Repainting Badly Faded Stock Sideskirts 95 Gt

[JDubz50]

Just like the title says, I would like to get these sideskirts repainted. How hard are they to take off without breaking? I have talked to a few body places and have been quoted $300-$500 for the job and that is just me bringing the car to them in the state that it is in. Now I was thinking if I took them off that I would be able to save some money. And is there some prep work like sanding or something that I could do also?

 

[JordanB21]

If its anything like mine which im sure it is then they come off. Mine slowly fell off actually. Theres a screw in the back that holds it into place by the rear tire which is hard to get unless you have a bent head for screwdrivers or a short one.

The harder part is the plastic wedges that hold it into place, all along the top are plastic 'hooks' that you would have to shift up to unhook them and gently pull on it to see their location. There is also plastic wedges that can be seen beneath the car(around 7 or so of them). When I pulled mine I used grips to pull them and it was a bit of a pain.

Once you unhook it and pull out the wedges and take out that screw in the back it'll slide off back and out.

My only notes are that the plastic wedges will likely get messed up and it's probably better to just replace them, especially if some turn out to be missing. If you decide to go through a shop for removal then afterwards inspect to make sure all the screws and wedges are in place right so you don't have to deal with it later.

Sorry for typing so much for a simple side skirt removal. It's pretty self explanatory once you're looking at it. oh and I know nothing of paint prep work.

 

[toyman]

Before removing them I would ensure that any special clips are available. You might ask the body shop if they plan on painting them in place or removing them to paint. That might explain the price difference in the quotes.

 

[JDubz50]

Are these the clips that I would need?
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/item/LRS-10182BK/1994-98-Mustang-Rocker-Molding-Clips

They also had the normal push pin style ones as well.

 

[StadEMS3]

I'd leave them on for that price. I messed up most of my clips trying to get my side skirts off to put on the side exhaust.

 

[Venom351R]

I took my stock side skirts off and broke a bunch but also saved a bunch that are still good. Currently I have no side skirts and I'll get an aftermarket set and 3M Tape them on before I try to get the stock ones with those clips back on if it is anything like how it came off.

 

[JordanB21]

Yes those are the clips, just work slow and avoid breaking any as much as possible. The pins or wedges or w/e are harder to avoid damaging though they'll still work.

 

[Chythar]

Huh, I always thought the side skirts were held on mainly by double-sided tape or something similar. Never tried to remove them to find out for sure. Learn something new every day.

 

[sixt9coug]

Take them off to have them painted. You are gonna break a few clips so get some ready so you can install them later.

Please, don't do any prep work on the skirts if you have never done body work first. I can't tell how many times someone with no experience has tried to make a paint job cheaper by doing their own work yet wound up making the car a ton worse. You might make the body shop have to redo half of what you did in order to make the parts paint ready.

If you were closer, I'd do them for you, but well, you are pretty far away.

 

[Black Stampede]

I JUST had this done to my car. Looked identical to yours, black and all. That is WAAAAYYY too much money. First off they come off hard. You have to really be persuasive with them. I got mine painted 1 skirt painted for 100 bucks and it was done very well by a great company in town. I cannot see paying over 150 max for it. I just got my cobra bumper painted for 200 bucks.

 

[Venom351R]

Huh, I always thought the side skirts were held on mainly by double-sided tape or something similar. Never tried to remove them to find out for sure. Learn something new every day.

nope just two screws on each end of the skirts and a ton of those clips

 

[JDubz50]

Take them off to have them painted. You are gonna break a few clips so get some ready so you can install them later.

Please, don't do any prep work on the skirts if you have never done body work first. I can't tell how many times someone with no experience has tried to make a paint job cheaper by doing their own work yet wound up making the car a ton worse. You might make the body shop have to redo half of what you did in order to make the parts paint ready.

If you were closer, I'd do them for you, but well, you are pretty far away.

Yea I'm definately going to leave the prep to the professionals because I want this to be done the right way.

 

[JDubz50]

I JUST had this done to my car. Looked identical to yours, black and all. That is WAAAAYYY too much money. First off they come off hard. You have to really be persuasive with them. I got mine painted 1 skirt painted for 100 bucks and it was done very well by a great company in town. I cannot see paying over 150 max for it. I just got my cobra bumper painted for 200 bucks.

I think I'm going to have the shop that did some work on my Grand Cherokee earlier this year take a look at it. I know they do awesome work and will give me a better price too.