Silver centre dash colour?

[Smacca]

Hey guys,

I own an SE and I've decided to relace the factory stereo with a Kenwood deck from my previous car.

Now I've already purchased a fascia with single DIN bracket and pocket. However it's the standard black colour. I'm hoping to paint it silver to match the same colour as the SE's HVAC panel.

So a trip down to the local Mazda dealership (Sutherland) did nothing but waste my time. I spent 20 minutes waiting before I was told that the dealer's service department and even Mazda Australia didn't know the paint code and they couldn't help me.....WTF?

Can anyone help me out here? If I cant get a paint code, then has someone discovered a similar silver colour that I can buy from my local auto parts shop?
I'd just like to keep the similar factory look going.

Thanks,


Smacca

[Fuzzlet]

If u have a look at your center consol, you'll actually see that it isnt just painted in silver, its actually a pattern, hence why they didnt know the paint code

[Smacca]

A pattern, really? I know the strip that surrounds the stereo, HVAC and gear shifter is a chequered almost carbon-fibre wannabe pattern, but the finish on the stereo and HVAC fascia is also a pattern, not just painted silver?

Hmm, that changes things.

[Fuzzlet]

Right I got ya know...I thought you were trying to get a paint colour for the trim not the stereo/hvac. Maybe take one of the silver covers (ie the ones that sit on the sides of the standard stereo) to repco etc and see if they have a silver that matches. If not okibi did a write up about out to pull apart the hvac unit, maybe you could repaint the silver to match

[Smacca]

Yeah, good idea.

I was thinking it might be easier to just pick a silver and spray the DIN facia. And then respray the HVAC panel the same silver if the colours don't match.

Thanks for the advice.

[Mr Morlock]

There are some posts on painting plastic parts and if memory serves marcusus? about 6 mths ago did this and it looked pretty good. Any of the auto specialist paint suppliers ( spray can) will be able to help esp if you have a component that you want to match- they might even spray a test plaque or they might have a chip which will give you a guide as to how close it is to other parts. Worst case is it might cost you a couple of small tins. PS etching on plastic is done in the plastic moulding die often done for aesthetic reasons and it also tends to hide minor moulding flaws- it will also actually assist if you want to paint it as an etch finish provides a little more bond than a smooth one.

[Okibi]

Spot on Mr Morlock

[MX5CHIC]

I installed my JVC dvd player in the dash which is silver so I did the same thing and painted the radio surround to contrast/match. Just go to repco etc and buy a can of Plastic Adhesion Primer, then I took the JVC trim surround and matched the colour - I find using Dupli-color best to use as it lays down very smoothly as the last thing you want is orange peel effect on your trim, I'd recommend spraying a few coats of clear coat over the top for protection.
Here is a bad photo of what I did, I left the A/C Panel in the original black along with the cubby hole panel.

[marcusus]

I did the spray job as well (as mentioned), but didn't go the colour matching. For some reason the thought didn't occur to me to ask about it.

I didn't really do much prep work either. Just a bit of light sanding, primed it, then sprayed it.

[Okibi]

I sprayed the headunit instead

[Smacca]

Colour matching sounds the way to go, once I find a decent paint place somewhere in the shire. Thanks again for all the hints and tips. It's great to finally find a forum where members help each other out and not just rip into each other.

I'm going to install the deck when I get home from hols next week, so I'll post a pic then.

My Kenwood deck won't exactly compliment the MX-5's interior, especially with its annoyingly bright blue lights. However, it does have a sensor built into it which measures acceleration and corning G's. Looking forward to seeing what max G's the MX-5 is capable of....