Ghetto sideskirt paintjob ideas

[SuberStar]

I'm sure that I am missing something here, but it would seem that I could take off my stock (black) sideskirts and spraypaint them for $5, instead of paying $200ish for professionaliy painted sideskirts?

NO SIDE STEPS: I realize you have a "friend" who can paint it for $150 or whatever, that is NOT the point.

Can I spraypaint the sides?

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[4wheelflyer]

you will have a hard time matching the paint, what I would worry about is the durability of the paint job ,unless you have expierence in auto painting I would get a pro to do it , they can prep it properly and make sure the paint is matched and the clear coat is thick

[gtguy]

The side skirts are plastic and pebble-grained. There is a particular flex agent necessary to stabilize the surface so that it will hold the paint. I have seen D-I-Y side skirts, and they just don't look particularly nice. Even cheapo jobs by body shops don't look anywhere near as nice as the Subaru factory-painted skirts, which are remarkably durable. I've had some on for more than a year, with no chips, scratches or anything. Nice stuff.

Kevin

[Zola]

A good DIY paint job will cost you $75 or more if you don't skimp on materials. You'll need good paint (http://www.paintworldinc.com), adhesion promoter, materials for sanding all the texture off the sideskirts, clear coat, a tack cloth or two, etc etc.

I agree with Kevin to an extent...upon close inspection in bright sunlight, you can tell mine were self-painted. But you'd need to be close enough for me to get suspicious about what you were looking at. People who don't know that I did them just assume they are factory. I do admit I could have done better, had I used rubbing compound and put another couple coats of clear on. But I maintain that the key is preparation...with quality prep your paint will stick just fine--and there are multiple cars around here proving that point every day.

Joel

[classvi]

I painted mine this past spring. It's not hard to get matching paint, just go to an automotive paint shop and give them your paint code, they can mix it up in a spray bomb (spray paint can) Mine looked great for about 2 months and then started to peel in areas. I then just broke down and bought pre-painted sides, stripped the old ones and now I have some winter skirts. Moral of my rant is it's probably better to either order painted skirts or get a pro to do it. I spent an extra $60approx. Canadian and in the end had to strip it all off anyways.

[mach_six]

Try using this stuff as the primer, looks like this crap really sticks and won't peel. I haven't tried this but will get some to paint my plastic trim.

Link

I would say if you have the equipment then buy your own paint. But if not then might as well pay places to do it. I think with a spray paint you may accidently overspray too much and it'll drip. At least with an spray gun, you can get finer spray and avoid them more.

[Turbo X]

Just look around for the right bodyshop to do the work. I paid $80 for both my side skirts painted a year ago, no chip/fade and the color match perfect! Yeah, you can also do it yourself but you gotta know what you're doing (sand the skirts, paint it and clear coat.) and the quality/match paint cost some $$$ too. BTW, it doesn't make sense to pay like $200 to get the skirts painted 'cause the pre-painted OEM ones cost about the same. Late.

[Ride Operator]

Joel has a good point.


Just look around, you can probably find a repair-paint-autobody shop to paint your sideskirts for around $100. I got mine done for $100 about a year and 1/2 ago, they have held up really well, no chipping, only blemishes I have are scratches from road debris (been to a few track days too).

[kenchan]

might wanna do a search on it especially for silvers.

[stirex]

Ken-
you should open up shop....I know three 01G people interested in getting theirs painted

[sonicblue]

IIRC, the OEM colored side skirts are a different material, so that's why they look better than painted plastic. I painted mine myself for about $50 in materials. I sanded very well and used a grey flexible primer that filled in any remaining pebble-grain. The color on mine matches VERY, VERY well. Up close, it doesn't quite have the metallic sheen of the rest of the OEM paint job, but outside of 2 feet, you can't tell. I have a couple scuffs from my little boy and other kicks it's taken, but it hasn't chipped the paint at all.

IMO, the additional return from spending another $100 or more on pro painting or OEM side skirts isn't worth it.

BTW, it seem paint shops are very hit or miss. I've heard several people say that either a shop won't touch them because "they're plastic" or have gotten quotes nowhere near $100.

[DISCOPOPE]

i did my friends plastic bodywork on his kawasaki.
sand, spray primer, sand, spray color, spray color, spray clear.
you just have to be carefull and take it slow and easy when spraying. stay back a fair distance from it and let it fall on the product.

if you mess up with the color layer the gloss will just make it more ugly. so get the color layer 100% perfect first.

[SuberStar]

Thanks guys, I don't know if I will DIY or buy some real ones, but I wanted the skinny on it. Thanks.

[yjack]

Too much trouble.. One of the venders has the OEM painted skirts for sale for 166$.. You can sell your unpainted one for about 50$.. so basicly you only pay about 120$ for the painted skirts.. Just not worth the time and trouble to save that extra 50$ to DIY, and no matter how good the DIY is, the quality will never match the real OEM one.

[MattJP]

IMO, I'd pony up the bucks to have a pro do it. A really worth it appearance mod for sure!

Matt -

[Dick Fitzwell]

who has the best price on the factory painted ones?

[Infymus]

SPI has them for $220 painted. They're OEM parts, but I don't know who paints them. I don't know if they come from the factory painted (from Suby). Lots of times these come in black and then some else paints them. If they don't get it right, you're right back where you started.

http://www.spimotorsports.com/Catalo...rts_550987.htm

[yjack]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=416885

I bought mine from W&L Subarufor 166. But the special ended
already.

[kenchan]

Originally posted by stirex
Ken-
you should open up shop....I know three 01G people interested in getting theirs painted

hahaha, should've done that in the summer time when
i was painting the lip on my old protege5. too cold now
to do it in the garage. need atleast 65F for proper adhesion.

[Dick Fitzwell]

thx for the links guys, i will check em out. even $220 isnt that bad, especially for how well the paint seems to hold up.