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Painting Sideskirts

20K views 58 replies 27 participants last post by  pweizman 
#1 ·
I painted my sideskirts a few days ago. I got all the supplies for the at Paint World and found out how to do it from this thread. Your paint code is located on top of your driver's side strut tower.

A few things I might add about painting the sideskirts. If I were to do it again I would sand them first to get a smoother texture and I would add a few extra coats of clear coat. I would also not drop them during the drying process.






side skirts
 
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#9 ·
blue03beast said:
looks nice man! is that just in a spray can, or two stage? i know they can mix paint for you and put it in a spray can,might not look as good but its not very big and would be alot easier! :thumbup:
Not sure exactly what you meant but, yes it was in a spray can from pantworldinc. and it was the silver for my car. But the adhesion promotor and clearcoat were seperate.
 
#17 ·
1. Clean them with Dawn detergent. That will get everything off it.
2. You don't really have to sand it as those little imperfections will help the paint stick and also the paint will level out if you put enough coats on.
3. Spray the adhesion promotor on
4. Wait about 5-10 minutes for the adhesion promotor to get tacky. Then spray on the primer. I put 1 coat of primer on it. . .just enough to cover the plastic.
5. Spray on the paint. . .allowing 10-15 minutes in between coats for the paint to dry. I put on 6 coats.
6. Spray on the clear. . .again allowing 10-15 minutes between coats. I put 3 coats of clear.
7. Wait at least 3 days for the paint to harden.
8. Use rubbing compound to bring the paint to a shine. Then use some polish and wax.

You can wet sand the primer coat if you want to smoothen it out. If you do wet sand, you'll have to respray primer when you're done to give it an even coat. I would also do 2 coats of primer before wetsanding to give it more paint depth so you don't sand down to the plastic.

Calvin
 
#22 ·
Time to revive this thread!! So this weekend i will be painting my sideskirts(silver) and just have a few questions before i do so :wiggles: Do you really need primer? When applying the actual base coat and clear coat, do you apply the basecoats first than apply the clearcoats or do you spay the clearcoat in between basecoats? Do you really need to wait 3 days after painting to back on the sideskirts? I'm a noob when it comes to painting so any other tips are appreciated :p
 
#23 ·
WRXmex said:
Time to revive this thread!! So this weekend i will be painting my sideskirts(silver) and just have a few questions before i do so :wiggles: Do you really need primer? When applying the actual base coat and clear coat, do you apply the basecoats first than apply the clearcoats or do you spay the clearcoat in between basecoats? Do you really need to wait 3 days after painting to back on the sideskirts? I'm a noob when it comes to painting so any other tips are appreciated :p
don't forget the adhesion promoter like "Bulldog"
 
#24 ·
WRXmex said:
Time to revive this thread!! So this weekend i will be painting my sideskirts(silver) and just have a few questions before i do so :wiggles: Do you really need primer? When applying the actual base coat and clear coat, do you apply the basecoats first than apply the clearcoats or do you spay the clearcoat in between basecoats? Do you really need to wait 3 days after painting to back on the sideskirts? I'm a noob when it comes to painting so any other tips are appreciated :p
I don't remember, is silver a pearl? If it's a pearl, remember to not sand the last coat of it, if you plan on wet sanding at all, cause you'll take off all the pearl. And if you do sand it, be careful. I have sensitive skin, and the pearl in the paint when it got on my arms from wet sanding gave me a rash that looked like I had the plague. Seriously, I just had a bad case of poison ivy, and it was a ****ing joke compared the hell the pearl paint put on me.

Do the base coat then the clear, look at the cans for how long to wait between coats of each, and between going from paint to clear. Wait a good while before putting them back on. Painters often accelerate the cure time with UV booths. You can put them out in the sun if you like. Don't wax them for a month after painting, cause it can trap gasses that come out during the curing proccess, according to some paint experts somewhere, so who knows if it's really true or not.
 
#25 ·
Yep i already have the bulldog adhesion promoter. My wrx is metallic silver. I'm not too familiar with wet sanding so i might just skip this process, but if it makes the end result much better, i might just have to do it :p How many coats of clearcoat should i use?Thanks for all the help :D
 
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