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I bought my 2014 Mazda3 s GT sedan in November 2013. I got it in deep crystal blue mica with the almond leather interior. It also has the $1600 tech package, so it does not have the radar cruise control.
Over the past couple months I have been busy installing and getting the following mods:
CorkSport interior LED kit
Viper Ultra 27% tint
Mazda alloy pedals
Plasti Dip on the wheels and chrome trim, electric lime green base with 2-3 coats of violet metalizer
Debadge rear
Future mods:
Rho-plate for the front when I finally get my plates
CS SRI (when they come out with the 2.5L version)
Oracle halos for the headlights (maybe, haven't decided yet)
Different color schemes with the trim and wheels. Next one will probably be bright orange
???
The following are mods I have done prior to starting this thread:
6 Dec. 2013 - Plasti Dip front emblem
I removed the front emblem from the car and dipped it with electric lime and violet metalizer.
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8 Dec. 2013 - wheel dippin'
I dipped the wheels on this day. It was a terrible day for dipping, only about 17F and with snow everywhere. I was also a n00b at plasti dip, so my first two coats were WAY too thick and ran. I didn't keep the can warm as I went around doing the wheels, so they progressively got more texture as the can would cool down. Also, the tires had snow in them, which would melt and drip onto the rim causing problems. Snow was also blown onto the rims after the first coat, introducing more texture. I pretty much did everything wrong, lol. But by the final coats, I was warming the cans along the way and doing thinner more even coats, so from a distance they looked ok. And the color looks great
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11 Dec. 2013 - alloy foot rest
I bought the Mazda OEM alloy pedals and foot rest. On this evening, I installed the foot rest. It required removing two trim pieces, which I did easily with my fingers. Then I had to make two holes in the carpet; I used a box cutter. Then it was a matter of peeling back the carpet, placing the back plate behind and the alloy foot rest on top of the carpet and screwing the foot rest to the back plate, sandwiching the carpet. I replaced the trim pieces and voila! One alloy foot rest
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12 Dec. 2013 - alloy accelerator pedal and dipping the fog light rings
On this evening, I tackled two small projects--installing the alloy accel pedal and dipping the fog light chrome rings. The accel pedal was easy. I just followed the directions, drilling holes according to the template and with two bit sizes (pilot hole and big hole). Then you just plop in the nuts and screw them in, holding the alloy cover in place.
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Dipping the chrome fog light rings was easy too. I removed the fog light trim piece using a tape-wrapped flathead screwdriver (start prying from outboard side of trim). With those removed, it was easy to push in the tabs to release the chrome plastic pieces. Then I dipped them and installed everything in reverse order.
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14 Dec. 2013 - Dipping front wheels (again), front chrome trim and rear badges
On this day I had planned to re-dip all four wheels, but peeling them turned out to be more labor intensive than I expected. The dip was thin on the sides of the spokes and in the lug holes, so those areas took a lot of time and effort. Because of this, I only peeled and re-dipped the front two wheels. I also masked off the front grille for the big chrome trim piece. That piece is very easy to dip. On every edge there is a gap which allows for worry-free peeling once it has dried. This time it was a dry day, a bit warmer, and I had a better idea of what I was doing, lol. I did nice, thin, even coats while keeping the cans warm in my jacket, so it all turned out nice this time. I did learn that even though plasti dip can be buffed off of the car, it's a lot of effort if you don't mask the car very well. There was a fine mist over most of the car, and heavier in some areas nearer the dipped parts. In the end though, the result was stunning.
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15 Dec. 2013 - Alloy brake pedal
Of the three pedals, the brake pedal seems like it would be the easiest. There are almost no tools needed, no holes to cut or drill. But it turns out that rubber is extremely difficult to get onto the brake pedal. I tried on two previous days using the instructions, then finally resigned to the fact that I am not strong enough to do it myself. So I ended up cutting the lip off the bottom edge to make it fit on easy. Then I used Amazing Goop contact cement to secure it there. I have written a how-to guide in the 2014+ how-to section if you are interested in more details. But I finally had all my alloy pedals installed
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24 Dec. 2013 - Dipping the chrome window trim and trunk lip protector, and debadging
Christmas Eve was a nice day, so I decided to get rid of the last remaining chrome/silvery elements--the window trim and the trunk lip protector. I had bought tape and drape, so I was prepared to better mask-off my car. Unfortunately, the window trim is nowhere near as easy to dip as the front chrome trim was. There is a black plastic piece on top of it which touches the chrome piece. There is also a rubbery gasket underneath it which has a gap in some places and touches the chrome in other places. I ended up taping both above and below very carefully to peel when the last coat was still wet. I had also bought some whit plasti dip to try as a base coat. While it did work well and allow me to do fewer coats of electric lime, it also showed on the edges of the trim after peeling the tape. There were also a few spots where the dip was thick and/or I just did a bad job peeling and they turned out crappy. The white base coat made those areas looks even worse. When I do my next color scheme, I will not use a different color as a base.
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After peeling the tape. Notice the crappy edge on top.
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Debadging was fairly easy. And I like it a lot better But for those of you with a genthree hatch, there are holes behind the 'mazda' badge.
Before:
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After:
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27 Dec. 2013 - Touching up window trim and wheels
Along the way, I peeled the dip off the centers of the wheels where the black part is. This means I left dip on the mazda emblem. But unfortunately to do this, cutting was involved, so they had started to develop some lifting. I used the dip repair kit (basically just solvents and paint thinners) to re-wet those areas and smooth them flat. Now there is no lifting
I also used a small foam brush to touch up the window trim. As you can see, I sprayed into little art dishes to get the dip and apply it with the brush. The touched-up spots are a little lumpy, but not too bad. It's easy to miss them, unlike the big chrome and white spots that were there before.
