More Installation Notes
Here's what I've found out about painting the black Gauge Works Full Pillar Pod.
Mazda only sells exterior paint so no help there.
I pulled the passenger side A pillar (not a hard job--start at the top and pull straight out, then work back and forth the molded guide at the bottom). Looking at it in bright light it is evident the color (light gray on mine) is actually molded in and has some black flecks so no paint is going to match perfectly. I went to Home Depot so I could get the color scanned to match and here's the formula they came up with: Behr Premium Plus Int Satin Enamel, Pastel Base (7500) with the following colarants: B Lamp Black, OZ-0,48-10, 96-0; E Thalo Blue OZ-0,48-2, 96-0; L Raw Umber OZ-1,48-28, 96-0.
The color matches pretty well but clearly will look different from the other pillars on really close inspection as the new paint isn't molded in and doesn't have the flecks. The unpainted surface does have a slight texture like the factory pillars and all-in-all I'm happy with the paint.
This is latex paint so it's easy to clean up. It comes in flat, eggshell, satin, gloss and high gloss (from no to high sheen). I chose satin but believe flat would match better. Cost is $10/quart (the smallest custom match size) which will allow you to paint about 10000 pillar posts.
