hood! The point? The '93 plastics are crap; no one could match them because they don't match themselves. The first run plastics are falling apart and the finish has degraded unpredictably, and Mazda revised the '93 plastics so many times that even the factory replacements don't reliably match each other.
So great job, Bubbletech. A much better job than Mazda did with the original, and you did at least as well as they did in trying to match their own original texture!
I hoped that by spending a bunch of money on factory-new (well, warehouse-new) plastics, I'd get the interior back to like-new quality. Unfortunately, staring at the color change where the (new!) gauge hood meets the (new!) HVAC panel is driving me nuts, so someday I'm still going to have to end up painting or wrapping everything. Regardless, I'm glad I'll have a map lid that will at least last forever and fit perfectly.
One more piece falling into place in my obsession with getting this car just right.
On to the piece. It's great. Thick, nicely made, easy to install, doesnt rattle when in place.
I got the '93 texture and I have to admit it doesn't match the rest of my door trim. It's lighter and more matte than my old peeling OE trim, which is dark black and a bit shiny. HOWEVER, it does seem to match the brand new replacement '93 gauge hood I just ordered from Mazda over the winter. It does not match the factory brand new replacement console and HVAC panels I also ordered from Mazda (at great expense!) with the gauge hood, which are another few shades lighter again and almost a matte dark gray. But neither does the new cluster hood! The point? The '93 plastics are crap; no one could match them because they don't match themselves. The first run plastics are falling apart and the finish has degraded unpredictably, and Mazda revised the '93 plastics so many times that even the factory replacements don't reliably match each other.
So great job, Bubbletech. A much better job than Mazda did with the original, and you did at least as well as they did in trying to match their own original texture!
I hoped that by spending a bunch of money on factory-new (well, warehouse-new) plastics, I'd get the interior back to like-new quality. Unfortunately, staring at the color change where the (new!) gauge hood meets the (new!) HVAC panel is driving me nuts, so someday I'm still going to have to end up painting or wrapping everything. Regardless, I'm glad I'll have a map lid that will at least last forever and fit perfectly.
One more piece falling into place in my obsession with getting this car just right.
If anyone is having color issues and would like to paint their other plastics, We found that SEM's Landau Black paint gave the best results. SEM makes some great quality paint and that sprays easy!
If anyone is in need of a textured map lid we have 4 left on sale for $95
Map Lid V3 ? Bubble Tech
I have to be out of my house by the 15th so we are having a moving sale on all items in stock. Because of the move there will be delays but all orders will be shipped prior to the 15th. After the 15 we will be closed until further notice so if you'd like anything, don't hesitate to place your order now!
-Benny
Map Lid V3 ? Bubble Tech
I have to be out of my house by the 15th so we are having a moving sale on all items in stock. Because of the move there will be delays but all orders will be shipped prior to the 15th. After the 15 we will be closed until further notice so if you'd like anything, don't hesitate to place your order now!
-Benny
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