The wife loved the color so pink it is! i didn't show her any of the rough spots since she wears glasses and will never see it anyway. It actually doesn't look at all bad from a distance and with the wheels on won't show at all.
A quick overview of the process and any pitfalls i experienced...
I gave the paint two days to cure, then began the rebuild process. I keep an open bottle of brake fluid for these occasions for cleaning, lubing, etc.. First step was to get the piston out by blowing compressed air throw the brake line holes. Having a 30-gallon air tank makes it easy but i've read that a bicycle pump works as well. Before beginning, wrap any areas the piston may hit with rags. Compressed air has the potential to launch the piston with a decent amount of force if you're not careful. Last thing you want is to have to wait for delivery of a replacement piston.
Do your best to get the rag under the piston. Probably doesn't matter but i wanted the piston to have a clear path:
A couple of easy bursts of air and it popped right out. Just tilt it up and out. It's very light and feels like it would scratch easily so place it somewhere safe. I cleaned them with brake fluid then wrapped them in microfiber cloths until it was time to re-install.
With piston removed, use a flat head screwdriver to GENTLY pry the old boots from the caliper. If you look closely, you'll see that there are a series of notches evenly spaced along the bottom of the boot. I found it easiest to stick the screwdriver in one of those and twist till i got under the boot.
Remove the inner seal with a flathead. It's really easy and requires very little pressure. Again, be gentle and precise. A gouge in the piston bore would likely lead to a leaky piston. Once you get the screwdriver under the seal, work it out the rest of the way by hand. Wet the new one with a bit of brake fluid and just slide it into place.
I left the old boots in place while painting to eliminate any chance of paint getting into the piston bore but a tiny bit sneaked by anyway. A screwdriver and a gently touch made quick work of it.
Oh the agony! I spent an hour trying to get the new piston dust boot on. The bottom of the boot contains a metal ring that has ZERO give. Of course the OEM boots are sized with no play. Every time i pushed one side in the other would pop out. I tried all kinds of ways to pull the boot over the opening but it FOUGHT HARD! I googled to death and all the threads i found made it sound sooo easy. I swear those guys must have bought aftermarket because the OEMs were not a slip on affair, AT ALL. It became painfully obvious that i would have to find a way to apply even pressure around the circumference of the base of the boot. But how? I don't have the Mazda tool outlined in the shop manual so i start digging through my tools and by the power of gray skull, one of my oil wrenches is the EXACT size of the boot! Grabbed a hammer and couple of extensions and tapped the boots into place.
Oh the agony...again! In order to get the piston back in, you must seat the piston on the newly installed boot, hold it with all you got with one hand while shooting compressed air into brake line hole again. Give the piston a light coat of brake fluid for lubrication before you begin.The boot will eventually pop around the piston and then, and only then, will you be able to push the piston through the boot and into the caliper. DO NOT FORCE IT! If the leading edge of the boot is not wrapped around the entire circumference of the piston, it will not go in. If you force it, bye bye boot. Sounds easy but the boot reacts to the air randomly. One side will pop while the other doesn't - over and over and over. Leaning the piston toward the side of the boot that has already popped and feeding it short, quick bursts of air eventually got it to pop. After my knuckles got bruised up from banging against the caliper with every shot of air, i put a rag over the caliper to cushion the blow.
Now the boots for the guide pins. They go right in the hole it is resting on in the pic. The raised lip, as seen on the left side of this pic, goes on the inside of the caliper.
. If you have the basic understanding and know-how to do this and you need to replace pads AND rotors, there's no reason NOT to upgrade. How far $$ you take it (SS lines, pricey fluid, expensive rotors/pads, SB) is up to you. 
