DIY: Side Skirt Painting
 

DISCLAIMER:

I am not responsible for the final outcome. (For those of you who try this out)

Materials:

- Automotive Goo Gone
- Scrubbing Brush
- Plastic Primer
- Plastic Clear Coat
- Honda Paint
- 400 Grit Sand Paper
- Couple of rags
- Garbage Bags

I picked up most of the stuff from Home Depot, and the Honda Paint from Car Quest.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...atpaint6wi.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rppaint2uu.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...cprimer3rb.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ndpaper5me.jpg

Procedure:

Find a place in which there is decent ventilation as the fumes can be toxic.

Lay down a couple of garbage bags, on which you are going to paint on.

1. Take off the skirts from you car. There normally are 5 screws underneath the car, and 2 on the two sides. Push skirt away from you (towards the rear end), and the skirts should come off with ease.

2. Clean them up. Wash off all dirt, grease, grim etc. Spray some Automotive Goo Gone, and take a brush and scrub. Once you think they are clean enough, you may start sanding.

3. Take your 400 girt sand paper, and start sanding. You may add water to help with the sanding process. Try and get rid of any imperfections in the plastic, because you don’t want to rely on the paint to fill them up.

4. Wash the skirts again. Dry them off with some rags.

5. Wait about 5 minutes. Start priming the skirts. Take the plastic primer, and start spraying thin even coats of paint. LESS IS MORE. I put about two coats of primer on mine. Wait about 5 minutes between the first and second coat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../primed0ro.jpg

6. Wait about 20 minutes before you start this step. Take your Honda paint, and start spaying thin even coats of paint onto the skirts. LESS IS MORE. After putting each coat, wait about 10-15 minutes. I did 4 coats of Camellia Red Pearl.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tstage20nr.jpg
Note the first or second coat should not complete cover all the primer.

After three coats:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tstage10fd.jpg

7. Wait another 20 minutes, and you can now start spraying thin even coats of clear onto the skirts. After one coat, wait about 15 minutes and then move onto the final coat. Try and make this last coat as thick as possible without and dripping.

8. Wait another 30 minutes, and you should be ready to mount them on your car.

9. Reverse step one, and mount the skirts onto your car.

10. Stand back and admire your couple hours of hard work.

TIP: Spray at consistent length from the object. Say between 6" to 8", but keep it even the whole way. Move at consistent speed. Spray from before the start of the skirt to past the end of it.

I will be mounting them on my car later tonight or tomorrow morning as it has started to rain. I will post up some pics of the final result.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../final17wn.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../final21lt.jpg

Final pics as promised.

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I went down to Ajax Car Quest yesterday, 2 hours before close, and I was turned away. Damn worker there said he has to start closing the store. Good thing I was already in the area, otherwise I would have been pretty pissed off.

I called up Markham Car Quest this morning, and their paint person is out of town until Monday.

I called up Concord Car Quest around noon and they helped me out with no problem. I went there and they made the can for me in literally 5 minutes. I was very pleased with their service. I also mentioned to them about my dealings with some of the other locations.

Oh, one last thing, the can of paint is roughly 32 dollars after tax.

is this a temp fix or permanent?

rattle can primer/paint/clear wont look anywhere as good as the quality you get from a spray gun and also wont last as long.

... can this place get any honda paint colour in a can?

Its here to stay for now. I know its not gonna match the quality of a spray gun thats why its a DIY. The reason why I did it, was becuase my drivers side happened to go missing second time in a row. I didnt fell like paying a shop to do something so small.

And BB, yes car quest can get any OEM paint code in a can.

thts great to know wonder if theres one close to me?
n e how nice write up...

Thanks.

Ajax one. Just dont go 2 hours before close.

Looks very nice DP! And great write up too! I might try it someday on my si lip!

got any finished pics?

should post em.

carquest or sherwin williams for those east of TO

sherwin williams AUTOMOVE.. dont go to the house one they wont have it

sherwinwilliams automotive.. .there is one on milner near markham rd

They will be up tomorrow morning. It been raining.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/9365/final17wn.jpg
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/310/final21lt.jpg

Final pics as promised.

I went to the CarQuest on Dixie. Check on the website for which ones have paint shops.

NOTE: I painted a grill last week in Flamenco Black Pearl and it didn't seem to have the blue sparkles that my OEM FBP paint had. This was fom the Dixie one.

I got paint for my old Cypress Green sedan at the Concord place a few times and it was a near perfect match; as good as I was gonna get for DIY.

So, remember that results may vary with location and paint code.

Also, this is a great DIY for small, inconspicuous parts like skirts and lips, maybe mirrors or a grill. Chances are it will look off if you attempt paint your trunk or bumper with it.

EDIT: BTW, Good Write Up D. Looks nice!

Looks great DP! Do you think I could use the same method to paint my side moulding??

Yeah JJ, it should be easier since the surface area is much smaller.

Just remember, JJ, that the side moulding is in direct contrast to the entire side of the car. So, if it doesn't match perfectly you will notice. The beauty of the skirts is that they are low to the ground and don't stand out so much.

Also, your car is red and red is prone to fading, so be careful. You can always just sand it off and get some black bumper paint to put it back to the stock, flat black look.

Nice Job dude.:thumbup:

I'd let it sit out in the sun for about a day to really bake the paint to cure fully. Then apply 3M film to protect it from chips etc.