Back in 2015 I did this the easy way on our previous Miata. I bought a $20 stripe kit from Advance Auto and spent a couple hours carefully trimming and squeegeeing tiny air bubbles out of the vinyl…

Blackout

Paint and body wizard Andrew P. Schank covers a fast but
major tweak you can make to your MX-5’s visual character.

As a paint-and-body guy, the first thing I notice when I see a Miata is the windshield pillar. Mazda had to make it strong, and that meant they also made it big. So in bright colors especially, I think that wide, bodycolor header rail makes the car look like a 1/43rd-scale model—it just seems out of place. The solution is surprisingly simple: Paint the A-pillars and header rail satin black. This dark, nonreflective color visually shrinks whatever it touches, leaving the whole Miata looking lower, sleeker, and more exotic. It’s a minor cosmetic operation that makes a major difference in the customized look of the car. Here’s all there is to it:

1. The header rubber and A-pillar seals are all one piece. To remove it, unscrew the top latches, take off the rearview mirror, and loosen the black-plastic trim on the inside of the header rail. Also loosen the sill plates. Now pry out the two plastic plugs holding the seals to the header at the top corners of the windshield—there’s actually a special tool for this, but you can also get them out with gentle coaxing from a large flat-bladed screwdriver.

2. Now degrease the A-pillar and windshield header inside and out using a commercial degreasing solvent and lint-free paper shop towels (both are available at your local auto paint supply store). Repeat this process two or three times before proceeding—this is a greasy, silicone-laden area, and it won’t take paint until all the goop has been removed.

3. After degreasing, mask off the exterior windshield beading with a very tight strip of 1/4-inch tape (also found at your paint store). Err on the beading side if you have to; the last. thing you want is a sliver of red or white paint showing after you’re done. Now move on to the bottoms of the A-pillars, where you’ll run a straight, horizontal masking strip about an inch below the dashboard line. For a clean, factory look, close the doors and peer into the crack: If you can’t see the tape, your cutoff line is far enough down the pillar. Finally, mask off the inside of the header rail well below the level that will be covered by the interior trim.

4. After taping off the beading, header rail, and pillars, use 320 to 360 grit sandpaper to rough up the surfaces you’ll be painting. This will give the new color something to grab onto. When you’re done with the sanding, degrease and clean the entire area one more time.

5. Here’s the critical part: Mask off just about the rest of the car. Overspray is insidious stuff, and it gets almost everywhere. I like to throw an old car cover over the body from the seats to the back, then protect everything else with broad, top-quality masking tape and professional-grade masking paper (again from your paint store). One short roll of 18 inch paper will be plenty. Oh, and never use newspapers for masking—modern solvents go right through them, and the newsprint creates a lot of lint.

6. Now you’re ready to start shooting paint. If you’re lucky enough to have your own spray rig, I recommend a professional two-part primer like PPG DP90 with DP402 hardener. That means wearing a mask and cleaning a lot of equipment, though, so second best is a rattle-can of top-quality, extra-durable flat-black primer from your auto-paint supplier. (In truth, you can skip the primer step altogether and go straight to the color coat if you have to. Primer greatly increases the final coats’ durability, and this area does get a lot of chips and dings—on the other hand, satin black is a snap to repair, so longevity may not matter to you. Just fogging in a few light coats will re-cover any blemishes without seriously altering the finish.)

7. After you’ve shot two medium-thin coats of primer and allowed them to dry, you’re ready for the color coats. I like to use Mar-Hyde Satin Black trim paint for this job, though SEM makes a similar rattle-can product that seems just as tough—what you’re after here is any extremely durable, professional-grade paint. In any case, all satin-finish spray cans require a whole lot of shaking. Because of the heavy flatteners inside, when the directions say “shake for two minutes after the ball starts to rattle,” they’re not kidding around. An incompletely shaken can will only give you the light, thin solvents at the top, and waves and fish-eyes will result.

8. Satin finishes are also very sensitive to spray density. It’s definitely better to shoot three or four light, fogged-on coats than trying to hose on a single heavy layer. If you build up too much paint too fast, the finish will be shinier than you want and not very durable. It’ll also be glossy where you really puddled it up and flat where it’s thinner—that’s why multiple light coats give a nice, even finish.

9. After your final color coat has dried about ten or 15 minutes, take off all the masking tape. Don’t let it go too long or you might lift off a chip of paint while removing the tape. The painted surface should be left indoors to cure and harden overnight before reinstalling all the trim and weatherstripping.

10. Once all the masking tape and papers are removed, check all around the car for overspray—it may appear as nothing more than a slightly rough finish to some previously smooth panels. To remove any overspray, try wiping the area down with bug-and-tar cleaner first. This may dull the shine, but it won’t hurt the existing paint—you can just re-polish the area later if you need to. Tougher over-spray can be removed by rubbing out the affected area with a medium-grit cleaning or polishing compound.

11. After the header and pillars are totally dry, re-install the trim parts and you’re ready for the road. As with most painting tasks, there’s nothing terribly difficult here; all it takes is careful preparation and scrupulous attention to keeping everything clean. Best of all, your Miata will suddenly stand out from the crowd—not a bad afternoon’s work!