[Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:45 pm

Now I know I have another thread with almost exactly the same title but I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread purposely as a guide for DIY spraying/fitting side skirts.

I consulted a professional car renovator for some tips on spraying with cans and on a budget as he's alway doing renovation jobs and doesn't have all the specialist equipment etc and he gave me a short guide over the phone of which I turned into this (feel free to print it off, really does help to have it next to you while you work):

PREPARING THE JOB

Now before we get down the nitty-gritty details of spraying your side skirts you need to know this...

NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN DRY FITTING.

Now I know it's a pain having to take all the trim off put the skirts on then put it all back again, only to have to take it off in a few days time again. But seriously, once you have the skirts in your possession, dry fit them to test whether or not they are a perfect fit. I can almost guarantee they won't be, if this is the case you'll need to do some sanding, cutting, filling or fibreglassing. Believe me you DO NOT want to be doing this once your skirts are all nicely sprayed and lacquered!

So before you get over-friendly with a paint can. STOP...and test the fit. (skip to FITMENT)

PREPARING TO PRIME

1. Firstly make sure you have a warm, dry room to work in (if its a garage, be sure to make sure you heat it up
before starting and keep it at a high temperature)
2. Workbench
3. Gloves! Throughout any stage of this guide be sure to ALWAYS wear gloves (latex type) to avoid getting
paint/primer etc on your hands and (most importantly) so you dont get the oil on your skin onto the skirts.
4. Wipe over skirts with paint preparation wipes
5. Light dust over the skirts with an 800 Sandpaper just enough to take the shine away
6. Wipe over skirts with paint preparation wipes again

PRIMERING

7. Lightly dust an even coat of primer over the skirts. Allow to dry for approx 10mins
8. In light coats, spray the skirts evenly all over. Building up the coats gradually, leaving
5mins between coats to dry

-LEAVE OVERNIGHT-

PREPARING TO PAINT

9. Wash the skirts with warm, mildly soapy water
10. Go over lightly with a 1200 wet & dry (use wet) using the whole of your palm, not your fingers.
11. Dry (either by using a unused cloth or naturally)

PAINTING

12. In very light layers, gradually build up the paint. Leaving a max of 5mins between coats. Spray until fully covered and a good thickness of paint is achieved.

-LEAVE OVERNIGHT-

PREPARING TO LACQUER

13. Go over skirts lightly with 1200 wet & dry until paint has a matt finish (not shiny)
14. Position a light above skirts so that you can see the shine

LACQUERING

15. Lightly spray a thin coat of lacquer (leave for a max of 5mins)
16. Spray another coat of laquer
17. Check desired finish.
18. If still not shiny enough, spray another coat.

-LEAVE FOR APPROX 7 DAYS TO DRY-
(Paint/Lacquer takes approx 7 days to fully harden)

PRE-FITMENT FINISHING TOUCHES

19. Now the lacquer is fully hardened, check the finish. Chances are you'll have an 'orange-skin' effect (the paint lacquer will have the same 'dimpled' effect as the skin of an orange)
20. To rectify this, lightly 'flatten-back' the lacquer with a 1200 wet and dry paper (use wet). Don't press toO hard but take back the lacquer until the surface is smooth and the 'orange-skin' effect has gone
21. Next take a cutting compound (eg: T-Cut) and buff the paint with it until you see them shine. Be sure to give the skirts a couple of runs over with this
22. Check desired finish.
23. Now all you need to do is seal the paint. Use a polish to bring up a deep shine and a wax to protect all your hard work and you're done!

FITMENT - Removing The Original Air Intake

24. To remove the rear 1/4 air intake you also have to remove the trim strip above it (the one that says Twin cam on it). Below is a list of all the screws/nuts/bolts you will need to undo to remove the trim strip and the air intake:

A screw in the top of the rear wheel arch
2 nuts inside the rear wheel arch
A nut inside the interior trim (where the rear speaker is)
2 push fit clips.

25. To remove the nut behind the interior trim you have to remove the trim panel inside (the one that covers the rear side speaker) by basically pulling/prising it out. Then tie a knot in the seat belt (trust me) so that it doesn't recoil back. Then undo both the little top nut and the large bottom one of the seat belt recoiler and move it out of the way. Then behind a round rubber plug there is the nut. Use a deep-reach socket to unscrew the nuts (available at Halfords).

26. Then (and this is the mucky bit), you need to locate 2 nuts inside the rear wheel arch. One at the top, and one at the bottom. The top one is the last bolt for the 'twin cam' trim (except the screw at the rear) and the bottom one holds on the bottom of the air intake. Both (unless your arches are clean will be covered in mudd and god knows what else so be sure to remove all the crap around them and spray some WD-40 before undoing them (be careful, they're old bolts). Using a mirror and torch helps to locate the nuts.

27. Now undo the screw on the top of the rear wheel arch and the 'twin-cam' exterior trim should now be able to be removed.

28. You will now also be able to remove the air intake.

29. Once removed be sure to give everything a damn good clean, as chances are your new skirts won't cover bits that were covered before so get everything nice and shiny.

