Re: painting nasty factory side skirts

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jrockcentral1

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Okay boys, I was thinking about painting my unattractive factory side skirts and rear valence on my '01 (got a mach one CS sittin' pretty in the front).
I have primer and the correct paint color, used it before and it matches fine. I took a gander and it seems simple enough to take them on and off, and I know it would definately match the silver better, and I might trim the rear valence to get some exhaust tips in there.

SO.... has anyone done this before and ran into problems I might overlook? I just want to make sure I'm prepared for anything so I don't end up riding around sans skirts/valence. :cool:

Thanks for the input
 
It may not be as easy as you think to paint those. The plastic on the lower moldings is a oily type of platic and will need some good prep work before any type of primer will even stick to it.

You will have to use some wax stripper
http://www.levineautoparts.com/buabbucl.html
then an adhesive promoter
http://www.levineautoparts.com/buladprom.html
then some flexible primer made for plastic, and last some good paint that has enough flex agent added to it so it flexes with the plastic and doesnt crack.

Its a lot of prep work, you may be better off taking this stuff to a body shop and paying a few bucks more to make sure its done right.

I went through this when I first bought my 04 first hand, its a hassle. I then got rid of the painted moldings and went with the LSE kit all the way.
 
IMO leave it alone....the paint will crack everywhere, do you realy think the black looks bad on the silver? I got the silver sport and it looks nice as far as Im concerned. I also have the sport wich is void of chrome, to me the black and no chrome looks way better than the chrome with paint.
 
well good thing I asked. Thanks for the info and warning 02v8sport.

LSVIPDEMON I really don't like the way it looks now although it would definately look better stock than with cracked silver paint, so i'll push this down on the mod list (yes, I have one lol); do more more research and look into cutting the rear valence to allow for some exhaust tips.

thanks guys
 
Paint em man, it will stick if you prep em good. Painted mine about six months ago with no problems.
 
Nice ride wildstang!! Nice to see people upgrade the 00-02's to the newer styles.

I agree, you can paint them as long as you prep them right. Regular spray paint from the hardware store wont do the trick. I had mine on for about 6 months before the LSE kit w/o cracking or peeling at all.
 
Now that, I like. In his case I would have figured out a way to have painted them also.

That Ls would look sick with my TSW's....is there really that much of a gap between the bumper and lights?
 
There is a member on LLSOC that painted his lower valances front, side and rear. It looked real good and I don't think he had any problems with it. As long as it is prepped and painted correctly you should not have any problems with it. Regardless of paint, rocks know no boundaries when it comes to damaging paint.
 
I would imagine you would need tp primer it and wetsand it enough to make it pretty smooth...those things are pretty rough. My main concerne for you is makeing sure not to bend them before you put it on enough to crack it.....just in case. I know the sides wont bend much but the Mach 1 lip does and so does the rear.

I still love the black with silver, to me it keeps it looking speedy. Maybe its just my wheels that help accent the black, but thats still a nice car wildstang607
 
i got quoted on all the lower valances painted for $275. i am probably gonna get it done in the future, but not right now. and yes wildstang that is a nice looking car
 
LSVIPDEMON said:
I would imagine you would need tp primer it and wetsand it enough to make it pretty smooth...those things are pretty rough. My main concerne for you is makeing sure not to bend them before you put it on enough to crack it.....just in case. I know the sides wont bend much but the Mach 1 lip does and so does the rear.

I still love the black with silver, to me it keeps it looking speedy. Maybe its just my wheels that help accent the black, but thats still a nice car wildstang607
Click to expand...
You have to add flex additive to the paint for items like this.
 
You have to add flex additive to the paint for items like this.
Click to expand...

Yup, but dont that run you a nice amount? Thats what I was told when I wanted to fill the emblem space on my grill. And thats a small area to do.
 
LSVIPDEMON said:
Yup, but dont that run you a nice amount? Thats what I was told when I wanted to fill the emblem space on my grill. And thats a small area to do.
Click to expand...
Shouldn't be an extraordinary amount. Maybe a few bucks per pint.
 
I found a shop that did mine for $150 for all the moldings. I had to have them off the car, but that wasnt hard. Shop around and you will find someone that needs the work.
 
okay, with the added responses (and wildstang's photo :cool: ) I think me and the old man will give this a shot when the weather actually gets nice. :shifty:
b4 and after pics will be up should said event take place
 
I was actually thinking of doing this same thing myself. Gonna have to head to my uncle's body shop and see what the scoop is.
 
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