OK guys I am tired of the crud on my car!! No I'm not talking about dirt, I'm talking about those black stripes on my car!!

The black side skirt near the bottom, the black plastic line in the middle, and the 2 thin black linesan inchabove the door handle that run all the way from the taillights to the headlights - I want em gone!

Does anyone know the easiest (and cheapest) way of painting these? I think I asked a similar question a while ago but, I'm not the really do-it-yourself kind of person. If it involves getting plastic and taping the entire side of the car and spraying the desired areas with the matching paint color, I just dont see myself doing that, as I have no experience at all. Last thing I want would be to take it to a body shop and have them charge me $XXX amount for a seemingly simple few lines painted to match my silver paint. Any help, ideas, or opinions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Here's a recent pic:

Oh, and the bottom sideskirt isn't as black as it really is, it's just caked with dirt





[IMG]local://upfiles/26236/B820425C9F2A445CB9A7DD1360F28DB5.jpg[/IMG]

 

Well, the good news is (if I recall right), those pinstripes along the body line of the car are just stickers, and can be removed using a hairdryer to heat them up so you can peel them off. You might need to use some Goo Gone to remove any excess adhesive.

The bad news is that the sideskirts and those bumper pads on the door are a bit more difficult to do yourself. You can remove the sideskirts and paint them, but matching color might be difficult. I tried removing the bumper pads from my 4 door, and I only succeeded in breaking one. There are some bolts on the inside that hold them on. Once you remove those, they have clips that allow them to pop off. If anyone here can help you on that part, it might be easier than I think.

In theory, if you can get all those parts off the car and onto some newspaper, priming and painting them is no big deal, even with no DIY skills. Buying some Duplicolor rattle cans isn't an expensive venture.

Anyone else have some ideas?

 

ok i'll try to take off those pinstripes, but as for the sideskirt and i guess the bumper pad as you call them, could they simply be painted without having to take them off?

 

You could, but you need a lot of tape, and its going to be harder to paint all the area's,I guarantee you will miss some spots around the edges and so on,but yes it can be done...but still your #1 option would be to take them off and paint.

 

IMO take the skirts off to paint them. As far as getting them colormatched....take your paint code to an automotive paint supply store and they can mix a color that will match. Also (at least as places I've been to) you can take something from the car in...say the fuel door...and they have a machine that will scan it and produce the info they need to match the color. If you paint and have the tools to do so, you know what to do from there. If not...they should be able to put your paint into an arysol can and you can spray them yourself. Make sure you clean them well and use a primer first.

 

great! thanks for the tips guys. once my lip comes in i'll do everything at once and post some pics!