30. You're now ready to fit your side skirts

FITMENT - Fitting Your Side Skirts

31. TO BE CONTINUED.... (once I have fitted mine so I know what I'm talking about lol)

I'll be completing this as I go along so that you get a detailed step-by-step guide to the whole procedure so stay tuned!

JeffD · Post by **JeffD** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:24 pm

To remove the rear 1/4 air intake you have to remove the trim strip above it (the one that says Twin cam turbo on it) which is held on by a screw in the wheel arch, 2 nuts on the rear and a push fit clip - see below:

http://www.ayrpark.plus.com/epc/toyota/ ... _1993.html

To remove the nuts at the rear you have to remove the trim panel inside (the one that covers the rear side speaker) by basicly pulling/prising it out. IIRC for some wierd reason on the driver side I had to remove the flappy box thing first plus the bezel for the engine cover pull. Cant remember exactly LOL

Your best yusing a deep reach socket and dont be surprised if you drop one of the nuts down the inside of the panel when you pull it off as its on :-(

I found removing one bolt from the seat belt retract mechanism so it can be swung out of the way makes getting at one of the bolts a lot easier/possible.

Trim should now be ablre to be removed.

A nut secures on the inside of the wheel arch secures the bottom of the vent which needs undoing too before removing vent.

Somethig luke that anyway :-)

RST · Post by **RST** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:33 pm

I'd STRONGLY advise you to dry fit your skirts before you spend any time with paint etc. No such thing as a guaranteed fit item and you may end up spending some time adjusting to fit, then need to re-spray certain areas again.

Hopefully not though! The way above is how to remove the panels.

...also, did your skirts come with a lower bolt to secure them (near the front corner of the rear wheel arch just above the sill)? If not (quick tip), I used cataloy to build up a mount on the inside face of the GRP which had a bolt buried in it. When I put the skirts on the car, the bolt protruded through the hole on the body where the original side vent bolted and I could secure nice and tight from the back using a nut so they wouldn't flap around.

HighwayStar · Post by **HighwayStar** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:25 am

Good thinking that man.

R.

Dale_V · Post by **Dale_V** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:48 am

if you finish your laquer like that then you WILL have a crap finish from spray cans no matter how many coats you put on

once you have a good thick layer of laquer on and its dry/harden'd, then you need to flat the laquer back with wet & dry (1200+ grit), once you have done this, you will see there will be no 'orange peal' appearance and the finish will be smooth...

you now need to take a cutting compound, T-cut will do, and buff the paint until you start to see it shine, after a couple of run overs with this, then give it a good polish and a wax

*pics of what i've done
**the wheel pics arnt the best quality

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:51 am

RST wrote:...also, did your skirts come with a lower bolt to secure them (near the front corner of the rear wheel arch just above the sill)? If not (quick tip), I used cataloy to build up a mount on the inside face of the GRP which had a bolt buried in it. When I put the skirts on the car, the bolt protruded through the hole on the body where the original side vent bolted and I could secure nice and tight from the back using a nut so they wouldn't flap around.

No they didn't.

You got any pics of what you did?

RST · Post by **RST** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:35 pm

Here's a couple:

When the OEM vents are off, put some parcel tape round the bolt hole, get hold of a bolt and cataloy it in place on the tape (it won't stick to the tape). Leave the bolt in place (use a nut on the back to hold it in) but make sure it is free to slide back out easy....

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/garage.php ... e_id=12587.

Build up a tall blob of cataloy on the bolt so that when you press the skirt in place, it leaves a dob of resin on the inside of the skirts. This blob will want to sag all the time so put the skirts on quickly, get the mark and pat down the cataloy on the car to stop it from falling off. You can then build up a blob on the inside of the skirts when they're flat on the ground. Wait until it's tacky so it won't sag, then put the side skirt in place on the car and hold it in place firm using a water butt or something...

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/garage.php ... e_id=12589.

It should stick well enough to stick to the cataloyed bolt left on the car so they stick together when you remove the skirt. Wait an hour to remove the skirt again and it should come out with the bolt held in place. Build up cataloy around it so it looks neat like this.....

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/garage.php ... e_id=12586.

You then peel off the tape on the car ready to put the skirts on. If you've been careful, the bolt thread will stick through the original hole. You just need to grease it up and put a locking nut on it to secure the skirts when they're on. It's a nice firm joint then....

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/garage.php ... e_id=12588.

(last pic is a bit difficult to take but you should be able to see the bolt thread poking through)

NB: the cataloy might tend to leave a small depression on the outer skin of the skirt, which might need filling and very carefully flattening prior to painting.

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:20 am

*ORIGINAL POST EDITED*

JeffD · Post by **JeffD** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:33 am

If i can just add an extra little tip about the seat belt.....

Obviously the things retract by themselves so beofre you loosen anything off pull the seat belt a bit as if your going to put it on then tie a loose not in itself. When you swing the belt out of the way it retracts slightly which stops you swinging it back - just undo the knot whilst holding seat belt which restores the slack you had. If you dont do this you have to remove belt altogether just so you can let it retract a bit so you can then repull it out.

