I'm wondering what kind of paint the FD uses. I'm specifically thinking about Brilliant Black. Does anyone know if it's a tri-coat? (Like it used a base coat, midcoat (which is usually clear), and then a final clear coat)...or does it just have a base-coat and then a final clear coat? Thanks in advance, -Joe

 

the fd only uses a 3 stage paint on the vintage red and competition yellow mica. on the v/r a base coat is applied, then a toner, then the clear coat. the cym uses a pearl instead of a toner. the bb uses just a base coat and a clear coat

 

thanks for the reply - good information to know

 

I think the Montego Blue is a three stage also. However,
I was unaware that the VR was 3-stage. As a matter of fact I have seen several VR's in Body Shop's before and they all were painted two stage. I believe the paint code# for VR shows as a 2-stage....

The Mitchell's and Motor's guides (the two largest/popular collision repair manuals) list the VR as two stage.

To the best of my knowledge, the only 3rd gen 3-stages were the CYM and MB. All the rest were 2-stage, however, that being said, I've been wrong before and will undoubtedly be wrong again in the future....

Regards,
GEB.

 

MB and CYM are 3 stage I think the white is actually 3 stage too but red and black are base/clear

 

Actually most reds are not clear coated, neither are some of the blacks. Mazda did have a "high reflex" paint option which I think means clear coat.

 

Having had parts painted:
The VR on the touring is 3-step.
The VR on the base/R1 models is only a 2-step.
Same color, different process. Weird, huh?

 

What large said. I have a '93 Touring VR with the "high reflex" paint, and it is a 3-stage and definitely has a clearcoat. Really nice paint too, seems to be holding up a lot better than most VRs, I donno if its because its the 3 stage or what but I'm not complaining.

 

I thought all FDs have reflex paint, which is the texture paint around the lower rocker.

I don't think red and white have clear coat. MB does but I am not sure about black.