well, i should clarify. I am not a fan on the STOCK body. It might look much better when matet to other body parts ( like the bomex rear end and some smooth front end)

 

I also want to know if the pictured front bumper is a stock one. I love it and want to know where to get one if necessary.

 

so how did you go about shaving the trim? and what kind of rims are those?

 

Those are FD wheels.

I can appreciate the work that goes into doing this but it still looks terrible. Just my opinion.

 

looks like a stock s5 bumper to me.

 

do these pics still exist? i wanna see!

 

Wouldn't sheet metal and some welding skills be much lighter than bondo? or are you just going for style?

 

Welding would be my approach (and then bondo or fiberglass feathering to make it smooth, but not to fill the whole groove), idk about everyone else.

 

hears a pic of mine from the side without the front moldings on the bumper i think it looks great <a href="http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t64/Josecampos17/?action=view&current=m_4ce0f667abfbbd0ee3d9c4830a2 6ab27.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t64/Josecampos17/m_4ce0f667abfbbd0ee3d9c4830a26ab27.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t64/Josecampos17/?action=view&current=rx7.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t64/Josecampos17/rx7.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

i did this to my s4. i love the s5 trims, not so much on the s4's so i took the moldings off the doors, shaved the bumpers and filled it all in with either fiber glass or bondo. i am regretting using bondo and should have used a rubber based compound... i'll be redoing/repainting soon.

 

Looks like ***, IMHO.

 

Nice work, guys! I still may do this when it comes time to paint my TII.




What's the point of posting that except to show your disdain for our taste? You certainly aren't changing our minds about anything. Thanks for your contribution.

 

No problem, glad I could help.

You put up your opinion, I put up mine. If you want more explanation, then so be it.

The trim is there to break up the car a bit. I think having a smooth surface extends the cars lines too much and takes away a lot of the definition of the body. Happy?

 

S5 trim I think is the way to go. IMO it just looks to plain without the trim.

 

I love this car, can someone direct me to the un-chopped photos of this with the side molding that'd be great. I don't really think they look bad with the side molding molded flat but i like the side molding and i like it in black, i love the contrast with bright red paint and black wheels and side molding

 

Its All Not Right! Impure!!! Impure!!!!!!!!!

I mean they got the trim right with the S5's, gorgeous. but the S4's black trim looks like ***. im embarrased of it

 

I'm pretty sure that isn't a chop, but I do remember for sure that I didn't chop that picture.

 

I agree, the s5 trim is perfect and the s4 is just no. Good thing my car is black with s4 trim. When I get re-painted i'm going s5 trim though.

 

I used to have that as a wallpaper on my old computer i'm pretty sure it had black trim it was on here i belive in a set of about 6 pics. Anyone remember?

 

I like my baby how she came.

 

ugh... i dont like that look what so ever... the molding (imo) gives the car character.

 

It's an 80's car thats why it looks 80's , and who doesn't love the 80's If you want something newer and smoother looking get a 3rd gen

 

Agree that an 80s car should look like an 80s car. Just like I wouldn't sawzall the tailfins off a Tri-Five Chevy to make it look more "modern," I'd always leave the 80s features on my car to preserve its looks.

Aside from my pro-80s bias, I also think removing the trim accentuates the slab-sidedness of the car and makes it look heavier. Also the resulting trimless front bumper ends up having an odd looking flat area where the trim used to be, spoiling the sleek shape of the original nose.

 

believe me if i could afford an FD, i would get one... and hey everyone is entitled to their opinion. mine is just that the s5 is the way the FC looks best... there is a reason why Mazda changed the trim around the car, they thought the s4 trim looked like *** too, otherwise they would have left it as is. but that's just my 2cents.

p.s. that red turbo FC half way up the page is one of the sweetest cars i have ever seen.

 

I don't think Mazda decided the S4 trim "looked like ***." Automotive fashions were shifting away from heavy black moldings in the late 1980s. For a while, every Mazda had them: 323, 626, MX-6, 929... In the earlier 80s you saw them on Audis, the early Fox platform Mustangs, etc. Granted they began to look outdated by '89 which I suppose is why Mazda switched to body colored moldings then eliminated them altogether on the FD.

I don't think it is correct to say Mazda decided the old style was ugly though. If so, you could also say that by making the RX-8 look so different from the FD, Mazda must have decided the FD looked "like ***."