Above most probbalyt doesnt make any sense unless youve done the job and if anyone can re-word better please do! LOL

JeffD · Post by **JeffD** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:37 am

BTW on the side skirts you usually secure the front by removing that black plastoc dog leg shaped piece just inside the wheel arch then reusing the screw (without dog leg piece) to secure your skirt back into the hole.

Most professionals like to secure skirts skirts along the door sill with something pretty permanant such as rivets etc but Ive always made do with bathroom sealant of the appropriate colour so they can be removed easily without any permanant damage.

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:42 am

JeffD wrote:If i can just add an extra little tip about the seat belt.....

Obviously the things retract by themselves so beofre you loosen anything off pull the seat belt a bit as if your going to put it on then tie a loose not in itself. When you swing the belt out of the way it retracts slightly which stops you swinging it back - just undo the knot whilst holding seat belt which restores the slack you had. If you dont do this you have to remove belt altogether just so you can let it retract a bit so you can then repull it out.

Above most probbalyt doesnt make any sense unless youve done the job and if anyone can re-word better please do! LOL

Nice one Jeff. As you can see I edited and added your last post to the original post. I'll add this one now

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:43 am

JeffD wrote:BTW on the side skirts you usually secure the front by removing that black plastoc dog leg shaped piece just inside the wheel arch then reusing the screw (without dog leg piece) to secure your skirt back into the hole.

Most professionals like to secure skirts skirts along the door sill with something pretty permanant such as rivets etc but Ive always made do with bathroom sealant of the appropriate colour so they can be removed easily without any permanant damage.

Yeah, I was going to included that once I'd fitted mine. That way I know what I'm talking about instead of visualising it in my head you know?

pistol pete · Post by **pistol pete** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:49 am

just a quick question
am i right in saying that rev 1 & 2 black do not have laquer??
what paint code is it
and will spay cans come out okey for a engine lid?

cheers

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:03 am

**Original post editied once again**

RST · Post by **RST** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:13 am

Couple of things I thought of (meant to say in another post re: speaying also).

Just about everyone in the business has said to me to use ETCH primer as the first coat -even on GRP stuff. Looking back, I switched to this and it does make a difference, I use etch primer now, or if it's a plastic part I use 3M adhesion promoter first before spraying on plastic primer (that's following the 3M guidelines).

Trick with spraying is to put a thick enough coat on so that it flows and gives a nice finish but not get runs. If you spray lightly, at the recommended spraying temps (temp is CRITICAL), the paint could actually dry too much before it hits the surface. Done this myself -put a very light layer on and I could wipe it off the next day -it was like dust, particularly with high build primer (yellow stuff). Spray enough at a time to give a good coat, and keep a "wet edge" on the previous pass, which you start spraying on with the next.

...there's a reasonably good write-up on this on here just now which has a huge amount of info (saves typing again LoL)...

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... t=painting

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:46 am

RST wrote:Couple of things I thought of (meant to say in another post re: speaying also).

Just about everyone in the business has said to me to use ETCH primer as the first coat -even on GRP stuff. Looking back, I switched to this and it does make a difference, I use etch primer now, or if it's a plastic part I use 3M adhesion promoter first before spraying on plastic primer (that's following the 3M guidelines).

Trick with spraying is to put a thick enough coat on so that it flows and gives a nice finish but not get runs. If you spray lightly, at the recommended spraying temps (temp is CRITICAL), the paint could actually dry too much before it hits the surface. Done this myself -put a very light layer on and I could wipe it off the next day -it was like dust, particularly with high build primer (yellow stuff). Spray enough at a time to give a good coat, and keep a "wet edge" on the previous pass, which you start spraying on with the next.

...there's a reasonably good write-up on this on here just now which has a huge amount of info (saves typing again LoL)...

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... t=painting

Personally I used Halfords White Plastic Primer and that worked a treat. The finish on my skirts has come out perfect, the paint addiered fine so in my personal opinion I don't think it's worth spending the extra money. Horses for courses though...

TUBBY-DEUCE · Post by **TUBBY-DEUCE** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:56 pm

any pics of the finished result? just wondered as i got some bomex skirts laying about and deciding what route to take, body shop or not

id be interested to see what kinda finished result you got

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:16 am

Only got some far away pics at present as camera's died (not the battery):

Have a look here: http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... highlight=

TUBBY-DEUCE · Post by **TUBBY-DEUCE** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:19 pm

looking good mate

very good attempt.
im considering doing mine, mine are in 040 white though so i should imagine white would be easier

the fitment looks good, did you have to modify them at all, i have the same skirts so any info and help would be great

KrisMoyse · Post by **KrisMoyse** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:18 pm

Yes, they're an absolute xxxx to fit (from my experience before someone comes along to contradict me) thats mainly why I haven't finished the post yet lol

Dry fit them first, make sure you got a perfect fit and that nothing needs fabricating etc. Mine aren't perfect, the front part doesn't fit flush with the car.

Test fit yours first and see if they're any better. I'll help you out all I can just PM me matey

www.imoc.co.uk

[Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

[Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

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Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts

Re: [Mk2] DIY Guide to Spraying & Fitting Aftermarket Side Skirts