im new to mazda and car styling in general. do any of you have any tips on small this i can change to make it look a tad nicer? not wanting to spend a fortune, as ive got kids and i cant spend alot of money on my car, rather it go to the kids. but i would like a nice looking car

here it is

Well, in my opinion a pre-facelift sport in black looks pretty damn good as it is...but I would

Lower it
Tint the windows
Change the side repeaters to clear or smoked ones
Fit a smaller aerial

thats all for starters

Looks lovely mate, I've got a Facelift Sport with a few mods on, going to be tinting and lowering over the next two months also.

it does look lovely! lowering makes all the difference.....

lowering sounds good. is it something i could do myself? im not the best when it comes to cars... in fact i know pretty much nowt. but id give anything a go. its the only way to learn.

Lowering is pretty simple, takes a few hours - but you'll probably need to cut your drop links off, they attach to the struts, and usually sieze just need to get gary the grinder out for a few minutes

depends where you are, there's usually a few helpful chaps willing to lend a hand

Where are you from mate? I'm going to lower mine towards the end of March/Early April. It'll probably cost you around £150/£200 for the lowering springs, the droplinks, postage on that stuff... =]

Im in durham mate. I think it will be around june by the time i can afford that. As im going to germany for a week in april, so i need all my spare money for that

For a couple of cheap quick mods, a Mazda 6 estate rear wiper arm, and a pair of clear side repeaters would be nice.
Clean up and paint your brake calipers, maybe silver or blue?
Black responds superbly to some good polish and a claybar treatment.
You could do all this for about £50 - £60.

Then get saving for those springs, as this is the biggest and best visual and handling enhancement you can do to a car in my opinion.

What paint do you use for the calipers? Undercoat?

And it it just a wire brush to clean them?

I agree with all of the above. I had (still have) a 99 1.8 Sport in Black and i thought it was amazing. Mine was completely standard except for a set of 17x8 TSW Hockenheims that complimented the car very well. Unless the original wheels changed between T and V reg those wheels are not original, which is good as it sets the car apart and I think they look good. They are Mazda badged arent they? Anyone know if theyre from an MX5?

As for lowering... take a look at this :
[url]http://www.fk-automotive.org.uk/websale7/FK-Lowering-Springs-High-Tec---35%2f40-mm---fit-for.htm?Ctx={ver%2f7%2fver}{st%2f3eb%2fst}{cmd%2f0%2fcmd}{m%2fwebsale%2fm}{s%2ffk-automotive%2fs}{l%2fEnglish%2fl}{mi%2f11-2000%2fmi}{pi%2f1100228%2fpi}{type%2fartikelnummer%2ftype}{po%2f1%2fpo}{sf%2f%3Cs1%3EFKMA005%3C%2fs1%3E%3Cs5%3E3%3C%2fs5%3E%2fsf}{p1%2f0cc3573e5bf28be9de3084b083b568ef%2fp1}{md5%2fa7cb0270287b8f1b5c5ee93183fb4078%2fmd5}[/url] (might have to copy and paste this as link is a bugger)
£63! I think Rasco on here has a set and he reckons theyre excellent value for money. My brother also backed this up (runs a garage, has modified many cars, has used FK a few times) just before I ordered a set for myself tonight

Yep, tints, rear wiper, paint calipers as said already. The great thing about black is you can accessorise any colour and it looks mint (unless your stuck with a yellow interior like Matty ^.^)

And just to continue from your first thread, £700 is a bargain. I bought mine 3 years ago for £1700 with 92k on the clock and rusty rear arches. What condition are yours in?

Wheels are off an mx5 Nb 2.5 sport. Hammerite is a good caliper paint , more colour choice's than the Folitec stuff . Good clean up with wire wool / sand paper / wire brush what ever is your poison a good spray with brake cleaner after then a good few coats of Hammerite

Thats damn cheap man! Might be able to afford that a little sooner.

How hard is it to tint the windows? Do you use the stuff on a roll or spray?

by the way please speak in simple terms. I really dont know what im doing. Been driving 5 years but never done anything like this. I once managed to mess up changing a head light bulb!

Do i have to take the calipers off?

No fella, Ive done mine without taking them off, as you'll be brushing the paint on add a wee mazda caliper de-cal (eBay sellers but you may have to ask them to made mazda ) and your done

Nice one! Thank you very much.

Thats gunna be first on my list when i get the car. I can do that at work. Sounds too easy to be true. But if anyone can mess it up its me

On a side note, Look after the front conner spliters as its easy to find Golden Rocking House Shit than a set of replacements

i dont even know what they are

the extra bits that are fitted to the bottom corners of the front bumper

I think i can see em. Im using my phone so its pretty small pic (im at work)

I wont be driving down any farm tracks then

A good idea for painting the calipers is the wee arty type paintbrushes, you can get a set of them from Tesco/Ikea/Morrisons etc etc for about 99p. Small wooden handled kids paintbrushes sold in a blister pack. These are also ideal for doing wee touch up jobs, and for spot rust treatments.

The window tint is very easy to do, if your fairly careful, its very forgiving. Theres loads of videos on how to do it on youtube.

Another fairly cheap and effective mod is some nice number plates. I'd stick with the legal font though, and proper spacing and letter sizes, but some nice 3D lettering and a wee country badge on one side makes a bit of a difference. Or you could go for some square/import plates of course.

I guess I'm on my own when I suggest it, but I recommend foliatec paint for the calipers. I was lucky and got the paint for£7, but after seeing the quality of the finish, I'd happily pay the standard £25 or so for it. It's a 2 part paint, mixed together it sets rock hard and shiney..... I'm not saying hammerite wont do the job - it will, and it'll look ace - plus it's muuuuch cheaper too. But the foliatec stuff looks ace-er

Plus handy tip for painting - use the cheap disposable make up foam pad things. you get 20 or so in a pack for £1 or so. They're the ones with the little handles. I used them for my arches and they worked a treat - no brush marks

I had no paint brushes to hand....so I used cotton buds still works

Picking my new car up tonight! Cant wait. Shame i have to drive straight to a job interview!

Ive got some blue hammerite for the calipers. And got a push start ignition on its way.

If you ever need anything mechanical I have a garage in Scarborough

Stu

Just picked her up. Will get some good pics later

Can't wait!

Pics in "your cars" section

As for doing the suspension, if you ask Ayrton (eogbaker) nicely, he might lend you a hand at some point. I'd be happy to pop round too to lend an extra pair

Well thank you very much! it will be may when i do that i think. Everyone is so kind here!

I put in some blue internal lights yesterday