Sill (scuff) plates causing rust?

Gazbo · Postby **Gazbo** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:24 pm

My '93 NA6 has the Mazda sill plates fitted, the sharp edge of one seems to have scratched the paint on the sill, and now rust has appeared.

I read on the UK Owners Club forum that this was an issue, and Mazda actually issued a recall and repaired the sills. There was also talk of a rubber backing used in a later design.

Anyone heard of this in Aus?

I'm thinking of pulling the sill plates off and treating the rust spots before it gets any worse.

Surely moisture does get trapped under those plates?

Gazbo · Postby **Gazbo** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:40 pm

Found this info:
4) Quite a lot of '5s had stainless steel kickplates added to protect the sills from damage. Unfortunately they themselves have caused damage to the paint work. The plates sit on the sills and lip up and over the seam where the sill meets the floor pan. At the leading edges - both front and rear - the plates touch the paint work on the sill and this metal to metal contact, coupled with movement during usage, has caused bubbling of the paint. This is very localised and is surface not structural, in fact it only looks unsightly really. It's worth pointing this out if it's on one you find and agreeing with the dealer to have the plates removed and the area treated and repainted prior to purchase. If the car still has warranty this should be fixed under that. The fix is to lift off these edges with a piece of plastic or non-absorbent / closed cell foam. The new plates have a strip of rubber underneath to prevent this occurring. Make sure the dealer replaces the plates with this raising piece if this needs to be done. Ask to be shown this has been carried out otherwise it's back to square one!

JSE · Postby **JSE** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:09 pm

My factory \"Roadster\" scuff plates are doing this and causing rust

pcmx5 · Postby **pcmx5** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:51 am

This is one of the reasons a few of us bought the black plastic sill protectors, together with the fact that they were cheaper(Around $70 Aus shipped,I think)

Peter

jules · Postby **jules** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:58 am

I've got the genuine MX-5 fooly sik scuff plates on Malibu. They came with some adhesive backed closed cell poly foam, so I guess these updated items have been used here in Aus.

No problems yet

Jules

Gazbo · Postby **Gazbo** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:24 pm

pcmx5 wrote:This is one of the reasons a few of us bought the black plastic sill protectors, together with the fact that they were cheaper(Around $70 Aus shipped,I think)

Peter

Where did you get these from?

jules · Postby **jules** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:58 pm

Here??

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&item=220017895427&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Jules

sharyl · Postby **sharyl** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:12 pm

I've got \"roadster\" scuff plates and I haven't noticed any rust.... I'll have a closer inspection later though

Gazbo · Postby **Gazbo** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:05 pm

Oh, standard plastic sills... I thought you were talking about a plastic version of the steel sill plates (ie. full sill width)

pcmx5 · Postby **pcmx5** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:26 am

Gazbo wrote:
pcmx5 wrote:This is one of the reasons a few of us bought the black plastic sill protectors, together with the fact that they were cheaper(Around $70 Aus shipped,I think)

Peter

Where did you get these from?

Ours were just like the stainless but plastic and embossed with MX5 .

We got them from MM Marketing of the big US forum, Marketplace.

Peter.