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And finally, here are some pics I took of the car as of the end of 2013:
Over the past couple months I have been busy installing and getting the following mods:
CorkSport interior LED kit
Viper Ultra 27% tint
Mazda alloy pedals
Plasti Dip on the wheels and chrome trim, electric lime green base with 2-3 coats of violet metalizer
Debadge rear
Future mods:
Rho-plate for the front when I finally get my plates
CS SRI (when they come out with the 2.5L version)
Oracle halos for the headlights (maybe, haven't decided yet)
Different color schemes with the trim and wheels. Next one will probably be bright orange
???
The following are mods I have done prior to starting this thread:
6 Dec. 2013 - Plasti Dip front emblem
I removed the front emblem from the car and dipped it with electric lime and violet metalizer.
8 Dec. 2013 - wheel dippin'
I dipped the wheels on this day. It was a terrible day for dipping, only about 17F and with snow everywhere. I was also a n00b at plasti dip, so my first two coats were WAY too thick and ran. I didn't keep the can warm as I went around doing the wheels, so they progressively got more texture as the can would cool down. Also, the tires had snow in them, which would melt and drip onto the rim causing problems. Snow was also blown onto the rims after the first coat, introducing more texture. I pretty much did everything wrong, lol. But by the final coats, I was warming the cans along the way and doing thinner more even coats, so from a distance they looked ok. And the color looks great
11 Dec. 2013 - alloy foot rest
I bought the Mazda OEM alloy pedals and foot rest. On this evening, I installed the foot rest. It required removing two trim pieces, which I did easily with my fingers. Then I had to make two holes in the carpet; I used a box cutter. Then it was a matter of peeling back the carpet, placing the back plate behind and the alloy foot rest on top of the carpet and screwing the foot rest to the back plate, sandwiching the carpet. I replaced the trim pieces and voila! One alloy foot rest
12 Dec. 2013 - alloy accelerator pedal and dipping the fog light rings
On this evening, I tackled two small projects--installing the alloy accel pedal and dipping the fog light chrome rings. The accel pedal was easy. I just followed the directions, drilling holes according to the template and with two bit sizes (pilot hole and big hole). Then you just plop in the nuts and screw them in, holding the alloy cover in place.
Dipping the chrome fog light rings was easy too. I removed the fog light trim piece using a tape-wrapped flathead screwdriver (start prying from outboard side of trim). With those removed, it was easy to push in the tabs to release the chrome plastic pieces. Then I dipped them and installed everything in reverse order.
14 Dec. 2013 - Dipping front wheels (again), front chrome trim and rear badges
On this day I had planned to re-dip all four wheels, but peeling them turned out to be more labor intensive than I expected. The dip was thin on the sides of the spokes and in the lug holes, so those areas took a lot of time and effort. Because of this, I only peeled and re-dipped the front two wheels. I also masked off the front grille for the big chrome trim piece. That piece is very easy to dip. On every edge there is a gap which allows for worry-free peeling once it has dried. This time it was a dry day, a bit warmer, and I had a better idea of what I was doing, lol. I did nice, thin, even coats while keeping the cans warm in my jacket, so it all turned out nice this time. I did learn that even though plasti dip can be buffed off of the car, it's a lot of effort if you don't mask the car very well. There was a fine mist over most of the car, and heavier in some areas nearer the dipped parts. In the end though, the result was stunning.
15 Dec. 2013 - Alloy brake pedal
Of the three pedals, the brake pedal seems like it would be the easiest. There are almost no tools needed, no holes to cut or drill. But it turns out that rubber is extremely difficult to get onto the brake pedal. I tried on two previous days using the instructions, then finally resigned to the fact that I am not strong enough to do it myself. So I ended up cutting the lip off the bottom edge to make it fit on easy. Then I used Amazing Goop contact cement to secure it there. I have written a how-to guide in the 2014+ how-to section if you are interested in more details. But I finally had all my alloy pedals installed
24 Dec. 2013 - Dipping the chrome window trim and trunk lip protector, and debadging
Christmas Eve was a nice day, so I decided to get rid of the last remaining chrome/silvery elements--the window trim and the trunk lip protector. I had bought tape and drape, so I was prepared to better mask-off my car. Unfortunately, the window trim is nowhere near as easy to dip as the front chrome trim was. There is a black plastic piece on top of it which touches the chrome piece. There is also a rubbery gasket underneath it which has a gap in some places and touches the chrome in other places. I ended up taping both above and below very carefully to peel when the last coat was still wet. I had also bought some whit plasti dip to try as a base coat. While it did work well and allow me to do fewer coats of electric lime, it also showed on the edges of the trim after peeling the tape. There were also a few spots where the dip was thick and/or I just did a bad job peeling and they turned out crappy. The white base coat made those areas looks even worse. When I do my next color scheme, I will not use a different color as a base.
After peeling the tape. Notice the crappy edge on top.
Debadging was fairly easy. And I like it a lot better
But for those of you with a genthree hatch, there are holes behind the 'mazda' badge.Before:
After:
27 Dec. 2013 - Touching up window trim and wheels
Along the way, I peeled the dip off the centers of the wheels where the black part is. This means I left dip on the mazda emblem. But unfortunately to do this, cutting was involved, so they had started to develop some lifting. I used the dip repair kit (basically just solvents and paint thinners) to re-wet those areas and smooth them flat. Now there is no lifting
I also used a small foam brush to touch up the window trim. As you can see, I sprayed into little art dishes to get the dip and apply it with the brush. The touched-up spots are a little lumpy, but not too bad. It's easy to miss them, unlike the big chrome and white spots that were there before.
And finally, here are some pics I took of the car as of the end of 2013:
