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You'll never achieve a long lasting proper high gloss finish using cans Im afraid..
... better start learning a few phrases then

youdirtyfox wrote:You'll never achieve a long lasting proper high gloss finish using cans Im afraid..
... better start learning a few phrases then

yeah i will search for a professional somewhere...so there is NO way at all to coat them good yourself..ever since i got the MX-3 i have become the ultimate DIYer lol

So after about an hour of polishing the lip of one MS-01. It came out a little bit more chrome like then i expected and i know mx-3 drivers hate chrome more then eating there vegetables but what do you guys think......

-Left is the polished lip and the right is the original 20 year old lip

I'm not a fan of chrome but


Chrome lip seems to be one of the only chrome things I can handle on my car, and that lip looks very nice. I like them a lot, good job.

kulluminati777 wrote:

youdirtyfox wrote:You'll never achieve a long lasting proper high gloss finish using cans Im afraid..
... better start learning a few phrases then

yeah i will search for a professional somewhere...so there is NO way at all to coat them good yourself..ever since i got the MX-3 i have become the ultimate DIYer lol

Nope some things are best left to the pros... and btw they will look soo f---in pimp with the right drop and maybe some spacers if there are not 8J?
Polished lips with black/coloured centres is where its at nowadays

Are those MS01F's?

Good work on the polish. it is a pain in the @$$ and takes time to do. Did you sand them first? That is what I have done in the past. start with a wet sand at 400 grit, then work your way up to 800 or 1200 and polish like no other.

There are two ways to protect them:

1 - You leave them "as is" polished and exposed, and have to clean them ALL THE TIME. You can use a billet aluminum polish then several coats of carnuba wax. This takes a lot of time.

2 - You have them clear coated. A rattle can of clear coat will not do the job in this case I am afraid. You should take it to someone and have it done. Most shops that Powdercoat wheels can do this. It should only cost 25 to 50 bucks a wheel. or you can take it to a bodyshop and have them cleared with a UV Urethane clear coat but they will probably charge a bit more like in the 100 to 150 range.

if you have an air compressor, a spray gun is like 25 bucks. Clear is very easy to spray

I do like a chrome dish I have to say. That looks great, fair play. Now put those other ones into retirement and make these your main wheels. Nevermind that winter wheel bollocks anyway!

youdirtyfox wrote:

kulluminati777 wrote:

youdirtyfox wrote:You'll never achieve a long lasting proper high gloss finish using cans Im afraid..
... better start learning a few phrases then

yeah i will search for a professional somewhere...so there is NO way at all to coat them good yourself..ever since i got the MX-3 i have become the ultimate DIYer lol

Nope some things are best left to the pros... and btw they will look soo f---in pimp with the right drop and maybe some spacers if there are not 8J?
Polished lips with black/coloured centres is where its at nowadays

@ lmfao Rob thanks



and yeah i guess im in the hunt for a pro because it looks good now but i have dust ALL over the room and i cant get real close to the spoke because im using a drill

@josh no they are the 15" MS-01's and thanks for the advice

JayoM wrote:I do like a chrome dish I have to say. That looks great, fair play. Now put those other ones into retirement and make these your main wheels. Nevermind that winter wheel bollocks anyway!

if they were at least 16" i might consider it but 15" is to small for a main wheel for me...I was almost going to get the MS-01S's but i wanted to stay true to the "A-spec touring kit" ...correct me if im wrong but i believe im the only one on here that has ever done a build like this

You may be, I have seen only a hand full of cars through the years that have done this, but I can only think of one that had everything on it. It was a car in Japan so it may have been a legit A-spec car. The others I saw had full length side skirts. I have never seen one with an A-spec sticker though. I was doing the same thing, you beet me to the punch But some things have changed now and I am going to go with full length skirts.

If you take your wheels in and have them done professionally they can tape off the painted part and bead blast the lips to a mirror shine. Or you can just tape them off and wet sand the best you can. I picked up a foam buffing disk that would be able to get pretty dang close to the inside edges from the autobody store. a dremel might be able to do the trick as well.

I bought a Mothers Power Ball, works great for polishing. You simply place the drive shaft in your drill and it spins the ball. http://www.amazon.com/MOTHERS-5140-Moth ... B0007RDVD4

I polished then clear coated rims with Lacquer, it's not overly durable but the advantage is it's easily removed with Lacquer thinners if you chip or curb rash the wheel. I like how clear the finish is as well.

