My tint, and caliper question

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jun 14, 2008

• #1

Pretty new here, but wanted to show the tint job on my car, and the results of cleaning supplies everyone told me to use in another thread here, it really made a difference!

Also, besides my desire to do the LED upgrade to all my interior lights and my back lights, I was thinking about painting my calipers. I was thinking red, I don't want to try blue and get some crappy half-assed, not quite matching color, better to just have contrast I think. Here's a close up look of the wheel.

As a side note, how do I get a list of small thumbnails at the bottom so I don't have to post large photos (that annoy the heck out of everyone)?

 

R

Rhon

Member

:

Mazda3 5 Door sTouring, Copper Red Mica

• Jun 14, 2008

• #2

Looks sweet. What tint % is that?

 

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jun 14, 2008

• #3

30/15 if I remember correctly, the hatch window may be even darker, but I can't recall. It's the absolute legal limit in Florida.

 

R

Rhon

Member

:

Mazda3 5 Door sTouring, Copper Red Mica

• Jun 15, 2008

• #4

Looks good, thanks...

 

J

_jp

Member

:

which one?

• Jun 16, 2008

• #5

very nice. my 08 3i is the same dark blue. shines up very nice. and it must be nice to not have asinine tint law like NC. 35% front and back FTMFL. nc fails at life.

 

N

NTIMD8R

Member

:

2004 Black Mica Mazda 3s 5-door & 2004 Black Onyx Mazda 6s sedan

• Jun 23, 2008

• #6

Your 3 looks great! As far as painting the calipers, I don't think red would look the greatest with your color of blue. But that's just my opinion...

Maybe silver calipers with black decals or black calipers with silver decals might look better. You're right about how it would look with the wrong shade of blue!

As far as I know, the two best caliper paint brand names seem to be G2 and Duplicolor. I used Duplicolor on mine and am happy with the results. It just takes a few coats. I've heard really good results from those who have used the G2 brand. I think G2 has a wider variety of colors too. Just do a search for threads on painting calipers. Should help you out and give you ideas on what's out there. Good luck!

Here's a couple of pictures of mine along with the link for the decals:

http://www.xenonmods.com/newallcaliperdecals.htm

 

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A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jun 23, 2008

• #7

Awesome, I'll play around with photoshop maybe and tinker with colors to see what might look good. Thanks for the tips.

 

S

solez

Member

:

Mazda3 5dr Grand Touring hatchback

• Jul 21, 2008

• #8

did they change the rear bumper on the 3? I noticed that the middle is not painted. I like it. Will the 08.5 rear bumper fit on an 07 mazda3? I need to get my bumper fixed and might just see if i can get an 08.5 installed instead. I would paint the calipers red. I want red one's to. I have a sunlight silver metallic 07 3.

 

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jul 24, 2008

• #9

The bumper was changed witht he 08.5 model. Not sure if it will fit or not on anything previous, I haven't looked into it or played with it (I already have it!). The red would look a lot better against your silver than it would against my blue I think. I'm pretty sure I've decided on black with silver lettering.

 

S

skylar2ups

Member

:

2011 Mazda3 iSport

• Jul 29, 2008

• #10

Get rid of the dealer decal on your 3! Your hatch is amazing.

 

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NCZ13

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #11

what detailing products did you use?

 

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #12

First, thanks for the compliments.

Second, the products: I used Macguiers quick detailer for all the plastic/rubber in/out of the car. For the tires I used black magic spray foam. I found the foam worked better than the spray, you just have to be able to let it sit for a while for all the foam to go away so you don't get spray all over your car. For the driving wheel and shift, I used Macguiers leather protection product (think it's called 'Something Gold'). For application of the Macguiers stuff and for drying I used microfibre towels. For the windows/mirrors/lights I used regular old windex on the outside, and for the tint it's just plain water in a spray bottle with about two drops of dish soap.

Now my question: What's the best way to get rid of the dealer decal, I hate being an advertisement for anyone without being paid for (that reminds me, I need to buy a new holder for my tag).

 

S

skylar2ups

Member

:

2011 Mazda3 iSport

• Jul 29, 2008

• #13

I'm not sure how to get it off my brother in law just pulled his off the day he bought it then goo be goned it. Mine never had the decal, as for the plate holder EW it looks so much cleaner without a holder but I would buy a thin plastic plate to put behind your metal plate so it dosen't scratch the paint.

 

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NCZ13

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #14

heat up with a hairdryer or halogen lamps if you have them, and use peel it off.

use 3m adhesive remove to remove the residue, or similar product.

also the product line your thinking of is Gold Class =)

 

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angelssunset05

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #15

paint ur calipers ur body color.

 

M

mazdaspeedster3

Member

:

Mazdaspeed3. 2008

• Jul 29, 2008

• #16

There is another thread on here showing calipers painted that went up today. He has a site link for caliper stickers that really stick and stay and are faily cheap. Black calipers with white Mazda on them would be clean and look pretty sharp, or even red with a white MAZDA.

 

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #17

skylar2ups said:

...as for the plate holder EW it looks so much cleaner without a holder but I would buy a thin plastic plate to put behind your metal plate so it dosen't scratch the paint.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm looking for, mentioned the holder due to brain-blank.

NCZ13 said:

heat up with a hairdryer or halogen lamps if you have them, and use peel it off.

Click to expand...

Awesome, will try it out, I have a great adapter for cigarette lighter to electrical outlet, hope i can get the chord long enough to heat it up.

angelssunset05 said:

paint ur calipers ur body color.

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I think it would be almost impossible to find my exact color to paint my calipers, and a close-but-not-quite match would drive me bonkers, like suggest, pretty sure I'll go with black calipers and white lettering.

 

A

angelssunset05

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #18

AndrewSquared said:

That's exactly what I'm looking for, mentioned the holder due to brain-blank.



Awesome, will try it out, I have a great adapter for cigarette lighter to electrical outlet, hope i can get the chord long enough to heat it up.



I think it would be almost impossible to find my exact color to paint my calipers, and a close-but-not-quite match would drive me bonkers, like suggest, pretty sure I'll go with black calipers and white lettering.

Click to expand...

lara from the other forum got hers to match her body color almost exact. it looks sick

 

S

skylar2ups

Member

:

2011 Mazda3 iSport

• Jul 29, 2008

• #19

I haven't seen black with white letters!!!
I think that would look awesome!
Maybe silver letters to match the rims and Mazda badges?
I love your rims they remind me of snow flakes. lol.
I'm with you on the color match, love your paint job but would be angry if it wasn't perfect.
To bad your brother wouldn't trade. Perhaps you should just go steal his. Kidding of course. I have a feeling I am going to end up getting those rims for mine.

 

A

AndrewSquared

Member

• Jul 29, 2008

• #20

skylar2ups said:

I love your rims they remind me of snow flakes.

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I believe that's actually what people call them, come standard now, not sure for how long. I like the look to, but it's a b**** to clean.