All right, gentlemen. After a long hiatus of not owning an RX-8. I am returning to the fold. I am going to be the proud owner of an '04 black GT model, loaded - upgraded from the touring model I owned before :-).

The car comes with the factory plastic sunroof visor that I am not crazy about (I never really liked them). What is the safest way to remove it without damaging the paint. Your advise is appreciated.

 

If you're buying the car from the dealership, I would just make them remove it.

 

I agree. The only thing is, if the deflector has been up there a while chances are there will be some minor scratches in the paint where debris has gotten under the rubber. I had mine on for about 12K and you can definately tell that the deflector was there.

Congrats on your re-aquisition!

 

I think a really good claybar/buff job could get most of those marks out

-hS

 

^It will. That's what I had to do after I removed mine. Works really well.

As far as removing the deflector, there are two screws on top. Loosen them enough so that the deflector brackets clear the lip. Pull it back and off the car. Should take less than 3 minutes.

 

Thanks, guys, don't know how long the deflector has been there, but I'm a detailing king. Clay bar, Meguiars Fine Cut Cleaner, or maybe the new Zaino scratch remover will do the job if there are any issues.

 

Yeah and the fact your 8 is black just seems to magnify those little scratches. When I removed mine it looked pretty bad but after one afternoon of claybaring and buffing all of it came out, can't tell it was ever there. Good luck!

 

I removed my wind deflector tonight after much forethought. Two screws loosened and the clips came off, it lifted easily. No marks in the paint that didn't come out with a couple wipes of wax and a quick buff. Beautiful.

The car is an '07 that I bought BN in March, 3200 miles, garaged when not being driven. Sunlight silver.

Afterwards I took it out for a spin to see what the effect would be. There is much more wind noise, and at high speed there is turbulance near the opening. The little metal pop-up deflector is obviously not sufficient, thus Mazda's plexiglass deflector which in retrospect did it's job admirably.

But the improved looks is worth it, and were I to take a long road trip in summer, I can always re-install the deflector. Very easily done.

 

Yay for bringthing threads back to life. I was thinking about removing my wind deflector, for appearances sake of course, but was a little confused at the approach. I understand that there are two screws and I'm pretty sure I can get those off, and the clips I could probably figure out. But once these are removed, aren't there going to be two screw holes left in the top of my car? Can someone explain this in a little more detail before I remove it? Thanks.

'05 White MT 15K miles.

 

And seven years later, I'm still looking for the reply.
Remove two screws ... where did the holes go?