Josh wrote:You may be, I have seen only a hand full of cars through the years that have done this, but I can only think of one that had everything on it. It was a car in Japan so it may have been a legit A-spec car. The others I saw had full length side skirts. I have never seen one with an A-spec sticker though. I was doing the same thing, you beet me to the punch But some things have changed now and I am going to go with full length skirts.

If you take your wheels in and have them done professionally they can tape off the painted part and bead blast the lips to a mirror shine. Or you can just tape them off and wet sand the best you can. I picked up a foam buffing disk that would be able to get pretty dang close to the inside edges from the autobody store. a dremel might be able to do the trick as well.

yeah i would LOVE to get a TRUE A spec car...but im not in japan and all the ones that were made ( probably not alot) are all in junk yards or parted out.....

I would attempt to get EVERYTHING but some things are impossible but really not needed because the other after market options are just as good or if not better...


The thing that sucks about Germany is....EVERYTHING!!!! I been here 7 years and let me tell its cool to visit for 6 months or less but anything more and you have wasted your time....and a prime example is i been trying to get my lip professionally refinished and the best i found after looking EVERYWHERE was a wheel shop who could machine it but not get under the spokes...they asked me if i wanted to paint the whole rim black and i said ew lol but i would love to get it sand blaster or something like that when i touchdown in the U.S. of A.

Daninski wrote:I bought a Mothers Power Ball, works great for polishing. You simply place the drive shaft in your drill and it spins the ball. http://www.amazon.com/MOTHERS-5140-Moth ... B0007RDVD4

I polished then clear coated rims with Lacquer, it's not overly durable but the advantage is it's easily removed with Lacquer thinners if you chip or curb rash the wheel. I like how clear the finish is as well.

I don't know if that would work for me...there are DEEP scratches and rust in the metal all over the lip i think i might try the wet sanding method

Sorry I was talkin more about wheel polishing. I just read your whole worklog as I saw your post regarding a rough running K8/ZE???

Why is this now 'Official' MS

youdirtyfox wrote:Why is this now 'Official' MS

Yeah I am wondering the same thing.

To be technical, only an mx-3 worked on by mazda to have MS parts installed with a tuned badge that actually relates to your VIN in mazda documentation could be considered official. Those days are long gone...

I mean you can call you worklog whatever you want but, just so people aren't confused. We can get pretty technical around here (at least I can LOL)

Mooneggs wrote:

youdirtyfox wrote:Why is this now 'Official' MS

Yeah I am wondering the same thing.

To be technical, only an mx-3 worked on by mazda to have MS parts installed with a tuned badge that actually relates to your VIN in mazda documentation could be considered official. Those days are long gone...

I mean you can call you worklog whatever you want but, just so people aren't confused. We can get pretty technical around here (at least I can LOL)

If you REALLY want "to be technical" there is no mazdaspeed mx-3 in existence....technically autozam AZ-3's/ or eunos 30x presso's ....am i wrong or am i right....


it does suck those days are long gone....

but i say its official because EVERYTHING mazdaspeed that is even still in existence is on my car minus; the front strut bar (waiting to see if ZE fits) and steering wheel/carbon bezel/knob/seats.... cause the wife doesnt want it because it is her car on the inside...*note i have no interior pics because the inside is black and pink.....but i still think its a great looking car on the outside and i love working on cars and i enjoy sharing what i have done with others to enjoy


trust me im about as official mazdaspeed as anyone in america is gonna get when comes to the mx-3...i bet money on it...and i am not even CLOSE to being done with this car...my plans within the next year will be to FINALLY put my K-sports on,Fidanza flywheel, Mx6 clutch, LSD, DE turbo? or a plain ZE, new coat of brilliant black paint!...but alot of the work i wait to do in the states because the euro is a be atch, and the language barrier/lack of knowledge on mazda's is overwhelming...if i had a BMW/Mercedes/VW i would be golden you have no idea how fast these guys get there cars) and mainly i cant wait til summer because im off to take this baby on the NURBURGRING!!!!!!!........


but i dont like having a pissing contest with anyone i just didnt think it was even that big of a deal...people put "mazdaspeed" in there worklogs all the time and dont have 1 bit from the tuning branch.....