MX-5 OC Forum

 The Mazda items seem horribly pricy, even worse than VW ...

Does anyone have any experience of fitting aftermarket items to front and/or rear - WITHOUT drilling holes!!

Many thanks

 They don't seem it...they are. Two options to consider are 1) Buy from the USA - somewhere like Mazdastuff.com which would save you about £30-40 an end depending on exchange rates and carriage costs - currently stand at $162.50. This is how I got my rear ones or 2) go to SG Petch and order genuine front and rears unpainted for £58+VAT per pair and spray them up say gloss black. Both options get you Mazda flaps cheaper. Hope that helps.

Cheers Col

Well, I managed to find a source for the excellent Cannon Bodyguards, at a fraction of the price of the Mazda items. Maybe won't look quite as nice, but at least should save some muddy trousers and sill damage.

When I've figured how to fit them (it looks as if the wheelarch liners are hiding flanges around the wheelarches) I'll pop a couple of piccies up in case anyone else is interested.

I bought mine in the US from Montgomery Mazda.  The came ready painted to match the car and are really easy to fit.

They were a fraction of the UK Mazda price.

eric (et):

I bought mine in the US from Montgomery Mazda.  The came ready painted to match the car and are really easy to fit.

They were a fraction of the UK Mazda price.

Is this "onlinemazdaparts.com", montgomery motors, Charlotte?

 And are they called "splash guards"?

 Do you have the part nos. of the items you obtained?

Many thanks

 Yep. Theres a flange behind the liners that will take a captive nut in a few places as well as the existing threaded holes. The cannon bodyguards maybe aren't colour matched but I doubt many people will notice they're even on.

Eric - I used Mazdastuff.com for my mudflaps but have also found Mazdapart.com who are slightly cheaper. On the rear ones I got clobbered for VAT (15%) and the carriage was a bit pricey but still saved £20.

Cheers Col

rmurphy195:

Is this "onlinemazdaparts.com", montgomery motors, Charlotte?

 And are they called "splash guards"?

 Do you have the part nos. of the items you obtained?

Many thanks

Yes, that's the place, I bought mine in August 2008 and the cost was $160.80 plus $53 .00 shipping.  I didn't get charged any VAT or import duty on them.  Maybe I was lucky.
Mazda call them Splash Guards but the Invoice listed them as Mud Flap Front & Mud Flap Rear.
The Splash Guards are colour coded and the part number is different by colour.  I didn't realise this and ordered mine by the part no I found online but when they arrived they were black. I did state Stormy Blue in the remarks on the order but they didn't spot that. I sent them back and they were replaced no charge.

I would suggest you e-mail Jason at 'mazdapart@gmail.com' and tell him the parts you require and the colour,  He will then give you the price and the shipping cost.  That way, you should get the right ones first time.

PS - Just checked their web site and they show there as Black.  Cost is $165.00 so they haven't gone up much. There should be a drop down for colour but it didn't work for me.

rmurphy195:

Well, I managed to find a source for the excellent Cannon Bodyguards, at a fraction of the price of the Mazda items. Maybe won't look quite as nice, but at least should save some muddy trousers and sill damage.

When I've figured how to fit them (it looks as if the wheelarch liners are hiding flanges around the wheelarches) I'll pop a couple of piccies up in case anyone else is interested.

Hi, did you end up fitting these aftermarket flaps? I would like to try some rather than pay the silly money Mazda want. Some pics of them fitted would be great

joey:

Hi, did you end up fitting these aftermarket flaps? I would like to try some rather than pay the silly money Mazda want. Some pics of them fitted would be great

No. not yet, for my sins! Too busy at weekends being taxi, odd jobs, hiding from the cold - and getting a chance to drive the car!

Looks like I might be able to use the splashguard mounting screws, on the front at least, but replacing the screws themselves with longer ones.

Here is a link to the product, I hope this helps http://www.cannoncarmats.com/Mudflaps-388-d.html 

They don't use the horrible screw-and-clamp method of cheaper brands, they have a big plastic disc designed to go behind the flange of old-style wheelarches, so the metal is clamped between the rubber of the flap, and the plastic disc, without having to drill the wheelarch. I was confident enough to fit them to a classic Spitfire, with a very expensive paint job, a couple of years ago!

Must stop driving the car and get the odd little jobs done on it .....

Compared to the Mk1 and Mk2 do the Mk3 mudflaps have any benefit at all when it comes to mud?

They seem so small and insignificant compared to previous versions, I can't see them catching anything.

I suppose some non-Mazda mudflaps must exist which can be painted and actually be big enough to deflect mud and rubbish off the sills? 

Thanks for the link and info. They certainly look like they will do the job. It's just hard to tell whether they will look ok and blend in with the car. If there are no taxi runs, the weather improves adn you do get round to it, please post a piccy

joey:

Hi, did you end up fitting these aftermarket flaps? I would like to try some rather than pay the silly money Mazda want. Some pics of them fitted would be great

Yup, I finally got a round chewit.

Mudflaps are attached with stainless steel #8 pozi-flange screws and 4mm penny washers. All just attached to the wheelarch liners, not trouble at all. Fronts needed the wheels turning onto full lock, rear wheels I had to remove. I peeled back the front wheelarch liners to make sure I wasn't going to hit metal, the rears you can see if you stick your head underneath - it's all plastic!.

This is what the front N/S wheelarch looks like

And here's the results. I put plastic bags under the front wheels to allow the steering to be turned easily from lock-to-lock. Not much needed in the way of tools as you can see!

 Hi, Like your idea with the Cannons, they look fine.

Did you have to drill into the bodywork at all (Front and Rear)? - Wht will the car look like if you remove them?

You say they are just attached to the wheel arch liners - are these strong enough for the flange screws (I take it they are self tappers)?

Have these flaps ripped off or fallen off the car?

Finally, do they work?

Thanks

 Hi there - I thoghht this one had died out!

Seriously though, in answer to your questions

• Nope, no drilling into bodywork, I don't like doing this (or using metal clamps) for a number of reasons. One of course is the corrosion aspect, and the second is - if I do get a mudflap trapped, I feel it's better to have a self-tapper come out of a thin bit of plastic, than do more serious damage! I can then enlarge the hole and use a bigger self-tapper.
• Yup, they are just attached to the wheel arch liners. There are holes of course, but I would have no reason to take them off - if I sold the car they would stay with it
• Yes, they do work, within the limitations of their height of course. The fronts in particular leave my trousers a bit cleaner (cos there's less muck sprayed onto the sills). The rears do reduce the amount of spray seen in the mirrors - which as ever helps rear visibility in grotty conditions. Winter tyres particularly throw up a lot of muck, less of which ends up on the underside of the car.
• Nope, They haven't fallen off the car. They would only get ripped off if I trapped them on a kerb or somesuch, esp the rear ones, when reversing. But they are flexible enought to scrape a speed bump without issues.

For the fitting I got the idea from my old Astra - the official VX mudflaps fit to the rear wheelarch liners in exactly the same way as I have fitted these to the MX5, and I covered over 100,000 miles with those on with no issues at all.

They do get grubby of course, but a quick wizz over with Back-to-Black works wonders. I hope this helps.

Any idea if the liner screws can be replaced by longer ones and used to secure flaps?