YearOfTherat
Member
Latest mod:
What have you done to your Mazda3 today?
- Thread starter Antoine
- Start date
Sexy mirrors. I was tossing the idea of buying those around for a little while but I have other mods to do right now.
I am about halfway through sanding and priming my 17" wheels. I don't know why I keep deciding to do this myself. My whole body hurts from sanding these damn things.
Teaser... before on the right, after on the left. They will not be staying white I just wanted to get a bright color under the base coat to help it pop.
I am about halfway through sanding and priming my 17" wheels. I don't know why I keep deciding to do this myself. My whole body hurts from sanding these damn things.
Teaser... before on the right, after on the left. They will not be staying white I just wanted to get a bright color under the base coat to help it pop.
. 2nd wax will go on tomorrow after this one cures.
Fiji Mazda3
Member
- :
- 2014 Ford Focus ST
superdoughboy4
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazda3 Sedan
Couple of days ago, I painted my rear emblem and badge black. And then painted the m on mazda pink, and panted the little tip in the middle of the emblem pink. It looks pretty good.
In the past couple of weeks.. turned over 30K, got an oil change, got a leaky TPMS sensor o-ring replaced, replaced the wipers (front and rear; 3rd replacement on the front, first replacement for the rear.. waited entirely too long on that; nice to have the rear wiper working again) and cleaned and Rain-X™'d the windows and mirrors.
Also installed my first ber-cheap "performance" upgrade -- the K&N air filter for the factory air box. (yippy) Good thing I handled this the same day -- the dealer's service tech had forgotten to clip the airbox cover back down after checking the filter! (argh) My first clue was the extra buzz from the engine bay from 4K-5K RPM. Stopped on the way home to pick up the K&N, got home and popped the hood.. "Dude.. WTF!"
I also noticed at that point that their standard (i.e. non-touchless) car wash's side "brushes" had bent up the ends of the license plate on the Tow-Plate™ all the way to the plate mounting screws. (pissed) So, that's another reason (in addition to the non-touchless-ness of the wash) not to let them wash it. I took off the plate, straightened it as best I could (you can still see ripples in the paint's substrate where it'd been bent even though it's now just about perfectly flat through the bent sections) and swapped it with the rear plate. I left the dealer's plate frame off the rear.
I let them know they'd forgotten the clips and about the license plate. They were most apologetic (if unhelpful).
This weekend (the last "warm" one for a while) I'll be:
- swapping out the summer wheels for the winter set (now that the average daily temp is ~45F)
- readjusting the mounting position of the Bad Boy™ horn so it doesn't sound like a wheezing rattlesnake after I run it through a touchless automatic car wash (we'll see if I can do it w/o taking off the bumper cover; probably not, but...)
- replacing the cabin air filter
- giving it one last good wash before I bring in the garden hose for the winter
- touching up some paint chips
- claying it and applying 2 coats of wax (time (and stamina) permitting)
..not necessarily in that order.
It's gonna be part of Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday... We'll see how much I get done.
Also installed my first ber-cheap "performance" upgrade -- the K&N air filter for the factory air box. (yippy) Good thing I handled this the same day -- the dealer's service tech had forgotten to clip the airbox cover back down after checking the filter! (argh) My first clue was the extra buzz from the engine bay from 4K-5K RPM. Stopped on the way home to pick up the K&N, got home and popped the hood.. "Dude.. WTF!"
I also noticed at that point that their standard (i.e. non-touchless) car wash's side "brushes" had bent up the ends of the license plate on the Tow-Plate™ all the way to the plate mounting screws. (pissed) So, that's another reason (in addition to the non-touchless-ness of the wash) not to let them wash it. I took off the plate, straightened it as best I could (you can still see ripples in the paint's substrate where it'd been bent even though it's now just about perfectly flat through the bent sections) and swapped it with the rear plate. I left the dealer's plate frame off the rear.
I let them know they'd forgotten the clips and about the license plate. They were most apologetic (if unhelpful).
This weekend (the last "warm" one for a while) I'll be:
- swapping out the summer wheels for the winter set (now that the average daily temp is ~45F)
- readjusting the mounting position of the Bad Boy™ horn so it doesn't sound like a wheezing rattlesnake after I run it through a touchless automatic car wash (we'll see if I can do it w/o taking off the bumper cover; probably not, but...)
- replacing the cabin air filter
- giving it one last good wash before I bring in the garden hose for the winter
- touching up some paint chips
- claying it and applying 2 coats of wax (time (and stamina) permitting)
..not necessarily in that order.
It's gonna be part of Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday... We'll see how much I get done.
Last edited:
infamouszoltan
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazda 3 sedan speed:)
Cleaned it for 2 hours...
Put up a Breast Cancer Awarenss dambana : )
Put some purple lights under my dash
Put my lisence plate behind my grille
Put up a Breast Cancer Awarenss dambana : )
Put some purple lights under my dash
Put my lisence plate behind my grille
When I saw this post, I said to myself, "he's complaining about spending 2 hours to clean the whole car?? I spend that just on a basic outside wash!! I used to spend, and have spent 10 hours getting the car ready for just a local meet with +/-10 other cars there."
Yes, one thing my wife might agree with you on is that the Mazda3 interior is not the easiest car to clean or especially vacuum. In fact I guess she took pity on me late last week and when she cleaned the interior of her Vibe also did a fairly good job on the interior of my Mazda. 'Guess it was all the car washing, and other work I have done on her Vibe over the last year that did it, because I KNOW she hates doing it.
It looks good Man. 'Nothing quite like a clean interior, especially if it's been let go for a while before hand.
infamouszoltan
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazda 3 sedan speed:)
haha not really complaining just stating
and thanks yeah theres alot of little cracks for s*** to get into so its pretty annoying but well worth it 
took off side moldings, put on eibach sportlines, and gave her a nice wash/wax
nice! are you doing the work yourself? always awesome to see a woman who is doing her own mods!
59,947 miles. Oil change w/WIX 51348 filter and 5w-20 Castrol SynTec.
I also spent a wasted hour trying to get my Xenon Mods LED third brake light to work right again. Several banks are out or flashing and a complete resolder did nothing to help that.
Oh, and almost forgot. Since I finally got it professionally painted, I reinstalled the aftermarket grill too.
Last edited:
superdoughboy4
Member
- :
- 2008 Mazda3 Sedan
Pics.
I fixed my drivers side HID placement.
The retention bracket won't go back in place super securely, so I had to aim the bulb the right way, put the bracket back in, and then put the rubber insert back, all while trying to keep the bulb straight.
I fixed my drivers side HID placement.
The retention bracket won't go back in place super securely, so I had to aim the bulb the right way, put the bracket back in, and then put the rubber insert back, all while trying to keep the bulb straight.
