mx5cartalk.com

Hello comrades!

I'm recreating the stickers from the SP with the help of a graphic designer. I'm being very pedantic and they will be as close to the originals as is possible. Below is the current progress. The colours may look off but that is because metallic finishes are part of the sticker and not the colours in illustrator.

The wreath is still a WIP

Most of the SPs have had the gearknob replaced due to wear, tarnishing and the shift pattern sticker yellowing. The first of the stickers I'll be getting made will be the shift pattern. I know many of you have replaced the knob and gotten the more modern metallic shift pattern sticker with it but if you would like to have the original shift pattern let me know.

The other images will still be a while before I get stickers that I can share out, but if you're interested let me know. Because they're all metallic I need to find someone who can print the correct colours.

93?

lambertius, have you checked with Mazda Australia to ascertain which stickers used in the SP may still be available? I wouldn't be surprised if the only one still available is the rear beaver 'SP' sticker - last I heard they were still available, but that was last year. Some of the other stickers look fairly generic, & could already have been reproduced, so check ebay etc. But some are specific & may not have been.
If none or some of the stickers aren't available, then contact Mazda Australia on <1800034411>, or <CustomerServiceEnq@mazda.com.au>, explain the situation & ask if they're happy for you to get the stickers reproduced. If they're happy for this to occur, ask them who originally produced the stickers, & if that company is still around, ask Mazda Australia if they'll give their permission for that company to reproduce the stickers.
You will need to coordinate, facilitate & deconflict production, purchase & distribution, but it's been done in the past successfully for other stickers with all parties happy with the process & result. I don't know who produced the rear beaver 'SP' sticker, but I note that the following has done work for Mazda Australia as is evident from their display of 'loyal customers' half way down this page: <https://www.kemsigns.com.au/>.

I tried calling Mazda Australia, and spoke to them last year as well as a few different dealerships I knew had the SP stickers in the recent past but so far as I can tell, they're completely NLA.

When I was dealing with them previously it does seem to me that most of the information regarding the SP project is buried away or disposed of as it took quite a while to find anyone who was even familiar with the car. It won't hurt to try again and see if I can figure out who the original sign writer was, but at the same time I'm confident that these will be 100% on point by the time I'm done so it isn't critical. The stickers on my car are all in good condition so I had a very good reference point to work from. I'm doing this more as a future proofing exercise.

Personally i'd just do them myself like you are, and skip the Mazda contact part.
It's not like you're doing a commercial quantity of them.

If you do want to contact them though, maybe see if you can track down someone who can put you in touch with Allan Horsley, the guy who put the SP together originally.
My understanding is that the SP didn't really have a huge amount of input from Mazda themselves, it was more of an independent thing that they signed off on at the end (hence the low production numbers)

lambertius wrote:...see if I can figure out who the original sign writer was...

I've PM'd lambertius with following & additional info, but for others, I spoke with Kemsigns yesterday & they advised that they didn't produce the SP rear beaver sticker.

I'm not sure if you're aware, but the rear sticker was produced in 2 parts. I have a spare "set" which was sent to me from someone in Dromana, Victoria back in 2009. The kit includes the 2 decals plus an installation template and fitting instructions. Unfortunately there is no mention of the originator.

hks_kansei wrote:Personally i'd just do them myself like you are, and skip the Mazda contact part.
It's not like you're doing a commercial quantity of them.

If you do want to contact them though, maybe see if you can track down someone who can put you in touch with Allan Horsley, the guy who put the SP together originally.
My understanding is that the SP didn't really have a huge amount of input from Mazda themselves, it was more of an independent thing that they signed off on at the end (hence the low production numbers)

Daniel Deckers (Deckspeed, forum sponsor) was also involved, he might know something about them.

MX5-SP wrote:I'm not sure if you're aware, but the rear sticker was produced in 2 parts. I have a spare "set" which was sent to me from someone in Dromana, Victoria back in 2009. The kit includes the 2 decals plus an installation template and fitting instructions. Unfortunately there is no mention of the originator.

Do you still have the installation template? I wouldn't mind a few photos of it! I have my original sticker and it is in good condition, so I'm basing it off of that as a two part sticker.

I've put my graphics design work to its first bit of use, having gotten my seats done! The embroidery is based on the graphics work for the rear decal and sized to be the same as what is in the original floor mats. Embroidery has come a long way since 2002 and the work is considerably more detailed than the original mats. I'm getting some mats made up for another forum member using this embroidery!

I took the whole interior out to clean it (including the dash board) as it was a bit neglected and very very dusty. I shampooed all the carpets and steam cleaned all the plastic parts. I also took some time to install some footwell lights which is what is lighting up the car in the photos.

That looks fantastic.

lambertius wrote:Do you still have the installation template? I wouldn't mind a few photos of it! I have my original sticker and it is in good condition, so I'm basing it off of that as a two part sticker.

I've spoken with Mazda Australia & if you contact them via <1800034411> or <customersupport@mazda.com.au> anytime between 830am & 5pm Monday to Friday, & ask for their 'Heritage' person, that person I'm told will be able to sell you an SP rear sticker.

The installation template supplied with the replacement stickers is not quite right - the height of the replacement is incorrect to original - if your original sticker is still in place take some measurements before you replace it.

bigdog wrote:The installation template supplied with the replacement stickers is not quite right - the height of the replacement is incorrect to original - if your original sticker is still in place take some measurements before you replace it.

I'll make a new template for everyone.

I ended up getting a rear SP sticker from Mazda Heritage for anyone else who is curious, 93 was correct.

I'm getting the engine bay Mazda Motorsport Decal remade currently. I had to order in a metallic silver vinyl to do it and there was a minimum order volume of 10, so I will have spares. If anyone would like one please send me a PM.

I'll post up a photo of the finished product in a few weeks once I receive everything. I will also get that template for the rear SP sticker resolved.

Cheers

Good to hear Mazda Heritage were able to supply the rear sticker.